Best movies like Bitter Melon
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Bitter Melon is a "home for the holidays" dark comedy where a Filipino-American family plots to kill an abusive member.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, dark, queer cinema
Best tv shows and movies like Bitter Melon (2018):
Similar in 90%
Lonesome Cowboys (1968)
Plot Summary:
Five lonesome cowboys get all hot and bothered at home en the range after confronting Ramona Alvarez and her nurse.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 571
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: avant garde, independent film, spoof, parody, queer cinema, gay cinema, weird
Similar in 83%
The Actor (2018)
Plot Summary:
Joseph Kehr, a mentally disturbed aspiring actor returns to New York City to become the 'greatest actor of his generation'. In his pursuit of rising to the top, he enlists in an infamous acting class led by Professor Payton, a cunningly sharp-tongued teacher known for her relentless determination of breaking her students. His mind unravels as he discovers the power of the internet and is haunted by Bugsy Cloverdale, a social media Guru. Joseph's obsession of fame spirals out of control as he is forced to compete with a washed-up movie star.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 94
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: dark, dark comedy, independent film
Similar in 85%
Uncut (1997)
Plot Summary:
Freely drawing from a variety of film genres, including musicals, the sudsy melodramas and documentaries and combing them with a free-flowing narrative and bright pop-art sensibilities, this hard-hitting experimental romp from Canadian filmmaker John Greyson packs a political wallop while satirically comparing and contrasting the issues of censorship and circumcision. The tale centers on the exploits of three homosexuals named Peter. Peter Koosens is obsessed with the semi-scandalous behavior of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau while college student Peter Cort, ponders the significance and necessity of male circumcision. Peter Denham is an artist who seduces the other two and freely borrows from their work to make something of his own. Their exploits land the trio in prison after an operatic number (the police sing songs adapted from Bizet's Carmen).
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 114
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
The Holiday Sitter (2022)
Plot Summary:
Sam is a workaholic bachelor who babysits his niece and nephew before the holidays when his sister and her husband have to go out of town. Completely out of his element, he recruits help from their handsome neighbor Jason and finds himself in an unexpected romance.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: christmas special, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Rhythm & Blues (2000)
Plot Summary:
John (Paul Blackthorne), lonely and living in London, unexpectedly meets outlandish druggie skinhead Byron (Ian Henderson), and suddenly, John's life turns to wacky. When Byron takes him to Boys Galore, a gay escort agency, John is introduced to wealthy American Bad Daddy (Angus MacInnes), who hires John on the spot. But the hovering presence of a strange and sinister Ripper, another rent boy, threatens derail the evening of fun in this gay thriller comedy.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sex comedy, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Fun Down There (1989)
Plot Summary:
Buddy, a young gay man leaves his small-town home in rural Upstate New York to make a new life in New York City.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
The Young, the Gay and the Restless (2006)
Plot Summary:
An aging, wealthy diva, Ms. Victoria Gaylord, in her late 50's learns that she has a mysterious illness and will soon be dead. Her family, friends, and entourage gather at her fabulous estate to assist her during this time of ill health. Some of these guests are loyal while others are vultures creeping their way into Ms. Gaylord's finances.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 246
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Ma saison super 8 (2005)
Plot Summary:
A cinematic homage to the Front Homosexual d'Action Révolutionnaire, the first gay rights movement in France, AllesandroAvellis' compassionate drama tells the tale of a young activist living in Paris when homosexuals had no place in society. The year is 1968; Marc is adrift in the city after failing in his efforts to gain national acceptance for gay rights. One day, during a park pick-up, he meets Andre, a small town factory worker still exploring his sexuality but convinced that he will one day marry and start a family. Over the course of the next three years, Marc and Andre continue their heated affair as Marc continues to advocate fiercely for gay rights while butting heads with his close-minded father, a Paris police officer.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: period piece, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
G.A.Y. (Good As You) (2012)
Plot Summary:
Eight characters meet during New Year 's Eve , inexorably crossing their lives. Four men and four women, gay , lesbian and bisexual , dealing with everyday life, sentimental and working problems, jealousy and betrayals. "Good As You", acrostic of the word " gay ", was the slogan used by the homosexual movement in the sixties of the twentieth century , during the protest marches.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Comedy
Country: Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Bareback ou La guerre des sens (2006)
Plot Summary:
A cinephile meets on a beach in Ramatuelle his favorite filmmaker. He proposes to film the painful adventure that is just live. The two men will knit the scenes, each in its own way. The filmmaker keeps pushing the project, arguing that the chuting is not good. But perhaps there's a good reason not to go after the adventure.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 63
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: black comedy, dark comedy, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Lieve Jongens (1980)
Plot Summary:
Lieve Jongens (“Sweet Boys”) explores the sexual fantasies of a middle-aged writer and the handsome young men who dominate his life. Wolf, a successful writer of romantic novels, is plagued by self doubt and writer's block. Though pleasant looking and well-preserved, he fears age will rob him of the youthful companionship he so desperately craves. With the help of his equally randy and manipulative young sex partner, Wolf plots to seduce the gentle Muskrat from the arms of a much older lover.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Mango Souffle (2002)
Plot Summary:
Mango Soufflé is a 2002 Indian film written and directed by Mahesh Dattani. The film stars Atul Kulnani and Rinkie Khanna. It was promoted as "first gay male film from India" and was adapted from Dattani's own successful English play On a Muggy Night in Mumbai.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 141
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: India
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Noah's Arc (2004)
Plot Summary:
Four gay friends live in L.A. and deal with today's issues, boyfriends, aids, your boyfriend's children, making it in the movie biz, etc.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Gypsy Boys (1999)
Plot Summary:
Drama of two young San Francisco couples, both deciding how to define their relationships.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 220
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, sentimental, sincere, sexy, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Spoiler Alert (2022)
Plot Summary:
Journalist Michael Ausiello embarks on a rollercoaster ride of emotions when Kit Cowan, his partner of 14 years, is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 78%
B-Boy Blues (2021)
Plot Summary:
Follows the relationship of 27-year-old journalist Mitchell Crawford and 21-year-old bicycle messenger Raheim Rivers, who meet at a gay bar in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1993.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Everything is Free (2017)
Plot Summary:
When Ivan's old college roommate comes to visit him in Columbia, he brings his brother and a whole lot of romantic complications.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 569
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
At the End of the Day (2018)
Plot Summary:
A conservative professor at a Christian college finds himself in a gay support group to stop their launch of an LGBT homeless youth shelter in their small town.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 540
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: social, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Open Bodies (1998)
Plot Summary:
Born to a North African father and a French mother, 18-year-old Parisian high school senior Rémi works part-time in an Arab grocery store while studying management and commerce. He responds to a school ad seeking subjects for a film, and Marc, who placed the ad, auditions Rémi by filming an interview with him. Rémi and Marc wind up in bed, and Rémi soon has other sexual experiences – with a guy in a men's room and with a young woman who grabs him while she's dancing in the street.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 82%
The Mattachine Family (2023)
Plot Summary:
While Thomas and Oscar are very much in love, after their first foster child returns to his birth mother, they find that they have different ideas about what making a family actually means.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Fixing Frank (2002)
Plot Summary:
Frank (Miller) is a gay journalist who goes undercover at the urging of his therapist boyfriend Jonathan (Provenza) to write an exposé of Dr. Apsey (Butler). Apsey performs conversion therapy on gay male clients, a practice which Jonathan finds reprehensible. Frank quickly comes clean with Apsey but continues to meet with him under the pretense of interviewing him, but finds himself questioning himself, Jonathan and their six-year relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 490
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema, cult film
Similar in 76%
Single All the Way (2021)
Plot Summary:
Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter convinces his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James, the plan goes awry.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical, disturbing, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Get Your Stuff (2000)
Plot Summary:
When a difficult foster child needs a home, a gay couple is thrown into parenthood.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 620
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, witty, semi serious, offbeat, realistic, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Tangerine (2015)
Plot Summary:
It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: harsh, disturbing, enigmatic, talky, stylized, grindhouse, dark comedy, independent film, mumblecore, surreal
Similar in 81%
The Gays (2014)
Plot Summary:
Wouldn't it be great if your parents taught you how to hold your own in a fag-eat-fag world? Rod Gay and Bob Gay-Paris are the streetwise gay mentors you never had. Come revel in the raunchy wisdom they pass along to their two gay sons - Alex and Tommy - advice that will empower the boys to bend the world over, lube it up, and snap one off!.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 36
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 68 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Holy Mess (2015)
Plot Summary:
A comedy about the new alternative family and how different family situations and relationships come to a head during the premier family weekend.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, humorous, captivating, semi serious, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Dating My Mother (2017)
Plot Summary:
Dating My Mother explores the intimate and sometimes tumultuous relationship between a single mother and her gay son as they navigate the dizzying world of online dating.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 453
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: funny, light, humorous, captivating, entertaining, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
The Men Next Door (2012)
Plot Summary:
This is a fast-paced comedy about a 40-year-old gay man who finds himself dating two equally lovable men - a secure 50-year-old who came out later in life, and an adventurous 30-year-old who wasn't looking for a relationship. What he doesn't find out right away is that the two men are, in fact, father and son. And as they say, wackiness ensues.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 841
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, realistic, touching, independent film, offbeat, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Looking: The Movie (2016)
Plot Summary:
Patrick returns to San Francisco for the first time in almost a year to celebrate a momentous event with his old friends. In the process, he must face the unresolved relationships he left behind and make difficult choices about what’s important to him.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, light, feel good, unusual plot structure, humorous, contemplative, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Raising Heroes (1996)
Plot Summary:
Josh and Paul want to adopt Nickie, the child of Paul's recently deceased friend Susan. Susan's mother opposes gays' adopting, and Monday is the final court date. On Friday, Josh stops by a market for milk and glimpses a Mob hit. Unknown to him, the hitmen are now on his trail. Josh hates confrontation and doesn't tell Paul about the murder or call the cops. Instead, he takes Paul for an idyllic weekend in the Poconos. But Sunday, when they return to the city, the murderers are waiting. The Mob boss orders that both be killed. What chance do Paul, who's in the dark, and Josh, who's basically passive, have against this firepower? What will happen to Nickie without them?.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 122
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film, queer cinema