Best movies like Zen Noir
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 373
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: spiritual, inspirational, neo noir, detective, dark comedy
Best tv shows and movies like Zen Noir (2004):
Similar in 77%
Depression: The Movie (2012)
Plot Summary:
Four people deal with all the pain and sadness they have and find the root cause.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 68
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: humorous, light, feel good, captivating, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
Vera (2003)
Plot Summary:
The story of an android that raises alive in the deepest caves of the mayan zone in México and meets and old dying man. They will stablish a spiritual bond than enlightens the old mayan and helps him to release himself out of his withered body.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 120
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Mexico, USA, France, Germany
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, captivating, suspense, scary, dark, mystic, experimental, crying
Similar in 86%
Union City (1980)
Plot Summary:
A 1950s accountant (Dennis Lipscomb) with a restless wife (Deborah Harry) grows paranoid after hiding a milk thief's corpse next door.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 451
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy, eighties, cult film
Similar in 82%
Body/Antibody (2007)
Plot Summary:
Kip Polyard is an obsessive-compulsive shut-in whose antiseptic world is invaded by Celine, the beautiful seductress who moves in next door to Kip's rent-controlled Manhattan apartment. Kip and Celine begin a tentative love affair that turns passionate and then deadly, as Celine's secrets turn Kip's perfectly organized life upside-down.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 147
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, neo noir, independent film
Similar in 76%
Delusion (2016)
Plot Summary:
Three years after the death of Frank's wife a mysterious woman appears. As their attraction grows Frank struggles with reality and his loss. He tries to start over not knowing his choices could lead him to his own downfall.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: spiritual, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, cult classic, neo noir, neorealism, psychotronic, independent film, cult film
Similar in 79%
The Last Letter (2004)
Plot Summary:
As they file into the deliberation room, 11 jurors are ready to convict the defendant of 14 counts of murder, but one holdout forces the others to reevaluate the evidence -- and their own motives -- in this tense courtroom drama. As the jurors sift through the case, more of them start to lean toward an acquittal, but could one of them have a hidden agenda? This thriller starring Yancy Butler and William Forsythe holds plenty of surprises.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 290
Genere: Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, splatter
Similar in 78%
Lady in Cement (1968)
Plot Summary:
While diving for sunken treasure, street-smart gumshoe Tony Rome finds the body of a gorgeous blonde, her feet stuck in a block of cement. Soon after, tough guy Waldo Gronski hires him to find a missing woman named Sandra Lomax, and Rome wonders if there's a connection. He sets about trying to locate the woman, and in no time finds himself mixed up with a beautiful party girl and a slippery racketeer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: neo noir, noir, detective, crime drama, thrilling, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty
Similar in 76%
Cold Fever (1995)
Plot Summary:
A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA, Japan, Iceland, Denmark, Germany
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: road movie, cult classic, bleak, humorous, independent film, spiritual, offbeat, realistic, witty, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Scumbag Hustler (2014)
Plot Summary:
Soloman Crow pays a visit to his god fearing, bible quoting, closeted homosexual brother and his sexually repressed wife. He enters their home with a proclamation to kick a drug habit that almost cost him his life. Broke, it doesn't take Soloman long to start conning and scheming his way around the city to feed his ravenous cravings for dope and sex. Even his brother's wife isn't immune to Soloman's mind games... If you want a hero with redeeming qualities, look somewhere else.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 63
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, humorous, light, feel good, contemplative, sex comedy, independent film, teen comedy, cult film
Similar in 78%
Man About Town (2006)
Plot Summary:
A top Hollywood talent agent finds his cushy existence threatened when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him and that his journal has been swiped by a reporter out to bring him down.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, semi serious, cynical, romantic drama, clever, realistic, biting, crying, suspense
Similar in 88%
Enlightenment Guaranteed (1999)
Plot Summary:
Two middle aged German brothers - one New Age and recently divorced, the other uptight and sceptical - travel to a Zen monastery in Japan in search of enlightenment, or perhaps just in search of themselves.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, spiritual, inspirational, poignant, existential, feel good, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious
Similar in 81%
A Buddha (2005)
Plot Summary:
Un Buda follows two brothers orphaned as children when their parents were taken by the military during the "Dirty Wars" of the 1970s in Argentina. Tomas is now a drifting and withdrawn young man who experiments with ascetic practices and has an instinctive compassion for others. His older brother Rafael is a university philosophy professor, detached and alone. Their struggles with each other and the world around them in Buenos Aires take a dramatic turn when they find themselves at a rural Zen center.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 805
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: spiritual
Similar in 82%
Siddhartha (1972)
Plot Summary:
Siddhartha is the story of a young Brahmin and his search for a meaningful way of life. His journey takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures, material wealth, self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony that he had been seeking. The story is based on the best-selling novel by German Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: India, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: spiritual, philosophical, road movie, dramatic, surreal, existential, independent film, psychological, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 88%
The Shift (2009)
Plot Summary:
From the creators of You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie comes a compelling portrait of three modern lives in need of new direction and new meaning. In his first-ever movie, Wayne Dyer explores the spiritual journey in the second half of life when we long to find the purpose that is our unique contribution to the world. The powerful shift from the ego constructs we are taught early in life by parents and society—which promote an emphasis on achievement and accumulation—are shown in contrast to a life of meaning, focused on serving and giving back. Filmed on coastal California’s spectacular Monterey Peninsula, The Shift captures every person’s mid-life longing for a more purposeful, soul-directed life.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, spiritual, inspirational, existential, mystical
Similar in 82%
Mandala (1981)
Plot Summary:
The film follows the differing lives of two Buddhist monks in Korea. By following their lives and their interaction throughout the film, Im creates a contemplation of the nature of individualism, religious belief and enlightenment.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 380
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
The Michelle Apartments (1995)
Plot Summary:
A black comedy that sees a man on a business trip gets mixed up in the lives of the inhabitants of a low-rent apartment building, including a femme fatale with murder on her mind.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, independent film, offbeat, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, sexual, black comedy, sexy
Similar in 85%
Patrick (2019)
Plot Summary:
Patrick is the handyman on his father's naturist campsite. The remaining time he dedicates to his hobby, designing and creating wooden furniture. When Patrick loses his campsite hammer, his quest to retrieve it takes him to the farthest corners of the camping grounds.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: funny, black comedy, dark comedy, comedy drama
Similar in 78%
The Kid Detective (2020)
Plot Summary:
A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, funny, suspense, dark, psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, humorous, captivating
Similar in 84%
Bartleby (2001)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" told in the setting of a modern office.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: surreal, humorous, semi serious, dark comedy, art house, black comedy, cult classic, atmospheric, clever, offbeat
Similar in 76%
I Love Your Work (2003)
Plot Summary:
A fictional movie star, Gray Evans, goes through the disintegration of his marriage, his gradual mental breakdown, and his increasing obsession with a young film student who reminds Gray of his own life before becoming famous. A dark psychological drama, I Love Your Work explores the pressures of fame and the difference between getting what you want and wanting what you get.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, mindfuck, gloomy, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 80%
The Hospital (1971)
Plot Summary:
A suicidal doctor struggles to find meaning in his life while a murderer stalks the halls of his hospital.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, cult classic, clever, talky, black comedy, funny, social, aesthetic, humorous, captivating
Similar in 79%
Maps to the Stars (2014)
Plot Summary:
Driven by an intense need for fame and validation, members of a dysfunctional Hollywood family are chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: surreal, stylized, disturbing, cynical, independent film, emotional, melancholic, realistic, semi serious, controversial
Similar in 88%
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Plot Summary:
A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: feel good, dark comedy, humorous, emotional, melancholic, black comedy, semi serious, witty, comedy drama, indie film
Similar in 89%
Little Buddha (1993)
Plot Summary:
Little Buddha is a movie about the life of Siddhartha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Liechtenstein, UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: unusual plot structure, spiritual, fairy tale, retro, philosophical, existential, cult classic, independent film, sentimental, meditative
Similar in 82%
Zen (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen sect of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: spiritual, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, contemplative, inspirational, independent film, thinking, esoteric
Similar in 90%
Operation Avalanche (2016)
Plot Summary:
In 1967, four undercover CIA agents were sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew. What they discovered led to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspense, mockumentary, suspenseful, tense, disturbing, realistic, surreal, cult classic, light, surprise ending
Similar in 86%
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Plot Summary:
Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, noir, dark, atmospheric, witty, cynical, stylized, funny, inspirational
Similar in 89%
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
Plot Summary:
Three people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to seek enlightenment - Hyegok calls him Kibong!; and, an orphan lad Haejin, whom Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as a curious and nearly self-sufficient child.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: spiritual, slow cinema, psychedelic, thinking, aesthetic, psychological, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, captivating
Similar in 76%
Inherent Vice (2014)
Plot Summary:
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 109000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: surreal, neo noir, psychedelic, atmospheric, detective, sexy, confusing, cult classic, meditative, non-linear
Similar in 80%
Birds of America (2008)
Plot Summary:
A regular guy struggles with a repressive home and professional life, as well as making amends for the trouble his free-spirited brother and sister cause about town.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, semi serious, humorous, realistic, funny, family saga, offbeat, crying, black comedy, dark comedy