Best movies like Butley
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Alan Bates recreates his award-winning stage role in director Harold Pinter's 1974 film verson of Simon Gray's play, about a university professor whose private life is in freefall. The cast also includes Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan, Susan Engel and Georgina Hale.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 870
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, crying, queer cinema
Best tv shows and movies like Butley (1974):
Similar in 75%
Like It Never Was Before (1995)
Plot Summary:
The Runeberg family is an ordinary middle class family, with a house in a suburb, a car and three children. By vacationing in a rented house by the sea, the hope is that the tension and anxiety between Rune and Gunnel will disappear. However, instead of spending time with his family, Rune finds himself attracted to a young man, Petrus. Whatever happens next, Rune realizes, it can never be like it was before. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 980
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 77%
Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980)
Plot Summary:
Two teachers vie for the right to stage a play written by Jane Austen when she was twelve years old.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: romantic drama, independent film, clever, humorous, realistic, experimental, semi serious, avant garde, crying
Similar in 85%
The Discreet (1990)
Plot Summary:
There is an author who has been dumped by his girlfriend and has no inspiration for a next novel. In an attempt to find a solution to both crises, he, along with his publisher friend, decides to seduce a young woman with the singular purpose of keeping a diary of the seduction and then dump her before publishing the book about it. Unfortunately he falls in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: anthology, sexy, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, contemplative, talky, stylized, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Ruben, Ruben (1983)
Plot Summary:
Based on a novel by Peter De Vries. Story of an alcoholic, lecherous Scottish poet on a tour of New England Universities, where he goes from one bed and bottle to another.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, offbeat, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, eighties
Similar in 76%
Quartet (1981)
Plot Summary:
Quartet is the story of a girl who, adrift with her feckless husband amidst the literati of glittering Paris in the 1920s, becomes entrapped by a rich and sybaritic English couple. Adapted from the wistful, melancholy autobiographical novel by Jean Rhys, Quartet is full of intense confrontations dazzlingly acted by Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins, and Isabelle Adjani. This is one of the Merchant Ivory team’s darkest and most compelling dramas of dangerously intertwined relationships.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: costume drama, romantic drama, independent film, atmospheric, clever, serious, realistic, talky, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Beloved/Friend (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a work of Josep Maria Benet i Jornet entitled "Testament", the film tells the story of an aging professor of medieval literature with the dilemma of deciding who will inherit his essay on "The Book of friend and loved" by Ramon Llull. Feeling near death as a result of illness, he discovers that the ideal person is a young and intelligent student he is in love with and who is dedicated to male prostitution.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 468
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 84%
Flirt (1995)
Plot Summary:
The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Japan). A lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a "permanent" relationship, what do they choose to do?.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Germany, Japan
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: art house, clever, witty, talky, anthology, independent film, retro, offbeat, humorous, realistic
Similar in 79%
Possible Loves (2001)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen year ago, Carlos went to the cinema to meet Júlia, his university colleague with whom he was in love. She never showed up. Carlos was left waiting in the lobby alone. While he waits, something happens which will change his life. A scene, an encounter, an unfinished sentence... Something insignificant, but which will determine the character's life. Fifteen years later, we follow three completely different versions of Carlos's life. In one, he is a man divided between the stability of a secure life in a lukewarm marriage, and the growing desire to live a great love affair. In the second, he is homosexual and places passion above all else. In the third possible life, Carlos is a man who hasn't yet discovered love, and lives through successive disastrous relationships in search of the perfect woman. One of them is his real life. Another is not his life. And a third is the life he'd like to lead. Which is his true life ?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, clever, realistic, offbeat, stylized, sexual, intellectual, crying
Similar in 85%
Race You to the Bottom (2005)
Plot Summary:
Nathan and Maggie are in the throes of a passionate affair. They're young, good-looking, and both have boyfriends. When Nathan is assigned to write a travel article on romantic hot-spots in Napa Valley, these unconventional lovers test the limits of the sensuality and fantasy that bond them.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, contemplative, semi serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 87%
The Browning Version (1994)
Plot Summary:
Andrew Crocker-Harris is an embittered and disliked teacher of Greek and Latin at a British prep school. After nearly 20 years of service, he is being forced to retire on the pretext of his health, and perhaps may not even be given a pension. The boys regard him as a Hitler, with some justification. His wife Laura is unfaithful, and lives to wound him any way she can. Andrew must come to terms with his failed life and regain at least his own self-respect.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, talky, grim, anamorphic, colorful, psychological, tense, sentimental, clever, serious
Similar in 86%
Women in Love (1969)
Plot Summary:
Close friends Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich begin romances with siblings Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen. After the couples wed, they take a joint honeymoon to Switzerland, where things begin happily -- but they become increasingly complicated as the trip continues. Rupert and Ursula are determined to stay faithful to one another, while the aloof Gerald and the eccentric Gudrun turn to infidelity and sexual exploration.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: visual, erotic, sexy, sexual, scenic, retro, cult classic, historical drama, erotic drama, sincere
Similar in 77%
XX/XY (2002)
Plot Summary:
When two college students, Sam and Thea, meet Coles at a party, their mutual attraction is immediate, leading to a passionate and awkward night together, and the onset of an intensely charged bond. As they continue to push the sexual boundaries of their friendship, however, they are tested by Sam and Coles' incipient romance and Thea's increasing recklessness, until the relationship dissolves amid a cloud of fear, resentment and mistrust. Eight years later they reunite. An animator for a high-profile ad agency, Coles now lives with Claire, his girlfriend of five years. Thea is happily married to Miles, with whom she owns a flourishing restaurant. And Sam has just returned to Manhattan after working in London where she recently broke off her engagement. Yet upon reconnecting, the three are drawn back into the complicated dynamic that defined their relationship from the start and are forced to confront the true meaning of commitment and love.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: melancholic, intense, psychological, touching, humorous, erotic, art house, independent film, talky, sensual
Similar in 87%
The River (2001)
Plot Summary:
Episodic study of feelings where six stories intertwine over one Saturday in a small town. Two boys save a young woman, Anni, and her baby from suicide by drowning. Esa, a down-on-his-luck musician in need of a loan, arrives to his father's 60th birthday party. Waitress Leena tries to stir up a romance between her co-workers at a pizza parlor. Middle-aged Ilpo comes home early from the paper mill and finds a strange man in their bedroom. Old Milja waits for her daughter Merja at the hospital where she is visiting her terminally ill husband Henri. Teenage Santeri tries to cope with his homosexuality.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 845
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, anthology, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 75%
Sleep with Me (1994)
Plot Summary:
Six different writers wrote a scene each of this romantic comedy featuring the marriage and turbulent relationship of Joseph and Sarah, with Joseph's best friend Frank trying hard to cope with letting the love of his life marry his best friend. Featuring Quentin Tarantino in a cameo as Sid, a movie-bore party goer.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sexy, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, sex comedy, hot
Similar in 82%
The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
Plot Summary:
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: witty, melancholic, clever, touching, sexy, entertaining, independent film, art house, humorous, realistic
Similar in 80%
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 85%
An Unmarried Woman (1978)
Plot Summary:
A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her sexuality after her husband of 16 years leaves her for a younger woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sentimental, psychological, touching, humorous, emotional, sincere, semi serious, retro, independent film, romantic comedy
Similar in 83%
Easy (2003)
Plot Summary:
Quirky Jamie Harris (Marguerite Moreau) has a big problem: She's a magnet for less-than-kind men as she hops beds. But things start to look up when she becomes the object of affection of two seemingly normal guys, Mick (Brian O'Byrne) and John (Naveen Andrews). Unfortunately, there's the immense problem of her self-imposed 90-day moratorium on sex. Emily Deschanel co-stars as Jamie's sister, Laura.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, witty, erotic, clever, realistic, talky, semi serious, sexual
Similar in 80%
Angel (2007)
Plot Summary:
Edwardian England. A precocious girl from a poor background with aspirations to being a novelist finds herself swept to fame and fortune when her tasteless romances hit the best seller lists. Her life changes in unexpected ways when she encounters an aristocratic brother and sister, both of whom have cultural ambitions, and both of whom fall in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, realistic, witty, talky, period piece, romantic, costume drama, crying, period drama
Similar in 76%
Crooked Hearts (1991)
Plot Summary:
The father of a family has a an affair. This affects every member of the family.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sentimental, clever, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky
Similar in 87%
The Bostonians (1984)
Plot Summary:
Based on Henry James's novel of the same name. This bittersweet tragicomedy centers on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political conservative from Mississippi; Olive Chancellor, Ransom's cousin and a Boston feminist; and Verena Tarrant, a pretty, young protégée of Olive's in the feminist movement. The storyline concerns the struggle between Ransom and Olive for Verena's allegiance and affection, though the film also includes a wide panorama of political activists, newspaper people, and quirky eccentrics.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: serious, stylized, realistic, talky, political, romantic drama, historical drama, clever, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 88%
Heights (2005)
Plot Summary:
'Heights' follows five characters over 24 hours on a fall day in New York City. Isabel, a photographer, is having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to Jonathan, a lawyer. On the same day, Isabel's mother Diana learns that her husband has a new lover and begins to re-think her life choices and her open marriage. Diana and Isabel's paths cross with Alec, a young actor, and with Peter, a journalist. As the interrelated stories proceed, the connections between the lives of the five characters begin to reveal themselves and their stories unravel. Isabel, Jonathan, Diana, Alec, and Peter must choose what kind of lives they will lead before the sun comes up on the next day.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, stylized, serious, clever, witty, talky, emotional, non-linear, controversial, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Little Lili (2003)
Plot Summary:
This film, loosely inspired by Anton Chekov's The Seagull, weaves a story about sex, family and the business of making films. When the young and overly sensitive filmmaker Julien screens his new DV art-film starring his girlfriend Lili (Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) --a sexy young local girl--to his famous actress mother Mado, and her lover Brice, an accomplished film director, an unraveling of the delicate peace in their house begins. The graceful beauty Lili, who dreams of becoming a famous actress like Mado, is immediately fascinated by Brice, who gladly falls prey to her charms.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, clever, touching, erotic, contemplative, sexual, crying, sexy
Similar in 75%
Intentions (2003)
Plot Summary:
Renee leads a fulfilling life as a professor of theater, mother of two girls, and wife to a kind and successful husband. Her life of contentment is changed forever when she discovers an undeniable attraction between herself and a female graduate student. Now every element of her life is called into question -- a question only she can answer about what she wants and needs.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 224
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 81%
Lianna (1983)
Plot Summary:
A happily married woman comes to realize herself of being a repressed lesbian after she has an affair with a female college professor, and then tries to come to terms with her newfound lifestyle.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sensual, cult classic, independent film, sincere, touching, realistic, sexual, serious, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Julie Johnson (2001)
Plot Summary:
A New Jersey housewife is dissatisfied with her everyday life because she is smarter than she or anyone else knows. While taking a computer class, Julie discovers her abilities and finds the courage to make dramatic life changes. This is a story of realizing one's potential and being willing to turn one's life upside down to take a chance on finding happiness. Claire, Julie's best friend, goes along with Julie's secret quest and eventually moves in with her. Both women are on a search to realize their dreams and come to terms with their love for each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, touching, realistic, emotional, talky, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Holding Trevor (2007)
Plot Summary:
Everybody's looking for something... Moving forward doesn't always mean leaving something behind.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching, lgbt cinema, cult classic, independent film, crying, dark comedy, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)
Plot Summary:
Married couple Jack and Terry Linden are experiencing a difficult period in their relationship. When Jack decides to step outside the marriage, he becomes involved with Edith, who happens to be the wife of his best friend and colleague, Hank Evans. Learning of their partners' infidelity, Terry and Hank engage in their own extramarital affair together. Now, both marriages and friendships are on the brink of collapse.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, stylized, psychological, touching, sincere, contemplative, erotic, realistic, scary, sensual
Similar in 78%
The Heart of Me (2002)
Plot Summary:
Drama set in 1930s London with two sisters, Madeleine married to Rickie, and Dinah, who falls in love with him. Rickie and Dinah begin an affair which is to have repercussions throughout all their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, romantic drama, clever, erotic, romantic, spiritual, cult classic
Similar in 77%
Elegy (2008)
Plot Summary:
Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sexy, sincere, suspenseful, enigmatic, romantic, touching, sad, serious, sentimental, thought provoking