Best movies like Hollow City
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A group of children, fleeing the war, is taken to Luanda accompanied by a nun. When they reach the aeroplane, 12-year-old N'Dala decides to leave the group and to reconnoitre the city. The nun then starts her unceasing quest for the missing boy. N'Dala, only carrying a textile bag and a doll made of wire, walks through the busy streets filled with people and traffic. Later he finds the tranquility of the island off the coast, where he meets the old fisherman Antonio, with whom he becomes friends. Not much later, he meets the lively, whimsical Zé, who is a little older than he is. N'Dala starts to experience the city and its inhabitants as increasingly forbidding and he would most like to return to the countryside from whence he came. Then he meets Joka, a fringe figure who persuades him to help with a robbery in exchange for money. With this film, Maria Joao Ganga wanted to provide a realistic sketch of the bitter political situation in Angola. One of her most important motivations.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Drama
Country: Angola, Portugal
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: social
Best tv shows and movies like Hollow City (2004):
Similar in 75%
Nelio's Story (1998)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book by Henning Mankell (Sweden), this story takes place in Mozambique and is about a young boy, Nelio, who loses his entire family during a time of civil war. A wounded Nelio is found by a baker in the capital Mapouto; refusing medical treatment, the boy instead asks for sanctuary so he can tell his terrible tale. This he proceeds to do, starting with how the fighters arrived in his village and slaughtered many, to his captivity, his escape and his teaming with other orphaned street urchins to become their leader in survival.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 84
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Portugal, Mozambique
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Blackout (2009)
Plot Summary:
Paris, April 1994. Young freelance journalist Antoine Rives is making a report on Westerners who have been repatriated from Rwanda, fleeing the massacres. He meets Clément, a student of Hutu origin whose Tutsi fiancée Alice hasn’t been able to leave Rwanda. Antoine convinces Clément to go back with him to look for Alice, and to let him film the journey. Their pact soon becomes untenable as they find themselves thrown into chaos. This is a journey through horror during which a young man’s First World illusions are stripped away as he wakes up to human tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: factual
Similar in 78%
My Mermaid, My Lorelei (2013)
Plot Summary:
A romantic story unfolding in a beautiful village by the sea. The protagonists are 14-year-old Fedor and 18-year-old Nyurka. Fedor has long been interested in the girl, but was too shy to talk to her. He is an ordinary boy who enjoys riding his bike, while Nyurka is almost an actress. Her favorite book is 'Angelique and the King', a novel that defines the way she looks at life. She has often imagined being cast in the title role in a film. When she becomes close friends with Fedor, she assigns him a part from the novel as well. A film showing that love has no age. True feelings can change people and make them grow up. And love is a magical and pure feeling that can awaken courage in hearts.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Drama
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, funny, light, sweet
Similar in 81%
Maangamizi: The Ancient One (2001)
Plot Summary:
An American woman doctor comes to Tanzania to work at a hospital for the mentally disturbed, with her Tanzanian lover. There, she meets a sometimes catatonic patient, Samahe, who seems to be in communication with another reality. In their confrontation with their individual and collective pasts, Dr Asira and Samehe are bound by fears and half remembered images of unbearable pain. Only through the spirit of Maangamizi, can the women resume their lives with an understanding of the ancestors and their eternal presence in a world of cruelty, hatred and death. It is a story that seeks to reclaim the connection between Africa and her Diaspora, and one that dares to represent the histories of two continents as it peels away layers upon layers of pain to bring healing of the soul.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: Tanzania, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, allegory, independent film
Similar in 75%
Lucky (2011)
Plot Summary:
A 10-year-old South African orphan leaves his Zulu village to make his own life in the city... only to find no one will help him, except a formidable Indian woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Children of the Mountain (2016)
Plot Summary:
Against the picturesque Ghanaian backdrop, Children of the Mountain is an honest exploration of a mother’s will in the face of much adversity. When her baby is born with a cleft lip, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome, Essuman is led to believe that she has a ‘dirty womb.’ Her promising future as a wife and mother is shattered as her lover disowns her and the community eyes her with suspicion.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 75
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Ghana
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Grandmother (1989)
Plot Summary:
A small African village. The story focuses on Bila, a ten year old boy who befriends an old woman, Sana. Everybody calls her 'Witch' but Bila himself calls her 'Yaaba' (grandmother). When Bila's cousin Nopoko gets sick it is Sana's medicine that saves her.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 739
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Burkina Faso, Switzerland, France, West Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, black cinema
Similar in 86%
Harvest: 3,000 Years (1975)
Plot Summary:
In this meditative film, the everyday lives of poor Ethiopian peasants are shown using documentary as well as storytelling techniques, and the drama arises out of the timeless but still contemporary issues of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 216
Genere: Drama
Country: Ethiopia
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 90%
Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
Plot Summary:
Gabriel, aged 10, lives in a comfortable ex-pat neighborhood in Burundi, his ‘small country’. Gabriel is a normal kid, happy, carefree and having adventures with his friends and little sister. Then in 1993, tensions in neighboring Rwanda spill over, threatening his family and his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 791
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, social
Similar in 76%
Sambizanga (1972)
Plot Summary:
Domingos is a member of an African liberation movement, arrested by the Portuguese secret police, after bloody events in Angola. He does not betray his companions, but is beaten to death in prison, and not knowing he is dead, his wife goes from a prison station to another, trying in vain to know where he is.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 614
Genere: Drama
Country: Angola, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 78%
Nairobi Half Life (2012)
Plot Summary:
Mwas, a young aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming an accomplished actor one day, and in pursuit of this, he makes his way to Nairobi, the city of opportunity. He quickly understands why Nairobi is nicknamed Nairrobery as he is bereaved of all his money and belongings and left alone in a city where he doesn’t know a soul. Luck or the lack of it brings Mwas face to face with the city’s criminals and forms a friendship with a small time crook who takes him in. He is quickly drawn into a world of crime as he struggles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Keeping the two worlds separate proves to be a challenge for Mwas as he steps into this unknown world called Nairobi.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Kenya, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, tense, captivating, rough, bleak
Similar in 86%
Nobody's Daughter (1976)
Plot Summary:
An orphan girl suffers abuse from her adoptive parents.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 577
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Mother and Son (2022)
Plot Summary:
In the late 1980s, Rose moves from the Ivory Coast to the Paris suburbs with her two young sons, Ernest and Jean. Spanning 20 years from their arrival in France to the present day, the film is the moving chronicle of the construction and deconstruction of a family.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 385
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: interesting
Similar in 80%
Owl and the Sparrow (2007)
Plot Summary:
In modern-day Saigon, three lonely strangers form a unique family as a ten-year old orphan plays matchmaker to a zookeeper and a beautiful flight attendant.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 965
Genere: Drama
Country: Vietnam, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sincere, serious, sentimental, touching, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
The Silences of the Palace (1994)
Plot Summary:
The death of a prince brings a young woman back to the palace where she was born into servitude. The lingering legacy of the harem is brought into light from behind frosted windows and velvet curtains.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Tunisia, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: islamic, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 82%
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 80%
Ceddo (1977)
Plot Summary:
When King Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo kidnap his daughter, Princess Dior Yacine, to protest their forcible conversion to Islam.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Senegal, France
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Sankofa (1993)
Plot Summary:
A self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 784
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Ghana, Burkina Faso, UK, Germany, Ethiopia
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: inspirational, independent film, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Bamako (The Court) (2006)
Plot Summary:
Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up... In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes... Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa's desire to fight for its rights.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Mali, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating, social, biting, allegory, suspense
Similar in 80%
Chop Shop (2007)
Plot Summary:
Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, sincere, rough, serious, realistic, feel good, political, social, multicultural
Similar in 80%
Destiny (1997)
Plot Summary:
Though gay-themed stories about "coming out" and accepting one's sexuality are not uncommon in Western countries, such tales are still rare in many conservative African nations. Considered a ground-breaking film in its native Guinea, and filmed amidst a storm of controversy, Mohamed Camara's Dakan is the first of its nations films to directly address issues surrounding homosexuality. The story centers on the romance between two 20-year-old men, Manga and Sory who are first seen making out in a car. The trouble begins when Manga tells his widowed mother about his love for Sory, who is busy contending with his outraged father. The parents insist that the two never see each other again. Manga's mother then uses witchcraft to cleanse her son and change him into a heterosexual. Time passes and eventually Manga begins to date a girl. But it soon becomes apparent that try as he might, Manga's heart belongs to Sory.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 188
Genere: Drama
Country: Guinea, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Alexandria... Why? (1979)
Plot Summary:
Set against the panoramic backdrop of war-torn Egypt, director Youssef Chahine tells a highly personal tale of love and determination. Amid the poverty, death and suffering caused by World War II, 18 year-old Yehia, retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of one day studying filmmaking in America, but after falling in love and discovering the lies of European occupation, Yehia profoundly reevaluates his identity and allegiances.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Egypt, Algeria
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: semi autobiographical, psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, crying
Similar in 76%
Boy Called Twist (2004)
Plot Summary:
The harrowing tale of a South African street-kid's search for love, based on Dickens' classic story. Growing up neglected in a rural orphanage, Twist escapes to the unpredictable freedom of Cape Town, where he falls in with Fagin's gang of street urchins. With a gritty honesty steeped in its vibrant characters, Boy called Twist superbly captures the contemporary equivalents of Dickens' seedy individuals as it shadows the timeless tale in its own inimitable style.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
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 87%
The Rose Seller (1998)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Monica leads a street life, making her living by selling flowers to couples in local nightspots, she is joined by 10-year-old Andrea who runs out of her house after her mother beats her.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: social, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Dry Season (2006)
Plot Summary:
Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 966
Genere: Drama
Country: Chad, France, Belgium, Austria
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, bleak, captivating, islamic, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 89%
Grigris (2013)
Plot Summary:
A 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he's paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 590
Genere: Drama
Country: Chad, France, Belgium
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Jet Boy (2001)
Plot Summary:
Dave Schultz' feature debut Jet Boy is a drama about a boy attempting to figure out his future. Nathan (Branden Nadon) goes on a search to find his father after his mother dies of a drug overdose. Nathan has been prostituting himself in order to get by when he befriends Boon Palmer (Dylan Walsh). In Dylan, Nathan sees his possible future. In Nathan, Dylan sees a chance to rectify his past.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, emotional, erotic, sexy, independent film, bleak, gloomy, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000)
Plot Summary:
Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: Morocco, Tunisia, France, Belgium, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, bleak, social, disturbing, crying, islamic, realistic, masterpiece
Similar in 84%
Foxes (1980)
Plot Summary:
A group of friends come of age in the asphalt desert of the San Fernando Valley, as set to a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: stylized, social, sexual, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy, scary, road movie, sexy