Best movies like American Son
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The story of a young Marine, fresh from Camp Pendleton, who is forced to confront the complexities of adulthood and a volatile home life during a four-day Thanksgiving leave.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 913
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, hispanic, independent film, crying
Best tv shows and movies like American Son (2008):
Similar in 89%
Dogtown (1997)
Plot Summary:
Philip Van Horn, who left his small town a long time ago to become a Hollywood actor and hasn't had any success at that, returns to the town for a visit. There he is uniformally met like some kind of celebrity and movie star. He uses it to impress his (and everybody's) school love Dorothy, her life now a grey boring experience.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 80%
Missing Brendan (2003)
Plot Summary:
George takes a trip to Vietnam to find his missing son. George's son Bob and Bob's son Patrick accompany George on the trip. George's son, Brendan, has been Missing in Action since the Vietnam War. Julie, an archeologist, joined the search.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 141
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, psychological, captivating, sincere, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Flanders (2006)
Plot Summary:
André Demester secretly and painfully loves Barbe, his childhood friend, accepting from her the little that she gives him. He leaves home to be a soldier in a war in a far off land. Barbarity, camaraderie and fear turn him into a warrior. As the seasons go by, Barbe, alone and wasting away, waits for the soldiers to return. Will Demester’s boundless love for Barbe save him?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, slow cinema, exciting, captivating, suspenseful, bleak, disturbing, controversial, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Or (My Treasure) (2004)
Plot Summary:
Or shoulders a lot: she's 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or "my treasure," but Ruthie is a burden. She's just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or's emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she's in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or's choices narrow.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Israel
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, psychological, sincere, bleak, realistic, erotic, depressing, gloomy, crying
Similar in 81%
Four (2012)
Plot Summary:
Adapted from a stage play by Christopher Shinn, the debut feature from Joshua Sanchez is a provocative rumination on race and sexuality set on a sweltering 4th of July evening.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 573
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, atmospheric, serious, sexual, talky, gloomy, independent film, crying
Similar in 77%
The Messenger (2009)
Plot Summary:
Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, depressing, sincere, bleak, sad, psychological, realistic, epic, cult classic, powerful
Similar in 75%
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, serious, erotic, offbeat, psychological, gloomy, crying
Similar in 80%
Whirlygirl (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a run in with a hot exotic dancer one wintry night straight-laced prep school student James will find himself on the ride of his life. Risking his future he follows this mysterious woman to New York City - ditching school dodging cops and partying at hot nightclubs along the way.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, disturbing, light, sex comedy, serious, hot
Similar in 78%
The Doe Boy (2001)
Plot Summary:
A Cherokee boy is a haemophiliac in a culture obsessed with blood identity.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, emotional, independent film, sincere, realistic, contemplative, crying, cult film
Similar in 87%
Four Sheets to the Wind (2007)
Plot Summary:
After his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 633
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, romantic, romantic comedy, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
Ruby in Paradise (1993)
Plot Summary:
Reeling from her mother's recent death, Ruby Lee Gissing relocates to Florida to start anew. After finding a job at a souvenir store, Ruby becomes friends with the shop's owner, Mildred Chambers, and slowly acclimates to her new surroundings. Before long, she's juggling the affections of Mildred's Lothario son, Ricky, and the good-natured Mike. As she wavers between Ricky and Mike, Ruby also tries to come to terms with her past.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, realistic, road movie, mumblecore, romantic drama, psychological, tense, sentimental, sincere
Similar in 86%
A Better Life (2011)
Plot Summary:
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, thought provoking, inspirational, hood, independent film, romantic, captivating
Similar in 78%
Dandelion (2004)
Plot Summary:
In a small town of rolling fields and endless skies, isolated 16 year old Mason lives in a world where families exist in fragmented silence and love seems to have gone missing. Then Mason meets Danny, a sensitive and troubled girl, and their tender bond is soon tested after a fatal accident and a series of complications takes Mason away for something he didn't do.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, touching, sentimental, independent film, teen, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Come See the Paradise (1990)
Plot Summary:
Come See The Paradise is a deeply touching love story set against the backdrop of a dramatic and controversial period in American history, It follows the romance and eventual marriage of Jack McGurn (Dennis Quad), a hot blooded Irish American, and a beautiful Japanese American Lily Dawanura (Tamlyn Tomita), at the outset of World War II. The clash of cultures, at once painful for the two lovers, becomes insurmountable after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Lily and the Kawamuras are relocated To a bleak, outdoor internment camp in California, Jack is drafted into the Army, powerless to help the woman he loves abandoning all hope of ever winning her family's approval.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, crying, sentimental, romantic, clever
Similar in 79%
Guinevere (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young girl from an affluent family rebels and becomes involved with a much older photographer.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: disturbing, independent film, sentimental, touching, romantic, emotional, romantic drama, dark, arthurian, erotic
Similar in 75%
In My Country (2004)
Plot Summary:
An American reporter and an Afrikaans poet meet and fall in love while covering South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Ireland, South Africa
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, emotional, political, realistic, political thriller, crying
Similar in 84%
After the Rain (1999)
Plot Summary:
Steph, an Afrikaner, struggles with his past and heritage in the new South Africa. When his girlfriend befriends a black South African man called Vusisizwe trouble brews.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 278
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Africa, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, crying, tragic
Similar in 84%
Personal Velocity (2002)
Plot Summary:
Three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: talky, stylized, intense, touching, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, anthology, erotic
Similar in 84%
This Revolution (2005)
Plot Summary:
Jake Cassevetes is a world renowned shooter just back from being embedded during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a well-paid stringer for the networks, Jake does not buy into the currently vogue, left-wing conspiracy theory of a corporate-controlled press. But, after discovering much of his best footage in Iraq was censored by the network, Jake is growing disillusioned with his corporate masters. When he gets an assignment to shoot on the streets of the Republican National Convention protests, he meets Seven, one of the young leaders of the masked anarchist Black Bloc. Jake quickly wins the trust of the group and is allowed to shadow them as they move through the demo. Later that night, after shooting Seven with her mask down describing the Bloc's militant objectives, the videotape is mistakenly returned to the network with the rest of his footage. When he goes to retrieve the tape, he is.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 554
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, realistic, disturbing, political, cynical, cinema verite, fake documentary
Similar in 82%
The Land Girls (1998)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, the organisation "The Women's Land Army" recruited women to work on British farms while the men were off to war. Three such "land girls" of different social backgrounds - quiet Stella, young hairdresser Prue, and Cambridge graduate Ag - become best friends in spite of their different backgrounds.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: period piece, sentimental, touching, realistic, retro, anamorphic, historical drama, sincere, serious, crying
Similar in 82%
The Year That Trembled (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Year That Trembled is a 1970 coming-of-age story set in the shadow of Kent State that focuses on a group of young characters facing the Vietnam Draft Lottery.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 84%
Taking Chance (2009)
Plot Summary:
Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, emotional, sincere, sentimental, sad, serious, harsh, christian film, motivational
Similar in 82%
1969 (1988)
Plot Summary:
Two rebellious youths, Ralph and Scott, find themselves struggling with adulthood as the Vietnam War rages. Feeling trapped in their small town, Scott battles with his conservative veteran father, Cliff, and Ralph deals with his desperately sexual mother, Ev. When tragic news arrives from overseas, the entire town, inspired by Ralph and Scott's antiwar efforts, reevaluates its attitude toward the war.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, independent film, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, serious, road movie, intellectual, feel good, emotional
Similar in 81%
Stop-Loss (2008)
Plot Summary:
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, sad, harsh, serious, thought provoking, realistic, suspense, cult classic, edutainment, psychological
Similar in 85%
Julie Johnson (2001)
Plot Summary:
A New Jersey housewife is dissatisfied with her everyday life because she is smarter than she or anyone else knows. While taking a computer class, Julie discovers her abilities and finds the courage to make dramatic life changes. This is a story of realizing one's potential and being willing to turn one's life upside down to take a chance on finding happiness. Claire, Julie's best friend, goes along with Julie's secret quest and eventually moves in with her. Both women are on a search to realize their dreams and come to terms with their love for each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, touching, realistic, emotional, talky, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Jamesy Boy (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, serious, realistic, crime drama, crying
Similar in 86%
Dog Tags (2008)
Plot Summary:
Raised in a single parent family by his mother Nate Merritt, develops a friendship with a gay man whilst on leave from the US marines.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, erotic, sexual, crying, independent film, sexy, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 90%
The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
Plot Summary:
When a New England dysfunctional family gathers for Thanksgiving, past demons reveal themselves as one son returns for the first time in three years.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, melancholic, talky, intense, sincere, independent film, compassionate, comedy drama
Similar in 87%
Heavy (1995)
Plot Summary:
Victor is a cook who works in a greasy bar/restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heavy drinking regular, Leo. But things change when Callie, a beautiful college drop-out, shows up as a new waitress and steals Victor's heart. But Victor is too shy to do anything about it, and too self-consciously overweight to dream of winning Callie away.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, realistic, slang, psychological, sincere, serious, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 76%
Very Good Girls (2013)
Plot Summary:
Two New York City girls make a pact to lose their virginity during their first summer out of high school. When they both fall for the same street artist, the friends find their connection tested for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, teen, exciting, captivating, touching, sad, independent film, happy