Best movies like Angela's Ashes
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK, Ireland
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, depressing, sad, compassionate, serious, melancholic, sincere, gothic, epic
Best tv shows and movies like Angela's Ashes (1999):
Similar in 84%
Belfast (2021)
Plot Summary:
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: black and white, psychological, captivating, disturbing, retro, thought provoking, political, social, independent film, period piece
Similar in 85%
Lamb (1985)
Plot Summary:
Michael Lamb is a Father questioning his calling, in a Reform School in Ireland. When young epileptic runaway Eoin is sent to the school, the two recognise kindred spirits and escape to London together. With the police on their tail and the money running out however, Lamb is forced to make some terrible decisions.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 655
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, eighties
Similar in 76%
Joe the King (1999)
Plot Summary:
A destitute 14 year old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother. Petty thefts for food grow into more major takes until he steals a cash box from the diner where he works. Although Joe uses the money to pay off some of his father's debts and to replace his mother's records that his father smashed in a fit of temper, Joe gets no thanks.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: emotional, harsh, tense, rough, grim, realistic, art house, semi autobiographical, serious, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Pelle the Conqueror (1987)
Plot Summary:
The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm. Among them are Lasse and his son Pelle who move to Denmark to find work. They find employment at a large farm, but are treated as the lowest form of life. Pelle starts to speak Danish but is still harassed as a foreigner. But none of them wants to give up their dream of finding a better life than the life they left in Sweden.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: emotional, atmospheric, meditative, disturbing, compassionate, touching, serious, stylized, depressing, sad
Similar in 76%
Agnes Browne (1999)
Plot Summary:
When Agnes Browne's husband died, she discovered something amazing... Herself.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Ireland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, humorous, uplifting, touching, melancholic, sweet, sincere, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 83%
The Field (1990)
Plot Summary:
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Ireland
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, serious, bleak, psychological, suspense, rough, independent film, sentimental, road movie
Similar in 81%
The Glass Castle (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, emotional, sad, psychological, captivating, exciting, road movie, mind bending, dramatic
Similar in 86%
When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of a son's conflicting memories of his dying father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, sincere, realistic, touching, captivating, independent film, serious, crying, light
Similar in 75%
Romulus, My Father (2007)
Plot Summary:
It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, gloomy, entertaining
Similar in 81%
Saint-Ex (1996)
Plot Summary:
Poetic biography of author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 221
Genere: Biography, Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
My Left Foot (1989)
Plot Summary:
In this true story told through flashbacks, Christy Brown is born with crippling cerebral palsy into a poor, working-class Irish family. Able only to control movement in his left foot and to speak in guttural sounds, he is mistakenly believed to be retarded for the first ten years of his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sincere, unusual plot structure, dramatic, sentimental, motivational, sad, captivating, biting
Similar in 79%
Liam (2000)
Plot Summary:
A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8, making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany, France, Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, emotional, sincere, depressing, intense, tense, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
Plot Summary:
Difficult tale of poor, struggling South Carolinian mother & daughter, who each face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance. The film won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Special" and was nominated for "Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special", "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special", and "Outstanding Made for Television Movie". It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, realistic, touching, suspense, thought provoking, serious, heartbreaking, depressing, gothic
Similar in 90%
The Miracle Worker (1962)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, period piece, black and white, sentimental, touching, retro, thought provoking, social, sad
Similar in 89%
This Boy's Life (1993)
Plot Summary:
In 1957, a son and mother flee the East and an abusive boyfriend to find a new life, and end up in Seattle, where the mother meets a polite garage mechanic. The boy continually gets into trouble by hanging out with the wrong crowd. The mom marries the mechanic, but they soon find out that he's an abusive and unreasoning alcoholic, and they struggle to maintain hope in an impossible situation as the boy grows up with plans to escape the small town by any means possible. Based on a true story by Tobias Wolff.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: depressing, touching, emotional, realistic, epic, retro, uplifting, sad, period piece, thinking
Similar in 83%
Precious (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret--she can't read.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, emotional, rough, sad, inspirational, disturbing, touching, independent film, harsh
Similar in 79%
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Plot Summary:
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sentimental, hood, sincere, rough, sexy, political, social, hispanic
Similar in 78%
A Home of Our Own (1993)
Plot Summary:
The story is located in Los Angeles in the sixties. An energetic widow, Frances Lacey, with her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. Therefore they leave Los Angeles and head for the countryside, while facing all kinds of difficulties during their journey.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, inspirational, enigmatic
Similar in 79%
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a midwestern housewife who managed to rescue her family from debt by entering contests for ad slogans sponsored by consumer product companies.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sentimental, touching, sincere, uplifting, semi serious, stylized, emotional, intense, motivational
Similar in 85%
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, inspirational, sad, teen, crying
Similar in 83%
Pinero (2001)
Plot Summary:
"Piñero" tells the story of the explosive life of a Latino icon, the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero, whose urban poetry is recognized as a pre-cursor to rap and hip-hop. After doing time in hard-core Sing-Sing for petty thefts and drug dealing, Piñero's prison experiences developed into the 1974 Tony-nominated play Short Eyes. The resulting notoriety and fame was too much for the Latino bad-boy genius who retreated to the darker corners of New York City.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: disturbing, stylized, intense, factual, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, sentimental, realistic
Similar in 84%
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Plot Summary:
In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, sentimental, captivating, crying, hispanic, entertaining
Similar in 79%
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
Plot Summary:
A single mother, with dreams of becoming a writer, has a son at the age of 15 in 1965, and goes through a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: emotional, melancholic, sentimental, touching, sad, teen, realistic, humorous, feel good, heartbreaking
Similar in 83%
Miss Potter (2006)
Plot Summary:
The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness and success.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, period piece, costume drama, serious, realistic, sweet, romantic drama, motivational, intellectual
Similar in 77%
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
Plot Summary:
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, serious, captivating, motivational, educational, sad, uplifting, touching, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Awakenings (1990)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 155000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: inspirational, motivational, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, psychological, touching, serious, cerebral, emotional
Similar in 83%
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Plot Summary:
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 549000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, motivational, dramatic, heartbreaking, tear jerker, touching, sincere
Similar in 89%
Butterfly (1999)
Plot Summary:
The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Spain
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, political, compassionate, melancholic, intense, psychological, sincere
Similar in 81%
Pay It Forward (2000)
Plot Summary:
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, inspirational, motivational, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, tear jerker, sad, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
The Color Purple (1985)
Plot Summary:
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, inspirational, sad, sincere, emotional, compassionate, period piece, heartbreaking