Film

Special

Name: Special
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Released: 2006
Cast: Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Robert Baker, Jack Kehler

Other titles called Special: the 2019 series (Netflix).

Drama

A melancholy drama about a lonely meter maid whose psychiatric medication fails, leaving him convinced he's developing superpowers. It's a quiet, sad film about delusion, isolation, and the human need to matter. For anyone who's ever felt invisible and understood the dangerous appeal of a comforting lie.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like wry, deadpan comedy about lonely people who build small, stubborn fantasies to survive their days, and don't mind the humor turning uncomfortable.

Skip it if you want a clear superhero story with action and a brisk pace; this is a small, talky film that stays inside one man's head and rarely reaches for spectacle.

What it asks of you: Short at eighty-one minutes, it keeps a close, unhurried hold on Les and sits with his awkwardness rather than cutting away, so bring patience for quiet, uneasy stretches.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Take Shelter2011

Michael Shannon gives a devastating performance as a man tormented by apocalyptic visions he can't prove are real. It's a masterclass in depicting psychological unraveling with genuine empathy and dread.

But Slow-burn tension without catharsis can feel punishing. The film doesn't offer easy answers or reassurance.

The Killing2011

Bleak Nordic noir where ordinary people grapple with mundane lives disrupted by tragedy. Stellar ensemble cast and a willingness to sit with sadness rather than rush past it.

But Three seasons of accumulated gloom and moral exhaustion. Not for viewers needing hope or momentum.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Charlie Kaufman's dizzy meditation on a man whose internal life consumes reality until he can't separate the two. Bold, weird, and genuinely moving about loneliness and artistic obsession.

But Deliberately confusing structure and surreal logic. Frustrating if you need plot clarity or conventional story beats.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Special

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Death of Louis XIV2016

Both films treat everyday reality as a kind of haunting. Serra finds tragedy in stasis; *Special* finds it in compulsion. Same melancholy register, radically different approach.

Albert Serra's film is a formal experiment: four days of a king dying, filmed with painterly stillness and baroque decadence. Meditative, surreal, entirely its own thing.

But Avant-garde cinema that prioritizes texture and mood over narrative. Long sequences of people staring and suffering. Actively hostile to plot.

The Station Agent2003

Tender indie about a withdrawn train enthusiast who's forced into reluctant friendship. Understated, funny, full of grace. Peter Dinklage is luminous.

But Nothing much happens. If you need dramatic incident or plot momentum, this will feel slight.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004

A man discovers his ex has erased him from her memory and chooses the same procedure. Heartbreaking meditation on love, loss, and whether forgetting is mercy.

But Non-linear storytelling can be taxing. Some find the emotional core obscured by formal experimentation.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster

Welcome to the Dollhouse1996

Todd Solondz's brutal-funny portrait of a seventh-grader despised by everyone. Painfully honest about social invisibility and adolescent humiliation.

But Relentlessly bleak and awkward. The cringe is deliberate and unsparing; some find it cruel rather than cathartic.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar2023

A struggling actor plays a delusional man in a film-within-a-film. Meta, wistful examination of failed dreams and the line between performance and psychosis.

But Obscure even by indie standards. Hard to find and potentially too self-referential to reward the effort.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar poster

Come and See1985

A Soviet film following a boy soldier through WWII. Visceral, uncompromising document of what war does to innocence. Historically significant and artistically fearless.

But Extremely graphic violence and suffering. Not cathartic; designed to wound. One of cinema's most punishing watches.

Nights and Weekends2008

Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg's improvised portrait of a long-distance relationship. Intimate, unguarded look at how love decays across months and distance.

But Shot on DV with minimal narrative. Mumblecore aesthetics and pacing frustrate viewers wanting conventional drama.

A Serious Man2009

Both explore what happens when ordinary men become convinced they're living a story with cosmic significance. The difference: *Special* grants him the conviction; Coens strip it away. Same hunger for meaning, opposite trajectories.

Coen brothers masterpiece about a man whose life systematically falls apart while he searches for meaning. Darkly comic, theologically complex, visually precise. A perfect balance of humor and heartbreak.

But Deliberately unresolved. The protagonist gets no redemption or clarity. A cold film disguised as a warm one.