Best movies like A Very Short Life
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
"A woman is born to give her body to men; her father or strangers should make no difference." Respectable Police Commissioner Josephine reinvestigates an insignificant murder case of a 11 years old girl. The murderer is the mother of the victim, Becky. Under intense interrogation, Becky refused to admit that she knew all along that her boyfriend was raping her little daughter at home. The harsh interrogation drives Becky into killing herself. What is the truth that the raging Commissioner is trying to find out? What is the seemingly defenseless mother hiding? Or is she acually telling the truth? Is the phrase, "A woman is born to give her body to men." the whole truth?.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 135
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, suspense, tense, bleak
Best tv shows and movies like A Very Short Life (2009):
Similar in 88%
Unholy Women (2006)
Plot Summary:
Unholy Women (Kowai onna), is a composite of three unrelated half-hour horror movies. A compilation of 3 separate short horror films (Rattle Rattle, Hagane, The Inheritance) written and directed by Keita Amemiya, Takuji Suzuki, and Keisuke Toyoshima respectively. The first segment, “Rattle Rattle”, tells the story of a young woman who is pursued by an evil other-worldly being. The second movie, “Steel”, concerns a young man who agrees to take the sister of his boss out on a blind date, drawing him into a world more frightening than he ever dreamed possible. The third and final episode, “The Inheritance”, is a supernatural tale of a woman and her young son, scarred by abuse and psychological trauma.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: anthology, psychological, rough, bleak, suspense, scary, dark fantasy, dark fairy tale, spooky, asian horror
Similar in 85%
Sun Scarred (2006)
Plot Summary:
Katayama is on the way home to his wife and little daughter when he stumbles on a gang of punks beating up an innocent man. Katamaya decides to help the stranger and surprisingly wins the fight. This turns out to be a bad decision as his daughter is kidnapped and murdered by the leader of the same band of young thugs. Katayama seeks revenge and tries to trace the gangs location.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 582
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: scary, tense, rough, bleak, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense thriller
Similar in 77%
The Kiss (2004)
Plot Summary:
Sarah, a beautiful and gifted 15-year-old from a wealthy but chaotic family, holds on to one dream: to run away from home and to become a professional ballet dancer.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Boyfriend Killer (2017)
Plot Summary:
A Grieving mother suspects that her son's ex-girlfriend may have been involved in his death.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 456
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, suspense, scary, tense, unusual plot structure, captivating, exciting
Similar in 86%
Left for Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story (2021)
Plot Summary:
17-year-old Ashley Reeves is left for dead in the woods following a brutal attack. After spending 30 horrific hours in the cold, gravely wounded, lying in the dirt, and paralyzed, the police find her alive.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 524
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 90%
9:06 (2009)
Plot Summary:
A police inspector investigates an unusual suicide case. The investigation develops into an obsession, inspector starts living in the apartment of the deceased, digging through his life and gradually taking over his identity.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 331
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Slovenia, Germany
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspense, mind bending, offbeat, captivating, gloomy
Similar in 77%
A Killer Within (2004)
Plot Summary:
Addison Terrill, a former district attorney now in a lucrative private practice, has what seems to be the perfect life. But life as he knows it is turned upside down when he arrives home from work late one night to find his wife brutally murdered and his son unconscious in critical condition at the hospital. Now, fingered as a suspect by the police, Addison must race to find the real killer and prove his innocence before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 834
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, mind bending, tense, rough, serious, psychological, bleak, realistic, surprise ending
Similar in 77%
Killing Jesus (2017)
Plot Summary:
Paula, a young art student, witnesses the assassination of her father, a university professor. Frustrated by the local police she starts to investigate the murder herself. Driven by anger, frustration and sorrow, she commits fearless acts that put her and her family at risk.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Colombia, Argentina
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, thought provoking
Similar in 84%
Murder of Innocence (1993)
Plot Summary:
In this shocking account based on a true story, newlywed Laurie Wade finds her marriage, and eventually the rest of her life, shattered by her deep-rooted psychotic behavior. The young woman soon begins a terrifying descent into insanity and brings danger to all those around her as she goes from brief "short-circuits" to overtly murderous behavior.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Nights of a Shemale: A Mad Man Trilogy 1/3 (2020)
Plot Summary:
Ah Fat, a lonely man arrives in a strange country, escaping from his past and seeking salvation. Living in a constant state of psychological turmoil, redemption was never quite in reach. Making friends with Miumiu, a coworker who is a gogo girl and a male gigolo Pumpkin turns Ah Fat's life around; he finds a strange, unique sort of happiness in friendship that had evaded him for a long time. Then comes a turn of events that changes everything; Ah Fat will have to choose between saving his friends by killing the evil shop owner, and standing idly by. This is the final straw; Ah Fat is pushed to the brink, all hell breaks loose.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 26
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Under Suspicion (1981)
Plot Summary:
A police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, disturbing, neo noir, psychological thriller, serious, gloomy, twist ending, anthology, crime drama
Similar in 81%
Fatal Contact (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young man learns the fighting techniques of Sanda from a coach. The two become best friends as the young man prepares to enter an underground tournament, competing against some of the top fighters of the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 82%
Half a life (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young woman is found raped and bludgeoned to death. Her father can’t reconcile himself with her death, and even less with the fact that the murderer was never found. Half of his life he continues the search. Finally, after more than 20 years, as DNA-analysis becomes a factor in forensic medicine, new perspectives open.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 323
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 83%
Maisie Undercover: Shadow Boxer (2006)
Plot Summary:
The beautiful ex-cop/bar owner/private eye goes undercover as a boxer at an illegal underground fight club in order to find the killer of a female boxer.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Kept (2001)
Plot Summary:
Dead bodies are piling up, and the leads the two LA homicide cops have point to Barbara, business manager for a successful architectural firm she runs with her husband Lance. The dead men were interns at the firm, and each of them was Barbara's lover (kept in a classy flat she owns and observed via closed-circuit TV by the applauding Lance). Kyle is Barbara's latest intern and lover, and he may be in danger. He also starts to fall in love with Barbara, and the feeling may be mutual. In the background are Erin, Lance and Barbara's myopic administrative assistant, and Tony, Kyle's one-time roommate who also knows Barbara. Can the cops solve this before too many more die?.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 337
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: detective, psychological, exciting, tense, suspense, suspenseful, touching, bleak, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Fistpie (2010)
Plot Summary:
Haunted by memories of his ex-girlfriend Alice, a heartbroken Billy returns home to Northern Virginia seeking solace from old friends. But what he finds there is more disconcerting: his best friend Stanley has become unstable, mysterious and withdrawn from those around him. Billy teams up with another old friend to find out what's going on and as they probe Stanley's recent activities, their friend's behaviour seems more and more bizarre and frightening.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 447
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, suspenseful, captivating, psychological thriller, slasher, serious, realistic, independent film, suspense
Similar in 82%
The Secret Scandal (2013)
Plot Summary:
A reporter and a prosecutor investigate the death of an actress, and in the process come into conflict with a group of very powerful people. Based on the true story of actress Jang Ja-yeon's suicide.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 183
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 75%
Port of Call (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on a real murder case where a dismembered corpse of a murdered 16 year-old prostitute girl was found in Hong Kong in 2008.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, captivating, suspenseful, noir, neo noir, crime drama, twisted
Similar in 90%
The Odessa File (1974)
Plot Summary:
After reading the diary of an elderly Jewish man who committed suicide, freelance journalist Peter Miller begins to investigate the alleged sighting of a former SS-Captain who commanded a concentration camp during World War II. Miller eventually finds himself involved with the powerful organization of former SS members, called ODESSA, as well as with the Israeli secret service. Miller probes deeper and eventually discovers a link between the SS-Captain, ODESSA, and his own family.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: political thriller, twisted, tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, political, suspense, powerful, serious, captivating
Similar in 85%
Pride and Glory (2008)
Plot Summary:
A saga centered on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney, investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, intense, detective, serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, dark, psychological
Similar in 81%
Under Suspicion (2000)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes", they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is away from his speech become longer and longer.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, suspense, talky, tense, detective, enigmatic, twist ending, bleak, serious
Similar in 75%
Recurrence (2022)
Plot Summary:
Years after moving to a remote town, ex-cop Pipa is pulled back into the dark world she thought she'd left behind when a corpse appears on her property.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing, dark
Similar in 84%
Played (2006)
Plot Summary:
An examination of the malevolent London underworld with it's despicable criminal underground. Ray (Mick Rossi) just finished an eight year prison sentence after getting set up. Now he is back on the streets to settle the score.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, freeze frame
Similar in 79%
The Ugly (1997)
Plot Summary:
A female psychologist wants to understand the minds of a confessed serial killer who spent the last five years in a mental hospital because of his state.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing, creepy, psychological horror, slasher, controversial, mindfuck
Similar in 79%
Narc (2002)
Plot Summary:
An undercover narc dies, the investigation stalls, so the Detroit P.D. brings back Nick Tellis, fired 18-months ago when a stray bullet hits a pregnant woman. Tellis teams with Henry Oak, a friend of the dead narc and an aggressive cop constantly under the scrutiny of internal affairs. They follow leads and informants turn up dead.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, Canada, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: bleak, suspense, tense, realistic, suspenseful, neo noir, psychological, atmospheric, harsh, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Eye for an Eye (1996)
Plot Summary:
It's fire and brimstone time as grieving mother Karen McCann takes justice into her own hands when a kangaroo court in Los Angeles fails to convict Robert Doob, the monster who raped and murdered her 17-year-old daughter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, tense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, suspense, detective, rough, bleak, serious
Similar in 88%
Dancing Trees (2009)
Plot Summary:
Martha (Katie Boland), 18, sees the world as animated and fun. She has a form of autism that means she is a mathematical genuis whilst incapable of looking after herself. Living in a dull routinewith her cousin Nicole (Brooke Burns), and mother Josephine (Amanda Tapping), she sees the good in everything and everyone. But suddenly, her mother is the casualty of a brutal crime before her eyes and Martha is sent to a foster home. Nicole is distraught and battle for custody of her cousin, but the police constantly block her requests. Finally, Detective Velez relents, on one condition: Martha must help solve the crime and find justice for her fallen mother.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Sexual Intrigue (2008)
Plot Summary:
A mystery start when all the psychologist's patient are murdered, exactly after each one of them have a session. Who is the killer?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, sexy
Similar in 88%
Mystic River (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story about friendship and loyalty, guilt and vengeance, and the fateful affect the past has on the present.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 477000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, emotional, twist ending, neo noir, depressing, tense, bleak, psychological thriller, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Insomnia (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 313000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, atmospheric, detective, psychological thriller, suspense, dark, suspenseful, tense, bad ending