Best movies like Australia Day
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
On Australia's most controversial national holiday, the lives of three Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds will collide, illuminating contemporary issues of racial tension and national identity that simmer beneath the surface of modern Australia.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 484
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: multicultural, sincere, touching, suspense, controversial, independent film, detective, anthropological, steamy, tragic
Best tv shows and movies like Australia Day (2017):
Similar in 77%
Fighting Back (1982)
Plot Summary:
Fighting Back is a 1982 Australian film about troubled teenagers.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 28
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 76%
The Combination (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in the maligned western suburbs of Sydney, Lebanese-Australian John gets out of gaol to discover his younger brother Charlie is caught up with drugs, hookers and crime. Charlie oscillates between the streets and school. Daily clashes between Scott and Charlie's gang escalate. This feud spills into the streets in a territory and identity battle that turns bloody.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 841
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, tense, suspense
Similar in 86%
Cry (1995)
Plot Summary:
On November 30th (the date when King Karl XII died) there will usually be demonstrations by hyper-national and neo-Nazi groups, and also democratic counter demonstrations. The plot of "West Side Story" is transferred to the Stockholmian suburb Alby where many immigrants live. But the film is no plagiarism, in particular no so because many scenes have the intensive character of live transmission. The boy (Adam) belongs to a Nazi group whose racial attitude is foremost directed against immigrants with 'wrong' colour of hair or skin. The girl (Julia) belongs to a family of political fugitives from Peru. Adam and Julia immediately fall in great and reciprocal love, and there are highly emotional love scenes. Therefore Adam breaks with his group. But when his best friend is killed by Julia's brother, he kills the brother. In turn the couple is hunted by the police and Julia's relatives. Both Adam and Julia are finally murdered. The film takes no step toward reconciliation.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
Beneath Clouds (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story of Lena, the light-skinned daughter of an Aboriginal mother and Irish father and Vaughn, a Murri boy doing time in a minimum security prison in North West NSW. Dramatic events throw them together on a journey with no money and no transport. To Lena, Vaughn represents the life she is running away from. To Vaughn, Lena embodies the society that has rejected him. And for a very short amount of time, they experience a rare true happiness together.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, captivating, realistic, art house, teen
Similar in 77%
Mad Bastards (2010)
Plot Summary:
TJ is a mad bastard, and his estranged 13‐year‐old son Bullet is on the fast track to becoming one, too. After being turned away from his mother’s house, TJ sets off across the country to the Kimberly region of northwestern Australia to make things right with his son. Grandpa Tex has lived a tough life, and now, as a local cop in the outback town of Five Rivers, he wants to change things for the men in his community. Cutting between three generations, Mad Bastards is a raw look at the journey to becoming a man and the personal transformation one must make. Developed with local Aboriginal communities and fueled by a local cast, Mad Bastards draws from the rich tradition of storytelling inherent in Indigenous life. Using music from legendary Broome musicians the Pigram Brothers, writer/director Brendan Fletcher poetically fuses the harsh realities of violence, healing, and family.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 550
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, captivating, serious, realistic, road movie, crying
Similar in 80%
Disgrace (2008)
Plot Summary:
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his cherished daughter. After having an affair with a student, he moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, South Africa
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, rough, captivating, sexy, educational, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 85%
Trance (2006)
Plot Summary:
Sonia, a girl from St Petersburg, decides to seek a better life in western Europe. She first gets a job at a car dealer in Germany. But she is suddenly kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. She will be dragged from country to country and resistance will only bring her misery and humiliation.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 568
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Russia, France, Portugal
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: tense, touching, suspense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
The Daughter (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the last days of a dying logging town, Christian returns to his family home for his father Henry’s wedding. While home, Christian reconnects with his childhood friend Oliver, who has stayed in town working at Henry’s timber mill and is now out of a job. As Christian gets to know Oliver’s wife Charlotte, daughter Hedvig, and father Walter, he discovers a secret that could tear Oliver’s family apart.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, captivating, realistic, disturbing, sad
Similar in 80%
Melbourne (2014)
Plot Summary:
Amir and Sara are a young couple on their way to Melbourne to continue their studies. However, just a few hours before the departure of their flight, they are unintentionally involved in a tragic event.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, psychological, emotional, sincere
Similar in 79%
Letters from Alou (1990)
Plot Summary:
A group of Africans clandestinely reaches the coast of southern Spain. Among them is Alou, a 28 years old Senegalese. As all his belongings are stolen while in Almería, he has no choice but to engage in street vending. His only pleasure are the letters he writes to his family to tell the vicissitudes of his Spanish adventure.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 256
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: social, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, multicultural, intercultural, inter cultural
Similar in 81%
Return to Macon County (1975)
Plot Summary:
In 1958, two teenagers take their pride and joy, a hopped-up Chevy, and start a cross-country journey to enter it in the National Championship drag races in California. Along the way they hook up with a pretty but dingy waitress who quits her job and hops in their car--and turns out to be more trouble than they thought--drag-race a gang of town punks who lose to to them and then accuse them of cheating, and come up against a local cop who is obsessed with putting these two "juvenile delinquents" in jail.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 863
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, independent film, exciting, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 84%
Across the Line (2015)
Plot Summary:
Out of the approximately 600 players in the National Hockey League, thirty are Black. Mattie Slaughter, a hockey phenom from the rural Black community of North Preston, wants to make it thirty-one. To reach his goal, Mattie needs to keep his nose clean and avoid trouble. Hard to do though, when you go to a school where racism taints every interaction, your older brother is a hustler and you’re crushing on a girl who’s already hooked up.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 524
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Love Field (1992)
Plot Summary:
Dallas housewife Lurene Hallett's life revolves around the doings of Jacqueline Kennedy. She is devastated when President Kennedy is shot a few hours after she sees him arrive in Dallas. Despite her husband Ray's prohibition, she decides to attend the funeral in Washington, D.C. Forced to travel by bus, she befriends Jonell, the young black daughter of Paul Couter. Sensing something wrong, her good intentioned interference leads the mixed race threesome on an increasingly difficult journey to Washington with both the police and Ray looking for them.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, touching, period piece, independent film, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, feel good, serious
Similar in 90%
Bolivia (1999)
Plot Summary:
A Bolivian immigrant working illegally as a cook in a small restaurant in Buenos Aires suffers abuse and discrimination from its customers.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Netherlands
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: depressing, tense, sincere, atmospheric, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
The Tracker (2002)
Plot Summary:
Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: Australia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, intercultural, masterpiece, cult film, inter cultural
Similar in 90%
Cops (2018)
Plot Summary:
Young and eager police recruit Chris shoots a mentally ill man on duty. He is celebrated a hero, but soon after, traumatic symptoms begin to surface. In a desperate attempt not to be exposed by his tough superior Konstantin, he resorts to excessive violence, in order to hide his trauma and fulfill his dream of becoming an elite cop.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Three Dollars (2005)
Plot Summary:
Eddie is a principled man, with a wife, a daughter and a mortgage and leads a seemingly stable and happy life as a government land assessor. Yet when the forces of economic and social change threaten this, he realises just how fragile his reality and security is. After losing his job, he checks his bank balance and finds he has only 'three dollars' to his name.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 737
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, captivating, psychological, emotional, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, psychological thriller, psycho film
Similar in 85%
Around the Block (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young Aboriginal boy is torn between his unexpected love of acting and the disintegration of his family.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, touching, deep, sexual, inspirational, sexy
Similar in 88%
Black & White & Sex (2012)
Plot Summary:
Prostitute. Hooker. Sex Worker. Whore. Candid and seductive, Angie is determined to set the record straight about sex. As she reveals herself, layer-by-layer, she also exposes the man who is interviewing her. Sometimes provocative and confronting, sometimes tender, poignant and sexy, Black & White & Sex takes you behind the scenes and into Angies very special world. There's a question here for every man and an answer for every woman. Anyone who pays is welcome - but leave your expectations at the door sex is never black and white. Written by Angie Winter.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sexy, realistic, sincere, serious, controversial, erotic, sensual, independent film, sexual, black and white
Similar in 85%
Manila (2009)
Plot Summary:
A tribute to filmmakers and National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. In the "Day" segment, Piolo Pacual portrays the role of William, a drug addict who tries to rebuild his sense of self and reconnect with the people around him. For the "Night" segment, Pascual portrays the role of Philip, who works as a bodyguard for a mayor's son. The bodyguard believes that his boss considers him as part of the family but after a shooting incident, he realizes his real worth to his boss. As he struggles to hide, he is slowly consumed by the claws of darkness lurking the city.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 133
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, touching, serious, neo noir, bleak, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Combat Girls (2011)
Plot Summary:
Marisa, a 20-year-old German girl, hates foreigners, Jews, cops, and everyone she finds guilty for the decline of her country. She provokes, drinks, fights and her next tattoo will be a portrait of Adolf Hitler. The only place she feels home is the Neo-Nazi gang she belongs to, where hate, violence, and heavy parties are the daily rules. When 14-year-old Svenja joins the group, Marisa appears like a role model to her: she fits the purest idea of a combat girl fighting for the group's ideology. But Marisa's convictions will slowly evolve when she accidentally meets a young Afghan refugee. Confronted to him, she will learn that the black and white principles of her gang are not the only way. Will Marisa ever be able to get out of this group?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, disturbing, tense, rough, realistic, serious, political, sad, hood, steamy
Similar in 83%
A Gathering of Old Men (1987)
Plot Summary:
A regular day in a Louisiana sugarcane plantation changes course when a local white farmer is shot in self defense. A group of old, black men takes a courageous step by coming forward en masse to take responsibility for the killing of a white racist, whom one of their members has shot. As the sheriff confronts the suspects, the young plantation owner stands alone in her daring defense of this group of men, provoking racial tension that makes a compelling drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, West Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 77%
Big Man, Little Love (2001)
Plot Summary:
Hejar, meaning "Dispossessed", a little Kurdish orphan war victim, educates a Turkish judge!.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, Greece, Hungary
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, sentimental, suspense, political, islamic, banned, banned film
Similar in 75%
Black and White (2002)
Plot Summary:
Australia, 1958. When a nine year old white girl is found murdered, police are quick to arrest illiterate Aborigine, Max Stuart. Under interrogation Max admits to the killing and signs a statement that will send him to the gallows. With no Court of Appeal established in the country, and with a legal system compromised by intimidation tactics and the stain of institutional racism, the skills of his two gifted but naive defense lawyers are put to the test. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 861
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Charlie's Country (2013)
Plot Summary:
Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: semi autobiographical, atmospheric, thought provoking, realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, political, anthropological, gloomy
Similar in 79%
The Fringe Dwellers (1986)
Plot Summary:
The story of an Aboriginal family's attempts to forge a new life for themselves within the segregated society. At the urging of headstrong teenager Trilby, the Comeaways relocate from their family camp, to a house in the main town.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 436
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: political, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 78%
Gran Torino (2008)
Plot Summary:
Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy old man who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors. He is a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 804000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, motivational, touching, suspense, thought provoking, harsh, clever, sad, compassionate
Similar in 86%
Blessed (2009)
Plot Summary:
Seven lost children wander the night streets while their mothers await their return home.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 777
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, captivating, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 77%
Crash (2004)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 446000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Australia
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: bleak, touching, thought provoking, sincere, emotional, gloomy, sad, political, intense, disturbing
Similar in 79%
The Help (2011)
Plot Summary:
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 484000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, thought provoking, uplifting, emotional, feel good, captivating, period piece, sad, sentimental