Best movies like Running with Scissors
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: disturbing, stylized, intense, touching, realistic, talky, humorous, tragicomedy, psychological, cult classic
Best tv shows and movies like Running with Scissors (2006):
Similar in 80%
Peep World (2010)
Plot Summary:
On the day of their Father's 70th birthday party, four siblings come to terms with the publication of a novel written by the youngest sibling, that exposes the family's most intimate secrets.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, talky, cynical, semi serious, funny, sad, independent film, crying
Similar in 76%
Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)
Plot Summary:
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, semi serious, semi autobiographical, sexy, cult classic, realistic, independent film, crying
Similar in 76%
Wetlands (2013)
Plot Summary:
Helen is a nonconformist teenage girl who maintains a conflictual relationship with her parents. Hanging out most of her time with her friend Corinna, with whom she breaks one social taboo after another, she uses sex as a way to rebel and break the conventional bourgeois ethic. After an intimate shaving accident, Helen ends up in the hospital where it doesn’t take long before she makes waves. But there she finds Robin, a male nurse who will sweep her off her feet.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, sexy, erotic, controversial, intense, humorous, cynical, semi serious, surreal, art house
Similar in 86%
Margot at the Wedding (2007)
Plot Summary:
Margot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is getting married to less-than-impressive Malcolm. In short order, the storm the sisters create leaves behind a mess of thrashed relationships and exposed family secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: talky, depressing, melancholic, stylized, humorous, tragicomedy, semi serious, cult classic, biting, deep
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 80%
The World According to Garp (1982)
Plot Summary:
Based on the John Irving novel, this film chronicles the life of T S Garp, and his mother, Jenny. Whilst Garp sees himself as a "serious" writer, Jenny writes a feminist manifesto at an opportune time, and finds herself as a magnet for all manner of distressed women.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, offbeat, cult classic, clever, touching, humorous, black comedy, sad, period piece, picaresque
Similar in 87%
Mid90s (2018)
Plot Summary:
Stevie is a sweet 13-year-old about to explode. His mom is loving and attentive, but a little too forthcoming about her romantic life. His big brother is a taciturn and violent bully. So Stevie searches his working-class Los Angeles suburb for somewhere to belong. He finds it at the Motor Avenue skate shop.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, social, teen, humorous, inspirational, retro, brutal, controversial, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Plot Summary:
A film based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, in which a young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II, in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, road movie, tragicomedy, clever, scenic, sentimental, melancholic, humorous, feel good, sad
Similar in 90%
King of California (2007)
Plot Summary:
Charlie gets released from an insane asylum and moves in with Miranda, the young daughter he left behind. Charlie believes that there is treasure hidden beneath the local Costco, so he puts together a plan to unearth the loot. By convincing Miranda to quit her job at McDonald's and instead work at the wholesale store, he is able to obtain a key. Although Miranda is skeptical, she helps her father with his irrational quest.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, emotional, humorous, semi serious, feel good, independent film, cult classic, indie film, psychological
Similar in 76%
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Plot Summary:
After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sexy, melancholic, witty, emotional, intense, sincere, realistic, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 86%
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Plot Summary:
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 309000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, funny, humorous, talky, cult classic, indie film, visual, comedy drama, melancholic, artsy
Similar in 83%
Hesher (2010)
Plot Summary:
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, independent film, serious, touching, emotional, dark comedy, thought provoking, visually appealing, melancholic
Similar in 87%
August: Osage County (2013)
Plot Summary:
A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, melancholic, independent film, depressing, stylized, humorous, realistic, semi serious, black comedy
Similar in 82%
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
Similar in 82%
Strange Relations (2001)
Plot Summary:
Drama - A NYC psychiatrist is diagnosed with leukemia - and when he finds out he was adopted, he travels to England in search of his birth mother and some answers. - Paul Reiser, Amber Sealey, Lachele Carl.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 807
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, emotional, semi serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 88%
The Savages (2007)
Plot Summary:
A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, independent film, emotional, compassionate, touching, depressing, melancholic, sincere, humorous
Similar in 85%
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Plot Summary:
Two women, Nic and Jules, brought a son and daughter into the world through artificial insemination. When one of their children reaches age, both kids go behind their mothers' backs to meet with the donor. Life becomes so much more interesting when the father, two mothers and children start to become attached to each other.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 134000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, independent film, sexy, witty, sexual, semi serious, comedy drama, sincere, realistic, feel good
Similar in 82%
Igby Goes Down (2002)
Plot Summary:
A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, depressing, cynical, humorous, clever, realistic, witty, talky, suspense, black comedy
Similar in 82%
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)
Plot Summary:
The life you love may be your own.... The wife of a much older man finds herself attracted to their neighbour's son, who is closer to her age.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: melancholic, stylized, emotional, sweet, sentimental, offbeat, romantic, surreal, sex comedy, sensual
Similar in 84%
Rocket Science (2007)
Plot Summary:
Hal, a 15-year-old high-school student with a minor yet socially alienating (and painful) disability: he stutters uncontrollably. Determined to work through the problem, Hal opts for an extreme route he joins the school debating team, which sends him on a headfirst plunge into breakneck speech competitions and offers a much-needed boost toward correcting the problem.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: clever, sincere, psychological, sentimental, touching, teen, indie film, realistic, funny, feel good
Similar in 75%
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Plot Summary:
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with un-attentive parents and bullies at school.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, disturbing, realistic, depressing, black comedy, brutal, controversial, cult classic, teen, talky
Similar in 87%
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
Plot Summary:
In 1976, a lower-middle-class teenager struggles to cope living with her neurotic family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, humorous, disturbing, sincere, semi serious, teen, independent film, clever, black comedy, period piece
Similar in 77%
Garden State (2004)
Plot Summary:
Andrew returns to his hometown for the funeral of his mother, a journey that reconnects him with past friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam - a girl also suffering from various maladies - opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 222000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, sweet, independent film, funny, melancholic, feel good, realistic, offbeat, emotional
Similar in 75%
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, which follows 15-year-old freshman Charlie, an endearing and naive outsider who is taken under the wings of two seniors. A moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope - and the unforgettable friends that help us through life.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 539000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, teen, melancholic, romantic, emotional, realistic, feel good, heartbreaking, independent film
Similar in 89%
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Plot Summary:
A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 508000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: road movie, feel good, funny, melancholic, independent film, emotional, black comedy, dark comedy, sweet, humorous
Similar in 75%
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Plot Summary:
After spending eight months in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 734000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, offbeat, emotional, depressing, realistic, sentimental, feel good, sweet, talky
Similar in 78%
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
Plot Summary:
A story of two love affairs. A father's love for his five sons. And one son's love for his father, a love so strong it compels him to live a lie. That son is Zac Beaulieu, born on the 25th of December 1960, different from all his brothers, but desperate to fit in. During the next 20 years, life takes Zac on a surprising and unexpected journey that ultimately leads him to accept his true nature and, even more importantly, leads his father to love him for who he really is.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, Morocco, France
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, humorous, sentimental, realistic, heartbreaking, talky, semi serious, independent film, inspirational
Similar in 88%
American Beauty (1999)
Plot Summary:
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: melancholic, thought provoking, dark comedy, sexual, cerebral, dramatic, sexy, black comedy, tragicomedy, cynical
Similar in 81%
Juno (2007)
Plot Summary:
A young girl named Juno gets herself pregnant and tries to stand on her own, but soon learns a few lessons about being grown up.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 543000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: funny, touching, sweet, sentimental, feel good, teen, humorous, realistic, comedy drama, cute
Similar in 84%
It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
Plot Summary:
A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 147000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, independent film, funny, feel good, humorous, teen, sweet, visually appealing, semi serious