Best movies like El Sur
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The movie tells a melancholic story of a little girl who is living in a city in the north. She is fascinated by the secrets of the south which seem to be hidden in the personality of her father.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: poetic, sad, art house, visual, psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like El Sur (1983):
Similar in 81%
Cousin Angelica (1974)
Plot Summary:
When the single middle-aged Luis travels from Barcelona to bury the remains of his mother in the vault of his family in Segovia, he is lodged by his aunt Pilar in her old house where he spent his summer of 1936 with her. He meets his cousin Angelica, who was his first love, living on the first floor with her husband and daughter, and he recalls his childhood in times of the Spanish Civil War entwined with the present.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, surreal, controversial, contemplative, gloomy, biting, suspense
Similar in 76%
Oriana (1985)
Plot Summary:
A young girl is sent to a South American hacienda, where she learns about the life of her reclusive aunt, Oriana.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Venezuela, France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: slasher, sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Thrill of the Hills (2011)
Plot Summary:
In order to to see his idol, Jimi Hendrix, a twelve year old boy attempts a journey from his Quebec village to Woodstock.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 461
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, captivating, sentimental, feel good, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 75%
Genova (2008)
Plot Summary:
A man moves his two daughters to Italy after their mother dies in a car accident, in order to revitalize their lives. Genoa changes all three of them as the youngest daughter starts to see the ghost of her mother, while the older one discovers her sexuality.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: UK, Sweden, Cayman Islands
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, captivating, sex comedy, romantic drama, contemplative, gloomy, feel good
Similar in 79%
The Tree (2010)
Plot Summary:
The O'Neills lived happily in their house in the Australian countryside. That was until one day fate struck blindly, taking the life of Peter, the father, leaving his grief-stricken wife Dawn alone with their four children. Among them, eight-year-old Simone denies this reality. She is persuaded that her father still lives in the giant fig tree growing near their house and speaks to her through its leaves. But the tree becomes more and more invasive and threatens the house. It must be felled. Of course, Simone won't allow it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Australia, Germany, Italy, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, emotional, romantic, stylized, romantic drama, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Christmas (2009)
Plot Summary:
Alejandro and Aurora, two young students, leave Santiago and are on their way to spend Christmas with family in Aurora. At the foot of the Andes, the frustrations of Alejandro and Aurora’s doubts about her sexual identity cause tension. The two teens are on the verge of collapse when they discover the presence of a young girl, Alicia, a fragile girl of sixteen years who has fled her home. Gathered around an improvised Christmas tree, Alejandro and Aurora are fascinated by the enigmatic Alicia, who is becoming the object of their desire.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Chile, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, atmospheric, gloomy
Similar in 88%
The Maids of Wilko (1979)
Plot Summary:
Set in the late '20s. A thirtyish young man, who heads a small factory, faints at the funeral of a close friend. He decides to go home to his aunt and uncle for a while, but gets involved with a family of five women who had been in love with him at one time though he had apparently loved only one, who, unknown to him, has died since his departure. The women are mainly disillusioned with life or estranged from husbands while the youngest has a crush on him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Poland, France
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: existential, psychological, sentimental, atmospheric, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Table for Five (1983)
Plot Summary:
J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight) wants a second chance to be a father to his children ... but someone else has taken his place. Determined not to just be a friendly 'uncle' in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins) and her new husband (Richard Crenna) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. On the journey he comes to realise it's not that easy and, feeling overwhelmed, begins to doubt his abilities until a tragedy back home forces him to become the father he always hoped to be.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 836
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
The Run of the Country (1995)
Plot Summary:
An Irish lad (Matt Keeslar) who fled from his oppressive, widowed father (Albert Finney) falls for a girl (Victoria Smurfit) from an affluent family.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, sexy, thought provoking, brutal, enigmatic
Similar in 78%
Once in a Lifetime (1994)
Plot Summary:
After losing her husband and baby daughter to a fire, Daphne Fields raises her deaf son while beginning a writing career. Hollywood loves her scripts, but her heart remains with her son Andrew, under the care of Headmaster Matthew Dane at an eastern boarding school. Daphne finally seems to have rediscovered love in her leading man. But an accident leaves her hospitalized, contemplating her life, fate and her best chance for love.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 407
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999)
Plot Summary:
Set in rural England in the 1950s Eva (Samantha Morton) fantasises about her handsome, worldly cousin Joseph Lees (Rupert Graves), with whom she fell in love as a girl. However, stuck in a closed community she becomes the object of someone else's fantasy, Harry (Lee Ross). When Harry learns that Eva is planning to leave the village in order to live with and look after the injured Lees, he devises a gruesome scheme in order to force her to stay and look after him.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 920
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, erotic, psychological, romantic
Similar in 90%
All Is Forgiven (2007)
Plot Summary:
Victor lives in Vienna with Annette, his beautiful Austrian wife and their daughter Pamela. It’s spring. Fleeing his work, Victor spends his days outside: he plays with Pamela, pays a visit to Annette’s parents, loiters in the park with the drug dealers. Very much in love, Annette is confident that he’ll get a hold of himself as soon as they return to Paris. But back in France, Victor relapses into his bad habits. After a violent dispute, Victor moves into the room of a junkie he has fallen in love with. Annette leaves Victor and disappears with Pamela. 11 years later: Pamela is 17. She lives in Paris with her mother. One day, she learns that her father lives in the same city. She decides to see him again. –Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 956
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Love is the Word (2013)
Plot Summary:
Love is the Word is a moving, romantic and funny coming-of-age drama about the magic of first love and the misery of first lost, set in 1978: the year 'Grease' hit the big screen.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 630
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sentimental, realistic, captivating, emotional, sexy
Similar in 82%
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Plot Summary:
In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Ana, a sensitive seven-year-old girl in a rural Spanish hamlet is traumatized after a traveling projectionist screens a print of James Whale's 1931 "Frankenstein" for the village. The youngster is profoundly disturbed by the scenes in which the monster murders the little girl and is later killed himself by the villagers. She questions her sister about the profundities of life and death and believes her older sibling when she tells her that the monster is not dead, but exists as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn. When a Loyalist soldier, a fugitive from Franco's victorious army, hides out in the barn, Ana crosses from reality into a fantasy world of her own.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Spain
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: art house, surreal, visual, atmospheric, contemplative, political, poetic, mind bending, psychedelic, depressing
Similar in 86%
Headwinds (2011)
Plot Summary:
Sarah tells Paul that she wants out of their marriage; the next day she disappears. A year later and Paul along with their children return to his childhood town to start anew after the loss of his wife and their mother.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
The Thirteenth Tale (2013)
Plot Summary:
Margaret Lea, a young biographer, attempts to interview writer Vida Winter, whose health is deteriorating. Vida has previously denied access to the secrets of her life and childhood home. Vida tells her story to Margaret, helping Margaret to confront her past.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: gothic, captivating, touching, serious, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, slasher, sentimental
Similar in 84%
Don't Tell (2005)
Plot Summary:
Sabina has a regular life. She is satisfied with her job and her love for Franco. Lately nightmares start disturbing her, and almost in the same time she discovers to be pregnant. Step by step she remembers her childhood spent within a severe middle-class family. But a big secret is hidden within her heart. Sabina wants to contact again her brother, a University teacher in the US, to try to understand what is happened in their past. What is the secret? She is determined to bring clarity and serenity in her life. She finally manages to free herself from her "beast in the heart".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Italy, UK, France, Spain
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, sincere, touching, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
The Goob (2014)
Plot Summary:
We’re in the middle of a heat-wave in Fenland England. Goob Taylor has spent each of his sixteen summers helping Mum run the transport cafe and harvest the surrounding beet fields. When Mum shacks up with swarthy stock-car supremo and ladies’ man gene Womack, Goob becomes an unwelcome side thought. However Goob’s world turns when exotic beet picker Eva arrives. Fuelled by her flirtatious comments, Goob dreams of better things.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, captivating, emotional, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 87%
Summer Games (2011)
Plot Summary:
The story of an adult and a teenage couple during a brief summer holiday by the sea. While Nic's parents remain trapped in a precarious mutual dependency despite repeated attempts at reconciliation, their 12-year-old son tries to come to terms with his father's traumatizing violent outbursts in games with other children. He tries to teach Marie, who is of his age and suffers from her own relationship with her father, to feel nothing. In fact, both of them are transformed by their experience of the joys and pains of first love.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 430
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Switzerland, France
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, touching, realistic, sad
Similar in 77%
Loverboy (2005)
Plot Summary:
A neglected daughter becomes a possessive mother in an emotional journey into the heart and mind of a woman who loved too much.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, erotic, offbeat, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998)
Plot Summary:
Otto and Ana are kids when they meet each other. Their names are palindromes. They meet by chance, people are related by chance. A story of circular lives, with circular names, and a circular place (Círculo polar) where the day never ends in the midnight sun. There are things that never end, and Love is one of them.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, philosophical, melancholic, art house, cerebral, sentimental, clever, touching, non-linear, erotic
Similar in 80%
That Night (1992)
Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age story about an eleven-year-old girl who idolizes her troubled sixteen-year-old neighbor.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sexy, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, romantic drama
Similar in 76%
For a Woman (2013)
Plot Summary:
After the death of her mother, Anne makes a shocking discovery: an old photograph casts doubt on her origins and leads her to discover a mysterious uncle who lived with her parents after the war. As she lifts the lid on a long forgotten family secret, the young woman learns that her mother once succumbed to an amorous passion that was as intense as it was short-lived.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 870
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, semi serious, captivating, humorous, tragic
Similar in 80%
Go (2001)
Plot Summary:
Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school that is dedicated to memory of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His father is a grizzled ex-boxer who recently changed his citizenship from North to South Korea so he and his wife – Sugihara's mom – could visit Hawaii. Though his father regularly gets drunk and thrashes him, he also taught Sugihara the finer point of the sweet science. At one point in the film, Sugihara takes out an entire basketball team that was bent on taking him out. Upon graduation, Sugihara enters a normal Japanese high school where he meets and soon falls for Sakurai – a loose-sock copper-haired damsel who is attracted to Sugihara's restless spirit. As the film progresses, Sugihara struggles to throw off the stigma of his ethnicity and live a quiet, successful life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, sweet, realistic
Similar in 79%
Don't Let Me Drown (2009)
Plot Summary:
In a post-September 11th world overflowing with fear and hate, two Latino teens discover that sometimes the only thing that can keep them from drowning is love.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 428
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, touching, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway (1999)
Plot Summary:
An amnesiac youth tries to piece together his past, but what he discovers may jeopardize his future.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 81%
The Shanghai Spell (2002)
Plot Summary:
A fourteen year old lad discovers his first love at the point of his pencil whilst drawing the portrait of a sickly but coquettish fifteen year old girl. In the neighbourhood an old freedom-fighter pits himself against bad types, a pretty cinema-ticket girl takes to the streets at night and a young anarchist dedicates himself to telling tall stories. Far away, in Shanghai, a hero of the Republic meets a beautiful femme fatal with oriental eyes. Reality and fiction become fused in an embrace.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 549
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Spain, France, UK
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, neo noir, realistic, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 89%
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Plot Summary:
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 277000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: sad, uplifting, inspirational, touching, emotional, realistic, feel good, atmospheric, heartbreaking, compassionate
Similar in 75%
Sisters (2009)
Plot Summary:
Lyon, France in 1970s, Sibylle, Corinne, and Georgette are sisters who share everything, as they live with their Italian mother. Sibylle is the only blonde in the family, except for their father who abandoned them, and she feels isolated. She dreams of meeting her French father one day.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 230
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 87%
Jane Eyre (2011)
Plot Summary:
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, gothic, atmospheric, captivating, costume drama, period piece, visually appealing, sexy, emotional