Best movies like American Fiction
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Thelonious “Monk” Ellison's writing career has stalled because his work isn’t deemed “Black enough.” Monk, a writer and English professor, writes a satirical novel under a pseudonym, aiming to expose the publishing world's hypocrisies. The book’s immediate success forces him to get deeper enmeshed in his assumed identity and challenges his closely-held worldviews.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 966
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: satirical, dark comedy, alternative comedy
Best tv shows and movies like American Fiction (2023):
Similar in 90%
Little Boxes (2016)
Plot Summary:
It's the summer before 6th grade, and Clark is the new-in-town biracial kid in a sea of white. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act 'more black,' he fumbles to meet expectations, while his urban intellectual parents Mack and Gina also strive to adjust to small-town living. Equipped for the many inherent challenges of New York, the tight-knit family are ill prepared for the drastically different set of obstacles that their new community presents, and soon find themselves struggling to understand themselves and each other in this new suburban context.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 82%
The Last Word (2017)
Plot Summary:
A retired businesswoman – who tries to control everything around her – decides to write her own obituary. A young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, and the result is a life-altering friendship.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, humorous, captivating, disturbing, motivational, philosophical, sad
Similar in 77%
Half Brothers (2020)
Plot Summary:
A story about the complex connection with a brother who is based in Mexico, meant to be a metaphor of the relationship between neighboring countries America and Mexico.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: humorous, not serious, buddy comedy, road movie, ridiculous
Similar in 83%
Young Bodies Heal Quickly (2014)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers are fleeing arrest for the "accidental" killing of a young girl. Their destination is their estranged father's desolate compound on the sea shore.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 107
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 76%
Twenty Bucks (1993)
Plot Summary:
A story about the life of a twenty dollar bill as it weaves in and out of the various lives of several people.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, humorous, captivating, light, anthology, cult classic, independent film, psychological, sentimental, serious
Similar in 78%
Quasi (2023)
Plot Summary:
A hapless hunchback who only yearns for love, finds himself in the middle of a murderous feud between the Pope and the King of France when each orders the hunchback to kill the other.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: satirical, slapstick comedy
Similar in 79%
Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
Plot Summary:
Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical, disturbing, semi serious, philosophical, feel good, humorous, family comedy, heartfelt
Similar in 86%
Red Rocket (2021)
Plot Summary:
Finding himself down and out in Los Angeles, ex porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: erotic, captivating, satirical, disturbing, semi serious, funny, mind twisting, powerful, comedy drama, mind bending
Similar in 83%
Butter (2011)
Plot Summary:
An adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their Iowa town's annual contest.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, sweet, melancholic, dark comedy, light, satirical, absurd, not serious, black comedy
Similar in 87%
Henry Fool (1997)
Plot Summary:
An egocentric bum transforms the lives of a shy New Jersey garbageman and his sister.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: independent film, philosophical, cult classic, dark comedy, offbeat, humorous, talky, stylized, allegory, black comedy
Similar in 77%
Another Happy Day (2011)
Plot Summary:
A wedding at her parents' Annapolis estate hurls high-strung Lynn into the center of touchy family dynamics.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, witty, semi serious, sentimental, social, neurotic, teen, touching, realistic
Similar in 79%
Twister (1989)
Plot Summary:
An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 year old daughter, his would-be artist son, the son's fiancée, and the black maid. Also thrown into the mix is the daughter's ex-husband, a ne-er-do-well who is seeking to get back in his ex-wife's good graces.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sad, independent film, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, contemplative, semi serious, exciting, light
Similar in 88%
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 85%
The House of Yes (1997)
Plot Summary:
Jackie-O is anxiously awaiting the visit of her brother home for Thanksgiving, but isn't expecting him to bring a friend. She's even more shocked to learn that this friend is his fiance. It soon becomes clear that Jackie Kennedy's obsession is nothing compared to her obsession with her brother, as it also becomes clear she isn't the only member of the family with problems.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, humorous, black comedy, independent film, surreal, absurd, offbeat, dark, cult classic, psychological
Similar in 80%
The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
Plot Summary:
The film talks about a family that weathers all sorts of disasters and keeps going in spite of it all. It is noted for its wonderful assortment of oddball characters.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: black comedy, offbeat, humorous, dark comedy, realistic, semi serious, independent film, erotic, psychological, road movie
Similar in 90%
Good Fences (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1970s, Tom Spader is an attorney who is determined to end what he has dubbed "the colored man's losing streak." When his winning of a high-profile case thrusts him into the limelight, he decides to moves his wife and their two kids out of their mixed lower-middle-class town and into the posh enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 876
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, black comedy, biting, suspense
Similar in 76%
The Door in the Floor (2004)
Plot Summary:
Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O'Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, erotic, melancholic, touching, reflective, aesthetic, twisted, tense, clever
Similar in 81%
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 84%
See You in Valhalla (2015)
Plot Summary:
After the bizarre death of her brother, Johana Burwood must return home after four years, to face her strange siblings, her out of touch father and her very touchy past.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: psychological, humorous, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999)
Plot Summary:
An African American couple (Winfield and Alice) adopt two orphans from a Vietnamese refugee camp. After twenty-two years, the children are reunited with their birth mother, bringing deeply submerged resentments and misconceptions to the surface and forcing the characters to reexamine their identity and relationships in both comical and poignant situations.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 515
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, emotional, black comedy, sentimental, serious, realistic, crying, funny, romantic
Similar in 87%
Jumping the Broom (2011)
Plot Summary:
Two very different families converge on Martha's Vineyard one weekend for a wedding.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, black comedy, hood, teen, bilingual
Similar in 78%
State and Main (2000)
Plot Summary:
A Hollywood Film unit invades a small Vermont town leading to wholesale abandonment of values and virtue. A smart, warm and funny movie - and not just for movie buffs. Tagline: When a film crew came to Waterford, Vermont - They Shot First And Asked Questions Later.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, talky, funny, melancholic, cynical, stylized, realistic, clever, witty
Similar in 88%
World's Greatest Dad (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of fame, fortune and popularity, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, clever, melancholic, dark, disturbing, cult classic, hilarious, offbeat, philosophical
Similar in 89%
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 84%
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
Plot Summary:
Tina Balser is a bored New York housewife-mother married to Jonathan, a pompous, social-climbing lawyer who ridicules her in front of their children, criticizing everything she does or wears. She begins an affair with George Prager, a dashing, successful and blatantly sadistic writer. Finally after George has tormented Tina in much the same manner Jonathan has, and has been unfaithful to boot, she goes back to her husband and begins group therapy.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: romantic, sexy, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, biting, sex comedy, suspense
Similar in 76%
Death at a Funeral (2010)
Plot Summary:
Aaron's father's funeral is today at the family home, and everything goes wrong: the funeral home delivers the wrong body, his cousin accidentally drugs her fiancé, and Aaron's successful younger brother, Ryan, flies in from New York, broke but arrogant. To top it all off, a mysterious stranger wants a word with Aaron.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: funny, black comedy, dark comedy, hilarious, melancholic, absurd, talky, humorous, not serious, rough
Similar in 84%
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Plot Summary:
Matt and Christina Drayton are a couple whose attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, intense, compassionate, sincere, semi serious, black and white, clever, realistic
Similar in 89%
This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
Plot Summary:
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 88000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, independent film, emotional, melancholic, funny, realistic, hilarious, teen, thought provoking
Similar in 76%
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 83%
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