The Next Best Thing
2000 · 108 min · Director: John Schlesinger
Show plot summary (may contain spoilers)
A comedy-drama about best friends - one a straight woman, Abbie, the other a gay man, Robert - who decide to have a child together. Five years later, Abbie falls in love with a straight man and wants to move away with her and Robert's little boy Sam, and a nasty custody battle ensues.
Emotional fingerprint
The Next Best Thing (2000) — Movie. Top emotional signals: Empathy 30%, Sadness 25%, Love 20%. Source: AI estimate. Shares describe emotional signal, not percentages of people. Your experience may differ. How we measure
AI estimate · no viewer votes yet
How we measure
AI estimate
Share of emotional signal, not the percentage of people or a probability of enjoyment.
Each viewer contributes one response, split equally across their selected emotions. When available, an automated estimate supplies a prior that is blended with those responses. Counts include distinct viewers, not automated estimates or archived anonymous votes. Fewer than 3 viewers is an early estimate; more responses do not guarantee certainty.
Why it feels this way
The strongest emotional signals are Empathy, Sadness, Love. Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance. AI estimate.
Is it worth watching?
Consider this title if you are looking for Empathy, Sadness and Love. Its IMDb rating of 4.7/10 suggests a mixed audience reception; consider how well the emotional profile suits you. For these leading emotions, its Feel Score is 55/100.
How did it make you feel?
Votes are saved to the fingerprint once you’re signed in.
Pick up to three · 0/3
Emotional journey
- Empathy
- Love
- Sadness
Not enough subtitle evidence
No dominant emotion
Dominant emotion: Tension
Dominant emotion: Humor
Dominant emotion: Sadness
Dominant emotion: Love
Dominant emotion: Empathy
Dominant emotion
| % | Approximate minute | Dominant emotion | Overall intensity | Empathy | Love | Sadness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 % | ≈ 3′ | Tension | 35 % | 25 % | 9 % | 20 % |
| 7.5 % | ≈ 8′ | Humor | 45 % | 37 % | 14 % | 33 % |
| 12.5 % | ≈ 14′ | Sadness | 50 % | 41 % | 20 % | 41 % |
| 17.5 % | ≈ 19′ | Humor | 50 % | 32 % | 23 % | 29 % |
| 22.5 % | ≈ 24′ | Humor | 53 % | 27 % | 24 % | 13 % |
| 27.5 % | ≈ 30′ | Humor | 53 % | 31 % | 33 % | 8 % |
| 32.5 % | ≈ 35′ | Love | 53 % | 32 % | 45 % | 10 % |
| 37.5 % | ≈ 41′ | Love | 55 % | 34 % | 48 % | 13 % |
| 42.5 % | ≈ 46′ | Empathy | 50 % | 34 % | 39 % | 15 % |
| 47.5 % | ≈ 51′ | Humor | 43 % | 25 % | 28 % | 10 % |
| 52.5 % | ≈ 57′ | Humor | 43 % | 24 % | 28 % | 8 % |
| 57.5 % | ≈ 62′ | Love | 51 % | 36 % | 37 % | 17 % |
| 62.5 % | ≈ 68′ | Tension | 62 % | 46 % | 36 % | 31 % |
| 67.5 % | ≈ 73′ | Tension | 72 % | 55 % | 32 % | 49 % |
| 72.5 % | ≈ 78′ | Sadness | 79 % | 67 % | 36 % | 62 % |
| 77.5 % | ≈ 84′ | Tension | 77 % | 64 % | 31 % | 56 % |
| 82.5 % | ≈ 89′ | Tension | 74 % | 58 % | 27 % | 50 % |
| 87.5 % | ≈ 95′ | Sadness | 77 % | 64 % | 43 % | 57 % |
| 92.5 % | ≈ 100′ | Love | 79 % | 65 % | 61 % | 55 % |
| 97.5 % | ≈ 105′ | Not enough subtitle evidence | Not enough subtitle evidence | Not enough subtitle evidence | Not enough subtitle evidence | Not enough subtitle evidence |
Cinderella
Rags to riches: The emotional tone rises from negative to positive.
Riches to rags: The emotional tone falls from positive to negative.
Man in a hole: The tone falls, then recovers.
Icarus: The tone rises, then falls.
Cinderella: The tone rises, falls, then rises again.
Oedipus: The tone falls, rises, then falls again.
AI reading of the film’s English subtitles (dialogue and sound cues) — not viewer votes. How we measure ↗
Kadri — your film companion
AIAsk anything about The Next Best Thing. From the film’s own dialogue and FeelDB data, at your spoiler level.
Afterward Reveal viewer responses · may contain spoilers
Viewer responses about feelings after the title ended, separate from feelings while watching. No AI estimates.
0 responses so far
Feeling details appear after at least 3 viewers respond, to protect privacy.
Cast
Sam
Annabel
Angel
Details
- Directed by
- John Schlesinger
- Written by
- Tom Ropelewski
- Type
- Movies
- Released
- 2000
- Runtime
- 108 min
- Country
- United States
- Ratings
- Feels mostly
- Empathy
- Data updated
Where to watch
Feels similar
More like this →Emotion overlap shows mood similarity, not a prediction of enjoyment.
