Best movies like Hooks to the Left
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Based on the journals of Nail, a male hustler who reentered the prostitution ring after 10 years in a relationship, Todd Verow's experimental documentary (shot entirely on a cell phone camera) examines the changing landscape of male prostitution. Nail's narrated journal entries accompany dreamy and abstract imagery shot all over the world. Verow also explores how the Internet has shaped the sex trade.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: experimental, suspense, disturbing, avant garde
Best tv shows and movies like Hooks to the Left (2006):
Similar in 76%
William, the New Judo Master (2016)
Plot Summary:
Portrays the universe of an eternal being that exists within a lifecycle filled with disappointments and hopelessness. It's the chronicle about the search for love and the fight against oblivion.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: experimental, avant garde
Similar in 85%
Anonymous (2004)
Plot Summary:
A man finds himself homeless after a fight with his significant other.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Er Moretto - Von Lieben leben (1984)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of a runaway desperate poor 14 years old boy, becoming a prostitute and suffering all kinds of tribulations in Rome in the 80s. And the gay scene is somewhat accurate of those days.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland, West Germany
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Vanilla (including A Little Comfort) (2004)
Plot Summary:
Mystery, murder and sex mix in this double-feature of gay short films. In "Vanilla," a San Francisco photographer (Ryan Allen) uncovers the Bay Side Strangler's dead body and starts having dreams in which the victims return. In the French "A Little Comfort," (tt0404165) pals Arnaud (Arthur Moncla) and Guillaume (Remi Bresson) explore their fantasies. Joseph Graham directs the tale about disturbing inspiration for art; D'Armand Lameloise directs the young gay men's coming of age story.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 149
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 88%
The Male Gaze: Nocturnal Instincts (2021)
Plot Summary:
Strap yourself in for an exhilarating journey into darkness with these five award-winning short films from across the globe that delve into heart-pumping escapades varying from the intensely erotic to the ultra-violent to the warm-inside feels. The night has never looked so inviting. Segments: After Dawn [Passée l'aube] (2017), Poof (2018), Spiral (2018), Night of Love (2018), Floating Melon [浮果] (2015).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Sweden, Israel, China, Belgium
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing, anthology
Similar in 89%
My Hustler (1965)
Plot Summary:
Filmed on Fire Island, this two reel, 70 minute Warhol film covers the activities of the "Dial A Hustler" service, as an older man seeks a young hustler for a companion.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 335
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: independent film, gay cinema, queer cinema, bizarre
Similar in 89%
Required Field (2016)
Plot Summary:
Serial killer 'NO1KNOWS' managed to elude the police for years. In fact they didn't even know he existed until, by chance, his video and audio recordings were found. By examining the recordings police were able to solve a number of murders around the world - although many men featured in the recordings were never found and it is unclear how many other victims there were since most of the video and audio recordings were destroyed (presumedly by NO1KNOWS himself).
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 36
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Bulldog In The White House (2006)
Plot Summary:
"Bulldog in the Whitehouse" takes political satire to obscene new heights: portraying the Bush administration as a cabal of lustful and traitorous gay men who are too busy having sex to notice the empire crumbling down around them. An explosive and darkly comic adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' novel Dangerous Liaisons, the film's web of sex and deceit centers on Bulldog, a hustler who seduces his way into the Washington press corps to gain access to the halls of the political elite. At the bidding of his puppet master, a corpulent and power mad Karl Rove, Bulldog engages in manipulative trysts with Whitehouse hotties like the demure press secretary, the religious leader and the confused, imbecilic good ol' boy president himself.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 96
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical
Similar in 89%
Noah's Arc (2004)
Plot Summary:
Four gay friends live in L.A. and deal with today's issues, boyfriends, aids, your boyfriend's children, making it in the movie biz, etc.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Praxis (2008)
Plot Summary:
Praxis peels away the layers of narrative even as Brian, the film's axis, struggles to create his true self. Brian, a writer on the verge of a breakdown, is aided by Joe and an Elusive Woman as he sifts through the fragments of his persona to discover his true core. Fighting against fear and the indifference of society - aptly symbolized by the medical establishment - his quest reflects the classical mythos of Proteus and the human search for meaning in the universe.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 151
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Hard Paint (2018)
Plot Summary:
While facing criminal charges, Pedro must grapple with his sister's sudden decision to move away and leave him behind. Alone in the darkness of his bedroom, he dances covered in neon paint, while thousands of strangers watch him via webcam.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil, Netherlands
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, suspense, melancholic, disturbing, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Twisted (1996)
Plot Summary:
This retelling of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist may be populated by drug pushers, pimps and prostitutes, but the book's classic themes remain the same. Caught under the thumb of a lecherous brothel owner, 10-year-old Lee befriends an aspiring musician named Angel who helps him escape his servitude and sends a maternal drag queen to vanquish the boy's enemies.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 195
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, funny, light, sexy, bleak, humorous, suspense, melancholic, realistic, intense
Similar in 83%
Body Electric (2017)
Plot Summary:
Elias is a handsome young deputy manager in a garment factory in São Paulo. When he’s not working, he enjoys casual encounters in the big city. The arrival of a young African, Fernando, on the production line piques his interest and Elias finds himself increasingly drawn into socialising with his work colleagues.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 896
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Moneyboys (2021)
Plot Summary:
Fei works illegally as a hustler in order to support his family, yet when he realizes they are willing to accept his money but not his way of life, there is a major breakdown in their relations. Through his relationship to the headstrong Long, Fei seems able to find a new lease on life, but then he encounters Xiaolai, the love of his youth, who confronts him with the guilt of his repressed past.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, France, Belgium, Taiwan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, gay cinema, interesting
Similar in 81%
Deleted Scenes (2010)
Plot Summary:
When 30 something Sean meets Eastern European immigrant Wolf, sparks fly. They return to Sean’s apartment and begin a high energy and hugely sexual affair. What starts as a mere chance meeting slowly evolves into something more. Wolf is easy going, turning tricks to supplement his living, while Sean is needy, talkative and neurotic. Creating a stable relationship is fraught with problems. With Wolf disappearing for hours at a time and Sean doing drugs the two of them seem to be headed down a path of destruction.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 161
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 83%
B-Boy Blues (2021)
Plot Summary:
Follows the relationship of 27-year-old journalist Mitchell Crawford and 21-year-old bicycle messenger Raheim Rivers, who meet at a gay bar in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1993.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 76%
The Mattachine Family (2023)
Plot Summary:
While Thomas and Oscar are very much in love, after their first foster child returns to his birth mother, they find that they have different ideas about what making a family actually means.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Daydream Obsession 3: Legacy (2008)
Plot Summary:
While visiting his recently-divorced father, Wylie discovers the camera and video diaries of Clayton. With his college friends over, Wylie begins to explore his desires through daydreams and reality. His roommate Greg is the object of his obsession. Can their friendship survive?.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 40
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 90%
Postcards from London (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story of a beautiful teenager Jim who, having traveled from rural Essex, finds himself in Soho where he falls in with a gang of unusual high class male escorts – The Raconteurs – who specialize in post-coital conversation. From shy novice to sought after escort, and eventually artist’s muse, Jim would be the toast of the town if it wasn’t for his annoying affliction – Stendhal Syndrome – a rare condition which causes him to hallucinate and faint. When Jim is roped into the world of detecting art forgery, could his condition bring about his downfall?.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, disturbing, avant garde, queer cinema, weird, beautiful
Similar in 88%
Fixing Frank (2002)
Plot Summary:
Frank (Miller) is a gay journalist who goes undercover at the urging of his therapist boyfriend Jonathan (Provenza) to write an exposé of Dr. Apsey (Butler). Apsey performs conversion therapy on gay male clients, a practice which Jonathan finds reprehensible. Frank quickly comes clean with Apsey but continues to meet with him under the pretense of interviewing him, but finds himself questioning himself, Jonathan and their six-year relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 490
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema, cult film
Similar in 85%
Love in the Time of Civil War (2014)
Plot Summary:
Lauded Quebec filmmaker Rodrigue Jean (Lost Song) takes a fearless, unflinching look at the reality of addiction in this tough-minded docudrama set in the bleak milieu of hustlers and junkies in Montreal.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 498
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, realistic, disturbing, serious
Similar in 75%
Little Gay Boy (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young gay boy, from his birth to his teenage years, in which he experiments his sexuality and his own boundaries, to the day he finally meets his father.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, experimental, avant garde, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Aleksandr's Price (2013)
Plot Summary:
The life of an illegal Russian boy who, after losing his family, is pushed into becoming an escort - ultimately trying to come to terms with who he thinks he is.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 726
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, independent film, tense, bleak, gloomy, sexual, crying
Similar in 82%
José (2018)
Plot Summary:
José (19 years old) lives with his mother (50s) in Guatemala: a tough life in one of the world's most dangerous, religious, and impoverished countries. José is her youngest and favorite child, and her life is going to church and selling sandwiches. Jose spends his days on crowded buses and in the streets delivering food. Resigned and aloof, in free moments he plays with his phone and looks for random sex. When he meets Luis, Jose is thrust into a dimension of passion and pain and self-reflection that was previously unimaginable.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 820
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Guatemala
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Boys to Men (2001)
Plot Summary:
A four-part anthology film dealing with homosexuality from the young to the old. Crush, detailing the budding friendship of a 12-year old girl and a 16-year old boy, who bond over their favorite TV program and musical tastes. The Mountain King, details a young street hustler who makes a play for a straight man on a deserted beach one afternoon. . Lost is a look at a day in the life of a young man who is first seen engaging in unsafe sex with a random partner,. The Confession, a dying Catholic asks his partner of 35 years to send for a priest, even though the partner is greatly opposed to such a request. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, psychological, captivating, disturbing, anthology, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Strapped (2010)
Plot Summary:
A routine trick propels a tall, dark, cynical hustler into a series of life-changing encounters in this drama. But this amicable and sexually efficient rent boy begins to look at himself differently when he finds himself lost in a maze-like apartment building. As he wanders through the building, he tricks with a variety of johns; sex is the commonality, but out of that commodity comes raw, unguarded emotions for all.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, lgbt cinema, serious, disturbing, sexual, hood, sexy
Similar in 85%
Label Me (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema
Similar in 82%
Between Something & Nothing (2008)
Plot Summary:
BETWEEN SOMETHING & NOTHING is based on filmmaker Todd Verow’s experiences at Rhode Island School of Design. After being accepted into a prestigious New England art school, sexy small-town JOE and townie mastermind JENNIFER quickly join forces. They are determined to succeed on a campus over-populated with jaded mega-rich kids awash in trust funds, abortions and drugs galore.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 351
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, independent film, captivating, suspenseful, erotic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Sauvage (2018)
Plot Summary:
Leo is 22 and sells his body on the street for a bit of cash. The men come and go, and he stays right here... longing for love. He doesn’t know what the future will bring. He hits the road. His heart is pounding.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: rough, melancholic, suspense, suspenseful, bleak, erotic, romantic, crying, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Shed My Skin (2015)
Plot Summary:
The adolescent Milan discovers his own suspected homosexuality at the age of 17 and the consequences for him and his family but also the liberation as he understands why he has been so down and rebellious.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 822
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, rough, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, queer cinema