Best movies like Brain Drain
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Fideo and Panta are two teenage rascals and thieves who dream of traveling to "the promised land", the United States. Rambling between good and evil, roc and tango, this is an action story turned romance when the two youngsters fall in love innocently, but face life with extraordinary maturity. Moving between haunting love scenes beneath starry skies and police chases, watch out…while these two might plan to steal your car radio, they will definitely steal your heart.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 176
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Brain Drain (1998):
Similar in 78%
Bloody Kids (1980)
Plot Summary:
The slender premise springs from the actions of two listless 11-year-old boys, the cold, manipulative Leo, and his weaker, more impressionable friend, Mike. Contemptuous of the fallible police force (Mike has already filched a police hat from an accident scene), the boys arrange a staged knife fight outside a football stadium with the aid of a bag of stage blood and a real blade.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 305
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: offbeat, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, wild
Similar in 86%
Rich Kids (2000)
Plot Summary:
"Chicos ricos" obviously tells the story of two successful advertisers Andy and Tomás who worked outside the country and have now joined an agency in Buenos Aires. The film takes place almost entirely in a large house where both intend to celebrate a major advertising prize they have obtained. Said celebration has prostitutes: Marisol and Zuky. The party would not be complete without the dealer, the Toucan and to complete the picture, and to complicate it, Galperín adds the presence of two thieves who want to take everything and change the course of the night, and two ineffective policemen.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 138
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Captive (2003)
Plot Summary:
Cristina's life is thrown into turmoil when she is suddenly escorted from her strict Catholic school in Buenos Aires and told that she is really Sofía Lombardi, the daughter of activists who disappeared in the '70s. Questioning everything she once thought true, Cristina embarks on a journey to find her true identity. Meeting others like herself, the young girl soon discovers the real-life horrors of Argentina's relatively recent past and the nightmare that claimed tens of thousands of lives during the country's "dirty war.".
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, political, bleak
Similar in 75%
A Better Place (1997)
Plot Summary:
A high school outcast new to town becomes friends with a violent loner still haunted by the death of his parents.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: art house, cerebral, independent film, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, emotional
Similar in 75%
Blood and Rain (2009)
Plot Summary:
Taxi driver Jose begins his night shift bent on revenge after his brother's murder at the hands pf a violent gang. But when an accident brings him unexpectedly closer to his party-girl fare Angela, the damaged pair must struggle against forces already set in motion, drawing them inexorably into the rain soaked underworld of Bogota.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 332
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia, Argentina
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, neo noir, realistic, suspenseful, atmospheric
Similar in 82%
As Night Comes (2014)
Plot Summary:
Troubled 17-year-old Sean Holloway falls in with a group of teenage outcasts called 'The Misfits,' whose charismatic leader, Ricky, takes him under his wing. But as Sean becomes more and more entangled in the gang's anarchist ways, things begin to spiral out of control, and Sean realizes Ricky is a ticking time bomb on a rampage of revenge. On the eve of Halloween, as night comes, everything explodes….
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 236
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, psychological, tense, slasher, rough, realistic
Similar in 76%
Eye of the Stranger (1993)
Plot Summary:
A stranger comes into town and causes a stir when he stands up for the townfolk, in the face of the intimidation tactics from Mayor Howard Baines. The scheming mayor wants to buy up all the local properties, and has hired two thugs to help 'persuade' the owners to sell.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 135
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Your Lover (2019)
Plot Summary:
Lucio and Enedina are a happily married young Teenek couple that lives in the Huasteca Potosina's jungle with their three children. They love each other and share everything, nevertheless, everything crumbles when the construction of a highway, that their community has been requesting for so long, finally arrives.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
The Last Riders (1991)
Plot Summary:
When his family is murdered, Johnny gets revenge on his former biker gang, The Slaves, and the police who lied to the gang about Johnny selling them out to the authorities.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 178
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Clash (2009)
Plot Summary:
"Engwkentro" follows two teenage brothers attempting to escape an unnamed city controlled by an iron-fisted mayor. They must first break away from the cycle of crime, while trying to run from rival gang leaders and the state's murderous vigilantes.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 108
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, disturbing, bleak, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Rose Seller (1998)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Monica leads a street life, making her living by selling flowers to couples in local nightspots, she is joined by 10-year-old Andrea who runs out of her house after her mother beats her.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: social, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Barbarians (2014)
Plot Summary:
"Barbarians" is a teenage drama about coming of age in a world where there is no opportunity. A portrait of a young generation growing up in a society of lost values.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 627
Genere: Drama
Country: Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, serious, realistic, tense, bleak
Similar in 86%
The Street King (2002)
Plot Summary:
In life, there's silver, and there's lead, says Rikki Ortega, as he moves to be king of the street in "Ánglio," L.A.'s east side. Older brothers and a brother-in-law are in his way. While they think they are driving out the Rojas, a local gang that runs the meth trade for bosses in Cabo San Lucas, Rikki is running an elaborate double-cross on his own family. He's not happy just to run this fratricidal con, he also wants to cash in as much as he can of one hundred kilos of crystal meth that he stole from the Rojas (and the Mexicans), seduce the girlfriend of one of his victims, and stay ahead of a cop who was a childhood friend. Will he end up with the silver?.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 219
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Like a Puppet Out of Strings (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two Brothers; Tom and Felipe, have moved up the ranks of the street gangs because they have no greater devotion than the protection of each other. Luis, former gang member, is now a cop, his life having been turned around by Angelica, a female cop. When Tom is blamed for the shooting death of Angelica, a crime his brother Felipe committed, Felipe is forced to agree to Luis' terms in order to save Tom. Luis decides to convert Felipe just like he had been converted 10 years earlier. Eventually the brothers must face each other on the opposite sides of the law and chose between right and wrong, thier past and their future.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 14
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Five Star (2014)
Plot Summary:
After John’s absent father is struck by a stray bullet, Primo takes it upon himself to verse the young boy in the code of the streets—one founded on respect and upheld by fear. A member of the Bloods since the age of twelve—both in the film and in reality—the streets of Brooklyn are all Primo has ever known. While John questions whether or not to enter into this life, Primo must decide whether to leave it all behind as he vows to become a better husband and father. Set during those New York summer weeks where the stifling heat seems to encase everything, Five Star plunges into gang culture with searing intensity. Director Keith Miller observes the lives of these two men with a quiet yet pointed distance, carefully eschewing worn clichés through its unflinching focus. Distinctions between fiction and real life remain intentionally ambiguous, allowing the story of these two men to resonate beyond the streets, as they face the question of what it means to be a man.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 569
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, sexy, hood, tense, sincere, rough, bleak
Similar in 88%
Johnny (1999)
Plot Summary:
Johnny, the megalomaniac leader of a group of squeegee kids, finds a video camera and pushes his followers into "acting" out increasingly dangerous "scenes".
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Streeters (2001)
Plot Summary:
Authentic and committed, moving and stormy drama of street kids from Mexico City. Wonderful adaptation of successful play about street kids who have more trouble with corrupt cops, than with dirty and heavy work.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 547
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, bleak, realistic, independent film
Similar in 83%
The Wee Man (2013)
Plot Summary:
The true life story of the rise to power of Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough, bleak, captivating, cult film
Similar in 82%
The Knife That Killed Me (2014)
Plot Summary:
A journey through the memories of teenager Paul Varderman as he reflects on the events leading to the fatal moment his life is cut short. Paul moves to a new school and becomes involved with 'The Freaks', a group on the periphery of school life, those who don't fit in: scene kids, emo kids, indie kids. Outsiders. At the same time he attracts the attention of the schools twisted and manipulative bully, Roth. When Paul delivers a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a rival school, it sparks a dangerous feud. Faced with growing pressures from both groups, Paul must decide where his friendship lies, a decision that may cost him his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 90%
The Invisible Eye (2010)
Plot Summary:
Spying on her students, a teacher finds an exciting hobby.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 841
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, France, Spain
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, serious, psychological, captivating, sincere, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Heart of America (2002)
Plot Summary:
Starring Jurgen Prochnow ('The Replacement Killers' 'Air Force One' and Patrick Muldoon 'Stigmata' 'Starship Troopers'), 'Heart of America' is a powerhouse of a contemporary drama and essential viewing for anyone who was captivated by Michael Moore's 'Bowling For Columbine'. It is the last day of high school and the unthinkable is about to happen. Distraught at the constant abuse and bullying they have been subjected to, two students have made a suicide pact. But before they take their own lives, they are determined to cause chaos and murder amongst their fellow students.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Germany
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, tense, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Small Faces (1995)
Plot Summary:
Three teenage brothers, gang-member Bobby, troubled mama's boy Alan and self-assured prankster Lex, reside in a downtrodden section of Glasgow, Scotland, circa 1968. But while Bobby and Alan are beginning to experience the power of raging hormones, the story focuses on Lex, who begins a downward spiral after he accidentally shoots the leader of Bobby's gang. Lex's cockiness and immaturity unfortunately prevent him from understanding the effect his subsequent crimes will have on both himself, and on those around him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, independent film, tense, rough, serious, road movie, thought provoking, clever, brutal
Similar in 80%
Cool Money (2005)
Plot Summary:
Charismatic thief Bobby Comfort escapes from prison, clears himself of all charges, and returns to a home life he finds unsatisfying. Though he is devoted to his wife and daughter, his old life comes calling, both figuratively and literally, in the form of idea man Sammy Nalo. With the help of Comfort's old partner, they begin robbing posh New York City hotels, while second cousin and bumbling cop Phil Parris thinks he can turn Comfort to the straight and narrow.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 634
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Life Hits (2006)
Plot Summary:
Christina is living in a suburb to Copenhagen. With her class mates Cecilie, Trine and Pernille she slacks her school work, living mostly for the weekends of gate crashing, getting drunk, experimenting with drugs and scoring guys. But her world is turned upside down when Cecilie's boyfriend Shaid starts hitting on her, and Cecilie mistakenly believes the two of them are making out.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, captivating, independent film, sincere, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Stick Up Kids (2008)
Plot Summary:
People always told Santos he was something special. His Uncle told him to get a skill, so he became a hustler and with his three,they became "The Stick Up Kids" Harlem would never be the same. They thought they had it all... Money, cars, the lifestyle and the lingo. The only two words They didn't know were JURISDICTION AND GENTRIFICATION but in their world it was all for one and one for all until an unexpected, mysterious death, forced "The Stick Up Kids"to change their focus from doing crime to stopping the "North Manhattan Project". Now it was up to Santos to pull off one last sting before it destroyed them all. Watch out America. 'The Stick Up Kids" are coming to your town!.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 104
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, crime drama, independent film, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Color of Justice (1997)
Plot Summary:
Four young black men kill a white woman, the D.A. is very cautious in how to proceed.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 228
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
The Wild Ones (2012)
Plot Summary:
Five juvenile delinquents break out of jail and attempt to make their way to a house in the Mendoza foothills of Argentina.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 239
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Netherlands
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, captivating, bleak
Similar in 76%
Blue Spring (2001)
Plot Summary:
Soon after being named the new leader of his high school's gang system, Kujo grows bored with the violence and hatred that surround him. He wants desperately to abandon his post… but his once-enviable position of power has a strange way of making him feel powerless.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, disturbing, serious, manga
Similar in 77%
Bullet Boy (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ricky is just out of a young offenders institute, heading home to Hackney and determined to go straight. Instead, he heads straight for trouble when he becomes involved in a street confrontation, siding with his best friend Wisdom against a local rude boy. The trouble escalates into a series of tit-for-tat incidents that threaten to spiral out of control. Ricky's 12-year-old brother Curtis, hero-worships Ricky, though he appears smart enough to know he doesn't want to follow his example. Yet, despite the stern warnings from his mother and support from her friends in the community, might Ricky's bad boy allure be too attractive for Curtis to resist?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, realistic, hood, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Stryker (2004)
Plot Summary:
The film follows a 14-year-old arsonist in Winnipeg who becomes involved in a turf war between the Indian Posse and the Asian Bomb Squad (a now defunct Filipino gang). He is known only as Stryker, a slang term for a prospective gang member.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 207
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, tense, bleak, independent film