10 visually stunning films like Easy Rider that explore the American Dream gone wrong

When Easy Rider, starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and a young Jack Nicholson, hit the screens in 1969, it didn’t just follow two bikers on the open road, but also captured the restless soul of a generation seeking freedom, identity, and meaning in a rapidly shifting America. But beneath the roar of motorcycles and the allure of endless highways lay something darker - a growing sense that the American dream was starting to fracture. Instead of peace and understanding, the road led to violence, alienation, and the realisation that the promise of freedom often came with a heavy price.

That theme of disillusionment with the American dream has echoed through cinema ever since. Many films have picked up where Easy Rider left off, exploring what happens when the pursuit of happiness turns into a search for survival, or when idealism crashes head-on with reality. These stories follow drifters, rebels, and outsiders, peeling back the glossy image of the American experience to reveal something more raw, honest, and human.

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10 visually stunning films like Easy Rider

1) War Dogs (2016)

War Dogs is the American Dream after a few too many energy drinks – amped up, reckless, and crashing fast. On paper, it's the classic rags-to-riches story: two twenty-something guys find a loophole and start making millions selling weapons to the Pentagon. Sounds like an entrepreneur's dream, right? Well, instead of pulling themselves up by bootstraps, they’re pulling triggers and cutting corners like it’s a sport. The movie is hilarious, horrifying, and strangely true, showing how in America, sometimes the hustle is more dangerous than the war itself.

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2) There Will Be Blood (2007)

Winning his second of three Academy Awards, Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Daniel Plainview, who isn’t chasing freedom or fulfilment – he’s chasing power. Pure and simple! He starts with nothing, builds an empire on oil, and along the way, trades human connection for domination. If the American Dream is about opportunity, then There Will Be Blood answers the question: What happens when opportunity turns into obsession?

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3) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street is the American Dream on a sugar high, shot through a champagne cannon, and lit on fire with hundred-dollar bills! Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life stockbroker-turned-scammer Jordan Belfort, the film turns rags-to-riches into coke-to-collapse with an energy that’s equal parts hilarious, horrifying, and jaw-droppingly outrageous. This isn’t your grandpa’s tale of hard work paying off. Jordan starts at the bottom, quickly figures out that morals slow you down, and rockets to the top by selling lies and living large. It’s capitalism with no seatbelt, success without a soul, and proof that the American Dream can turn into a nightmare if you chase profit over purpose.

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4) Scarface (1983)

Scarface is the American Dream, but with a body count! A remake of the 1932 classic starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, it’s the story of a Cuban immigrant who rises from nothing to rule Miami’s drug empire – then crashes hard.

His motto? "The world is yours" – and he’ll burn everything down to take it. No rules, no mercy, just pure ambition fueled by greed and violence.

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5) No Country for Old Men (2007)

When Llewelyn Moss stumbles on drug money, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot – but instead, he unleashes chaos in the form of Anton Chigurh, one of cinema’s most chilling villains. No Country for Old Men is the American Dream stripped of hope and soaked in dread. Directed by the Coen Brothers with a powerful star cast, it’s a modern Western where luck, greed, and violence collide on a dusty Texas highway. Success here isn’t about rising – it’s about staying alive.

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6) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

What happens when the pursuit of the American Dream goes off the rails? Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas shows us an absolute chaos trip that starts with high hopes and ends in a drug-fueled, neon nightmare. Johnny Depp plays Raoul Duke, a journalist on a mission to find the American Dream, but instead of success and freedom, he gets lost in a haze of excess and paranoia. The film flips the dream on its head, revealing that chasing material success and endless consumption can lead to madness, not fulfilment.

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7) Into the Wild (2007)

Into the Wild is the ultimate escape story, but with a twist. Christopher McCandless ditches his comfortable, predictable life and hits the road, determined to find freedom, truth, and maybe a little peace of mind in the wild. No rules, no responsibilities – just a guy and the open road (and eventually, a lot of mountains and forests).

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8) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Glengarry Glen Ross drops you straight into the chaos of a real estate office where desperation hangs thicker than the cigar smoke. The salesmen are drowning under pressure, chasing worthless leads and clinging to commissions like lifelines. It’s not about selling dreams – it’s about staying employed another week. Glengarry Glen Ross is sharp, raw, and brutally honest about what happens when your worth is tied to your next sale - and no one's playing fair.

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9) Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver feels less like a movie and more like a slow-motion breakdown. Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a lonely cab driver trying to make sense of a city that seems to have completely lost its way. He’s drifting through 1970s New York, wide-eyed and sleepless, hoping to find something, anything that gives life some meaning. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it’s not a story about chasing money or fame. Travis just wants to feel like he matters. But the more he looks for purpose, the more he spirals, caught between wanting to clean up the world and barely holding himself together. It’s raw, uncomfortable, and impossible to forget!

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10) The Godfather Part I & II

The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are what the American Dream looks like when it's dressed in a suit, soaked in blood, and whispered behind closed doors. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro, these iconic films don’t just tell a mafia story – they peel back the curtain on how chasing power can quietly destroy everything that matters. The Corleones come to America looking for a better life, and they build an empire - but not the kind you read about in textbooks. What starts as survival turns into control, and by the time Michael Corleone takes over in Part II, the dream has curdled into something cold and lonely. He has money, respect, and power, but he loses almost everything else. The Godfather is really about how the promise of success can quietly turn into a trap.

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From mobsters to outsiders, these films give us a glimpse of how the American Dream can take a wrong turn when ambition and greed start calling the shots. Whether it’s The Godfather showing us the cost of power, Taxi Driver spiralling into chaos, or Fear and Loathing turning a road trip into madness, each story reminds us that chasing success can sometimes lead to unexpected - and not always pretty places.

Happy watching!