Best movies like Housekeeping
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up to most people's expectations.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: sad, atmospheric, realistic, thought provoking, sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, light
Best tv shows and movies like Housekeeping (1987):
Similar in 80%
The Grass Harp (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, offbeat, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, southern gothic
Similar in 79%
Miss Firecracker (1989)
Plot Summary:
A girl from Yazoo City, Mississippi pins all her hopes on winning the local beauty pageant.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: humorous, light, talky, sentimental, semi serious, touching, feel good, independent film, clever, entertaining
Similar in 85%
Lost in Yonkers (1993)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of 1942 two young boys are sent to stay with their stern grandmother Kurnitz and their childlike aunt Bella in Yonkers, New York.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, psychological, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, funny, light, sexy
Similar in 88%
Unstrung Heroes (1995)
Plot Summary:
Steven Lidz, unhappy with his home life since his mother got sick, goes and lives with his two crazy Uncles. There he changes and gets closer to his Uncles, but his parents want him home even though he is finally happy and popular. Written by Todd Weiser.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, light, atmospheric, thought provoking
Similar in 76%
Kotch (1971)
Plot Summary:
Joseph Kotcher, retired salesman, walks out on his son and daughter-in-law after their attempts to put him in a retirement home. He tracks down their babysitter, sacked because she is pregnant, and rents a small house nearby. He finds a new purpose in life. Jack Lemmon's first film as director stars his old friend Walter Matthau.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Lost Islands (2008)
Plot Summary:
A family with five kids in the 80s get into a crisis when twin brothers fall in love with the same girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 664
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, emotional, sentimental, realistic, stylized
Similar in 76%
This Is My Life (1992)
Plot Summary:
Single mom Dottie Ingels sells cosmetics in a department store, but she dreams of being a comedian. When she inherits some money, she takes the chance and moves with her two children Erica and Opel to New York to perform in small bars. Soon her agent Arnold Moss makes her famous, but while she travels all over USA, her children stay home lonely.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Spin (2003)
Plot Summary:
"Spin" tells the story of a boy who loses his parents in a plane crash, is taken in by his uncle (Tucci), who then leaves him for ten years in the care of his Hispanic ranch hand (Blades) and his wife (Delany). Once in high school, Eddie (Merriman) reconnects with a girl from his past (Garces), and their growing interracial relationship teaches the sometimes-sullen Eddie to think of others before himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 537
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film
Similar in 76%
Two Bits (1995)
Plot Summary:
It's a hot summer day in 1933 in South Philly, where 12-year old Gennaro lives with his widowed mom and his ailing grandpa, who sits outside holding tight to his last quarter, which he's promised to Gennaro and which Gennaro would like to have to buy a ticket to the plush new movie theater. But grandpa's not ready to pass on the quarter or pass on to his final reward: he has some unfinished business with a woman from his past, and he enlists Gennaro to act as his emissary.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, independent film, anamorphic, cult classic, serious, realistic, thought provoking, feel good
Similar in 75%
The Amazing Catfish (2013)
Plot Summary:
Young Claudia works in a supermarket where she promotes various types of products. One night, she ends up in the emergency room with severe appendicitis and meets Martha, a patient, laying in the bed next to hers.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, semi serious, sentimental, humorous, realistic, social, art house, road movie, beautiful
Similar in 76%
Turning Green (2005)
Plot Summary:
Set in late 1970s Ireland, it tells the story of 16-year-old James Powers, an American who finds himself lost after his mother dies and he is forced to live with his three Irish aunts. Displaced and depressed, he longs for a way to make it back to America. One lucky weekend in London, James discovers pornography and, desperate for cash, he decides to sell them back in Ireland. His success spreads wildly. After finding a possible way home, he must decide where home really is, and finds that one's place in the world is all a state of mind.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 480
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: USA, Ireland
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 80%
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Plot Summary:
A film based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, in which a young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II, in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, road movie, tragicomedy, clever, scenic, sentimental, melancholic, humorous, feel good, sad
Similar in 88%
Foreign Letters (2012)
Plot Summary:
A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier's personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
Caterina in the Big City (2003)
Plot Summary:
When her father, Giancarlo is transferred to Rome from the small country town of Montalto Di Castro, Caterina, a 12 years old girl, will discover her new classmates, a totally new world, an ambient extremely divided politically.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 85%
Kingdom Come (2001)
Plot Summary:
When her husband keels over from a stroke, Raynelle Slocumb calls the entire clan together to remember their dearly departed. Family tensions reach a comedic boil as the wildly dysfunctional Slocumbs squabble and fight their way to the funeral.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, light, intense, sentimental, family saga, black comedy, offbeat, feel good, realistic
Similar in 80%
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 77%
Two Weeks (2006)
Plot Summary:
In this bittersweet comedy, four adult siblings gather at their dying mother's house in North Carolina for what they expect to be a quick, last goodbye. Instead, they find themselves trapped — together — for two weeks.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, humorous, realistic, spiritual, tear jerker, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Men Don't Leave (1990)
Plot Summary:
After her husband John dies unexpectedly, Beth Macauley is unprepared for life without him. She is unemployed with no job skills and $60,000 in debt from on-going renovations to their house located in suburban Bingham. She doesn't know what to do but sell what material possessions she has, such as the family pick-up truck and the house, and move into an apartment in the city, namely Baltimore. Beth just wants to survive by finding a job she doesn't dislike, and keep her family together while trying to maintain her sanity and sense of self-worth.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, sincere, feel good, realistic, semi serious, independent film, light, road movie
Similar in 83%
Educating Rita (1983)
Plot Summary:
Rita, a 26 year old Scouse hairdresser with a sharp wit, is married to her childhood sweetheart, the feckless Denny. He wants a baby, she doesn't. She wants to discover herself, so she joins the Open University. Dr. Frank Bryant Is a disillusioned university professor of literature. His marriage has failed, his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. He refers to himself as an appalling teacher of appalling students. What Frank needs is a challenge ... along comes Rita. In this hilarious and often moving drama, the story tells how two people find a new lease of life through each other.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, witty, talky, sentimental, humorous, inspirational, clever, realistic, romantic, comedy drama
Similar in 75%
Local Hero (1983)
Plot Summary:
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, touching, witty, sweet, talky, scenic, cynical, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 79%
My Louisiana Sky (2001)
Plot Summary:
A girl comes to terms with her mentally challenged parents.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 952
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, retro, melancholic, thought provoking, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Anywhere But Here (1999)
Plot Summary:
In this adaptation of the Mona Simpson novel, single mother Adele August is bad with money, and even worse when it comes to making decisions. Her straight-laced daughter, Ann, is a successful high school student with Ivy League aspirations. When Adele decides to pack up and move the two of them from the Midwest to Beverly Hills, Calif., to pursue her dreams of Hollywood success, Ann grows frustrated with her mother's irresponsible and impulsive ways.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, clever, feel good, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, light, road movie
Similar in 90%
Bruno (2000)
Plot Summary:
The story of a unique young boy genius, Bruno, whose expression of his own individuality leads his family and community along an emotional journey.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, semi serious, sentimental, humorous, inspirational, motivational, independent film, flamboyance
Similar in 88%
Two-Bit Waltz (2014)
Plot Summary:
Suspension from school, the loss of a friend, a broken heart and lack of inspiration lead to Maude's downfall in this romp through teenage error. Your teenage years are never easy… but for Maude, things couldn't be worse. Within one week, she is suspended from school, stranded by her best friend, dumped by the boy she loved and inherits an enormous amount of money with the passing of her grandmother– only to be claimed under one condition: Maude must prove by age 18 that she knows exactly what to do with her life. But with her 18th birthday rapidly approaching, Maude must dive into a world of self-discovery or else lose the inheritance.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 455
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: semi serious, sentimental, humorous, realistic, witty, stylized, clever, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 89%
Anita & Me (2002)
Plot Summary:
Meena, a 12-year-old living in a mining village in the English Midlands in 1972, is the daughter of Indian parents who've come to England to give her a better life. This idyllic existence is upset by the arrival in the village of Anita Rutter and her dysfunctional family.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 90%
The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011)
Plot Summary:
Elizabeth Alison Gray is just your average suburban 11-year old waiting for adolescence to arrive when she finds out her whole life has been a lie. With only her imagination to guide her, she runs away to find the truth.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, psychological, sincere, captivating
Similar in 75%
Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone (2014)
Plot Summary:
The 1980s. Stéphanie grows up in La Courneuve, on the outskirts of Paris, in a home where her mother is rarely there and her step-father is brutal. She quickly decides to escape her morose everyday life. Thanks to her grandmother's love, reading, her passion for dance, and for French pop-star Jean-Jacques Goldman, Stéphanie copes in this colorful neighborhood where friendship is primordial. One day, she knows that she'll leave this place to lead the life she's always dreamed of.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
The Debut (2000)
Plot Summary:
Filipino-American high school student Ben (Dante Mercado) works in a comic book shop to earn money to pay his way into Cal Arts. His father, a postman, is determined that his son--who has won a pre-med scholarship to UCLA--will become a doctor. The eighteenth birthday party of Ben's sister, Rose, sets off a comedic and touching series of events and family struggles that will in turn determine young Ben's future. This fresh independent production from Gene Cajayon presents a lighthearted and warm coming-of-age tale filtered through the eyes of an American subculture rarely seen on film.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 686
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, touching, realistic, witty, independent film
Similar in 76%
Swimming (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two girl friends in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina find their relationship changing as they encounter new arrivals to the town.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 943
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 89%
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (2003)
Plot Summary:
Zachary Beaver, a sideshow attraction also known as the world's fattest boy, arrives in the sleepy town of Granger, Texas.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 850
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: feel good, sentimental, humorous, semi serious, touching