Best movies like Downriver
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
James has served time for drowning a little boy when he was a child, although the body was never found in the river. A visit from his victim's mother upon parole sends him on a quest to find the truth. With little time and danger at every turn, James risks his freedom and his life to uncover the trail of sins that might give closure to the grieving mother.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 666
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspense, suspenseful, queer cinema
Best tv shows and movies like Downriver (2015):
Similar in 84%
The Way Out (2022)
Plot Summary:
Alex, a young addict who is dealing with the loss of his abusive father, finds himself in an unfavorable circumstance after developing an intimate relationship with Shane a charming and dangerous stranger, this manipulative room-mate sends him down a path of destruction that comes with a risky price. Teaching him about life, sex, and fighting back.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
The Breeding (2018)
Plot Summary:
An erotic thriller about a young artist whose obsession with a taboo fetish leads to life altering consequences.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Can't Live Without You (2022)
Plot Summary:
A gay gym teacher wants to be a father and when his boyfriend's sister, a former addict, comes back on the scene there is now a possible solution.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 296
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, Mexico
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: art house, psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Seeing Heaven (2010)
Plot Summary:
A beautiful young escort, Paul, suffers from trip-like dreams he doesn't understand. These visions are shared by his clients, both scaring and exciting them. Paul is searching for his twin brother, whom he hasn't seen since childhood, and hooks up with enigmatic film director John Baxter. Desired by everyone but lost to himself, Paul is persuaded to make one adult film, which will help him discover himself, and in the process find his twin. But the journey he goes on is a dark one, involving dangerous clients, an unscrupulous rival producer, and unsafe sex. In discovering his true past, Paul is in danger of destroying himself.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 384
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, suspenseful, controversial, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
You'll Never Be Alone (2016)
Plot Summary:
Introverted Juan, manager of a mannequin factory, lives alone with his eighteen-year-old gay son, Pablo. Whilst Pablo blithely studies dance, Juan is hoping that, after twenty-five years at the firm, his boss will consider him for a partnership. When Pablo is badly wounded in a brutal homophobic attack which sees him hospitalised, his father realises just how far they have become estranged. A lack of witnesses and expensive medical bills force Juan to leave the quiet stability of his life for good and reposition himself in a world where there is discrimination. Time and again his efforts come to nought, until one night on the streets of Santiago he makes up his own rules in order to save his son.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 514
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Chile
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Absent (2011)
Plot Summary:
Sebastiano teaches high school gym classes and coaches swimming. He’s got a job, a girlfriend, and a pretty normal life. But as young Martin starts to infiltrate Sebastiano’s life, his world will get turned upside down. Eerie from the first frame, this Hitchcockian thriller portrays sexual obsession with terrifying realism.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, suspense, lgbt cinema, tense, realistic, gloomy, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
As You Are (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set in the early 1990s, "As You Are" is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, tense, independent film, tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 83%
Spiral (2019)
Plot Summary:
A same-sex couple move to a small town so they can enjoy a better quality of life and raise their 16 year-old daughter with the best social values. But nothing is as it seems in their picturesque neighbourhood. And when Malik sees the folks next door throwing a very strange party, something very shocking has got to give.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, queer horror, psychological, suspenseful, splatter, dark drama, queer cinema, weird
Similar in 82%
Lose Your Head (2013)
Plot Summary:
Lose Your Head is a psycho thriller about a Spanish party tourist who gets lost in Berlin. The film is inspired by the true story of a young Portuguese man who disappeared some years ago after a night at Berghain.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, dark, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Punch (2022)
Plot Summary:
Jim is preparing for his first professional fight but begins to rethink his life's trajectory and his sexuality after tangling with Whetu, a gay Maori boy who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
The Next Skin (2016)
Plot Summary:
A teenager who went missing and was presumed dead returns home after eight years to find a family deeply affected by his disappearance. Gradually, doubts arise about whether he really is the missing boy or an impostor.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, Switzerland
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, tense, intellectual, unusual plot structure, suspenseful, contemplative, serious
Similar in 81%
A Siren in the Dark (2009)
Plot Summary:
Cameron, a Police Officer with psychic abilities, is called upon to interview an accused teen in hopes of finding the whereabouts of the teen's missing gay lover. His investigation immediately spirals into sordid tales of drug abuse, sexual obsessions, and a mysterious man living on a deserted mountain road.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 241
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, scary, sexual, lgbt cinema, crying, freeze frame, sexy
Similar in 87%
Little Gay Boy (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young gay boy, from his birth to his teenage years, in which he experiments his sexuality and his own boundaries, to the day he finally meets his father.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, experimental, avant garde, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Ice Blues (2008)
Plot Summary:
This new installment in the popular and critically-acclaimed Donald Strachey Mystery series finds America’s favorite gay private investigator, Donald Strachey (Chad Allen), taking on the most complicated case of his career. After his long-time partner, Tim (Sebastian Spence), asks him to uncover the source of an anonymous and generous donation to the Albany youth center, he gets caught in a whirlwind of deceit and danger. When the lawyer who presented the donation turns up dead, the hard-boiled Strachey must race against the clock to capture the killer before he strikes again.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, detective, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
My Fair Son (2005)
Plot Summary:
When young art student Ray moves in with his estranged businessman father after years of separation, the two tentatively begin to reconcile their many differences -- including Ray's revelation that he's gay, which his father struggles to accept.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 94
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, suspenseful, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Boy Undone (2017)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 345
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspense, suspenseful, tense, disturbing, experimental, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Rites of Passage (1999)
Plot Summary:
When lawyer DJ Farraday discovers his father has been having an affair, the two drive out to the remote family cabin to talk things over. What neither expects is that DJ's estranged gay brother Campbell will already be there, apparently planning a weekend retreat with his boyfriend. But father and sons are forced to put aside their grievances when two escaped convicts show up and put everyone's lives in danger.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, suspenseful, suspense, sincere, realistic, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Shock to the System (2006)
Plot Summary:
A gay detective tries to solve the murder of a college student.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, detective, sexual, surprise ending, neo noir, independent film, sexy
Similar in 84%
M/M (2018)
Plot Summary:
Wayward Canadian, Matthew, crushed by the isolation of being new to Berlin, turns his sexual desires toward Matthias that spiral into a dark fixation of assumed identity. Soon, this obsessive power struggle between the two, careens toward brutal passion and violence in a bid for dominance.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, Canada
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, lgbt cinema, sexy, psychological, sincere, touching, melancholic, contemplative, experimental, gay cinema
Similar in 77%
Sequin in a Blue Room (2019)
Plot Summary:
Favouring the instant gratification of anonymous, no-strings sexual encounters over meaningful relationships, high schooler Sequin is part of the always logged-on, but never-engaged, hook-up generation. He ghosts ex-partners and remains emotionally unavailable. That’s until he finds his way to an anonymous sex party, where a whole new dizzyingly alluring world unfolds before him. In one scene, Sequin connects with a mysterious stranger, but they are separated suddenly. Utterly fixated on this man, Sequin sets off on an exhilarating and perilous mission to track him down.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 878
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, captivating, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
One Kiss (2016)
Plot Summary:
Lorenzo, Blue and Antonio have a lot in common: they are sixteen, attending the same class in the same school in a small town in the northeast, each have a family that loves them. And all three, though for different reasons, have come to be isolated from other peers. Their new friendship helps them to resist, until the mechanical attraction and fear the judgment of others do not grasp them unprepared.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, suspense, suspenseful, sweet, queer cinema, flamboyance, campy
Similar in 86%
Teenage Kicks (2016)
Plot Summary:
Miklós is at the age when everything feels high-stakes. He is coming to terms with his own sexuality, and when his best friend Dan reveals that he has a new girlfriend, this puts an end to their plans to run away together.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema, homoerotic, captivating, suspenseful, psychological, unusual plot structure, suspense, contemplative, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Closet Monster (2015)
Plot Summary:
A creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, serious, captivating, disturbing, offbeat, gothic, lgbt cinema, semi autobiographical, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Viva (2015)
Plot Summary:
Jesús, a young hairdresser, works at a Havana nightclub for drag performers, and dreams of being a performer himself. Encouraged by his mentor, Mama, Jesús finally gets his chance to take the stage. But when Angel, his estranged father, abruptly reenters his life, his world is quickly turned upside down. The macho Angel, recently released from a 15-year stint in prison, tries to squelch his son’s ambition to perform in drag. Father and son clash over their opposing expectations of each other, struggling to understand one another and reconcile as a family. Shot in a gritty neighbourhood far from the Havana most tourists know, Viva is a heartrending story of music, performance and survival.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Ireland, Cuba
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, disturbing, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Tiger Orange (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the small Central California town where they grew up, two estranged gay brothers struggle to reconnect after the recent death of their father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, lgbt cinema, homoerotic, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Spa Night (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young Korean-American man works to reconcile his obligations to his struggling immigrant family with his burgeoning sexual desires in the underground world of gay hookups at Korean spas in Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, captivating, suspenseful, sexy, sensual, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Shed My Skin (2015)
Plot Summary:
The adolescent Milan discovers his own suspected homosexuality at the age of 17 and the consequences for him and his family but also the liberation as he understands why he has been so down and rebellious.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 822
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, rough, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Reinventing Marvin (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young gay man determined to reinvent his life leaves everything behind on his quest for self-realization.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: non-linear, psychological, tense, captivating, thought provoking, unusual plot structure, contemplative, art house, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Tom at the Farm (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young man travels to an isolated farm for his lover's funeral where he's quickly drawn into a twisted, sexually charged game by his lover's aggressive brother.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, serious, gloomy, sexy, sexual, suspenseful, atmospheric, suspense, realistic
Similar in 76%
I Am Jonas (2018)
Plot Summary:
When Jonas was 14 he met the charismatic but mysterious Nathan. In addition to guiding him in his sexuality, Jonas soon confronts something dark and even dangerous about his new friend. Now an attractive, sexually assured adult, memories still haunt him Trying frantically to put the missing pieces together, Jonas becomes determined to break the shackles of the past and finally set himself free.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: melancholic, sincere, touching, suspense, art house, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema