Best movies like Fences
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: emotional, depressing, talky, stylized, motivational, cult classic, exciting, sentimental, inspirational, sincere
Best tv shows and movies like Fences (2016):
Similar in 83%
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Plot Summary:
Jimmie Fails dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Joined on his quest by his best friend Mont, Jimmie searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems to have left them behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, unusual plot structure, captivating, disturbing, thought provoking, political, poignant, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 77%
Killer of Sheep (1978)
Plot Summary:
Stan works in drudgery at a slaughterhouse. His personal life is drab. Dissatisfaction and ennui keep him unresponsive to the needs of his adoring wife, and he must struggle against influences which would dishonor and endanger him and his family.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, realistic, serious, emotional, black and white, political, social, contemplative, art house
Similar in 82%
A Raisin in the Sun (2008)
Plot Summary:
Dreams can make a life worth living, but they can also be dashed by bad decisions. This is the crossroads whare the Younger family find themselves when their father passes away and leaves them with $10,000 in life insurance money. Should they buy a new home for the family? Perhaps a liquor store? While no choice is easy, life on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s is even harder.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, emotional, uplifting, touching, serious, family saga, captivating, realistic
Similar in 85%
Panther (1995)
Plot Summary:
Panther is a semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The movie spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Panther's history in Oakland. Panther also uses historical footage (B/W) to emphasize some points.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: political, disturbing, controversial, philosophical, hood, cult classic, tense, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
White Water (2015)
Plot Summary:
White Water is the story of a 7 year-old black kid in segregated 1963 Opelika, Alabama who becomes obsessed with the desire to taste the water from the "white's only" drinking fountain and sets out on a quest to do the unthinkable: drink from it.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 87%
Crooklyn (1994)
Plot Summary:
From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher, her stubborn jazz-musician husband and their five kids living in '70s Brooklyn.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: humorous, sentimental, touching, light, melancholic, talky, stylized, hood, semi serious, sad
Similar in 90%
Jungle Fever (1991)
Plot Summary:
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, emotional, realistic, controversial, hood, sentimental, captivating, scary, touching
Similar in 75%
He Got Game (1998)
Plot Summary:
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: inspirational, hood, thought provoking, captivating, rough, touching, stylized, scary, cult classic, serious
Similar in 83%
Imperial Dreams (2014)
Plot Summary:
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, rough, serious, hood, inspirational, feel good, social, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 87%
Shadrach (1998)
Plot Summary:
In 1935, 99-year-old former slave Shadrach asks to be buried on the soil where he was born to slavery, and that land is owned by the large Dabney family, consisting of Vernon, Trixie and their seven children, and to bury a black man on that land is a violation of strict Virginia law.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, independent film, sincere, serious, realistic, light, road movie, sexy
Similar in 84%
Pariah (2011)
Plot Summary:
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, realistic, sincere, serious, emotional, spiritual, lgbt cinema, sexual, powerful
Similar in 83%
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Plot Summary:
Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: black and white, retro, social, existential, aesthetic, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious
Similar in 75%
Precious (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret--she can't read.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, emotional, rough, sad, inspirational, disturbing, touching, independent film, harsh
Similar in 80%
Won't Back Down (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, uplifting, realistic, serious, emotional, inspirational
Similar in 76%
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Plot Summary:
Matt and Christina Drayton are a couple whose attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, intense, compassionate, sincere, semi serious, black and white, clever, realistic
Similar in 84%
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Plot Summary:
A River Runs Through is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circumstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920's.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, melancholic, intense, tense, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 84%
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, sentimental, emotional, sweet, inspirational, crying, psychological, captivating, intense
Similar in 79%
My Life (1993)
Plot Summary:
It seems that Bob Jones has everything a man could want, namely a fulfilling job and a beautiful, pregnant wife, Gail. But Bob's life is turned upside-down when he is diagnosed with cancer and given four months to live -- not even enough time to see his first child's birth. To cleanse himself of demons in his remaining days, Bob makes a video diary, hoping to pass along some wisdom to his future child. Along the way, he discovers a lot about himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sad, emotional, touching, heartbreaking, melancholic, sincere, sentimental, depressing, compassionate, philosophical
Similar in 75%
Antwone Fisher (2002)
Plot Summary:
A sailor prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: inspirational, psychological, sincere, touching, emotional, thought provoking, uplifting, sentimental, intense, compassionate
Similar in 88%
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Plot Summary:
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her colored chauffeur Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters in a time when those types of relationships where shunned upon. Oscar winning tragic comedy with a star-studded cast and based on a play of the same name by Alfred Uhry.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, touching, feel good, inspirational, emotional, witty, talky, intense, period piece
Similar in 84%
Philadelphia (1993)
Plot Summary:
No one would take his case until one man was willing to take on the system. Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 254000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, tear jerker, sincere, emotional, thought provoking, compassionate, inspirational, lgbt cinema, crying
Similar in 78%
Remember the Titans (2000)
Plot Summary:
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 228000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sentimental, touching, uplifting, feel good, emotional, motivational, factual, sincere, sad
Similar in 85%
The Great Debaters (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: inspirational, realistic, touching, political, emotional, entertaining, motivational, sentimental, sincere, feel good
Similar in 82%
Selma (2014)
Plot Summary:
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: emotional, political, thought provoking, inspirational, sincere, uplifting, factual, serious, period piece, realistic
Similar in 86%
The Butler (2013)
Plot Summary:
A look at the life of Cecil Gaines who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 119000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, inspirational, political, factual, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, historical drama
Similar in 88%
The Help (2011)
Plot Summary:
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 484000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, thought provoking, uplifting, emotional, feel good, captivating, period piece, sad, sentimental
Similar in 88%
The Color Purple (1985)
Plot Summary:
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, inspirational, sad, sincere, emotional, compassionate, period piece, heartbreaking
Similar in 90%
Malcolm X (1992)
Plot Summary:
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 202 min
Plot tags: inspirational, political, factual, intense, stylized, realistic, thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional
Similar in 77%
Hidden Figures (2016)
Plot Summary:
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 249000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sincere, motivational, touching, factual, exciting, feel good, educational, sad, historical drama
Similar in 77%
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Plot Summary:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
IMDB Rating: 9.3
IMDB Votes: 28000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: clever, inspirational, touching, twist ending, sentimental, uplifting, emotional, philosophical, suspense, serious