Best movies like New Year's Day
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A man returns to his sublet apartment to find the previous tenants, three offbeat young women, still in residence, under the mistaken belief that they have the apartment until the end of New Year's Day.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 334
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, heartfelt
Best tv shows and movies like New Year's Day (1989):
Similar in 86%
Just 45 Minutes from Broadway (2012)
Plot Summary:
Stinging from the latest of several romantic break-ups, Pandora Isaacs (Tanna Frederick) retreats to the safety of her parents’ ramshackle upstate country house — just 45 minutes from Broadway— where her non-theatrical sister (Julie Davis) and her sister's fiance, a real- estate executive, (Judd Nelson) are also arriving for the weekend and the family's yearly Passover Seder. Family secrets, sibling rivalries, theatrical hysterics and the possibility of true love as rare as a blue bullfrog all emerge.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 89%
Babyfever (1994)
Plot Summary:
Gena is an average woman who is torn between her current boyfriend's desire to marry her and start a family, and the unexpected arrival of an old boyfriend wanting to pick up where they left off. To further complicate matters, she might be pregnant herself. In the mist of this unsettled personal life, Gena leaves her two men to attend a baby shower party for a girl friend and talks with the various female attendees all of whom are facing their own ticking biological clocks.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: independent film, erotic, psychological, light, sexy, thought provoking, clever, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic
Similar in 77%
Girlfriends (1978)
Plot Summary:
A photographer and her girlfriend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, independent film, art house, cult classic
Similar in 87%
Ovation (2015)
Plot Summary:
In this follow up to 'Hollywood Dreams' and 'Queen of the Lot', cheerful and neurotic actress Maggie Chase has cut some of her losses and focuses her acting career at local theater in West Hollywood. Still employed by her acting entourage of Gio, Kaz Naiman, Hildi, as well as the Lambert family, Maggie has reduced some of her neurosis and seems to find peace until she has a meeting of minds when she meets Stewart Henry, a slick and hotshot TV star who is seeking his own career choices by making the transition from TV and film to live theater.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 74
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
Behaving Badly (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young couple coming to terms with issues of trust and fidelity in the days leading up to their wedding. A peek inside the lives of a young, soon-to-be-married couple and their small circle of friends.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing, sexy, independent film
Similar in 80%
Topless (2008)
Plot Summary:
The ever-lively and upbeat Natsuko tries to mend a broken heart by carrying on with a string of short-lived affairs after her break-up with Tomomi. But when Tomomi announces her plans to marry - a man - Natsuko becomes inconsolable. While all this is taking place, Natsuko's straight male roommate is grappling with his own feelings for her, and a young high school girl comes to Tokyo searching for the mother that long ago left her for a female lover. Each character - queer, straight, male, female, young, old, and in-between - struggles to make peace with him/herself as all their lives overlap. This story captures the power of young love, and the web of the city.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 102
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
All Nighter (2017)
Plot Summary:
When a globe-trotting, workaholic father trying to visit his daughter on a last minute layover in Los Angeles discovers that she’s disappeared, he forces her awkward, nervous ex-boyfriend, still nursing a broken heart, to help him find her over the course of one increasingly crazy night.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: humorous, sentimental, light, captivating, disturbing, entertaining, buddy comedy, horror comedy
Similar in 81%
Saturday Night at the Baths (1975)
Plot Summary:
The Continental Baths, a favorite hangout of New York homosexuals, provides the background of this socially conscious comedy drama that tries to examine the relationships between gay and heterosexual people. The story centers around a macho, heterosexual piano player who gets a job at the notorious nightclub and must therefore reconsider his attitudes. His girl friend helps him too. In the end, he winds up becoming sure of his sexuality when he tries to sleep with a gay man.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 488
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Almost Adults (2016)
Plot Summary:
Follows two best friends in their final year of college while they transition into adulthood. One embraces her sexuality and tries to catch up on everything she has missed during her teenage years, while the other ends a long term relationship with her boyfriend and discovers her life isn't going as planned. Both struggle to keep their friendship together as they begin growing apart.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, sweet, romantic, touching, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995)
Plot Summary:
Filmed entirely on location in East Hampton, Long Island, "Last Summer in the Hamptons" concerns a large theatrical family spending the last weekend of their summer together at the decades-old family retreat which economic circumstances have forced them to put on the market. Victoria Foyt plays a young Hollywood actress whose visit wreaks havoc on the stellar group of family and friends - led by matriarch Viveca Lindfors and made up of an extraordinary mix of prominent New York actors, directors, and playwrights. In the course of a very unusual weekend, comic as well as serious situations arise, and the family's secrets - of which there are many - begin to unravel.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 434
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, talky, sincere, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, psychological, romantic
Similar in 80%
Irene in Time (2009)
Plot Summary:
A film about the complex relationships between fathers and daughters, and the potential lifelong consequences of those relationships.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, clever, touching, humorous, serious, realistic, talky, independent film
Similar in 80%
Hollywood Dreams (2006)
Plot Summary:
The tale of a young girl fresh off the bus from Iowa, who falls in love with a sexy and promising young actor, though their relationship threatens to complicate her own obsessive goal of becoming a famous actress. The film perfectly captures the delightful and desperate lives of those chasing dreams in Hollywood: One day they are shuffling down a boardwalk with too many suitcases, and the next they are lounging in contemporary hillside homes with a view of the city. Though neither state is permanent the more desirable one fuels the dream. The story's extraordinary execution portrays Hollywood as the fantastic and insane place that it is. Written by Lane Kneedler, American Film Institute Magazine.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 251
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: semi serious, captivating, psychological, emotional, sex comedy, independent film, humorous, realistic, witty, talky
Similar in 90%
Digging for Fire (2015)
Plot Summary:
Tim and Lee are married with a young child. The chance to stay at a fancy home in the Hollywood Hills is complicated by Tim's discovery of a bone and a rusty old gun in the yard. Tim is excited by the idea of a mystery, but Lee doesn't want him to dig any further, preferring that he focus on the family taxes, which he promised to do weeks ago. This disagreement sends them on separate and unexpected adventures over the course of a weekend, as Tim and his friends seek clues to the mystery while Lee searches for answers to the bigger questions of marriage and parenthood.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, realistic, sincere, serious, talky, independent film, cult classic, light hearted
Similar in 76%
Only When I Laugh (1981)
Plot Summary:
A boozy Broadway actress comes out of a 12-week cure to face the problems of her best friends as well as her needy daughter. She tries to balance the terrors of returning to work with the demands of all around her with humor and insight, while staying off the booze.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sentimental, clever, touching, realistic, talky, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Lez Bomb (2018)
Plot Summary:
A still closeted young woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, only to have her coming out efforts thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, entertaining, absurd, independent film, queer cinema, weird
Similar in 85%
Ellie Parker (2005)
Plot Summary:
Ellie Parker, an aspiring actress from Australia, lives a hectic Hollywood lifestyle, perpetually trying to land the role that will elevate her career. Living with her lothario musician boyfriend, Justin, Ellie is far from happy, finding support primarily from her friend Sam. But when Ellie meets Chris after a minor traffic accident, she sees new potential for both romance and her life in general.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: semi serious, neurotic, humorous, realistic, witty, mockumentary, psychological, clever, offbeat, biting
Similar in 86%
Don't Think Twice (2016)
Plot Summary:
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: entertaining, funny, touching, emotional, talky, cult classic, independent film, feel good, mumblecore, intense
Similar in 86%
Queen of the Lot (2010)
Plot Summary:
An electronic ankle bracelet and being under house arrest aren't about to stop up-and-coming actress Maggie Chase (Tanna Frederick) from the two things she craves the most: real fame and true love. With more "Google points" than her Iowa hometown, but far less than Angelina Jolie, Maggie is desperate to claw her way off the B-list of action/adventure pictures and into major movie stardom.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 84%
Remember the Daze (2007)
Plot Summary:
During the summer of 1999, a group of teenagers, through interconnected narratives, live through their last day of high school and prepare for the future. Holly, once the new girl in school, does whatever it takes to remain popular. Dawn, who is secretly a lesbian, battles drugs. Tori is the valedictorian of her class, but, on the eve of graduation, she decides to experiment with drugs for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, touching, realistic, funny, teen, psychotronic, independent film, weird
Similar in 82%
Chance (2002)
Plot Summary:
'Chance' is a black comedy about how hard it is to find "the one". Mostly told from the point-of-view of a young, sexually aggressive woman, named Chance, whom according to her: "we're all out there looking for true love", which turns out to be a very elusive thing indeed, and Chance is no exception. She's desperately on the prowl for a man, but since she's more mouse than cat, she gets herself into scrape after scrape in her screwball pursuit of love. Surrounded by a bevy of adoring but completely wrong-for-her men (and one dead girl from Manchester, England), Chance has to pick her way through her messy life in order to figure out which guy is "it".
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, non-linear
Similar in 82%
Lily & Kat (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set in New York City, the film follows a naive fashion school graduate named Lily who finds her world turned upside down when her reckless best friend Kat announces she’s moving away to London in a matter of days. At a Lower East Side art opening the next night, they meet the enigmatic rising artist Henri, who Lily quickly takes a liking for. With less than seven days left and a new attractor between them, Lily and Kat will find their “unbreakable” friendship put to the test.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 656
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, light, feel good, independent film
Similar in 80%
City Baby (2013)
Plot Summary:
Sexy. Style-conscious. Extreme love affairs. Complicated friendships. Life happens all too quickly when Cloey is reluctantly plucked from her comfort zone and complete reliance on others is overturned – a secure relationship with her boyfriend unravels, her childhood best friend is moving away and daddy’s (Daniel Baldwin) checkbook closes. City Baby comments on the ladder-climbing mentality of always reaching for the next bigger, better thing – relationship, city, job – when sometimes what's right in front of us is just fine. Scattered with cameos from Portland musicians like Stephen Malkmus of Pavement, live musical performances by Glass Candy and Starfucker, and a thoughtful soundtrack featuring all Portland bands and musicians, City Baby depicts a playground for semi-adults, revolving through the lives of cool kids.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 225
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, captivating, psychological, sexy, independent film, sincere, semi serious, sexual
Similar in 79%
Eating (1990)
Plot Summary:
At a spacious house in Los Angeles, Helene is turning 40-years old and her friends whom include French filmmaker Martine, house guest Sophie, and Lydia throw her a party. But also there is Kate a friend turning 30, and Sadie a Hollywood film agent turning 50. So, all of Helene's, Kate's, and Sadie's friends arrive for the party where Martine films the events with her movie camera and the shocking secrets revealed by Helene's mother Whitney, and her younger sister Nancy whom confide in their interviews about their obsession with food, and their roles in life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, contemplative, talky, semi serious
Similar in 83%
Chutney Popcorn (1999)
Plot Summary:
Reena is a young Indian American lesbian who lives and works in New York. Her sister Sarita, who is happily married, discovers that she is infertile. Reena offers to be a surrogate mother for her sister's baby, hoping to improve her relationship with their mother, who disapproves of Reena's sexual orientation. Reena has second thoughts when her girlfriend Lisa feels left out.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: multicultural, independent film, clever, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Funny Story (2018)
Plot Summary:
A tragic comedy about a well-intentioned father who inadvertently wreaks havoc on the life of his estranged daughter.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, sexy, touching, humorous, contemplative, dark comedy, unusual plot structure
Similar in 75%
Jenny's Wedding (2015)
Plot Summary:
Jenny Farrell is getting married. But how will her straight-laced family react when they find out that the woman they thought was their daughter’s roommate is actually her fiancée? As the old-fashioned Farrells attempt to come to terms with the prospect of a surprise daughter-in-law, they face a difficult choice: either adapt with the times or risk being left behind.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, light, touching, humorous, teen, relaxing, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Standing Still (2005)
Plot Summary:
A chain reaction of confrontations and romantic encounters occurs when college friends reunite for one's wedding.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating, touching, romantic, exciting
Similar in 84%
Boys on the Side (1995)
Plot Summary:
After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane, answers a personal ad from Robin, a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Robin's friend Holly, who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: road movie, sentimental, touching, emotional, erotic, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, cult classic, hilarious, humorous
Similar in 81%
Lady Bird (2017)
Plot Summary:
A California high school student plans to escape from her family and small town by going to college in New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 318000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, art house, realistic, gothic, semi serious, cute, teen, comedy drama, indie film, aesthetic
Similar in 77%
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Plot Summary:
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 657000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, psychedelic, independent film, clever, intellectual, atmospheric, enigmatic