Best movies like Cry, the Beloved Country
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: christian film, touching, political, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Cry, the Beloved Country (1995):
Similar in 77%
Uptight (1968)
Plot Summary:
Black militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by one of their own.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 928
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: political, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, black cinema
Similar in 90%
Chocolate (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young French woman returns to the vast silence of West Africa to contemplate her childhood days in a colonial outpost in Cameroon. Her strongest memories are of the family's houseboy, Protee - a man of great nobility, intelligence and beauty - and the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany, Cameroon
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, contemplative, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, erotic, sentimental
Similar in 88%
Lost in the Stars (1974)
Plot Summary:
Musical from the American Film Theatre series, based on the play Cry The Beloved Country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 136
Genere: Drama, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
The Invader (2011)
Plot Summary:
An African immigrant living illegally in Belgium is desperate to find his own sense of belonging.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 852
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Belgium, Sweden
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, tense, bleak, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
Bamako (The Court) (2006)
Plot Summary:
Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up... In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes... Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa's desire to fight for its rights.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Mali, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating, social, biting, allegory, suspense
Similar in 86%
President (2006)
Plot Summary:
State secrets, sincere convictions, ecstatic crowds, a regal lifestyle, prying journalists, suspicious disappearances: what goes on behind the scenes in the halls of power or the daily life of a President.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating
Similar in 88%
Timepiece (1996)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1940's, James Earl Jones as an an old clockmaker faces racism and is tried for murder when the racist is killed. However, Kevin Kilner comes forward and claims to have commmitted the crime in self defense. All the while, Kilner's family life is in disarray with various crises including his daughter catching meningitis.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 514
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Dust (1985)
Plot Summary:
A South African spinster (Jane Birkin) murders her father (Trevor Howard) after he rapes the wife of the black foreman for his plantation.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 75%
Bopha! (1993)
Plot Summary:
In this story of a black policeman during South African apartheid, Danny Glover plays the cop, who believes he's trying to help his people, even while serving as a pawn of the racist government. When his son gets involved in the anti-apartheid movement, he finds himself torn between his family (including long-suffering wife Alfre Woodard) and what he believes is his duty.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: independent film, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, emotional, realistic, historical drama, political drama
Similar in 82%
The Sky Is Gray (1980)
Plot Summary:
Drama - From Ernest J. Gaines, author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," comes a deceptively simple, yet emotionally complex tale of a young boy's discovery of what it's like to be black in Louisiana during the 1940's. James, the boy in question, has a raging toothache that necessitates a trip to the dentist. His mother (played by Emmy-winner Olivia Cole), accompanies James to town on an eye-opening odyssey where the boy gains valuable insights into poverty, racism - and his own sense of pride. With an exciting musical score by Webster Lewis, this multi-award winning film explores a child's discovery that the world is a complicated place... where things are never truly black or white... only shades of gray. - Olivia Cole, James Bond III, Margaret Avery.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 81
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker (1994)
Plot Summary:
The story of Johnson Whittaker, one of the first African-American cadets admitted to West Point. Tied down and beaten by his fellow cadets.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 572
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
The Power of One (1992)
Plot Summary:
PK, an English orphan terrorized for his family's political beliefs in Africa, turns to his only friend, a kindly world-wise prisoner, Geel Piet. Geel teaches him how to box with the motto “fight with your fists and lead with your heart”. As he grows to manhood, PK uses these words to take on the system and the injustices he sees around him - and finds that one person really can make a difference.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Australia, France, USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, inspirational, intense, uplifting, serious, realistic, captivating, christian film, political
Similar in 76%
Shirley Adams (2009)
Plot Summary:
Shirley Adams spends her days caring for her disabled son, Donovan - he was shot in the back of the neck on his way home from school one afternoon over a year ago. Since then the Adams family has lost all their worldly possessions to medical bills. Shirley has no money, no job and no husband - he left. The shooter is one of Donovan's childhood friends. Her reaction to the betrayal is so overwhelming that she chooses not to tell Donovan in fear of further damaging his already unstable emotional state. Determined to make a change in their lives, Shirley actively decides to embrace their new circumstances, hoping that Donovan will follow her example.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 124
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa, USA, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Master Harold ... and the Boys (2010)
Plot Summary:
This movie is of Hally, an adolescent white South African. He is stuck between his intolerant father's outlook of him and those of his caretaker, Sam. Sam is a black waiter and Hally's friend and teacher. Hally is required to laugh at his father's racist jokes, by contrast, Sam exposes Hally to uplifting experiences. One day Hally was terribly humiliated by his father and Sam shows Hally how to be proud of something he can achieve.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 580
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Plot Summary:
Having spent 10 years in prison for nationalist activities, Shack Twala is finally ordered released by the South African Supreme Court but he finds himself almost immediately on the run after a run-in with the police. Assisted by his lawyer Rina Van Niekirk and visiting British engineer Jim Keogh, he heads for Capetown where he hopes to recover a stash of diamonds, meant to finance revolutionary activities, that he had entrusted to a dentist before his incarceration. Along the way, they are followed by Major Horn of the South African State security bureau and it becomes apparent that he has no intention of arresting them until they reach their final destination.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, political
Similar in 85%
Blood Done Sign My Name (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama based on the true story in which a black Vietnam-era veteran is allegedly murdered by a local white businessman who is later exonerated. The plot focuses on the role of a local high school teacher and the civil unrest that followed the acquittal.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 635
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, captivating, realistic, thought provoking, tense, bleak, contemplative, entertaining
Similar in 88%
Sarafina! (1992)
Plot Summary:
The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Musical
Country: South Africa, UK, France, USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: realistic, retro, political, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, contemplative, light
Similar in 76%
Red Dust (2004)
Plot Summary:
Sarah Barcant, a lawyer in New York City who grew up in South Africa, returns to her childhood dwelling place to intercede for Alex Mpondo, a Black South African politician who was tortured during apartheid.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, sincere, political, cult classic
Similar in 80%
Angus Buchan's Ordinary People (2012)
Plot Summary:
The plot follows the individual journeys of three ordinary South African men in the build up to their attendance of the 2010 Mighty Men Conference, where their lives are forever changed by God's message for them.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 146
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, art house, christian film, independent film
Similar in 80%
A Dry White Season (1989)
Plot Summary:
Taking place during the 1976 Soweto uprising, the story follows a white school teacher whose life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: talky, emotional, disturbing, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, political, retro, thinking
Similar in 84%
Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story (2008)
Plot Summary:
Based on true events, The Lena Baker Story recounts one African-American womans struggle to rise above the challenges of her life, to face the choices she makes, and to ultimately triumph over her...Lena Baker was the first and only woman to be sentenced to death by the electric chair in the state of Georgia and was executed in 1945. She was pardoned posthumously in 2005.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 82%
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 87%
Deadline (2012)
Plot Summary:
Deadline is the story of the murder of an African American youth in rural Alabama that has gone uninvestigated, unsolved, and unpunished for almost twenty years. That changes when Nashville Times reporter Matt Harper (Steve Talley) meets an idealistic young blueblood bent on discovering the truth. Harper undertakes the investigation despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces, a break-up with his fiancée, and his father's cancer diagnosis.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 454
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 87%
Murder in the First (1995)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in complete darkness, only to emerge a madman and soon to be a murderer. The story follows a rookie lawyer attempting to prove that Alcatraz was to blame.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspense, dramatic, emotional, depressing, sincere, dark, period piece, crime drama, historical drama, suspense thriller
Similar in 86%
The Chamber (1996)
Plot Summary:
Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi prison which has held him since the crime. The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, thought provoking, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, talky, anamorphic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Canal Street (2018)
Plot Summary:
A Chicago lawyer embraces his undying faith when his teenage son is accused of murdering a classmate.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 398
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, spiritual, sad, independent film
Similar in 85%
A Lesson Before Dying (1999)
Plot Summary:
In the 1940's South, an African-American man is wrongly accused of the killing a a white store owner. In his defense, his white attorney equates him with a lowly hog, to indicate that he didn't have the sense to know what he was doing. Nevertheless convicted, he is sentenced to die, but his godmother and the aunt of the local schoolteacher convince school teacher go to the convicted man's cell each day to try to reaffirm to him that he is not an animal but a man with dignity.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: powerful, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Rising Place (2001)
Plot Summary:
The close friendship of two young women, each of a different race, and their struggle to find purpose in their lives during this time of social injustice and world war.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 208
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
Mandela and de Klerk (1997)
Plot Summary:
Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine both received Emmy nominations for their performances in this made-for-TV movie. The plot follows Nelson Mandela's 27-year struggle to end apartheid.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 667
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Class Action (1991)
Plot Summary:
Liberal activist lawyer Jedediah alienated daughter Maggie years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie agrees to go up against her father in court. To gain promotion, she must defend an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspense, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, talky, emotional, clever, contemplative, exciting