Best movies like Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Saigon in the late nineties. Photography student Vu rents a room in a shared flat. With his brand-new camera, a gift from his father, he explores the people, places and things around him. He is particularly fascinated by his flatmate Thang, a charismatic young man who is at home amongst drug dealers, gamblers and prostitutes in the nightlife of Saigon. Thang introduces Vu to the nightclub dancer Van and they have sex, even though Vu feels more attracted to his friend. One day, another flatmate, a street singer, is mugged. When Vu and Thang hurry to his rescue, they are chased and eventually forced to flee to Vu's village in the Mekong Delta, where his father introduces him to his prospective wife. But Vu has little interest in the girl and instead watches with jealousy as Thang flirts with her.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 413
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Vietnam, France, Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, disturbing, bleak, contemplative, gloomy, entertaining, queer cinema
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White Elephant (2012)
Plot Summary:
Gerónimo is a 45 year old man devastated by a tragic event. His friend Julian tries out afloat by encouraging him to participate in the project of a marginal town near Buenos Aires. Both are Catholic priests who decided to dedicate their life to the poorest: Geronimo in the Third World and Julian in Argentina. While working in Villa Virgen, Geronimo begins to wonder if the Church is the right institution to protect the weak. Julian, meanwhile, decides that the best way to change the lives of the needy people is politics. The counterpoint is Luciana, an atheist lawyer who has a different perspective on social reforms.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain, France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, rough, social, political, uplifting, bleak, independent film
Similar in 79%
Midnight (1998)
Plot Summary:
On December 31st 1999, destiny brings a fugitive prisoner and a depressed middle class teacher together, as the new millennium approaches bringing hope to everyone.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 766
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Brazil
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 75%
The Magnet (2000)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of friends, all around 30, who live in the Le Panier district of Marseille, France. It's not a bad life, made up of slightly shady dealings, nights out, sun and just hanging out. But the neighborhood is an inescapable presence. Over a period of a few summer days, their carefree lives will plunge into a predictable tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 272
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 89%
Cyclo (1995)
Plot Summary:
Follows a young cyclo (bicycle cab) driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Vietnam, France, Hong Kong
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, stylized, intellectual, neo noir, controversial, rough, serious, realistic, crying
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Boy Crush (2007)
Plot Summary:
Seven short films in which gay youths and young men negotiate society, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. In several, teen boys come out, perhaps first to a close friend - how will the friends react? For some youths, coming out risks violence. In two films, love is thwarted - by mother, in one, and by immigration, in another.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 142
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, France, Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
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The Passenger (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the provocative new drama from the director of THE VISITOR, sexual and moral boundaries are put to the test when a handsome stranger begins to infiltrate the lives of two artists. While searching for a condo in Berlin for his father, Nick meets Philipp, a young talented photographer and a gorgeous actress named Lilli. There is instant chemistry and both are easily seduced by Nick's charms. Lilli and Philipp begin to explore their relationship with the sexy visitor, succumbing to their passionate affections for him which intensifies their volatile emotional and physical bonds. But what Philipp and Lilli don't realize is that they are being lured into Nick's manipulative..and deadly, love game.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 315
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 61 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, sincere, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, gay cinema
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God's Pocket (2014)
Plot Summary:
A boozy lowlife tries to bury the truth about his crazy stepson's suspicious death, but a nosy newspaper columnist and the young man's mother complicate matters.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, captivating, neo noir, independent film, serious, realistic, gloomy
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City of M (2000)
Plot Summary:
After exhausting all legal channels in his search for a job, "M" struggles with the decision of whether or not to enter a life of crime by helping his friends deliver drugs to Miami.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Peru
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, bleak
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Love in the Time of Civil War (2014)
Plot Summary:
Lauded Quebec filmmaker Rodrigue Jean (Lost Song) takes a fearless, unflinching look at the reality of addiction in this tough-minded docudrama set in the bleak milieu of hustlers and junkies in Montreal.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 498
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, realistic, disturbing, serious
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Between the Canals (2011)
Plot Summary:
Three small time criminals from Dublin's North Inner City each aspire to be somebody in a fast changing society.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, tense, captivating, rough
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My Brother the Devil (2012)
Plot Summary:
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, realistic, rough, serious, multicultural, gloomy, independent film, crying, queer cinema
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The Bridge to Nowhere (2009)
Plot Summary:
A group of 20-something blue-collar workers in Pittsburgh cook up a scheme to make extra money that involves prostitution. Their business takes off, then gets way out of hand.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspense, bleak, realistic
Similar in 86%
The Bull (2019)
Plot Summary:
The 1990s. Empty shelves in the shops, an economic abyss and criminal dramas that unfold literally at every corner. The young leader of a criminal gang Anton Bykov, with the nickname “Bull”, must make money in whatever way to provide for his family. After a local shootout, Anton ends up in the police station, from where he is released at the intervention of Moscow’s crime lords. In exchange, the latter asks Anton for a small, but dangerous service.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 896
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, bleak, serious, harsh, suspenseful, captivating, disturbing
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In Vanda's Room (2000)
Plot Summary:
With the intimate feel of a documentary and the texture of a Vermeer painting, In Vanda’s Room takes an unflinching, fragmentary look at a handful of self-destructive, marginalized people, but is centered around the heroin-addicted Vanda Duarte.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Portugal, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 171 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, semi documentary, contemplative, bleak, art house, slow cinema, serious, gloomy
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Adrift (2009)
Plot Summary:
Adrift begins with the wedding of Duyen and Hai. Duyen is a beautiful tourist guide and translator who marries Hai, a taxi driver who is two years her junior. Duyen thinks the marriage will make her happy but it turns out more difficult, especially since her childlike husband is uninterested in her efforts of intimacy and the marriage remains unconsummated. Cam, secretly in love with Duyen, is bitter about the marriage. Cam has Duyen deliver a letter to Tho, a handsome lothario and tourist guide who physically hurls himself on Duyen when she visits his home to deliver the letter. After Tho reports back to Cam that Duyen is sexually inexperienced, Cam diabolically persuades Duyen to take a temporary job as a translator on one of Tho’s beach tours, knowing what will happen. Duyen's time at the beach with Tho results in an affair leading to Duyen's sexual awakening but continued uncertainty about herself, marriage, and life.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 320
Genere: Drama
Country: Vietnam, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, psychological, sexy, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy, sexual
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Midnight Dancers (1994)
Plot Summary:
Brothers Joel (Alex Del Rosario), Dennis (Grandong Cervantes) and Sonny (Lawrence David) work together as dancers at a low-rent gay bar in downtown Manila, in the Philippines. Despite his mother's pleas, Sonny decides to quit college to work full-time at the bar, while Dennis has moved beyond dancing into prostitution at the urging of the manipulative club manager. Joel, the eldest, tries to balance his secret gay life with his socially respectable role as a husband and father.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tagalog, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, sexual, neorealism, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic
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Awaydays (2009)
Plot Summary:
On the Wirral in the grim early years of Margaret Thatcher's premiership, the opportunities for thrill seeking young men looking to escape 9 to 5 drudgery are what they've always been: sex, drugs, rock n' roll, fashion, football and fighting.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic, gloomy, cult film
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Bi, Don't Be Afraid (2010)
Plot Summary:
In an old house in Hanoi, Bi, a 6-year-old child lives with his parents, his aunt and their cook. His favorite playgrounds are an ice factory and the wild grass along the river. After being absent for years, his grandfather, seriously ill, reappears and settles at their house. While Bi gets closer to his grandfather, his father tries to avoid any contact with his family. Every night, he gets drunk and goes and see his masseuse, for whom he feels a quiet strong desire. Bi's mother turns a blind eye on it. The aunt, still single, meets a 16-year-old young boy in the bus. Her attraction to him moves her deeply.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 402
Genere: Drama
Country: Vietnam, France, Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, atmospheric, touching, offbeat, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 82%
Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009)
Plot Summary:
Various stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel "Life is Hot in Cracktown".
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, serious, bleak, realistic, captivating, adaptation directed by original author
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Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)
Plot Summary:
World-weary arthur Fernando has returned to his native Colombia to live out his days in peace. But Fernando's once-quiet hometown has become a hotbed of violence, drugs and corruption. On the brink of despair, Fernando meets Alexis, a beautiful but hardened street kid who lives by the rule of the gun. Together, they forge an unlikely relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Colombia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, meditative, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, crying, sexy, enigmatic
Similar in 82%
From the Edge of the City (1998)
Plot Summary:
Minority-group Greeks from an outer suburb of Athens struggle with their life on society's fringe and exploitation of one another.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, neo noir, lgbt cinema, disgusting, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 87%
Less Than Zero (1987)
Plot Summary:
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: stylized, erotic, inspirational, retro, sad, art house, cerebral, cult classic, visually stunning, erotic drama
Similar in 87%
Swoon (1992)
Plot Summary:
In a film based on actual events, teenagers Nathan Leopold Jr. (Craig Chester) and Richard Loeb (Daniel Schlachet) share a dangerous sexual bond and an amoral outlook on life. They spend afternoons breaking into storefronts and engaging in petty crimes, until the calculating Nathan ups the ante by kidnapping, and murdering, a young boy. When the body is found, all evidence leads to Nathan and Richard, whose strange relationship makes the case one of the most talked-about trials of the 1920s.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: black and white, neo noir, independent film, tense, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, contemplative
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Cal (2013)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-year-old Cal returns from France to Britain after receiving news that his mother is ill. His finds his home city of Bristol facing hard economic times brought on by the global economic crisis, with poverty and crime on the rise and rioting and looting almost a nightly occurrence. It is not a warm homecoming as his sick mother remains stubbornly homophobic and wants nothing to do with the now openingly gay Cal while his battered Auntie Jane, now living in a run down council house, dulls her stagnation with welfare funded booze and disturbing attempts to sexually seduce her nephew. Navigating his way across this new landscape he meets a young student who needs his help. However his act of kindness brings him into contact with a lawless drug dealing pimp and a race against time to make peace with his mother and get out of town as quickly as possible. An intense tale of a family mired in poverty, angry and lost but still searching for love, respect and acceptance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, erotic, tense, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Brother to Brother (2004)
Plot Summary:
A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, thought provoking, touching, realistic, captivating, social, contemplative, queer cinema
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My Crazy Life (1993)
Plot Summary:
Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, serious, hood, cult classic, independent film, bleak, hispanic, crime drama, sincere
Similar in 88%
Federal Hill (1994)
Plot Summary:
In Providence's Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill, five young are immersed in drugs, crime and violence. Everything changes when one of the guys in the band know love.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: black and white, independent film, tense, serious, realistic, romantic, rough, sexy, clever, enigmatic
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Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000)
Plot Summary:
Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: Morocco, Tunisia, France, Belgium, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, bleak, social, disturbing, crying, islamic, realistic, masterpiece
Similar in 77%
City of Men (2007)
Plot Summary:
Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, suspense, harsh, disturbing, rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 79%
City of God (2002)
Plot Summary:
Cidade de Deus is a shantytown that started during the 1960s and became one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous places in the beginning of the 1980s. To tell the story of this place, the movie describes the life of various characters, all seen by the point of view of the narrator, Buscapé. Buscapé was raised in a very violent environment. Despite the feeling that all odds were against him, he finds out that life can be seen with other eyes.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 788000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil, France, Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, hood, stylized, visual, cult classic, visually stunning, captivating, emotional