Best movies like A Separation
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies related to A Separation? Share your insights to lead others find movies and tv shows you've viewed already that might suit them too. Aid in growing the cohort of people putting forward videos to one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 255000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France, Australia
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, emotional, realistic, tense, talky, bleak, suspense, compassionate, sad, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like A Separation (2011):
Similar in 80%
The Salesman (2016)
Plot Summary:
Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, intense, atmospheric, harsh, stylized, cerebral, social, surprise ending
Similar in 88%
Fireworks Wednesday (2006)
Plot Summary:
On the day before their holiday trip to Dubai, a wife who believes her husband is unfaithful enlists the help of Roohi, a young woman sent by an agency to clean the house. She asks Roohi to make an appointment and gather information at the salon of the woman she suspects. Roohi is betrothed, innocent of marital discord. Over the course of the day, she, the couple, their small son, the wife's sister and husband, and the beautician engage in a series of exchanges, confrontations, and prevarications. Are the wife's suspicions unwarranted; is her behavior imperiling her marriage? Acts of kindness may go awry. And the trip to Dubai?.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Iran
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, suspense, social, art house, islamic, clever, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)
Plot Summary:
The trial story of Viviane Amsalem's five year fight to obtain her divorce in front of the only legal authority competent for divorce cases in Israel, the Rabbinical Court.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, France, Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, thought provoking, touching, social, art house, detective, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Crimson Gold (2003)
Plot Summary:
For Hussein, a pizza delivery driver, the imbalance of the social system is thrown in his face wherever he turns. One day when his friend, Ali, shows him the contents of a lost purse, Hussein discovers a receipt of payment and cannot believe the large sum of money someone spent to purchase an expensive necklace. He knows that his pitiful salary will never be enough to afford such luxury. Hussein receives yet another blow when he and Ali are denied entry to an uptown jewelry store because of their appearance. His job allows him a full view of the contrast between rich and poor. He motorbikes every evening to neighborhoods he will never live in, for a closer look at what goes on behind closed doors. But one night, Hussein tastes the luxurious life, before his deep feelings of humiliation push him over the edge.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Iran
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, sincere, atmospheric, serious, contemplative, suspense, islamic, psychological, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Time Out (2001)
Plot Summary:
An unemployed man finds his life sinking more and more into trouble as he hides his situation from his family and friends.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: psychological, enigmatic, depressing, meditative, stylized, compassionate, serious, atmospheric, realistic, social
Similar in 84%
The Past (2013)
Plot Summary:
After four years apart, Ahmad returns to his wife Marie in Paris in order to progress their divorce. During his brief stay, he cannot help noticing the strained relationship between Marie and her daughter Lucie. As he attempts to improve matters between mother and daughter Ahmad unwittingly lifts the lid on a long buried secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: France, Italy, Belgium
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, emotional, sincere, captivating, art house, cerebral, realistic, inspirational, touching, depressing
Similar in 80%
About Elly (2009)
Plot Summary:
The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, depressing, suspense, existential, inspirational, philosophical
Similar in 83%
Timbuktu (2014)
Plot Summary:
A cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed. A look at the brief occupation of Timbuktu by militant Islamic rebels.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, Mauritania, Qatar
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: disturbing, harsh, compassionate, emotional, intense, social, art house, independent film, intercultural, slow cinema
Similar in 85%
Two Days, One Night (2014)
Plot Summary:
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: depressing, independent film, sincere, serious, compassionate, atmospheric, emotional, thought provoking, bleak, cerebral
Similar in 78%
Osama (2003)
Plot Summary:
Teenage girl Osama cuts her hair and dresses like a boy to get a job and support her widowed mother and grandmother. When Osama is called by the Taliban to join school and military training she embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey as she tries to keep the Taliban from finding out her true identity.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Afghanistan, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Iran
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, sincere, bleak, thought provoking, breathtaking, talky, stylized, captivating
Similar in 82%
All or Nothing (2002)
Plot Summary:
Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy, and she works on the checkout at a supermarket.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: depressing, emotional, bleak, serious, realistic, meditative, sentimental, sincere, talky, offbeat
Similar in 77%
Ten (2002)
Plot Summary:
A visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: talky, melancholic, light, intense, sincere, thought provoking, touching, realistic, art house, contemplative
Similar in 80%
Music Box (1989)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, emotional, political, heartbreaking, talky, sincere, realistic, serious, suspense
Similar in 89%
A Dry White Season (1989)
Plot Summary:
Taking place during the 1976 Soweto uprising, the story follows a white school teacher whose life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: talky, emotional, disturbing, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, political, retro, thinking
Similar in 86%
Not Without My Daughter (1991)
Plot Summary:
An American woman, trapped in Islamic Iran by her brutish husband, must find a way to escape with her daughter as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: factual, tense, thought provoking, touching, bleak, realistic, sad, retro, suspense, poignant
Similar in 84%
Nobody Knows (2004)
Plot Summary:
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: depressing, touching, serious, atmospheric, bleak, gloomy, heartbreaking, contemplative, melancholic, meditative
Similar in 84%
The War Zone (1999)
Plot Summary:
An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, depressing, heartbreaking, rough, emotional, controversial, atmospheric, brutal, serious
Similar in 88%
Fearless (1993)
Plot Summary:
After a terrible air disaster, survivor Max Klein emerges a changed person. Unable to connect to his former life or to wife Laura, he feels godlike and invulnerable. When psychologist Bill Perlman is unable to help Max, he has Max meet another survivor, Carla Rodrigo, who is racked with grief and guilt since her baby died in the crash which she and Max survived.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, enigmatic, uplifting, serious, spiritual, cerebral, philosophical, touching, offbeat
Similar in 76%
Love's a Bitch (2000)
Plot Summary:
Three different people in Mexico City are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a gunshot Rotweiler.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 250000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: bleak, psychological, depressing, emotional, tense, realistic, non-linear, independent film, hispanic, suspense
Similar in 79%
The Hunt (2012)
Plot Summary:
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 355000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: bleak, thought provoking, psychological, depressing, sad, disturbing, controversial, emotional, intense, captivating
Similar in 85%
What Maisie Knew (2012)
Plot Summary:
Based on the Henry James novella, the story frames on 7-year-old Maisie, caught in a custody battle between her mother – a rock and roll icon – and her father. What Maisie Knew is an evocative portrayal of the chaos of adult life seen entirely from a child’s point of view.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sad, atmospheric, talky, sincere, captivating, serious, depressing, melancholic
Similar in 76%
The Return (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story of two Russian boys whose father suddenly returns home after a 12-year absence. He takes the boys on a holiday to a remote island on a lake that turns into a test of manhood of almost mythic proportions.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: bleak, emotional, art house, road movie, atmospheric, cerebral, thought provoking, lyrical, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 79%
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
Similar in 89%
Hidden (2005)
Plot Summary:
A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on their front porch.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Austria, Germany, Italy
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, psychological thriller, art house, surreal, tense, neo noir, clever, bleak, confusing
Similar in 87%
The United States of Leland (2003)
Plot Summary:
A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: depressing, meditative, psychological, bleak, emotional, rough, serious, realistic, touching, melancholic
Similar in 84%
Crash (2004)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 446000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Australia
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: bleak, touching, thought provoking, sincere, emotional, gloomy, sad, political, intense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Rabbit Hole (2010)
Plot Summary:
Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, crying, emotional, independent film, atmospheric, surreal, compassionate, psychological, sincere
Similar in 82%
Still Alice (2014)
Plot Summary:
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 142000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sad, heartbreaking, touching, emotional, inspirational, depressing, tear jerker, psychological, compassionate, sentimental
Similar in 90%
Parasite (2019)
Plot Summary:
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 910000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: suspense, black comedy, exciting, dark comedy, captivating, tragic ending, psychological thriller, political, social, disturbing
Similar in 83%
21 Grams (2003)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of three gentle persons: Paul Rivers an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré, Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife, happily married and mother of two little girls, and Jack Jordan, an ex-convict who has found in his Christian faith the strength to raise a family. They will be brought together by a terrible accident that will change their lives. By the final frame, none of them will be the same as they will learn harsh truths about love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance can change our worlds irretrievably, forever.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 244000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: mind bending, psychological, emotional, bleak, non-linear, gloomy, depressing, suspense, sincere, sad