Best movies like The Face Reader
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies related to The Face Reader? Provide your insights to navigate others towards films and tv series you've seen before that they may enjoy also. Assist in enlarging the group of people proposing videos to each other. We appreciate your input!
Plot Summary:
Nae-kyung, the most skillful face reader in Joseon dynasty, was living in seclusion when he was offered a lucrative partnership by Yeon-hong, a Korean geisha. Nae-kyung accepts the proposal to read the faces of Yeon-hong’s guests only to get involved in a murder case. With his face reading skills, Nae-kyung successfully identifies the murderer and his skills are soon acknowledged by King Moonjong who orders him to identify the potential traitors who threaten his reign. However after the unexpected death of Moonjong, Nae-kyung is courted by Grand Prince Sooyang who yearns to become King himself by killing the young successor Danjong. Nae-kyung decides to keep his loyalty to the late King and help KIM Jong-seo protect the young King which forces him into the biggest power struggle in the history of the Joseon dynasty.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, atmospheric, psychological, tense, serious, stylized, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like The Face Reader (2013):
Similar in 78%
Desert Dream (2007)
Plot Summary:
This film takes place in a remote area, a desert region situated somewhere between the Mongolia and Chinese border. The town has become nearly void of all inhabitants except for Hangai, who works obsessively to plant trees in the desert area. Hangai’s own wife has recently left him, as their daughter became increasingly ill. While Hangai wallows in solitude, a North Korean refugee arrives at his doorstep with her son. They ask for shelter and Hanghai obliges. Although the trio can’t even speak a common language, they are able to communicate nonethless and work together to plant trees. It seems Hanghai is attracted to Soon Hee, but she doesn’t feel quite the same way. Then a Mongolian soldier stationed at a nearby camp, befriends the trio and the dynamics of their relationship start to change.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 243
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea, France, Mongolia
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, touching, serious
Similar in 78%
A Taxi Driver (2017)
Plot Summary:
May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, exciting, road movie, tense, captivating, romantic, thought provoking, touching, social
Similar in 87%
The Treacherous (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: erotic, tense, psychological, captivating, suspense, sexy, dark
Similar in 82%
Street Days (2010)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged, unemployed heroin-addict, Checkie, loiters on the Tbilisi street outside his son’s school, where he himself was once a promising student. His wife, meanwhile, struggles to pay the tuition and understand her husband’s lack of interest in the family’s survival—even as the bank repossesses their furniture. But when a group of policemen blackmails Checkie into entrapping the son of his wealthy friend, husband and wife are unified by the uncertainty of their deepening moral dilemma, and a series of worsening foul-ups, in Levan Koguashvili’s lightly humorous yet realistic drama about the fate of a generation left behind in Georgia’s post-Soviet era.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, rough, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Trap Street (2013)
Plot Summary:
Qiuming is a trainee at a digital mapping company. His job is to survey the streets of the ever-changing city and keep the mapping system up to date. Typical of his generation, Qiuming is upbeat, energetic, and totally immersed in the world of Internet and video games. To make ends meet, he installs video cameras at public venues, but hides his side job from his strict father who is a senior editor of a government-run magazine. One day while out surveying, Qiuming has a brief encounter with an attractive woman who disappears into a secluded alley. He soon learns that the data he collected of this alley cannot register in his company's mapping system. He goes back to the area for a second survey.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, serious, realistic, touching
Similar in 88%
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in a seaside resort in the Caucasus, the story centers on n'er do well, Laevsky (Andrew Scott) and his illicit relationship with his mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott). Laevsky has convinced Nadya to leave her husband for him, but now wants to abandon her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 718
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, psychological, period piece, serious, stylized, period drama
Similar in 75%
Six Flying Dragons (2015)
Plot Summary:
“Six Flying Dragons” is a Period drama depicts the ambitions and success stories of 6 people around Prince Lee Bang Won. This drama also depicts the ideological and political conflict between Prince Lee Bang Won and Jung Do Jeon who is the man instrumental in helping King Taejo to establish the fledgling Joseon nation. Jung Do Jeon wants a country ruled by ministers, while Lee Bang Won wants absolute power. Prince Lee Bang Won later become King TaeJong who was the third king in the Joseon Dynasty. He helped his father King Taejo to establish the Joseon Dynasty.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration:
Plot tags: exciting, tense, enigmatic, sageuk, disturbing, epic, costume drama, suspense, political drama
Similar in 78%
The Fatal Encounter (2014)
Plot Summary:
In 1777, one year since he had taken reign, King Jeong-jo bears a perilous palace life with his dedicated court servant, Gap-soo, amidst opposition and threats from those around with political ambitions. Meanwhile, Eul-soo, a member of a secret assassin group, receives orders to kill Jeong-jo. Gap-soo, who had also been in the same secret assassin ring as Eul-soo, later confesses to Jeong-jo about his dark past and his motive for coming into the palace. To Gap-soo's surprise, Jeong-jo asks Gap-soo when he had given up being an assassin, then orders him to just leave the palace. However, Gap-soo finds out that there is another assassin besides him and frantically returns to the court, only to discover Eul-soo in combat with Jeong-jo. (c).
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, epic, suspenseful, inspirational, political, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 88%
The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. At a country fair, young hay-trusser Michael Henchard quarrels with his wife Susan, and in a drunken fit decides to auction off his wife and baby to a sailor for five guineas. The next day, realising his loss, he swears not to touch liquor again for as many years as he has lived so far. Eighteen years later, Henchard has become Mayor of Casterbridge, a man well respected but not well liked. The unexpected return of his wife and daughter Elizabeth Jane sets off a turn of events that force him to face the consequences of his selfish impulses and violent temper.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 196 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
Blades of Blood (2010)
Plot Summary:
In the 16th century in Chosun dynasty, HWANG Jung-hak and LEE Mong-hak create the “Grand Alliance” with the united dream of a better world. While the new leader LEE dreams of eradicating this world of all its corruption and becoming king himself, the legendary blind swordsman HWANG who had once been his comrade goes after him with the loss of his good friend at the hands of LEE. Just as the king abandoned his kingdom from Japanese invasion, the two come face-to-face inside the empty palace and begin their last battle they were destined to fight.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 834
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, serious, tense, epic, realistic, stylized
Similar in 84%
The Runaway (2000)
Plot Summary:
At the birth of two boys, one white and one black, a mysterious and powerful Conjure Woman (Maya Angelou) prophesies that they will start the change. Growing up as best friends in rural Georgia in the 1940s, the boys make a discovery that leads the town's new sheriff, Frank Richards (Dean Cain), to reopen the investigation of the unsolved murders of three black men. While the town would prefer that the truth remain hidden, the sheriff pursues the case, determined to see justice prevail. The Runaway is a stirring story of how friendship, determination and conviction can generate racial change in one heart or an entire town.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 322
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, captivating, suspenseful, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Secret Love (2010)
Plot Summary:
Two months after their wedding, Yeon-Yi (Yoon Jin-Seo)'s husband Jin-woo (Yoo Ji-Tae)gets into an accident and falls into a coma. During this time, Yeon-Yi's life shatters from the seams. She misses her deadlines for work, while she has only videos of her wedding to comfort her. Then Yeon-Yi waits at the airport for Jin-Woo's brother Jin-Ho (Yoo Ji-Tae), whom she has never met before. She is stunned when she meets him, because Yeon-Yi never knew Jin-Woo and Jin-Ho are identical twin brothers. Although Jin-Ho and Yeon-Yi's relationship is cold at first. they soon become attracted to each other. Their relationship becomes even more volatile, when Jin-woo suddenly awakes from his coma.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 391
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, disturbing, romantic, serious, stylized, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 75%
Breath (2007)
Plot Summary:
A love story involving a convicted prisoner who "slowly falls for a woman who decorates his prison cell".
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: contemplative, atmospheric, realistic, psychological, captivating, art house, mesmerizing, serious, stylized
Similar in 77%
Dance Town (2010)
Plot Summary:
A North Korean refugee, Jung-Nim, is trying to find a new life in South Korea, with people suspecting that she is a spy.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 83
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, touching, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Untold Scandal (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' this film is set in aristocratic 18th-century Korea at the end of the Chosun Dynasty. The irresistible temptress Lady Cho asks her cad of a younger cousin, Jo-won, to deflower the innocent young Soh-ok, who is to become her husband's concubine. But, his attentions soon shift to the graceful and aloof Lady Sook, who lives according to her convictions as a Catholic. Jo-won becomes obsessed with seducing this chaste woman who has remained celibate for nine years since her husband's death. However, conquering the most virtuous woman in the land proves to be more difficult than Chosun's notorious playboy expects.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sexual, sexy, psychological, captivating, serious, stylized, erotic, offbeat, dark, period piece
Similar in 81%
The Taste of Money (2012)
Plot Summary:
In this suspenseful erotic drama, the private male secretary and lover of Madam Baek, a Korean conglomerate's middle-aged matriarch, falls for her more genuine daughter. Meanwhile, Madam Baek's husband has an affair with the Filipino nanny.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, erotic, captivating, suspense, crime drama, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 84%
Silver Tongues (2011)
Plot Summary:
Two lovers travel from town to town playing a dark game of deceit that soon spirals out of control, threatening their very relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 751
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, realistic, captivating, mind bending, serious
Similar in 86%
3 Backyards (2010)
Plot Summary:
An executive, a housewife and a youngster spend a day in their Long Island suburban town during the course of one curious autumn day afternoon.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 753
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, serious, tense, sincere, gloomy, independent film, psychological thriller, psycho film
Similar in 78%
My Friend & His Wife (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two young men, Ye-joon and Jae-moon, have been close friends since doing military service together. Ye-joon has lately worked his way up to becoming a successful financier, while the unambitious Jae-moon has opted for a much less conspicuous route. He now works as a cook and is enjoying family life with his wife Ji-sook and their new-born son. Ji-sook tolerates her husband’s attachment to his friend, but everything changes after the tragic death of the child, caused by Ye-joon. Ji-sook was in Paris when the tragedy occurred and isn’t aware of the circumstances; she even starts an affair with Ye-joon when her husband is imprisoned after taking the blame for his son’s death. Relationships which were originally crystal-clear begin to grow distinctly cloudy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, touching, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Caught in the Web (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story of three women whose worlds collide - a social commentary about the 'sound bite' society we are becoming, where perception becomes reality and judgments based on limited facts quickly spread, without regard for the truth or the damage they could cause.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, offbeat, biting, fast, suspense
Similar in 82%
Majesty (2010)
Plot Summary:
One hour before the State Opening of Parliament, something very unusual happens. The Prime Minister appears and demands an adjustment to the Queen's speech. The speech concerns aid to Africa. Even with all the pressure around the State Opening, Beatrix goes back in time, and remembers her banishment to Canada, the visit to the victims of the Flood disaster and the turbulence suffered by her parents at Palace Soestdijk during the Hofman case.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 362
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 78%
Masquerade (2012)
Plot Summary:
During the confusing and conspiratorial Joseon Dynasty King Gwang-hae orders his councilor, HEO Kyun, to find him a double in order to avoid the constant threat of assassination. HEO Kyun finds Ha-sun, a jester who looks remarkably like the king, and just as feared, Gwang-hae is poisoned. HEO Kyun proposes Ha-sun fill the role as the king until Gwang-hae recovers fully and grooms Ha-sun to look and act every bit the king. While assuming the role of the king at his first official appearance, Ha-sun begins to ponder the intricacies of the problems debated in his court. Being fundamentally more humanitarian than Gwang-hae, Ha-sun’s affection and appreciation of even the most minor servants slowly changes morale in the castle for the better. However, his chief opposition, PARK, notices the sudden shift in the king’s behavior and starts to ask questions.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, captivating, realistic, stylized, inspirational, serious, period drama, mad
Similar in 82%
The Mayor (2017)
Plot Summary:
For the first time in Korean history, the mayor of Seoul attempts a third term in office, with his entire campaign team ready to soil their hands.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, political, disturbing
Similar in 78%
The Throne (2015)
Plot Summary:
Ancient Korea, July 4, 1762. The Crown Prince Hyojang, posthumously named Sado, son of King Yeongjo of Joseon, is accused of treason. Thus, the king asks him to commit suicide, but his closest vassals prevent it, so the king orders the prince to get inside a wooden rice chest, where he suffers deprivation of food and water.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, psychological, serious, political, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 77%
Purpose (2002)
Plot Summary:
A software developer becomes a billionaire and is distracted by fame, greed and power, then must save his invention and company from a hostile takeover.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 986
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, serious, stylized, independent film
Similar in 90%
Coalition (2015)
Plot Summary:
Political drama about the rise of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats during the 2010 election. After the election failed to produce an outright winner, Clegg was catapulted into an unaccustomed position of influence and was the recipient of political courtship from both Labour's Gordon Brown and David Cameron of the Conservative Party.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, atmospheric, psychological, political, tense, sincere, thought provoking, clever, realistic
Similar in 90%
Hero (2007)
Plot Summary:
Kohei Kuryu returns to Tokyo, reunites with his former colleagues, and goes up against one of the most famous lawyers in Tokyo to solve a new case and team up with his best partner, Maiko Amemiya.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 81%
Stretch (2011)
Plot Summary:
Christophe, a young horse racing jockey from Paris, is filled with hope and ambition. Yet after a race, he tests positive for illegal substances and is subsequently suspended from racing. He decides to move to Macau, in Asia. There his circumstances change very quickly: he wins one race after another, earning himself large amounts of money and success with women. But, his new life also brings him an ever-increasing sense of solitude. Macau has its own unspoken rules that Christophe thinks he can ignore. But events start to gain momentum as the net tightens around him. Motivated by love for an intriguing young Chinese woman, Christophe ends up gambling with his own destiny, but this time on the card tables.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 80
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Thailand, Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, exciting, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 89%
The Divine Weapon (2008)
Plot Summary:
During the reign of King Sejong in the 15th century, the Joseon Dynasty was the embodiment of the perfect state. To the Ming China, the aspiring imperial power, Joseon presented an obstacle to territorial expansion. To protect themselves from war, King Sejong develops a secret weapon to defend their territory and take back their land and supremacy.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 845
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: epic, captivating, tense, suspense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Corporate (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two corporate giants compete in order to recklessly maximize their respective profits.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, thought provoking