Best movies like Starlight Hotel
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
During the Great Depression, Kate (Greer Robson) is a 13-year-old girl living on New Zealand's South Island. When her mother dies and her father is offered a job in Wellington on North Island, Kate is sent to live with an aunt. The girl runs away to find her father, hopping onto a boxcar and befriending a fellow fugitive, Patrick (Peter Phelps), an emotionally battle-scarred WWI veteran fleeing the authorities after injuring a repo man. Pretending to be father and daughter, Patrick and Kate use each other for cover as they make their way across New Zealand, sleeping under the stars and championing the rights of destitute farmers and homeless squatters whose fortunes have been wiped out by economic hardship.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Starlight Hotel (1987):
Similar in 78%
Special Education (1977)
Plot Summary:
Educator and those educated in a home for juvenile delinquents in the same test: approach, take a peek into his soul to become a man. The story of a minor, neglected boys-offenders and their teachers who try to reject the old methods of rehabilitation.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: educational
Similar in 77%
P.K. and the Kid (1987)
Plot Summary:
P.K. runs away from home because her step-father keeps on harassing her sexually and her mother is ignoring the problem. She hides in the loading space of Kid Kane's pickup, who's on the way to the world championships in arm-wrestling. When he discovers her, he wants to send her home at first, but after he knows the story he takes her with him - and gets himself into big trouble: her step-father is behind them furiously, trying to kidnap her and take revenge for the stress he got from her mother.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
The Child Woman (1980)
Plot Summary:
Elisabeth, a 11 year old girl, visits Marcel, a mute gardener every morning with whom she shares a very particular friendship. During three years, their bond grows stronger, as Marcel seems to be the only person she can connect to.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Circle of Two (1981)
Plot Summary:
The story of the impossible love between a schoolgirl and a 60-year old painter.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 682
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
As in Heaven (2021)
Plot Summary:
One day at the end of the 1800s, 14-year-old Lise’s life is changed forever. She is the eldest of her siblings, the first in her family to go to school and full of hope and confidence in life. But when her mother goes into labour, it quickly appears that something is wrong. As night falls and the labour progresses, Lise begins to understand that a day that began in childhood might end with her becoming the woman of the house.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 665
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 77%
Count to 100 (2004)
Plot Summary:
When we meet Thomas and his mother, Anne, for the first time, they are about to run away as so often before. Now, the escape brings Thomas and Anne to a cosy provincial town. They stop their car to fill up the tank and here Thomas meets Helene, who he instantly falls in love with. Thomas takes the initiative to rent rooms at the local junk dealer Lars. Thomas starts school in a new class, where he sits next to the guitar freak Jonas. In the beginning, Thomas and his mother try to keep to themselves, as they have all too often experienced having to say goodbye to new friends. But Thomas can't let go of Helene and his friend Jonas doesn't give up easily. When the schoolteacher arranges a concert, Jonas, Helene and Thomas form a band. Meanwhile, Lars falls in love with Anne, who also slowly begins to warm up to him. But the moment the future looks brightest, the past catches up with them and Thomas and Anne prepare to run away. But their stay in the little town has left its traces. The.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 84%
Fontamara (1980)
Plot Summary:
Fontamara is a village in the Marsica, forgotten by all but God and its inhabitants are called 'cafoni' (boors). Berardo Viola wants to marry Elvira but only after gaining enough money to buy some land and in order to reach his aim he has the idea of going to a great city. When Maria Grazia is raped by the fascists, Berardo and Antonio decide to leave Fontamara and go to Rome. Here they are swindled by a lawyer and afterwards they are invited by an antifascist to a restaurant where they are arrested by the police because of some subversive papers they had.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 69
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Pete on the Way to Heaven (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the small town of Kandalaksha, Petya lives out a fantasy life as a traffic cop. He has a holster, a wooden gun, and the locals humor him by following his "orders." When a convict escapes from a nearby prison, Petya joins the manhunt as any good officer would.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 188
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Love is Never Silent (1985)
Plot Summary:
A young woman struggles with her own need for independence and the obligation she feels for her deaf parents in this depression-era drama. A friend sees her turmoil and tells her she must find happiness on her own. However, the initial joy she finds in marriage starts to strain under the guilt she feels for deserting her parents and the bitterness they express towards her.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 338
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Macu, la mujer del policía (1987)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a jealous policeman and his young wife living in a shanty-town in South America.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 117
Genere: Drama
Country: Venezuela
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Patriarch (2016)
Plot Summary:
It is the 1960s. Two Maori families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, make a living shearing sheep on the east coast of New Zealand. The two clans, who are bitter enemies, face each other as rivals at the annual sheep shearing competitions. Simeon is a 14-year-old scion of the Mahana clan. A courageous schoolboy, he rebels against his authoritarian grandfather Tamihana and his traditional ways of thinking and begins to unravel the reasons for the long-standing feud between the two families. Before long, the hierarchies and established structures of the community are in disarray because Tamihana, who is as stubborn as he is proud, is not prepared to acquiesce and pursue new paths.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 998
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 85%
The Rain People (1969)
Plot Summary:
A housewife who feels trapped leaves home and takes up with a hitchhiker.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: road movie, cult classic, independent film, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 85%
I'm Going to Change My Name (2012)
Plot Summary:
Based on the Armenian ‘Sharakan’, a nine-part song that brings us gradually closer to meaning, Maria Saakyan’s new film further develops the poetic invention apparent in her first feature, The Lighthouse. Focusing on the world of a 14-year-old girl, Evridika, who is experiencing the first extremes of adolescent emotion, it makes effective and imaginative use of her private world centred on internet chat rooms and mobile phone recordings.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 94
Genere: Drama
Country: Armenia, Germany, Russia
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: romantic, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 76%
There Should Be Rules (2015)
Plot Summary:
Mia and Mirjam are two 14-year-olds who live in a very dreary little town. Though not especially grown-up, they're both trying. Mirjam gets a head start by forming a relationship with an older man who says he loves her. Mia has a dad who drinks a little too much. Lucky for them that they have each other. Not forgetting Karl, their super-smart buddy.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 109
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, touching
Similar in 89%
The Journey of August King (1995)
Plot Summary:
The Journey of August King is a multi-dimensional drama about a North Carolina farmer in 1815. August King, a widower, is on his way home as he does every year after selling his produce and purchasing the stock and goods he will need to survive the winter. On his journey, he comes upon a run-away slave, a young woman about 19 and August King must decide to violate the law and help this slave to freedom or else leave her to be hunted down and, ultimately, returned to her slave owner.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, serious, realistic, crying, sexy, touching, brutal, enigmatic, feel good
Similar in 83%
The Nest (1980)
Plot Summary:
In a town near Salamanca, an eccentric widower, aged 60, is captivated by an imp, a precocious 13 year old. Alejandro is wealthy and alone, passing time with music, chess, and his shotgun. Gregoria (Goyita) the daughter of a weak-willed policeman and his bullying wife, is a budding naturalist who conspires to meet Alejandro. Even though he knows the village is talking, Alejandro spends time with Goyita, on walks, horseback rides, and dinners. He's enchanted and tells his friend the village priest that he's living for the first time. Goyita makes new demands on Alejandro, and he must decide how to be true to his ethics and to this Platonic yet highly-charged relationship.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 615
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, Argentina
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on the best-selling book 'My Story' this feature length drama goes beyond the headlines to tell an intimate story about secrets and one woman's struggle to have them heard. In 1993 Louise Nicholas made her first shocking accusations about being raped by policemen. Some believed her, many didn't. CONSENT tells the story of the senior policeman who went to great lengths to help her fight her case, the journalist who exposed the truth, and the family at the center of the storm.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 79
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Lamb (2015)
Plot Summary:
Lamb, based on the novel by Bonnie Nadzam, traces the self-discovery of David Lamb in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and takes Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness. The journey shakes them in ways neither expects.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, controversial, independent film, road movie
Similar in 86%
Summer Heat (1987)
Plot Summary:
The young wife of a tobacco farmer falls in love with their handsome hired hand.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 389
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
I Won't Come Back (2014)
Plot Summary:
Anya, a young academic raised in an orphanage, is on the cusp of success when she’s accused of drug possession. While in limbo hiding from the police, she hits the road with Kristina, another orphan several years Anya’s junior, in search of her possibly mythical grandmother.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Belarus
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, road movie, serious, tragic ending, fairy tale, crying, independent film, realistic
Similar in 79%
Digging to China (1997)
Plot Summary:
Harriet, a ten-year old girl, lives together with her big sister and her alcoholic mother out in the countryside. The family runs a motel. Harriet is different from the others, as she owns a great creativity and has nobody to play with. Her infinite world exists only in her mind. One day, Ricky comes along. He is a grown-up, but retarded son of an elderly lady. Soon, Harriet and Ricky share their experiences of life from a different point of view and become close friends. But his mother still plans to give Ricky away into professional care in a home, because she won't live forever to be there for him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, intellectual, crying, independent film, sentimental, feel good, humorous, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 84%
Modesty (2007)
Plot Summary:
Pudor is about intimacy, about the desires, obsessions, secrets and fears that we keep hidden, even from those we love most. The characters in this story are a man who is going to die, a woman who receives anonymous erotic notes, an older man who is offered a last chance at falling in love, a teenager struggling to handle the doubts generated by puberty and a small boy who sees ghosts. As is the case in many families, in spite of living together, all the characters in Pudor are alone.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 368
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Landscape in the Mist (1988)
Plot Summary:
Road movie about two children searching for their father who is supposed to live in Germany. Their obsession for this father figure will take them to the boundaries between childhood and adolescence.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, France, Italy
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: road movie, touching, serious, rough, realistic, poetic, slow cinema, contemplative, sad, art house
Similar in 80%
Wild Life (2014)
Plot Summary:
The new film by French director Cédric Kahn focusses on Philippe Fournier, a man who lives with his 2 sons, having decided not to give them back to their mother after she won custody of the children. The children Okyesa and Tsali must grow up in the shadow, hunted by the police but always free and on the move.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 658
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, semi serious, sentimental, captivating, psychological, independent film, humorous
Similar in 75%
Confetti Harvest (2014)
Plot Summary:
Dorsvloer vol Confetti tells the story of young Katelijne, who grows up in a religious family in the countryside in Zeeland. Based on the novel by Franca Treur.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, sentimental, touching, serious
Similar in 82%
Steal Me (2005)
Plot Summary:
Chasing his wayward mother to Montana, fifteen year old Jake finds the picture perfect Tucker family instead who photoshop him into their lives, despite his questionable past. Too bad Jake can not stop himself from stealing, being seduced by the sexy next door neighbor, courting the mother of the house, encouraging the son in his first love affair, and leading the neighborhood boys in an ever escalating series of pranks. A drama about stealing radios, cars, and hearts.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film, crying
Similar in 81%
Lovely Rita (2001)
Plot Summary:
Lovely Rita is a 2001 Austrian drama film directed by Jessica Hausner. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 545
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 89%
Standing Up (2013)
Plot Summary:
Based on one of the most beloved Young Adult novels of all time: Two kids are stripped naked and left together on an island in a lake - victims of a vicious summer camp prank; But rather than have to return to camp and face the humiliation, they decide to take off, on the run together. What follows is a three day odyssey of discovery and self-discovery.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, realistic, serious, sad, independent film
Similar in 81%
Rambling Rose (1991)
Plot Summary:
Rose, is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Rose's appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and Rose knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: erotic, touching, emotional, sexy, sentimental, serious, realistic, romantic, independent film, sexual
Similar in 79%
Long Road Home (1991)
Plot Summary:
A drama depicting the trials of a family of share croppers.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 219
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic