Best movies like A Light Beneath Their Feet
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A high school senior must choose between enrolling at the college of her dreams and remaining at home to take care of her bipolar mother.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 396
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like A Light Beneath Their Feet (2015):
Similar in 76%
The Northern Kingdom (2009)
Plot Summary:
The lives of three disparate families are illuminated by a meteor shower on a winter night.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Debating Robert Lee (2004)
Plot Summary:
A group of jaded high school students sign up for a debate class taught by a tough, combative teacher from the Georgia Military Academy who teaches them that life is debate and DEBATE IS WAR.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 88%
Elizabeth Blue (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, is coping with ongoing episodes of schizophrenia.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
After Masks (2021)
Plot Summary:
Journey through the human experience as the pandemic tests what we are made of both as individuals and as a culture.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: anthology
Similar in 81%
The Drummer and the Keeper (2017)
Plot Summary:
The Drummer and the Keeper tells the story of the unlikely friendship formed between two young men: Gabriel, a reckless young drummer who revels in rejecting society’s rules and Christopher, a 17-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, who yearns to fit in. This heartwarming story shows the strength of the human bond in the face of adversity.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 397
Genere: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, captivating
Similar in 75%
In the Presence of a Clown (1997)
Plot Summary:
Inventor Carl Åkerblom is a rosy-cheeked 54 year-old admirer of Franz Schubert - and a patient in the psychiatric ward of Akademiska Hospital in Uppsala, after having attempted to beat to death his fiancée, Pauline Thibault. Together with another patient, Professor Osvald Vogler, they set up a film project: the living talkie. Before long, they set off on a frantic tour with their film, "The Joy of the Joyous Girl"... Written by Fredrik Klasson.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Germany
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: art house
Similar in 83%
Bringing Ashley Home (2011)
Plot Summary:
When her wild younger sister Ashley, who suffers from bipolar disorder and drug addiction, goes missing, Libba Phillips pours all her time and energy into finding Ashley and bringing her home. As the years go by, Libba refuses to give up hope, and, at the expense of her marriage and career, Libba finds her calling in life: creating a much-needed resource center for other families whose missing loved ones have fallen through the cracks.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 642
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 78%
No Letting Go (2015)
Plot Summary:
What would you do to save your child? A young teenager struggles with a debilitating mental illness as his mom risks everything to save him without losing the rest of her family.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 90%
6 Balloons (2018)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of one night, a woman drives across LA with her heroin addict brother in search of a detox center, with his two year old daughter in tow.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, melancholic, sentimental, rough, captivating
Similar in 75%
White Rabbit (2013)
Plot Summary:
A bullied student sees visions of a rabbit he was forced to kill as a child, and those visions propel him into a state where his imagination causes him to carry out violent acts.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, disturbing, dark, grindhouse, action thriller, poetic, realistic, comic
Similar in 78%
Feed (2017)
Plot Summary:
Olivia and Matthew Grey, 18-year-old twins born into a world of privilege and high expectations. There are almost no boundaries between them - even their dreams are connected.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, tense, sincere, captivating, suspense, disturbing, cliffhanger, teen
Similar in 87%
For the Love of Nancy (1994)
Plot Summary:
The parents of an anorexic woman fight to save her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: educational, neurotic, psychological, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, witty, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 76%
To the Bone (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young woman dealing with anorexia meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: bleak, captivating, motivational, emotional, teen, psychological, sad, factual, cult classic, aesthetic
Similar in 75%
Paper Spiders (2020)
Plot Summary:
A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Lost Transmissions (2019)
Plot Summary:
When an acclaimed music producer goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his friends chase him though the LA music scene to help commit him to a psychiatric hospital, revealing the troubling inadequacies of the mental health care system.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, touching, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological, sincere, enigmatic, depressing
Similar in 78%
Painful Secrets (2000)
Plot Summary:
Dawn isn't like other kids her age full of typical teenage angst about boys, school and parents. Her pain goes far deeper, and to deal with her emotional overload she physically cuts herself. The problem of adolescent girls committing self-mutilation is very real, and this movie exposes the growing epidemic. It's a film you can't afford to miss.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing, sad, neurotic, teen
Similar in 78%
As They Made Us (2022)
Plot Summary:
Abigail, a divorced mother of two, is struggling to balance the dynamics within her dysfunctional family as she attempts to cultivate new love.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, entertaining, disturbing, touching
Similar in 78%
Touched with Fire (2015)
Plot Summary:
Carla and Marco are manic-depressive poets whose art is fueled by their emotional extremes. When they go off their meds, they end up in the same psychiatric hospital. As the chemistry between them stirs up their emotions, it intensifies their mania. Despite doctors' and parents' attempts to separate them, they pursue their beautiful but destructive romance which swings them from fantastical manic highs to suicidal depressive lows, until they have to choose between sanity and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, touching, captivating, emotional, psychological, spiritual, factual
Similar in 87%
Waking Madison (2010)
Plot Summary:
A woman suffering from multiple personality disorder tries to piece back together her life.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, mind bending, serious, realistic, touching, depressing, atmospheric, independent film, bleak
Similar in 75%
Manic (2001)
Plot Summary:
Lyle is filled with rage. After badly beating a classmate during a schoolyard fight, Lyle is committed to a juvenile mental institution in lieu of criminal prosecution. Inside the hospital, Lyle encounters a group of adolescents struggling with a variety of illnesses.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, independent film, disturbing, compassionate, depressing, rough, cerebral, teen, realistic, talky
Similar in 88%
Losing Chase (1996)
Plot Summary:
An intimate and turbulent relationship develops between Chase, a woman recovering from a nervous breakdown and Elizabeth, the caretaker employed to look after her.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 909
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, sentimental, sexy, feel good
Similar in 90%
Sling Blade (1996)
Plot Summary:
Karl Childers is a mentally disabled man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 98000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: independent film, southern gothic, neo noir, serious, sincere, touching, bleak, depressing, emotional, sad
Similar in 88%
David and Lisa (1962)
Plot Summary:
The emotional story of a young man in a mental institution for teens who begins to understand his psychosis in the environment of others with mental and emotional problems. He finds intimacy with Lisa, a young woman suffering from schizophrenia.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, retro, mind bending, psychedelic, spiritual, social, surreal, intense, independent film, sincere
Similar in 77%
Phoebe in Wonderland (2008)
Plot Summary:
The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, emotional, sincere, sad, uplifting, thought provoking, depressing, spiritual, atmospheric
Similar in 76%
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
Plot Summary:
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, psychological, captivating, teen, sincere, uplifting, touching
Similar in 76%
Canvas (2006)
Plot Summary:
A woman's schizophrenia affects her relationships with her husband and son.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, rough, melancholic, psychological
Similar in 88%
Ordinary People (1980)
Plot Summary:
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, depressing, realistic, sentimental, compassionate, crying, serious, existential, inspirational
Similar in 83%
Helen (2009)
Plot Summary:
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, Germany, Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, depressing, sentimental, atmospheric, sincere, serious, independent film, beautiful
Similar in 88%
Mr. Jones (1993)
Plot Summary:
The story about the relationship between a manic depressive man, Mr Jones, and the female doctor who takes more than a professional interest in his treatment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, compassionate, melancholic, touching, emotional, realistic, sentimental, serious, romantic, therapeutic
Similar in 76%
The Beaver (2011)
Plot Summary:
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black (Mel Gibson) begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter (Anton Yelchin) pushes for his parents to get a divorce. Jodie Foster directs and co-stars as Walter's wife in this dark comedy that also features Riley Thomas Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, depressing, emotional, sentimental, psychological, suspense, melancholic, tragicomedy, realistic, semi serious