Best movies like Carny
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Tired of being a small-town waitress, Donna departs with the latest carnival show, living with entertainers Frankie and Patch in a tense, emotional triangle.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: stylized, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, semi serious, light, road movie, atmospheric, sexy, feel good
Best tv shows and movies like Carny (1980):
Similar in 84%
Romeo Eleven (2011)
Plot Summary:
Romeo11 is a frequent visitor to internet chat rooms and social networking sites, where he's been engaging in an ongoing flirtation with an attractive woman. But Romeo11 doesn't actually exist; he's the creation of Rami, a teenager who lives with his family in a Lebanese community in Montreal. Rami walks with a limp from an accident years ago, and his controlling father Ziad, who runs a small diner, insists on making Rami's choices for him. Ziad has decided his son will enroll in business school, but Rami, who is lonely and a bit of a dreamer, doesn't have his heart in it and often skips his community college classes. Rami's older sister and one of his few confidantes, prepares to get married, he begins wondering about what sort of a life he can make for himself, and when the young woman insists she wants to meet Romeo11 in person, he hatches a scheme to pass himself off as the character he's invented.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Adam at Six A.M. (1970)
Plot Summary:
A disenchanted young Professor of Semantics at a California college learns of a distant relative's death in Missouri. He journeys cross-country to the funeral, then decides to spend the summer there and work as a laborer for a power-line company. In time, he meets a girl and falls in love but then faces an important decision as to which direction he wants his life to go.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 417
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, biting, suspense, cult film
Similar in 85%
All Fall Down (1962)
Plot Summary:
Ralph and Annabell Willart are a feuding couple who are constantly bickering over their worthless, good-for nothing son Berry-Berry.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: retro, social, black and white, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
Skateland (2010)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1980s, in small-town Texas, dramatic events force a 19-year-old skating rink manager to look at his life in a very new way.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sincere, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 82%
Tiger Warsaw (1988)
Plot Summary:
Chuck brought sorrow to his family when he shot his father who is now a semi-invalid. After 15 years of self destruction, he returns home to seek forgiveness.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
The Bed You Sleep In (1993)
Plot Summary:
Times are hard for Northwestern lumber-mill operators like Ray and his wife Jean. Ray and Jean's lives are thrown into chaos when their daughter writes home from college.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 285
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: independent film, atmospheric, bleak, serious, realistic, experimental, disturbing, contemplative, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 80%
The Face on the Milk Carton (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book by Caroline B. Cooney, a girl happens to look down at a milk carton one day and she sees herself on the back! Could her parents really have kidnapped her?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Blue River (1995)
Plot Summary:
Edward's father walked out on his family years ago. In the years since, his mother has become a fundamentalist Christian and fallen for the school's self-righteous principal, Henry Howland. When Howland begins to mistreat Edward's mother, Edward's troubled older brother decides to get revenge. Now, Edward must protect his family from his brother's wrath.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
The Bay Boy (1984)
Plot Summary:
A Roman Catholic teenage boy in Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia during the 1930s faces various growing-up problems: Should be become a priest? What should he do about the murder he witnessed, committed by a local cop and upstanding parishioner? And how far should he go with his girl friend, who happens to be the murderer's daughter?.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 741
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: spiritual, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, nostalgic
Similar in 80%
Brother (2014)
Plot Summary:
Giorgi is 16 years old when he discovers another world through American films forbidden in all Soviet Union until then. Since the post-revolutionary chaos in his home town, Tbilisi, Giorgi has wanted to have succeeded by following the path of his idols: Tony Montana and Vito Corleone. He has almost reached his goal when he is confronted with a dilemma; how can he stop his little brother who is 12 years old to follow his path when he could become a famous pianist? All this in a world that only knows chaos.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia, France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, serious, captivating, stylized, gloomy, entertaining
Similar in 81%
Becoming Redwood (2012)
Plot Summary:
A quirky coming of age story about an 11-year-old boy named Redwood who dreams that if he can beat Jack Nicklaus at the 1975 Master's of golf he'll reunite his parents.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 83%
The Third Side of the River (2014)
Plot Summary:
Tensions rise when a doctor (Daniel Veronese) pressures his teenage son to follow in his footsteps.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 250
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, tense, serious
Similar in 77%
The Playroom (2012)
Plot Summary:
Four children in their attic hideaway make up a fantastic story, while downstairs their parents weave a drunken intrigue of their own.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 79%
Lost Islands (2008)
Plot Summary:
A family with five kids in the 80s get into a crisis when twin brothers fall in love with the same girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 664
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, emotional, sentimental, realistic, stylized
Similar in 88%
Amy & Isabelle (2001)
Plot Summary:
In 1971, in the small town of Shirley Falls, in Maine, the odd and lonely secretary Isabelle Goodrow raises her teenager daughter Amy alone. She has only two friends in her job among her gossiper colleagues. When her overprotected daughter is seduced by her mathematic teacher Peter Robertson, the world of Isabelle falls apart. She becomes lost and loses her confidence on Amy, spoiling their relationship. Their bond gets tied again when Isabelle discloses her inner secrets from the past to Amy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 472
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 87%
Virgin (2003)
Plot Summary:
When a teenager finds herself pregnant, with no memory of having had sex, she determines that she is carrying the child of God.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 601
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, captivating, erotic, sincere, serious, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 88%
Ricochet River (2001)
Plot Summary:
hree teenagers looking for adventure find more than they expected in this coming-of-age drama. High school seniors Wade (Jason James Richter) and Lorna (Kate Hudson) have spent all their lives in the small logging town of Calamus Grove, a conservative place where change comes slowly. Jesse Howl (Douglas Spain), a teenager of Native American ancestry, has just moved to Calamus Grove, and soon finds he doesn't fit in this close-knit community. Wade and Lorna go out of their way to befriend Jesse, and soon find that they're also regarded as outcasts among their peers. Eager to get away from the narrow minds which are stifling them, the three friends grab a car and take off for a summer road trip that turns out to be full of lessons in life and love. Ricochet River was based on the novel by Robin Cody.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 326
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, talky
Similar in 89%
Lotto Land (1995)
Plot Summary:
This film tells two interwoven stories of two single-parent families in a poor, racially-mixed neighborhood in Brooklyn. The first story is about a young black man (with aspirations of getting away from his friends who are involved in drugs) who falls in love with a latino girl (who is heading off to college on a full scholarship). The second is about their parents, (she works in the neighborhood liquor store; he works for the phone company). The story takes place against the backdrop of a winning lottery ticket worth $27 million being sold to someone in the neighborhood from the liquor store.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 65
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: independent film, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, light, thought provoking, clever, psychedelic, enigmatic
Similar in 79%
Sweet Lorraine (1987)
Plot Summary:
Serio-comic look at the residents and staff of a Catskill Mountains resort during its final days.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 89%
Turning Green (2005)
Plot Summary:
Set in late 1970s Ireland, it tells the story of 16-year-old James Powers, an American who finds himself lost after his mother dies and he is forced to live with his three Irish aunts. Displaced and depressed, he longs for a way to make it back to America. One lucky weekend in London, James discovers pornography and, desperate for cash, he decides to sell them back in Ireland. His success spreads wildly. After finding a possible way home, he must decide where home really is, and finds that one's place in the world is all a state of mind.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 480
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: USA, Ireland
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 79%
Lebanon, Pa. (2010)
Plot Summary:
Will, a charming 35-year-old Philadelphia ad man, heads to Lebanon, Pa. to bury his recently deceased father. He forms an unexpected friendship with CJ, his bright, newly pregnant 17-year-old cousin. As Will becomes interested in CJ's married teacher and CJ confronts her conflicted father, both struggle with formidable decisions about the path their lives will take. Can we vault our differences and meet in the middle? This bittersweet comic drama tenderly explores the cultural divide in America through the lives of one extended family.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 584
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, psychological, captivating, sincere, clever, touching, serious, independent film
Similar in 81%
Due East (2002)
Plot Summary:
The movie spotlights an intelligent high school senior and National Merit Scholar (Bryant) who has never been part of the "in crowd." She teaches a high school equivalency night class, tends to the needs of her widower father, Jesse (Forster), and pretty much stays to herself. But when she meets a loner who recently moved to the town of Due East, she feels a sense of belonging for the first time in her life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, touching, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Foxes (1980)
Plot Summary:
A group of friends come of age in the asphalt desert of the San Fernando Valley, as set to a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: stylized, social, sexual, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy, scary, road movie, sexy
Similar in 84%
Tully (2000)
Plot Summary:
Tully Jr. and Earl live on their father's Nebraska ranch, proud and independent to a fault. While the shy, reclusive Earl spends his free time watching movies, the cockier Tully works his way through a succession of short-term affairs and an off-again, on-again relationship with April, a stripper in town. When their childhood friend Ella returns to town to start a veterinary practice, however, Tully falls for her -- although the townsfolk have their doubts that he could ever commit to one woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, serious, independent film, realistic, romantic, social, sincere, thought provoking
Similar in 88%
Drunkboat (2010)
Plot Summary:
After twenty years of broken bottles and empty hallways, Mort Gleason witnesses his nephew Moo being beaten while in a drunken stupor. The short contact with family brings Mort back to what are left of his senses and he returns to the last home he remembers in Chicago. His sister Eileen lives in their family home now with her sixteen year old son, Abe. Her older son Moo, the now missing nephew, helped spark Mort's return to his family. Three, four, five weeks pass as Mort waits outside his home and makes a tenuous re-entry into family life. Abe dreams of a sailboat and distant horizons. He saves money and sees an advertisement for the Kathy II. He and his friend calculate a way to buy the vessel from two unscrupulous rogues who make ends meet wholesaling liquor and operating a sometime boatyard.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 703
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sad
Similar in 77%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Me Without You (2001)
Plot Summary:
During a long, hot summer in seventies London, young neighbors Holly and Marina make a childhood pact to be friends forever. For Marina, troubled, fiercely independent, determined to try everything, Holly stays the only constant in a life of divorcing parents, experimental drugs and fashionable self-destruction. But for Holly, a friendship that has never been equal gradually starts to feel like a trap.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, sentimental, sincere, touching, teen, realistic, romantic, offbeat, contemplative, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
Plot Summary:
Life in the small town of Grandview, Illinois is one that is just like any other city or town. Tim Pearson, soon to be graduating high school wants to go to Florida to study oceanography. He meets Michelle "Mike" Cody and is attracted to her. She runs the local Demolition Derby place. Ernie "Slam" Webster is on of the drivers in the derby who's wife is cheating on him and wants to later on be with Mike. Tim falls for Mike and a big love triangle is about to happen.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, captivating, independent film, retro, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, feel good
Similar in 80%
Whatever (1998)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1980s, Anna, a New Jersey teenager faces her impending adulthood, dreaming of a life as a successful New York artist. When she gets caught up in the carefree sport of pre-AIDS sex and drugs, Anna's future becomes less certain.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, independent film, sentimental, touching, humorous, gloomy, semi serious, erotic, sexy, feel good
Similar in 77%
Swimming (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two girl friends in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina find their relationship changing as they encounter new arrivals to the town.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 943
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film