Best movies like Close-Up
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
"CLOSE-UP" is a dramatic feature film told through the eyes of a failed Philadelphia actor who has succumbed to drug addiction. Our story follows him during the Holidays as he desperately tries to regain everything he has lost in his life; his wife and child, his job, and his pride, before it's too late. Over the course of one day on New Years Eve in New York City, a young vibrant woman, Freebird, shows him how to stand up, discover himself and move on with his life.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: ambiguous ending, psychological, touching, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like Close-Up (2011):
Similar in 85%
Bokser (2011)
Plot Summary:
The films was inspired by true events. Przemyslaw Saleta, World's Kickboxing Champion and European Champion in professional boxing gave a kidney to his seriously ill daughter. There were unexpected complications during the surgery and Saleta almost died. The movie starts when Saleta learns about the birth of his daughter Nicole and ends several years later when Saleta decided to give Nicole his own kidney. The story does not follow one linear, chronological path. The audience watches the boxer in the surgery room and join the protagonist in the recollection of past events;.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 119
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, tense, suspense
Similar in 89%
La Run (2011)
Plot Summary:
Guillaume is a good young man. He has never taken hard drugs in his life, doesn't plan on trying, and has an honest job. Everything goes chaotic when he witnesses his father's attempted suicide over a heavy gambling debt. In order to pay out his father's debt in a record time, Guillaume follows his best friend, Manu, into the difficult world of drug dealing.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 174
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, suspenseful, psychedelic
Similar in 84%
Icebox (2018)
Plot Summary:
Forced to flee his home in Honduras, Óscar seeks asylum in the United States, only to find himself trapped in the immigration system.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 815
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: rough, suspense, ambiguous ending, touching, suspenseful, political
Similar in 83%
Sophiiiie! (2002)
Plot Summary:
The film starts in the early evening of a normal day: Sophie, a 20 year old girl, is pregnant and wanders through the night to get sure about her future life. Does she want to be a mother or do an abortion? Does she love her friend or not? Who is the father of her unborn baby? Trying to figure out what to do Sophie encounters many people, and in the morning she has come to a decision. But this is not the movie's end.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 538
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 90%
At Any Cost (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers and their best friend start a rock band and try to make it big in Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 885
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, captivating, suspenseful, surprise ending
Similar in 84%
Three Days of Rain (2002)
Plot Summary:
Six Anton Chekhov short stories set in modern day Cleveland during a three day rain storm.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 290
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: tense, touching, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, suspense, independent film
Similar in 84%
Toro (2015)
Plot Summary:
Friends Toro and Victor struggle with drug addiction and male prostitution in a hostile environment. When they lose all their money, their longstanding friendship is put to the test.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 69
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Lazaro's Girlfriend (2002)
Plot Summary:
Lazarus is a Cuban appeal that makes a living in Madrid. When his girlfriend Dolores travels from Cuba to Spain to live with him, he is in prison for kidnapping and attempted rape. Dolores tries to survive with a broken heart, but his sympathy and sensuality will make adjusting to life in Madrid and try to exceed the Lazarus drug addiction.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, erotic
Similar in 90%
Umbrella (2016)
Plot Summary:
Alexander Way, a secondary school teacher with a fractured personal life, finds himself attempting to rescue a woman from a violent sexual attack. Alexander finds himself overpowered, beaten & taken to hospital. Jesiah Jarvus, a famous British musician who is frequently touring, has lost his goal in life. Having not spoken with his father in over 20 years, troubling news offers them the chance to reconcile & move forward in both their lives. Theodore Smith attempts to bury the sadness that threatens to engulf his childhood upon hearing the news that his parents will be separating. Elethea Conall, a newly qualified nurse, continues to look after her patients whilst attempting to escape from her past. What do they all have in common?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, captivating, independent film
Similar in 80%
On the Corner (2003)
Plot Summary:
Angel and Randy Henry are a sister and brother, caught on the mean streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. While Angel finds the strength to escape her seemingly hopeless situation, Randy slips deeper into a world consumed by abandonment and fuelled by drugs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 272
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 76%
Mickey and the Bear (2019)
Plot Summary:
In Anaconda, Montana, a strong-willed teenage girl navigates a loving but volatile relationship with her veteran father. In a desperate search for independence and her own identity, she risks family, heartbreak, and her standing in the only place she can call home.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, social
Similar in 87%
Love Streams (1984)
Plot Summary:
Two closely bound, emotionally wounded siblings reunite after years apart.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: independent film, grindhouse, art film, existential, cult classic, psychological, tense, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
Ben Is Back (2018)
Plot Summary:
19 year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns home to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben's mother, Holly, is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tense, social, rough, suspense, suspenseful, inspirational, spiritual, serious, entertaining, non fiction
Similar in 75%
Courage (1986)
Plot Summary:
A mother in Queens, New York, is so angered when she discovers that her son is a drug addict that she becomes an undercover agent for the DEA to clean up the drug trade in her neighborhood. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 173
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 82%
The Price (2017)
Plot Summary:
Seyi, a 24-year-old Nigerian-American, works on Wall Street. Desperate to succeed because of his outsider status-due to class and race-he commits a crime, insider trading, which brings his entire world crashing down on him. Seyi's troubled circumstances force him finally to confront his tumultuous relationship with his ailing father, his romantic relationship with his privileged white girlfriend, and his racial and immigrant backgrounds-with nothing less at stake for him than his soul.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Drama
Country: Nigeria, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Cocaine Angel (2006)
Plot Summary:
A week in the life of a young drug addict.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 323
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, mumblecore, independent film, sincere, witty, gloomy
Similar in 77%
The Boost (1988)
Plot Summary:
Lenny Brown moves to California to find his fortune in tax shelter investments. When the federal government changes the tax laws, poor Lenny finds himself $700,000 in hock with nowhere to turn. His friend, Joel, introduces him to cocaine to give Lenny that needed "boost". What ensues next is a descent into drug addiction and insanity as Lenny tries to regain control of his life, all the while needing that extra "boost".
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: bleak, independent film, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, neo noir, psychological, depressing, unusual plot structure
Similar in 81%
The Secret Life of Zoey (2002)
Plot Summary:
Marcia always thought her overachieving daughter Zoey was the dream child. But then she discovers that her perfect teen has a not-so-perfect drug addiction. Marcia and her ex-husband go through plenty of denial as their daughter spirals out of control. It's a true-to-life tale that parents and their kids should watch together.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 389
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, psychological, touching, suspenseful, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Clean and Sober (1988)
Plot Summary:
Hotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the mentorship of counselor Craig, Daryl accepts that he has a substance abuse problem. As he falls in love with fellow patient Charlie, Daryl begins committing to a newly sober life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, emotional, compassionate, melancholic, sincere, serious, psychological, depressing, spiritual
Similar in 84%
Tag (2015)
Plot Summary:
Billy is the self-designated leader of a group of teenagers living in a shelter. Jacob and Rae, Billy's oldest childhood friends, live there as well as part of "the family". Billy has an AIDs-like virus, which he has passed on to his blood brother Jacob. Billy and Rae are boyfriend and girlfriend, much to the dismay of Jacob who has always loved Rae from afar. Billy's philosophy of life, and how that interfaces with having a deadly virus, comes to a head when Billy and Jacob compete in a very unique game of "Tag", with the future of Rae and "the family" dependent upon the outcome.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 280
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspenseful, unusual plot structure, suspense, contemplative, grindhouse, independent film
Similar in 76%
Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young kid from Kansas moves to New York to work on a magazine. He gets caught up in the world of drink and drugs, and starts a steady decline. The only hope is the cousin of one of his drinking partners, can she pull him through it ?.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: intense, serious, sentimental, touching, bleak, realistic, stylized, unusual plot structure, suspense, melancholic
Similar in 83%
Drunks (1995)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first time in seven months, so he does - and leaves the meeting right after. As Jim wanders the night, searching for some solace in his old stomping grounds, bars and parks where he bought drugs, the meeting goes on, and we hear the stories of survivors and addicts - some, like Louis, who claim to have wandered in looking for choir practice, who don't call themselves alcoholic, and others, like Joseph, whose drinking almost caused the death of his child - as they talk about their lives at the meeting.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, realistic, talky, spiritual, sincere, serious, emotional, thought provoking, clever, depressing
Similar in 87%
Jesus' Son (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: independent film, grim, cult classic, dark comedy, psychedelic, deep, thought provoking, touching, humorous, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Plot Summary:
This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: depressing, disturbing, bleak, rough, serious, controversial, grim, cult classic, realistic, dark
Similar in 81%
Cake (2014)
Plot Summary:
After having visions of a member of her support group who killed herself, a woman who also suffers with chronic pain seeks out the widower of the suicide.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, depressing, psychological, touching, sentimental, bleak, compassionate, emotional, serious, sad
Similar in 82%
The Wrestler (2008)
Plot Summary:
Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 317000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: depressing, emotional, bleak, touching, serious, melancholic, sad, sincere, heartbreaking, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Ironweed (1987)
Plot Summary:
Albany, New York, Halloween, 1938. Francis Phelan and Helen Archer are bums, back in their birth city. She was a singer on the radio, he a major league pitcher. Death surrounds them: she's sick, a pal has cancer, he digs graves at the cemetery and visits the grave of his infant son whom he dropped; visions of his past haunt him, including ghosts of two men he killed. That night, out drinking, Helen tries to sing at a bar. Next day, Fran visits his wife and children and meets a grandson. He could stay, but decides it's not for him. Helen gets their things out of storage and finds a hotel. Amidst their mistakes and dereliction, the film explores their code of fairness and loyalty.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, intense, sincere, serious, realistic, depressing, compassionate, cult classic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Dangerous Game (1993)
Plot Summary:
A New York film director, working on his latest movie in Los Angeles, begins to reflect the actions in his movie and real life, especially when he begins an affair with the lead actress.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, melancholic, erotic, rough, art house, independent film, erotic drama, bleak, serious
Similar in 80%
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Plot Summary:
The lives of a lawyer, an actuary, a housecleaner, a professor, and the people around them intersect as they ponder order and happiness in the face of life's cold unpredictability.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, bleak, meditative, depressing, touching, serious, contemplative, existential, cerebral
Similar in 83%
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Plot Summary:
The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 883000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, emotional, atmospheric, surreal, heartbreaking, realistic, mind bending