Best movies like Earth and Ashes
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir must tell Murad that the rest of their family were all killed in a recent bomb attack.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 574
Genere: Drama
Country: Afghanistan, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, thought provoking, touching, bleak, islamic, atmospheric, realistic, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Earth and Ashes (2004):
Similar in 90%
Giraffada (2013)
Plot Summary:
Yacine is the veterinarian of the only zoo remaining in the Palestinian West Bank. He lives alone with his 10-year old son, Ziad. The kid has a special bond with the two giraffes in the zoo. He seems to be the only one to communicate with them. After an air raid in the region the male giraffe dies. His mate, Rita, won’t survive unless the veterinarian finds her a new companion. The only zoo that might provide this animal is located in Tel Aviv.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Germany, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, realistic
Similar in 75%
Badland (2007)
Plot Summary:
Jerry (Jamie Draven) was an idealist when he served in the first Gulf War. But when he was later deployed to Iraq, Jerry was an older man, a father of three and embittered by broken promises and unfulfilled desires. When Jerry returns from Iraq he has been transformed by horrors that cannot be forgiven. He lives a life of poverty, his children afraid of him and his wife, Nora (Vinessa Shaw), unsympathetic and unhappy. When Jerry discovers that Nora has betrayed him, his anger and despair drive him to commit an act so heinous and irreversible that nothing he had experienced in combat could have prepared him for.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 517
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Wajma, an Afghan Love Story (2013)
Plot Summary:
It’s snowing in Kabul, and gregarious waiter Mustafa charms a pretty student named Wajma. The pair begin a clandestine relationship—they’re playful and passionate but ever mindful of the societal rules they are breaking. After Wajma discovers she is pregnant, her certainty that Mustafa will marry her falters, and word of their dalliance gets out. Her father must decide between his culturally held right to uphold family honor and his devotion to his daughter.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 464
Genere: Drama
Country: Afghanistan, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, psychological, atmospheric, emotional, sentimental, inspirational, sincere, serious
Similar in 86%
G.H.B. (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reflection on love and pleasure experienced by three women, set in France, New York, and Shanghai.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 25
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Zig Zag (2002)
Plot Summary:
An autistic 15-year-old boy steals money from his boss to provide rent for his abusive father, who uses the money to repay a loan shark.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, touching, serious, independent film, bleak, realistic
Similar in 75%
The Journey to Kafiristan (2001)
Plot Summary:
In 1939, the author Annemarie Schwarzenbach and the ethnologist Ella Maillart travel together by car to Kabul, but each is in pursuit of her own project. Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who was among Erika and Klaus Mann's circle of friends in the 30s, is searching for a place of refuge in the Near East to discover her own self. Ella Maillart justifies her restlessness, her need for movement and travel, with a scientific pretext: she would like to explore the mysterious Kafiristan Valley and make a name for herself with publications on the archaic life of the nomads living there. Both women are on the run, but political developments and their own biographies catch up with them again and again. Their mutual journey through the outside world, which runs from Geneva via the Balkans and Turkey to Persia, is compounded by the inner world of emotions with a tender love story.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 336
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, serious, captivating, contemplative, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 81%
Come to My Voice (2014)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of two women on opposite ends of a lifetime, a very young, curious Jiyan and her life-weary but resistant grandmother Berfe, in order to save the person who links them to each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 359
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, France, Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, fairy tale
Similar in 90%
Mourning (2011)
Plot Summary:
A violent quarrel breaks out between a couple at midnight. Being at a relative's house in the north of Iran, they depart for Tehran in the middle of the night, but they do not bring along their son. Something terrible happens on their way.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 397
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, realistic, islamic, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Iron Island (2005)
Plot Summary:
Squatters live on a mothballed oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. The children attend a school on board; men harvest scrap metal and old oil in the hull; women keep house and raise children and Captain Nemat runs it all with an iron hand. We follow a lad who rescues fish trapped in the hull, an old man who stares at the sun, the idealistic teacher, and Ahmad, the Captain's assistant who has fallen in love with a young woman whose father wants to marry her to someone of means. What future has this sinking city?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 980
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, atmospheric, offbeat, gloomy
Similar in 90%
The Delay (2012)
Plot Summary:
Agustín forgets things; he is aging and he knows it. María is never alone: she watches over everyone, sleeps very little, and works too much. She’s increasingly overwhelmed. One day, on impulse, María decides to abandon Agustín. The tightening grip of old age and the guilt of familial responsibility loom over this absorbing drama from rising director Rodrigo Plá. With an exacting gasp of the internal and external struggles María must endure, Plá explores the challenges of a timeless issue and society’s conflicted responses to life’s central questions. (Hamptons International Film Festival).
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Drama
Country: Uruguay, Mexico, France
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
I Am from Titov Veles (2007)
Plot Summary:
Burdened by memories of their late father, three sisters struggle to escape the suffocating environment of the dying town of Veles. A contemporary story of urban decay, „Jas sum od Titov Veles“ employs a stark realism to depict the vivid landscape of post-Communist Macedonia.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 617
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Slovenia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Kandahar (2001)
Plot Summary:
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, surreal, disturbing, bleak, tense, atmospheric, depressing, lyrical, road movie, talky
Similar in 76%
The Mouth Agape (1974)
Plot Summary:
The portrait of a woman going through a terminal illness and the tumorous lives of her husband and son.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 82%
Future Lasts Forever (2011)
Plot Summary:
A woman struggles with love and personal loss against the backdrop of a land torn by civil war in this drama from filmmaker Ozcan Alper. Sumru (Gaye Gursel) is a Turkish woman who studies ethnic music at a college in Istanbul and frequently makes field recordings of artists who practice rare and unusual forms. Sumru is struggling with loneliness after the disappearance of her Kurdish boyfriend, and for her latest project, she sets out on a lengthy road trip recording the stories of Kurdish women who have survived the murder of their Turkish husbands or lovers, hoping she might track down her man in her travels. After making her first stop in the city of Diyarbaki, Sumru meets Ahmet, who makes a living selling black market goods and shares her love of music and history. The two become fast friends, and as Ahmet joins Sumru on her travels, their relationship grows deeper, though she also becomes more aware of the tragedy that has gripped her country and the consequences of the civil war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, France, Turkey
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, emotional, realistic, contemplative, captivating, art house, sincere, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 84%
The Patience Stone (2012)
Plot Summary:
A woman in an unnamed, war-torn Middle Eastern country delivers an engrossing, emotional monologue to her comatose husband, in novelist and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi's poetic and politically charged allegory based on his award-winning novel. (TIFF).
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, Germany, UK, Afghanistan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, disturbing, rough, captivating, realistic, independent film, inspirational, social, sad, islamic
Similar in 75%
Fly with the Crane (2012)
Plot Summary:
Serenely resigned to his impending death but deeply afraid at the prospect of being cremated, an elderly carpenter seeks to have his last wishes carried out in this gentle, beautifully realized drama from director Li Ruijin. (TIFF).
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 106
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 80%
Angel's Fall (2004)
Plot Summary:
Zeynep, Tülin Özen works in a hotel as a housekeeper. But she suffers hell on earth because of her father's behavior. She only talks to Mustafa, 'Engin Dogan' who works in the same hotel and he is interested in Zeynep. She is not interested in Mustafa who is younger than Zeynep, but she is not indifferent to him. While Zeynep is trying to make a bonfire of bad situation, Selçuk, Budak Akalin who lives on the other side of city is a voice technician. He feels guilty after his wife's death. The suitcase which has his wife's dresses changes the Zeynep's destiny.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, Turkey
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, atmospheric, touching, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Mina Walking (2015)
Plot Summary:
Saddled by a senile grandfather and a neglectful father, Mina, an impulsive twelve-year-old Afghan street seller sees her future slipping away when she is forced to neglect her education and walk the streets of Kabul to support her fragmented family. In the seven days that follow her life, Mina’s quest to emancipate her father from the claws of a local drug dealer and her attempt to secretly attend school underlines the current struggle of a young generation of Afghans trying to shake off the echoes of oppression from the Taliban era that continues to haunt those who bore witness to it.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Afghanistan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, realistic, rough, social, bleak, serious
Similar in 76%
Manpower (2014)
Plot Summary:
An intelligent social issues drama, Manpower sketches a portrait of four men in crisis. Moving between scathing realism and subtle irony, the film raises questions of belonging and uprooting, exile and emigration, home and family. Meir Cohen is a decorated police officer yet he barely earns a living. His new assignment to deport African migrant workers teaches him that foreigners aren’t the only ones with no future in his country. Other plotlines intertwine with Meir’s story: an Israeli-Filipino boy fighting for recognition; a taxi driver whose children are migrating to a distant country; and a veteran migrant worker who’s forced to decide whether to leave or to hide until trouble passes.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, touching, realistic, serious, gloomy, biting, suspense
Similar in 75%
A Screaming Man (2010)
Plot Summary:
Present-day Chad. Adam, sixty something, a former swimming champion, is pool attendant at a smart N'Djamena hotel. When the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel. Terribly resentful, he feels socially humiliated. The country is in the throes of a civil war. Rebel forces are attacking the government. The authorities demand that the population contribute to the "war effort", giving money or volunteers old enough to fight off the assailants. The District Chief constantly harasses Adam for his contribution. But Adam is penniless; he only has his son.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Chad
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, thought provoking, serious, captivating, contemplative, psychological, atmospheric, tense, sincere, bleak
Similar in 86%
The Rocket (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set against the lush backdrop of rural Laos, this spirited drama tells the story of scrappy ten-year-old Ahlo, who yearns to break free from his ill-fated destiny. After his village is displaced to make way for a massive dam, Ahlo escapes with his father and grandmother through the Laotian outback in search of a new home. Along the way, they come across a rocket festival that offers Ahlo a lucrative but dangerous chance to prove his worth.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, Thailand, Laos
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 79%
Son of Babylon (2009)
Plot Summary:
A willful young boy follows his just as obstinate grandmother in a journey across Iraq, determined to discover the fate of her missing son, Ahmed's father, who never returned from war.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iraq, UK, France, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Egypt
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, captivating, emotional, independent film, islamic, tense, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Sounds of Sand (2006)
Plot Summary:
On the one hand, there's the desert eating away at the land. The endless dry season, the lack of water. On the other there's the threat of war. The village well has run dry. The livestock is dying. Trusting their instinct, most of the villagers leave and head south. Rahne, the only literate one, decides to head east with his three children and Mouna, his wife. A few sheep, some goats and Chamelle, a dromedary, are their only riches. A tale of exodus, quest, hope and fatality. Rahne and his family travel across hostile lands under a lethal sun, walking endlessly onwards and frequently crossing paths with death. But "Sounds of sand" is also a parable about determination and eternity that takes us in the footsteps of Shasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father's love.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 553
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, captivating, bleak, realistic
Similar in 78%
Osama (2003)
Plot Summary:
Teenage girl Osama cuts her hair and dresses like a boy to get a job and support her widowed mother and grandmother. When Osama is called by the Taliban to join school and military training she embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey as she tries to keep the Taliban from finding out her true identity.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Afghanistan, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Iran
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, sincere, bleak, thought provoking, breathtaking, talky, stylized, captivating
Similar in 89%
The Deserted Station (2002)
Plot Summary:
On a pilgrimage to Mashad from Tehran, a couple's transportation breaks down, far from any major town. The husband, a photographer, seeks help at a nearby village and encounters a teacher who offers to help. Whilst the husband and teacher go off to find a spare part, the wife, who used to be a teacher, takes over the teaching lessons in the village. It is clear that the children live there, in this strange deserted place, without any men, save the teacher and an old signal guard. As the day draws on, the children help to bring a new hope and life into the wife's heart.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 649
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, islamic, sincere, thought provoking, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Fugitive Pieces (2007)
Plot Summary:
A child escapes from Poland during World War II and first heads to Greece before coming of age in Canada.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Greece
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, bleak, serious, emotional, exciting, rough, touching, suspense, suspenseful, breathtaking
Similar in 83%
Copperhead (2013)
Plot Summary:
A family is torn apart during the American Civil War.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, touching, serious, captivating
Similar in 77%
Two-Legged Horse (2008)
Plot Summary:
A wealthy boy hires a poor child to carry him around like a horse.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 622
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, disturbing, bleak, art house, islamic, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 78%
At Five in the Afternoon (2003)
Plot Summary:
Nogreh is a young Afghani woman living with her father and her sister-in-law, Leylomah, whose husband, Akhtar, is missing. Beyond the issue of Akhtar, Leylomah is most concerned with how to feed her baby. She cannot provide milk for her baby as her own hunger is preventing her from lactating. Nogreh, however, aspires toward a life in a western styled democracy. Although the Taliban are no longer in power in Afghanistan, traditional forces are still active in the country. Nogreh often displays signs of rebellion, such as wearing a pair of white pumps instead of the traditional slipper beneath her burqa. But mostly, Nogreh wants to be educated. Without her father's knowledge, Nogreh is attending a secular girls school. Ultimately, she wants to become President of Afghanistan. With the help of a Pakistani refugee who likes her as a woman, Nogreh tries to understand exactly what forces led to current world leaders being elected, those forces which she wants to emulate.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, sincere, touching, realistic, art house, emotional, masterpiece
Similar in 78%
House with a Turret (2012)
Plot Summary:
During the final winter of WWII, as displaced persons return to their former homes in the Soviet Union, an 8-year-old boy is left alone when his mother dies en route.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 166
Genere: Drama
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized, road movie, bleak, gloomy