Best movies like Half of a Yellow Sun
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
An epic love story: Olanna and Kainene are glamorous twins, living a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria. The two women make very different choices of lovers, but rivalry and betrayal must be set aside as their lives are swept up in the turbulence of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Nigeria, UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Half of a Yellow Sun (2013):
Similar in 85%
Villa Touma (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three unmarried aristocratic Christian sisters from Ramallah have shut themselves in their villa clinging desperately to their former glory, until their orphan niece, Badia, walks into their life and turns their world upside down.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 166
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Israel
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, captivating, independent film
Similar in 75%
Morning Dew (2008)
Plot Summary:
The Ethiopian intellectual Anberber returns to his native country during the repressive totalitarian regime of Haile Mariam Mengistu and the recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness at the dissolution of his people's humanity and social values. After several years spent studying medicine in Germany, he finds the country of his youth replaced by turmoil. His dream of using his craft to improve the health of Ethiopians is squashed by a military junta that uses scientists for its own political ends. Seeking the comfort of his countryside home, Anberber finds no refuge from violence. The solace that the memories of his youth provide is quickly replaced by the competing forces of military and rebelling factions. Anberber needs to decide whether he wants to bear the strain or piece together a life from the fragments that lie around him.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 612
Genere: Drama
Country: Ethiopia, Germany, France
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, realistic, rough
Similar in 88%
Fools of Fortune (1990)
Plot Summary:
A Protestant Irish family is caught up in a conflict between Irish Republicans and the British army.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 254
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 85%
Lost in Siberia (1991)
Plot Summary:
The political drama is set in the Stalin's Soviet Union after the Second World War. A British archaeologist Andrei Miller is working in Iran. He is mistakenly kidnapped and arrested by the KGB. He is falsely accused of spying and wrongfully sentenced to a Gulag prison-camp in Siberia.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 348
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Soviet Union, UK
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Cal (1984)
Plot Summary:
Cal, a young man on the fringes of the IRA, falls in love with Marcella, a Catholic woman whose husband, a Protestant policeman, was killed one year earlier by the IRA.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, Romance
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: political, art house, tense, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Fifty (2015)
Plot Summary:
FIFTY captures a few pivotal days in the lives of four Nigeria women at the pinnacle of their careers. Meet Tola, Elizabeth, Maria and Kate four friends forced at midlife to take inventory of their personal lives, while juggling careers and family against the sprawling backdrops of the upper middle-class neighbourhoods of Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos. They live and work in the resurgent, ever-bustling, 24-hour megacity of Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa's biggest and most vibrant economy.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 280
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Nigeria
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Civil Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
Rachel is a widow during the Civil War who holds the South responsible for her husband's death. When a wounded enemy soldier takes refuge in her barn, Rachel reluctantly helps him. As she gets to know him more, she realizes she must protect him from the dangerous men pursuing him, and discovers a courage she didn't know she had - the courage to love again.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 90%
Red Rose (2014)
Plot Summary:
A politically complacent middle-aged man and a young pro-democracy activist debate about the future of their country while hiding from the police, in this fascinating drama that blends scripted scenes with on-the-ground footage from Iran’s 2009 Green Revolution.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Iran, Greece
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 87%
This Is the Sea (1997)
Plot Summary:
The film is set in Northern Ireland shortly after 1994 cease-fire. Hazel is a Protestant and Malachy a Catholic. Romance between them is threatened by Rohan (leader in militant underground and pal of Malachy's brother Padhar), who wants Malachy to be recruited and fight for the cause and by Hazel's brother Jef, who spies on her meetings.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 380
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 87%
The Lost City (2005)
Plot Summary:
In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, sincere, stylized, period piece, serious, emotional, realistic, tense, sentimental
Similar in 75%
Night Catches Us (2010)
Plot Summary:
After growing up during the tumultuous 1960s, ex-Black Panther Marcus returns to his home in Philadelphia in 1976 and reconnects with Pat, the widow of a Panther leader. Marcus befriends Pat's young daughter and attempts to conquer his demons. Interfering with Marcus's good intentions are the neighborhood's continuing racial and social conflicts, as well as old enemies and friends -- both with scores to settle.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, political, gloomy, independent film, black cinema
Similar in 81%
The Painting (2001)
Plot Summary:
Heath Freeman (Tru Calling, ER) heads an all-star cast including Clifton Davis (Any Given Sunday) Ben Vereen (Roots), Stacey Dash (Renaissance Man) and Debbie Allen (Fame) in the period drama Soldier of Change, which resurrects the turmoil and confusion of the late sixties. Travel back in time to visit a young man, Randy (Freeman) who finds himself immersed in the impassioned civil rights cause in the States, and struggles valiantly to adjust to the changing social fabric around him. But this is only the first of two worlds that Randy encounters. When he is drafted and shipped off to Asia - and the nightmare that called itself Vietnam - this inexperienced soldier must fight for his life and his convictions as he attempts to survive amid the turmoil of a war whose real nature is alien even to the country fighting it.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, romantic, touching, independent film
Similar in 84%
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 Kitchen Toto (1987)
Plot Summary:
The son of a priest slain by the Mau Mau moves in with a police officer and his wife in 1950 Kenya.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, grindhouse, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 76%
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 84%
Ezra (2007)
Plot Summary:
Ezra, jeune ex-soldat Sierra-Léonais, essaie tant bien que mal de retrouver des repères pour revenir à une vie normale après la guerre civile qui a ravagé son pays. Son quotidien est partagé entre un centre de réhabilitation psychologique et un tribunal de réconciliation nationale organisé sous l'égide de l'ONU. Durant le procès en réhabilitation auquel Ezra participe, il doit affronter sa soeur qui l'accuse du meurtre de leurs parents. Ezra, qui a traversé cette violente guerre civile complètement drogué et alcoolisé, ne se souvient de rien. Ezra reconnaîtra-t-il l'horreur et par ce fait, permettra-t-il à sa soeur et à sa communauté villageoise d'accéder au pardon ?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 288
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Nigeria, USA, UK, Austria
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: captivating, rough, thought provoking, disturbing, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
What the Day Owes the Night (2012)
Plot Summary:
Algeria, the 1930s. Younes is nine years old when he is put in his uncle's care in Oran. Rebaptized Jonas, he grows up among the Rio Salado youths, with whom he becomes friends. Emilie is one of the gang; everyone is in love with her. A great love story develops between Jonas and Emilie, which is soon unsettled by the conflicts troubling the country.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 162 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, captivating, emotional, serious, realistic, family saga, saga, iconic
Similar in 82%
Once Upon a Time in Rio (2008)
Plot Summary:
Situated just above the awe-inspiring Ipanema beach in Rio is the Cantagalo slum. Every day, floods of Cantagalo residents make their way down the mountain, only to disappear into their surroundings as part of the invisible working-class that cleans apartments, works in restaurants, and sells food along the scenic, sun-drenched shores. Young Dé (Thiago Martins) is just such a man. Dé lives with his mother Bernadette (Cyria Coentro) in a cramped Cantagalo apartment, selling hot dogs on the beach in order to make the rent. His brother Beto was killed when Dé was just a young boy, and his adopted brother Carlão (Rocco Pitanga) has been jailed for a robbery that he didn't commit. One day, while working on the beach, Dé meets Nina (Vitória Frate). Nina is the only child of a successful lawyer named Evandro (Paulo César Grande), who's none to happy to discover that his daughter is dating a member of the lower class. How.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Brazil
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, sentimental, serious, bleak
Similar in 83%
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 78%
Partition (2007)
Plot Summary:
Determined to leave the ravages of war behind, 38 year old Gian Singh resigns from the British Indian Army to a quiet life. His world is soon thrown in turmoil, when he suddenly finds himself responsible for the life of a 17 year old girl, traumatized by the events that separated her from her family.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK, Canada, South Africa, India, Pakistan
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, inspirational, political, informative, atmospheric, epic
Similar in 82%
Mississippi Masala (1991)
Plot Summary:
An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter falls in love with a black man, and the respective families have to come to terms with it.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: romantic, light, talky, realistic, touching, serious, sexy, emotional, sex comedy, multicultural
Similar in 90%
In My Country (2004)
Plot Summary:
An American reporter and an Afrikaans poet meet and fall in love while covering South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Ireland, South Africa
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, emotional, political, realistic, political thriller, crying
Similar in 77%
Tears of April (2008)
Plot Summary:
There is civil war in Finland. Between whites vs reds. A woman soldier of reds is captured by the whites. She is ordered to be executed.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Finland, Germany, Greece
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, disturbing, bleak, serious, captivating
Similar in 86%
Red Dust (2004)
Plot Summary:
Sarah Barcant, a lawyer in New York City who grew up in South Africa, returns to her childhood dwelling place to intercede for Alex Mpondo, a Black South African politician who was tortured during apartheid.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, sincere, political, cult classic
Similar in 83%
The Bridges of Sarajevo (2014)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen European directors explore the theme of Sarajevo; what this city has represented in European history over the past hundred years, and what Sarajevo stands for today in Europe. These eminent filmmakers of different generations and origins offer exceptional singular styles and visions.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 387
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing, anthology, bleak
Similar in 82%
The Sleeping Voice (2011)
Plot Summary:
Pepita travels to Madrid to be near her sister Hortensia who is pregnant and in prison. Hortensia is sentenced to death. The execution will not be carried out until after the baby is delivered. Pepita tries everything to stay the execution, but when unsuccessful she goes to the prison everyday to make sure Hortensia's son goes with her and not into an orphanage.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Spain
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, emotional, suspenseful, political, intense, bleak, realistic
Similar in 80%
For Colored Girls (2010)
Plot Summary:
About existence from the perspective of 20 nameless black females. Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, emotional, contemplative, hood, uplifting, social, sad, tear jerker
Similar in 81%
Mandela and de Klerk (1997)
Plot Summary:
Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine both received Emmy nominations for their performances in this made-for-TV movie. The plot follows Nelson Mandela's 27-year struggle to end apartheid.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 667
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Nothing But a Man (1964)
Plot Summary:
A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, political, social, black and white, aesthetic, sincere, thought provoking, clever, touching, serious
Similar in 87%
Endgame (2009)
Plot Summary:
The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, captivating, exciting, thought provoking, epic, realistic, political, contemplative