Best movies like Wheel of Ashes
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After being heralded by Jean-Luc Godard as the great hope of the New American Cinema, Peter Emanuel Goldman relocated to Paris just in time for 1968. Social dissolution permeates WHEEL OF ASHES, a stripped-down account of a young man's existential reckoning. "As dust hides a mirror, lust hides the self," reads one of the film's Vedanta-sourced intertitles. And indeed, while the Pierre Clementi protagonist's inner life remains obscure, the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood that offers his temptations appears in harrowing detail. In its nearly clinical treatment of spiritual withdrawal, WHEEL OF ASHES belongs with post-New Wave films by the likes of Jean Eustache and Philippe Garrel. - Max Goldberg.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: existential
Best tv shows and movies like Wheel of Ashes (1968):
Similar in 89%
The Pacifist (1970)
Plot Summary:
Barbara (Monica Vitti) is a journalist investigating the local counterculture who becomes involved, after an unpleasant start of battery and stalking, with Pierre Clémenti's louche all-around dropout.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 210
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: political
Similar in 83%
Almost a Man (1966)
Plot Summary:
Jacques Perrin was awarded Best Actor at the 1966 Venice Film Festival for his gripping portrayal of a young writer's descent into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Perrin retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and comes to the brink of suicide before being sent to an asylum for shock therapy. Escaping from the asylum, Perrin returns to his boyhood home, where he learns the reasons for his present mental state. The strong supporting cast, including Lea Padovani and Pier Paolo Capponi, bring credence to their roles, but it is De Seta's direction, Perrin's controlled performance, and a relatively subtle score by Ennio Morricone which keep this film from becoming as overwrought as it might have become in other hands.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 223
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: existential
Similar in 81%
Life As a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2000)
Plot Summary:
The story of a doctor named Tomasz who questions his beliefs, faith and morality as his end is near, so he makes all efforts to find dignity in his imminent death.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, tricky, clever, intellectual, existential
Similar in 84%
The Year of the Cannibals (1969)
Plot Summary:
On the streets of a damp metropolis lie the corpses of hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls. No one can give them a resting place because of a law enacted by a repressive State. But the young Antigone, with the help of a foreigner, Tiresias, violates this rule in the name of pietas, undermining the established order.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 502
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: weird
Similar in 88%
His Days Are Numbered (1962)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged plumber quits his job and questions his life after seeing somebody his own age suddenly die from a heart attack on his way to work.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 577
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: existential
Similar in 84%
The Witness Goes Out (1992)
Plot Summary:
Dramatic sequel to The Witness At Your Door. A lifelong Jehovah's Witness finds freedom from the bondage of the Watchtower Society and in the process discovers the truth behind their stand on blood transfusions and their history of false prophecies. Leo Stern was first featured as the militant elder in the video The Witness at Your Door, a dramatic presentation of how innocent people become involved with the Watchtower Society. In this exciting sequel, Elder Leo must face the painful truth of a life shipwreck on the rocks of misguided religious zeal and false teaching. Can a life-long Jehovah's Witness, hardened by heretical doctrines and beliefs, find freedom from the bondage of the Watchtower Society? Is it possible for someone like Leo Stern to open his heart to the Gospel and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 9
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
See You Tomorrow (1992)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 52
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Flowers for Fannie (2013)
Plot Summary:
Fannie Fairchild locked up her heart when her beloved George was killed in the Great War. But now she faces her own mortality and realizes that she has no one to maintain her grave with flowers.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 28
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: spiritual
Similar in 86%
Infinity (1992)
Plot Summary:
To dispel his obsession with death, Prokhorov decides to travel, with no luggage and no destination. He finds himself in the little town where he grew up, but finds no solace there because he has to face death.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 154
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 206 min
Plot tags: existential
Similar in 87%
Whispering Pages (1994)
Plot Summary:
The pages that whisper through this brooding, beautiful tone poem are from nineteenth-century Russian literature, primarily Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. An anonymous man wanders through decomposing, fog-enshrouded catacombs and encounters a series of “the degraded and the humiliated,” including a holy prostitute and a Kafkaesque bureaucrat. Shot partly in Sokurov’s dreamlike black and white with a dense sound track of eerie, echoing voices and bursts of mournful Mahler.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 630
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia, Germany
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: spiritual, contemplative, existential, poetic, avant garde
Similar in 81%
Half-Price (2003)
Plot Summary:
Demi-Tarif follows the low-key adventures of three young siblings, Romeo, Launa, and the youngest - Leo, left on their own in a rundown Paris apartment. One of them narrates, wistfully explaining how their mother abandoned them and calls them once in a while to see how they are doing or tell them she loves them. The three kids do as they please, roaming the streets, running out of restaurants without paying for food, and shoplifting from the local grocery store. They eat whatever and whenever they want, gorging themselves on sweets. They beg for change on the Metro and show up late for school in tattered, dirty clothes. All the while, they try to keep the fact that they are alone a secret from the world of adults.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 215
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 63 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Diane (2018)
Plot Summary:
Diane is a devoted friend and caretaker, particularly to her drug-addicted son. But as those around her begin to drift away in the last quarter of her life, she is left to reckon with past choices and long-dormant memories.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, captivating, melancholic, existential, cult classic
Similar in 80%
Resurrection Trial (1983)
Plot Summary:
His job: Silence the Christians once and for all. His method: Prove the resurrection never happened. Can your faith stand up to The Prosecutor?.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 19
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: christian film
Similar in 88%
Promised a Miracle (1988)
Plot Summary:
True story of a couple charged with manslaughter when their rejection of modern medicine in favor of religion to treat their diabetic child resulted in his death.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Porcile (1969)
Plot Summary:
Two dramatic stories. In an undetermined past, a young cannibal (who killed his own father) is condemned to be torn to pieces by some wild beasts. In the second story, Julian, the young son of a post-war German industrialist, is on the way to lie down with his farm's pigs, because he doesn't like human relationships.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, experimental, erotic, art house, art film, cult classic, avant garde, atmospheric, clever
Similar in 89%
Steppenwolf (1974)
Plot Summary:
In the bourgeois circles of Europe after the Great War, can anything save the modern man? Harry Haller, a solitary intellectual, has all his life feared his dual nature of being human and being a beast. He's decided to die on his 50th birthday, which is soon. He's rescued from his solipsism by the mysterious Hermine, who takes him dancing, introduces him to jazz and to the beautiful and whimsical Maria, and guides him into the hallucinations of the Magic Theater, which seem to take him into Hell. Can humour, sin, and derision lead to salvation?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland, UK, France, Italy, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: surreal, existential, philosophical, depressing, manga, esoteric, cult classic, independent film, mystic, psychological
Similar in 75%
Night and Day (1991)
Plot Summary:
Jack and Julie live in a bare flat in Paris. At night, Jack drives a taxi while Julie wanders around the city, and in the day they make love. One day Julie meets Joseph, the daytime driver of the taxi, and soon Julie is spending her nights with Joseph and her days with Jack.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 467
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Switzerland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags:
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The Light of the World (2003)
Plot Summary:
This 78-minute film takes you on an unforgettable journey, showing the biblical account of the creation of man and the entrance of sin into the world. See why Jesus Christ came to earth and how He dealt with the sin issue once and for all. Follow the Lord's life, from His miraculous birth to His agonizing crucifixion and glorious resurrection. Viewers will suddenly realize the horrible price Christ paid for their sins, and understand why He is the only way to heaven.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: biblical, christian film
Similar in 87%
Joseph and Mary (2016)
Plot Summary:
When loved ones are murdered, Elijah’s beliefs are compromised as he considers revenge. But a visit with Joseph and Mary may offer a new perspective.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 288
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: biblical, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, realistic
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Me & You, Us, Forever (2008)
Plot Summary:
A 47 year old Christian man on the other side of an unwanted divorce thinks back on his first love from high school and wants to see her again.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 244
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: christian film
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Thin Ice (1988)
Plot Summary:
Vince, a college student, loves the mountains, skiing and fun, so an invitation to Lake Tahoe is a no-brain-er... HOWEVER, the trip includes people from a church group, and six strong sets of opinions about God soon collide. Vince's weekend of fun is threatened as tensions rise and sparks fly. This thought provoking drama combines plenty of action and humor both on and off the slopes.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 29
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 59 min
Plot tags: christian film
Similar in 76%
Words with Gods (2014)
Plot Summary:
The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods...or the lack thereof. In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature-length film.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 467
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, anthology, suspense, contemplative, odd
Similar in 80%
The Man Who Sleeps (1974)
Plot Summary:
In this French tour-de-force a young student decides to have no more interaction with the world than is needed to minimally sustain life. His increasingly automaton-like behavior is coupled with a strange clarity of insight about the world around him. His inner musings as he wanders the luminous streets of Paris are narrated in the form of an unwritten diary by Ludmila Mikael.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Tunisia
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: art house, experimental, existential, surreal, contemplative, depressing, poetic, philosophical, artsy, anthology
Similar in 80%
The Hedgehog (2009)
Plot Summary:
Paloma is a serious and highly articulate but deeply bored 11-year-old who has decided to kill herself on her 12th birthday. Fascinated by art and philosophy, she questions and documents her life and immediate circle, drawing trenchant and often hilarious observations on the world around her. But as her appointment with death approaches, Paloma finally meets some kindred spirits in her building's grumpy janitor and an enigmatic, elegant neighbor, both of whom inspire Paloma to question her rather pessimistic outlook on life.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, contemplative, sentimental, realistic, inspirational, captivating, aesthetic, surprise ending, thought provoking, breathtaking
Similar in 82%
The Fire Within (1963)
Plot Summary:
Alain Leroy is a recovering alcoholic who decides to end his life, but first decides to visit his friends in Paris one last time, in an attempt at finding a reason to continue living.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: philosophical, depressing, art house, independent film, existential, bleak, touching, sad, anthology, powerful
Similar in 87%
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 77%
The Mormon Dilemma (1988)
Plot Summary:
An LDS couple is upset by a local church's screening of the anti-Mormon film "The God Makers." Their evangelical neighbor offers to sift fact from fiction from the film's brief animated segment, allowing for a frank discussion of Mormon doctrine.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 12
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 65 min
Plot tags: christian film
Similar in 88%
Let There Be Light (2017)
Plot Summary:
An atheist goes through a near-death experience in an auto accident before converting to Christianity.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: christian film, rough, thought provoking, captivating, melancholic, disgusting, complex
Similar in 76%
The Sunset Limited (2011)
Plot Summary:
Based on the play of the same name by Pulitzer Prize Winner Cormac McCarthy, this searing two-character drama mixes humor and pathos while examining the relationship between strangers who are brought together by desperate circumstances. Set in a New York tenement apartment, the story focuses on two very different men - a deeply religious black ex-con who thwarts the suicide attempt of an asocial white college professor who tried to throw himself in front of an oncoming subway train, 'The Sunset Limited.' As the one attempts to connect on a rational, spiritual and emotional level, the other remains steadfast in his hard-earned despair. Locked in a philosophical debate, both passionately defend their personal credos and try to convert the other.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: talky, philosophical, minimal cast, thought provoking, psychological, bleak, intellectual, intense, serious, cerebral
Similar in 76%
Taste of Cherry (1997)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: art house, contemplative, road movie, independent film, philosophical, spiritual, existential, slow cinema, psychological, sincere