Best movies like Americana
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In a small town in rural Kansas, a troubled veteran attempts to restore an old merry-go-round ride.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 310
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Americana (1981):
Similar in 83%
Truth and Justice (2019)
Plot Summary:
Estonia, 1872. The uncompromising new owner of Robber's Rise must battle with hard work, his spiteful neighbor and with his own family and beliefs to transform the poor land into a flourishing farm of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Estonia
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: existential
Similar in 85%
The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974)
Plot Summary:
After returning home from the war, Vietnam veteran Julius Vrooder resides in a veteran's hospital, where he has been vaguely diagnosed as "psychiatrically impaired." Taking the news with an air of initially lighthearted defiance, Vrooder escapes and sets up camp under a highway, where he builds a paranoia-driven booby-trapped bunker for himself. Falling in love with not-so-bright nurse Zanni, Vrooder soon plans to elope with her to a remote Canadian outpost.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 238
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Katie: Portrait of A Centerfold (1978)
Plot Summary:
A naive Texas beauty queen, seeking Hollywood stardom, quickly learns the realities of the business after attending an unethical modeling school.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 215
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol (1972)
Plot Summary:
An American soldier manages to endure his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp by keeping alive the memories of life in his home town. When he is finally released from the camp, and is discharged from the military, he goes back to his town - but he can find no trace whatsoever of it.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 166
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Unnatural Causes (1986)
Plot Summary:
Frank Coleman is a Vietnam veteran dying from cancer brought on by exposure to the defoliant chemical Agent Orange which he turns to Maude DeVictor, a Veterans Administration benefits counselor who teams up with Coleman to fight a lopsided batted against the bureaucratic system for its cover up of the possible dangers of Agent Orange.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Homer (1970)
Plot Summary:
Homer is 18... and he wants to keep the feeling of the first time going for the rest of his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 44
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 84%
Coach of the Year (1980)
Plot Summary:
An ex-football star, paralyzed from the waist down during Vietnam, accepts the challenge of coaching football in a juvenile reform school.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 186
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
The Wizard of Loneliness (1988)
Plot Summary:
A family drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 90%
Cold Sassy Tree (1989)
Plot Summary:
Handsome May-December romantic drama set in a sleepy Southern town at the turn of the century. An independent lady from up North causes a scandal when she decides to wed the local general-store owner just three weeks after he's been widowed.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 276
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: nostalgic
Similar in 80%
Hail, Hero! (1969)
Plot Summary:
Hail, Hero! stars Michael Douglas in his screen debut as long-haired college student Carl Dixon. Reversing the usual procedure in late-1960s films, Dixon decides to quit school and enlist in the Army, even though he's already run afoul of the law as a Vietnam protestor. It is our hero's intention to use love, rather than bullets, to combat the Viet Cong. Needless to say, his idealism is no match for the harsher realities of war, but this doesn't stop him from endlessly spouting the sort of agit-prop rhetoric so beloved of filmmakers of the era. In addition to Michael Douglas, co-star Peter Strauss likewise makes his first film appearance in Hail, Hero! Dated in the extreme, the film is saved by the musical score by Gordon Lightfoot.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 233
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Similar in 83%
The Bus Is Coming (1971)
Plot Summary:
A young black soldier returns home to Los Angeles from combat in Vietnam to find out that his brother had been killed by a gang of racist cops. Angered, he joins a black nationalist group to take his revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 80
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: black cinema
Similar in 86%
Different Flowers (2017)
Plot Summary:
Uptight Millie Haven has always followed the rules, but when she has doubts before her big Kansas City wedding, her attitude-prone little sister Emma, the least likely of heroes, comes to the rescue. They embark on a spontaneous roadtrip to their grandmother’s farm where, with the help of Grandma Mildred, they rediscover their bond.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 556
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: funny, emotional
Similar in 76%
Walden: Life in The Woods (2017)
Plot Summary:
A radical, western re-imagining of Henry David Thoreau's classic, interlacing three stories about the trappings of 21st century life and those who dream dangerously of escape.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating
Similar in 79%
Cease Fire (1985)
Plot Summary:
Tim Murphy is a Vietnam Vet. When he loses his job he starts to relive all the pain and horror of his time in Vietnam. The stresses and strains nearly destroy his marriage and his family. Only after joining a veterans' therapy group does Tim find relief from his nightmares. With the support of his fellow vets and the love of his wife, Tim recovers. Written by Pfyre Caidmon.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 243
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Similar in 86%
Promised a Miracle (1988)
Plot Summary:
True story of a couple charged with manslaughter when their rejection of modern medicine in favor of religion to treat their diabetic child resulted in his death.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Captain Milkshake (1970)
Plot Summary:
A Marine on leave from Vietnam becomes involved with hippies, communes and drug-running.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 96
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, psychotronic, independent film
Similar in 86%
Paris Trout (1991)
Plot Summary:
Paris Trout is a vile Southern bigot. He owns a store and is a loanshark. He often sues people, and so his lawyer, Harry Seagraves, eventually meets Paris' wife Hannah. A former schoolteacher, she made the mistake of her life when she married Paris, who brutalizes her. Soon Paris goes beyond the overgenerous bounds of what a man in his position can get away with even in the segregated South, leading to a spiral of perverse insanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
The Baby Maker (1970)
Plot Summary:
Tish Gray had a baby and gave it up for adoption. She is contacted by a second childless couple who want her to have the husband's baby because of the wife's inability to have children. She accepts but finds that knowing the parents, and developing a relationship with them for the entire pregnancy complicates the simple arrangement.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 341
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, tension, suspense
Similar in 90%
A Killing in a Small Town (1990)
Plot Summary:
The gory ax-murder of one mousy, suburban Texas housewife by another is nearly as shocking as the excuse offered by the bespectacled defendant's attorney: self-defense. Could it be so?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 746
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: spooky, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in a seaside resort in the Caucasus, the story centers on n'er do well, Laevsky (Andrew Scott) and his illicit relationship with his mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott). Laevsky has convinced Nadya to leave her husband for him, but now wants to abandon her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 718
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, psychological, period piece, serious, stylized, period drama
Similar in 86%
The Bay of Love and Sorrows (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Bay of Love and Sorrows is a haunting modern tragedy set on the rural shores of New Brunswick's Bay of Miramichi. In late summer 1973, Michael Skid, the son of a well-to-do judge, returns home and rents a dilapidated farm. He begins to spread the gospel of communal ideals, which he has absorbed during his travels in India. His new worldliness and ideas go over well with impoverished siblings Madonna and Silver Brassaurd and the hopelessly naïve Carrie. They go over less well with Tom Donnerel, a young farmer and Carrie's fiancé. Wounded by Tom's derision, Michael befriends ex-convict Everette Hatch, who, recognizing opportunity, exploits Michael's ideas to his advantage. Believing himself capable of understanding people from the other side of the track, Michael fails to recognize that the ex-con is manipulating him and so sets off a catastrophic chain of events in the community.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 212
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Faith of Our Fathers (2015)
Plot Summary:
With the Vietnam War raging in 1969, two young fathers report for duty. A man of great faith and a doubtful cynic. A quarter-century later, their sons, Wayne and John Paul (David A.R. White and Kevin Downes), meet as strangers. Guided by handwritten letters from their fathers from the battlefield, they embark on an unforgettable journey to The Wall-the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Along the way, they discover the devastation of war cannot break the love of a father for his son.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 722
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, captivating, disgusting, christian film
Similar in 81%
Trucker (2008)
Plot Summary:
Loner Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan) is a truck driver with an 11-year-old son, Peter (Jimmy Bennett), whom she never sees, and that's fine with her. But, when Peter's father, Len (Benjamin Bratt), falls ill, he asks Diane to take care of their son for a while. Eventually, Diane reluctantly agrees, but she quickly realizes that caring for a child interferes with her independent lifestyle -- and Peter isn't all that thrilled with the arrangement, either.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, serious, emotional, erotic, cult classic, touching, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 83%
Welcome Home (1989)
Plot Summary:
An Air Force officer (Kris Kristofferson) returns to his father (Brian Keith), son and remarried wife (JoBeth Williams) in Vermont after 17 years in Vietnam.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 387
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Resting Place (1986)
Plot Summary:
A television movie set in Rockville, Georgia, in 1972. Major Kendall Laird, a Survival Assistance Officer, arrives in this sleepy little town with the body of Lieutenant Dwyte Johnson, a Vietnam war hero. It's Laird's job to help Johnson's parents bury their son. But since the dead hero was black, his parents are turned away by the white racists who maintain the town's "all-white" cemetery.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 628
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 87%
Shy People (1987)
Plot Summary:
A New York journalist visits her distant cousin for the first time to write an article about her hard life in the bayous of Louisiana. The journalist's wild, drug-addicted daughter adds tensions between the two relatives' cultures.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: retro, southern gothic, grindhouse, independent film, tense, atmospheric, serious, realistic, gloomy, eighties
Similar in 86%
The Learning Tree (1969)
Plot Summary:
The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: existential, aesthetic, independent film, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 89%
The River (1984)
Plot Summary:
Farming family battles severe storms, a bank threatening to reposses their farm, and other hard times in a battle to save and hold on to their farm.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy, sentimental, inspirational, romantic, feel good, unusual plot structure
Similar in 78%
The Locusts (1997)
Plot Summary:
A drifter enters a small town looking for employment. While working at the local cattle ranch, he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Kitty and becomes involved in a deadly yet erotic love triangle.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sexy, sexual, erotic, psychological, offbeat, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, campy
Similar in 75%
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998)
Plot Summary:
This fictionalized story, based on the family life of writer James Jones, is an emotional slice-of-life story. Jones is portrayed here portrayed as Bill Willis, a former war hero turned author who combats alcoholism and is starting to experience health problems. Living in France with his wife, daughter, and an adopted son, the family travels an unconventional road which casts them as outsiders to others. Preaching a sexual freedom, his daughter's sexual discovery begins at an early age and betrays her when the family moves to Hanover in America. Her overt sexuality clashes with the values of her teenage American peers and gives her a problematic reputation. Meanwhile, her brooding brother copes with his own interior pain regarding his past, only comfortable communicating within the domestic space.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: sentimental, clever, realistic, talky, independent film, tense, touching, serious, witty, contemplative