Best movies like Distant Voices, Still Lives
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The second film in Terence Davies's autobiographical series (along with "Trilogy" and "The Long Day Closes") is an impressionistic view of a working-class family in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool, based on Davies's own family. Through a series of exquisite tableaux Davies creates a deeply affecting photo album of a troubled family wrestling with the complexity of love.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: anthology, historical drama, independent film, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, crying, complex, eighties
Best tv shows and movies like Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988):
Similar in 75%
Singing the Blues in Red (1986)
Plot Summary:
Persona Non Grata in his homeland, protest singer Klaus Drittemann must leave East Berlin, his wife and child and emigrate to West Berlin, where the representatives of an American record company are eagerly waiting for him. They plan to exploit his defection from communism both ideologically and financially. But Klaus, as ill-at-ease in the West as he was in the East, is reluctant to be used as an expendable commodity. Leaving his contract unsigned (or signed in his manner), he leaves for Cambridge to meet his father, a concert player, who -just like him - left East Berlin thirty years ago as Klaus was a little boy. He is accompanied by a young French journalist, Emma, who knows where his father has been living since he disappeared for more than a decade. The young lady is cooperative but might hide things from him.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: UK, West Germany, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 78%
The Long Day Closes (1992)
Plot Summary:
Set in Kensington, a working-class district of Liverpool, England in mid-1950s, this is the story of eleven-year-old Bud, a sad and lonely boy. With cinema as his main source of solace, he haunts the local 'picture-house'. All the while, his family looms large in our peripheral vision as do the menacing bullies of his school, but Bud is the centre of attention both from the camera's angle and from his doting family.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: independent film, semi autobiographical, atmospheric, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Amy (1997)
Plot Summary:
Amy's father, Franco, was a popular rock musician accidentally electrocuted while performing on stage. The psychological trauma leaves Amy mute and deaf. So the 8-year-old is brought by her mother, Tanya, to Melbourne to diagnose the reasons for her continued silence.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 816
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Australia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, feel good, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 83%
Come Rain Come Shine (2010)
Plot Summary:
David Jason stars as cockney ex-docker Don Mitchell in this emotional drama. Don is incredibly proud of his son David’s affluent lifestyle. The cars, the detached house and private schooling for the children were things Don could only dream about as a young man. His wife Dora, on the other hand, has doubts about her son’s financial affairs. When David’s life starts to unravel under a mountain of debt, family bonds are tested to the limit.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 144
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, captivating, contemplative, serious
Similar in 82%
That'll Be the Day (1973)
Plot Summary:
Britain, 1958. Restless at school and bored with his life, Jim leaves home to take a series of low-level jobs at a seaside amusement park, where he discovers a world of cheap sex and petty crime. But when that world comes to a shockingly brutal end, Jim returns home. As the local music scene explodes, Jim must decide between a life of adult responsibility or a new phenomenon called rock & roll.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: offbeat, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film, cult film
Similar in 89%
Ladybird Ladybird (1994)
Plot Summary:
Maggie has had four children, by four different fathers, removed by social services because of a previous violent relationship. When she meets Jorge, a gentle Latin American refugee, she gradually sees her chance for happiness, but her history still haunts her.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sad, disturbing, realistic, biting, independent film, social, detective, sincere, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 81%
Look Back in Anger (1989)
Plot Summary:
Look Back in Anger is a love triangle involving the brilliant-but-disaffected young Jimmy Porter (Branagh), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife Alison Porter (Thompson), and her aristocratic best friend Helena Charles (Redmond). Cliff (Horan), an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 370
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, sincere, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 83%
David Copperfield (1970)
Plot Summary:
A made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield Robin Phillips as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 77%
Second Best (1994)
Plot Summary:
The difficult relationship between a british postal officer and his adoptive son.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
Home Sweet Home (2001)
Plot Summary:
The wife and son of an unemployed, foul-tempered man suffer under ever-worsening domestic violence. One day while his father is taking a nap, the young son decides to take matters into his own hands. In a panic, the wife and son both believe the man is dead and dump him on a roadside. The man survives, however, and returns home weeks later confined to a wheelchair probably for the rest of his life. How will each member in the family cope with this new situation?.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, psychological, realistic
Similar in 90%
The Cruel Embrace (1987)
Plot Summary:
Nicole (Marianne Basler) gives birth to a mentally challenged boy after she is gang-raped by American soldiers at the close of World War II in this grim dramatic tragedy. Young Ludo is hidden in the attic of the family home and continues to yearn for his mother's affection. Nicole enters into a loveless marriage with an older man who agrees to adopt Ludo, but her deteriorating mental health leads her to sloth and alcoholism. Ludo is sent off to an asylum, but escapes and takes up residence on a deserted beach in an old tanker that has run aground. This feature won the grand prize at the 1987 Barcelona Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Blame It on Mum (2009)
Plot Summary:
Mady Celliers, an attractive housewife of 60, he spends his life speaking ill of her two daughters and her husband, a man who shows a strange behavior since has retired. Antoine, the eldest son, company director, is unable to make a success of a business: out of a bankruptcy to get into another, her sister Alice madonnas obsessively paints sad. Annabelle, a nurse in an intensive care unit, tries desperately to save his family pronosticándole the future. When Alice meets by chance Jacques, a lonely police pessimistic explode all family neurosis.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 417
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching
Similar in 90%
Nobody Owns Me (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of a lone father's relationship with his daughter, of the destructive power of alcohol, of a child's vulnerability, but also of love, betrayal and socialist politics in 1970s Sweden. A unique and moving story freely based on Åsa Linderborg's best-selling novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, social
Similar in 78%
The Kid (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on the real life story of Kevin Lewis, the film follows his childhood of abuse, his descent into a life of crime and the way he put his life together again afterwards.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, realistic, serious, period piece, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Madame Sousatzka (1988)
Plot Summary:
The relationship between a demanding piano teacher and her student, an Indian prodigy.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, multicultural, serious, realistic, light, inspirational, sexy, enigmatic, unusual plot structure
Similar in 79%
Return to Innocence (2001)
Plot Summary:
Director Rocky Costanzo's searing legal drama centers on a highly credentialed child psychologist named Glen Erskine (Richard Meese) whose life is shattered when he's accused of sexually assaulting a young boy he's been treating. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary M. Frazier, this poignant tale also stars Andrew Martin, Steve De Forest, Jeff Harman and Brett Chukerman.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 823
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, serious, art house, bleak, independent film
Similar in 89%
Sparkle (2012)
Plot Summary:
Musical prodigy, Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) struggles to become a star while overcoming issues that are tearing her family apart. From an affluent Detroit area and daughter to a single mother (Whitney Houston), she tries to balance a new romance with music manager Stix (Derek Luke) while dealing with the unexpected challenges her new life will bring as she and her two sisters (Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter) strive to become a dynamic singing group during the Motown-era.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, emotional, realistic, inspirational, stylized, gloomy, independent film, black cinema
Similar in 85%
All or Nothing (2002)
Plot Summary:
Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy, and she works on the checkout at a supermarket.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: depressing, emotional, bleak, serious, realistic, meditative, sentimental, sincere, talky, offbeat
Similar in 78%
Everyday (2012)
Plot Summary:
This film charts the relationship between a man imprisoned for drug smuggling and his wife and is being shot over the course of five years, a few weeks at a time.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 834
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, independent film, sincere, touching
Similar in 81%
One Day You'll Understand (2008)
Plot Summary:
A man endeavors to collect memories of his grandparents who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Germany, Israel
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Simon & the Oaks (2011)
Plot Summary:
Epic story about two families and their friendship and common destiny in Sweden's Gothenburg in the 1940s and 1950s. Told from the perspective of young Simon Larsson, who learns that he's an adopted child who has a Jewish father from Germany. After WWII Simon travels to explore his roots - a journey that leads to the basic mysteries of the human life. After the bestselling novel by Marianne Fredriksson.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, touching, psychological, captivating, contemplative, bleak, serious, romantic drama
Similar in 80%
Belonging (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jess (Brenda Blethyn) and town handyman Jacob (Kevin Whately) have been happily married 20 years, recently taking in a trio of Jacob's elderly relatives, including his mother (Rosemary Harris). Though the relations are demanding, kindhearted Jess -- who selflessly quit her job -- enjoys looking after them. But when Jacob disappears one day, Jess' life falls apart, and she must learn to cope with things on her own in this touching drama.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 299
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, touching
Similar in 82%
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
Plot Summary:
Difficult tale of poor, struggling South Carolinian mother & daughter, who each face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance. The film won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Special" and was nominated for "Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special", "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special", and "Outstanding Made for Television Movie". It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, realistic, touching, suspense, thought provoking, serious, heartbreaking, depressing, gothic
Similar in 76%
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 78%
My Ain Folk (1973)
Plot Summary:
When Jamie's maternal grandmother dies, he and his brother Tommy are separated - Tommy is taken off to a welfare home and Jamie goes to live with his other grandmother and uncle. His life is far from happy, filled with silence, rejection and bouts of violence.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 989
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, art house, sincere, touching, offbeat, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
The Neon Bible (1995)
Plot Summary:
While on a train, a teenage boy thinks about his life and the flamboyant aunt whose friendship acted as an emotional shield from his troubled family. This film evokes the haunting quality of memory while creating a heartfelt portrait of a boy's life in a rural 1940s Southern town.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Spain
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: stylized, inspirational, serious, emotional, erotic, southern gothic, independent film, sentimental, atmospheric, thought provoking
Similar in 90%
Beyond (2010)
Plot Summary:
A poignant story, told with sincerity and humor, about a young woman´s dramatic childhood and about her grief and the struggle to move on. Noomi Rapace plays the main character in her first feature after the success with the Millennium trilogy and she plays opposite her husband, actor Ola Rapace.Award winning actress Pernilla August makes her directorial debut with her take on the bestselling novel Svinalängorna by Susanna Alakoski.In other main roles we see rising star Tehilla Blad and the Finnish acclaimed actors, Ville Virtanen and Outi Mäenpää.A morning just before Christmas, Leena, 34, receives a phone call from a hospital in her childhood hometown telling her that her mother is dying. This news takes her on a journey to face her mother for the first time in her adult life. Leena has fought all her life to let go of her grief over her lost and dark childhood. She is now forced to deal with her past to be able to move on.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Finland, Denmark
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, depressing, bleak, emotional, tense, gloomy
Similar in 87%
In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997)
Plot Summary:
In the Warsau Ghetto of 1943, one man's struggle to keep his family together leads him to the ultimate crisis of faith, and one final chance at redemption. Written by legendary 'Twilight Zone' creator, Rod Sterling.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Plot Summary:
In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, sentimental, captivating, crying, hispanic, entertaining
Similar in 83%
Reunion (1989)
Plot Summary:
Two young boys from very different backgrounds become friends in 1933 Stuttgart. However, they don't realize how different they are until much later as one is the son of a well-to-do Jewish doctor and the other the son of a German aristocrat. After that summer and the election of Hitler, things change as antisemitism gains fervor. After the core of the film deals with that era, the film flashes to the present and the Jewish man now returns to his boyhood home and seeks his old friend with some surprises.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 557
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, West Germany, UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing