Best movies like I Can't Sleep
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Ninon is a spirited hotel-manager who teaches self-defense classes to her terrified elderly neighbors. Daiga, an aspiring Lithuanian actress newly arrived to Paris, comes to live at the hotel and becomes fascinated with the life of a mysteriously beautiful drag performer, Camille. Camille occasionally seeks refuge at the home of his brother, Theo, a quiet Antillean musician and carpenter who longs to return with his child to his native land against the wishes of his estranged wife, Mona. Through the medium of these characters unfolds a provocative and chilling examination of the intersecting lives of the lovers, acquaintances, family members, and victims of a serial killer. –inbaseline.com.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: bleak, disturbing, gloomy, contemplative, psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, erotic, rough
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Best tv shows and movies like I Can't Sleep (1994):
Similar in 77%
Stand (2014)
Plot Summary:
After taking a wrong turn in their car, a young gay Russian couple witnesses what they believe is a vicious gay bashing; their quandary over what to do about it propels them into ever more dangerous territory. For Anton, the burden of what they may have witnessed outweighs Vlad's fear of probing too deeply into the incident. When the police prove indifferent, Anton talks his skeptical lover into launching their own amateur investigation into the incident. Their risky search for the truth has unexpected - and grim - consequences in this suspenseful drama that comments on the ongoing mistreatment of LGBT people in Russia.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 885
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: France, Russia, Ukraine
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: realistic, rough, thought provoking, serious, independent film, bleak, crying, detective, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
No One Sleeps (2000)
Plot Summary:
San Francisco is preparing for the premiere of a new staging of the Puccini opera, Turandot. The passionate story of the Chinese princess Turandot, and the mysterious three riddles which are the key to her heart, are on the lips of opera buffs throughout the city. At the same time, a serial killer is haunting the gay bars of the city and is killing HIV positive long-term survivors. Stefan, a young gay East German medical student, arrives in the city for a medical congress and is following the trail of his dead father, a once high ranking AIDS researcher in the East. Stefan is investigating whether the HIV virus was an incremental result of secret human experiments that were conducted in US prisons in the seventies - a thesis of the Berlin professor Jakob Segal, which was spread by state agents of former East Germany. Secret lists involving these biological experiments are rumored to have surfaced in San Francisco.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 315
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, mind bending, crying, gay cinema, queer cinema
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Similar in 75%
Being at Home with Claude (1992)
Plot Summary:
It's hard to review this movie without giving anything away. Suffice it to say that it depicts the crime of one member of a gay male relationship and the desperate struggle for the lead character to make those around him understand the reason for his crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 654
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, gloomy, sexual, neo noir, sexy
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Similar in 90%
Lucky Bastard (2009)
Plot Summary:
Rusty is a successful architect with the life of his dreams. However, when his boyfriend leaves town, Rusty meets a mysterious drifter names Denny who opens Rusty up to a strange new world.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 639
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, realistic, independent film, sexual, queer cinema
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Similar in 77%
Bastards (2013)
Plot Summary:
Marco returns to Paris after his brother-in-law's suicide, where he targets the man his sister believes caused the tragedy - though he is ill-prepared for her secrets as they quickly muddy the waters.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, realistic, atmospheric, psychological, captivating, sexy, dark, disturbing, controversial, deep
Similar in 77%
Death in Buenos Aires (2014)
Plot Summary:
Buenos Aires in the 1980s. Detective Chavez, a family man and a tough cop, once again must solve a mysterious crime. To reveal the identity of the murderer, Chavez must clarify the enigma waiting in ambush to capture his own heart. Passion surprises even the most astute detective. What will triumph: law or desire?.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, realistic, tragic ending, exciting, suspense, lgbt cinema, crying, detective, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Friday Night (2002)
Plot Summary:
Paris, 1995. Laure (Valérie Lemercier) is about to meet friends for dinner to celebrate her moving in with her boyfriend. But on her way out, she discovers that the entire city is stalled by a massive transit strike. When a handsome stranger (Vincent Lindon) offers her a ride, Laure takes a highly charged, impossibly erotic detour.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sexual, serious, psychological, atmospheric, realistic, stylized, road movie, contemplative, erotic, sexy
Similar in 87%
Knife + Heart (2018)
Plot Summary:
In the late 1970s, a Parisian TV executive seeks to restore her credibility with an ambitious production after it is initially disrupted by a serial killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: France, Mexico, Switzerland
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: slasher, queer horror, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, art house, action thriller, dark drama
Similar in 83%
The Intruder (2004)
Plot Summary:
Louis Trebor, a man nearing 70, lives alone with dogs in the forest near the French-Swiss border. He has heart problems, seeks a transplant, and then goes in search of a son sired years before in Tahiti. Told elliptically, with few words, we see Louis as possibly heartless, ignoring a son who lives nearby who is himself an attentive father to two young children, one named for Louis. He leaves his bed one night - and his lover - to kill an intruder; he dreams, usually of violence. Will his body accept his heart? Will his son accept his offer?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, surreal, contemplative, mind bending, psychedelic, controversial, art house
Similar in 84%
Looking for Simon (2011)
Plot Summary:
Simon, a young German doctor who lives and works in Marseille, goes missing. His appartment is empty. His mother Valérie is desperate. She doesn't understand the reason of his disappearance. Therefore she asks Jens, Simon's former boyfriend, to come to Marseille and help her finding him.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 312
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
Plot Summary:
Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this, but wants to live out his passion anyway.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy, unusual plot structure, detective, suspense, talky, lyrical, lgbt cinema, queer horror, tense
Similar in 82%
Tumbledown (2013)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by true events, Todd Verow’s Tumbledown is an explosive cocktail- an emotional rollercoaster ride through the dark sides of sexuality. A complicated love triangle develops after hunky Jay meets bartender Nick and invites him to spend the weekend with him and his partner in their country cabin. Soon, copious amounts of sex, drugs and alcohol lead to a dark obsession and even darker complications. Always bold and never less than riveting, Tumbledown is sure to leave you breathless.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 264
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, queer cinema, gay cinema
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Similar in 87%
In Bloom (2013)
Plot Summary:
A gritty and heartbreaking portrayal of love and loss, In Bloom shows a personal and realistic tale of losing first love. During a tumultuous summer in Chicago, a serial killer terrorizes boystown while two young men experience the pain of separation and broken hearts.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, lgbt cinema, gloomy, independent film, queer cinema
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Similar in 80%
Circuit (2001)
Plot Summary:
John is an ex-cop who leaves small-town life and provincial attitudes behind for a new existence in West Hollywood. As he seeks an open, accepting gay life, John is introduced to the fast-paced Circuit Party scene, featuring beautiful people and a tantalizing mixture of sex and drugs.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, sexual, crying, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Before I Forget (2007)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of a 58-year-old man battling his inner demons on the search for self-discovery.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 502
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, sexual, sexy
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Similar in 85%
The Quarry (1998)
Plot Summary:
This thriller investigates the mysterious assassination of a gay pastor in rural South Africa. Without witnesses or explanations, the crime appears to the police and others as a jigsaw puzzle without enough pieces. The police then suspect and arrest people based on the usual prejudices, black and coloured people who plant marijuana in this case. Meanwhile, the true assassin not only goes his way unpunished from the very beginning, but becomes one of the rural town's most respected citizens. The sheriff at one point does begin having certain suspicions, and from there on the bulk of the plot is played out. The location is a very arid part of South Africa, so with so much desert rock, there are bound to be quarries. Some may reveal important secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, suspense, crying
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Similar in 82%
M/M (2018)
Plot Summary:
Wayward Canadian, Matthew, crushed by the isolation of being new to Berlin, turns his sexual desires toward Matthias that spiral into a dark fixation of assumed identity. Soon, this obsessive power struggle between the two, careens toward brutal passion and violence in a bid for dominance.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, Canada
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, lgbt cinema, sexy, psychological, sincere, touching, melancholic, contemplative, experimental, gay cinema
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Similar in 89%
Sequin in a Blue Room (2019)
Plot Summary:
Favouring the instant gratification of anonymous, no-strings sexual encounters over meaningful relationships, high schooler Sequin is part of the always logged-on, but never-engaged, hook-up generation. He ghosts ex-partners and remains emotionally unavailable. That’s until he finds his way to an anonymous sex party, where a whole new dizzyingly alluring world unfolds before him. In one scene, Sequin connects with a mysterious stranger, but they are separated suddenly. Utterly fixated on this man, Sequin sets off on an exhilarating and perilous mission to track him down.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 878
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, captivating, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Frisk (1995)
Plot Summary:
A first person narrative of a gay serial killer explores violence, sexuality, and imagination.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 729
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, independent film, psychological, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, sexual, black comedy
Similar in 84%
Party Monster (2003)
Plot Summary:
The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: stylized, serious, disturbing, surreal, talky, black comedy, realistic, grindhouse, cult classic, dark comedy
Similar in 88%
For Sale (1998)
Plot Summary:
A Private detective is hired to trace a woman who ran away and disappeared on her wedding day. The movie follows him and recounts the story of her life through her eyes and the eyes of those interviewed by the detective.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 580
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, detective, psychological, atmospheric, mind bending, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, sexual
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Similar in 79%
Lola and Billy the Kid (1999)
Plot Summary:
When young Turkish talent Kutlug Ataman wanted to make a film about transvestites, the first location he had in mind was Istanbul. As he developed the script, his thought was to place these marginal characters, who are subject to societal prejudices in an environment where there is already discrimination, would add dramatic effect. Supported by funding from German sources, Ataman set his story in Berlin, inside the community of "guest workers" where Turkish transvestites are shunned not only by Germans, but by their own kind as well. The result is a strong film with moments of tenderness, emotion and laughter juxtaposed with the harsh realities of life for those who dare to be different. 16 year old Murat (Baki Davrak) is a Turk who is curious about gay life and eventually submerges himself in the gay hustler and transvestite subculture.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, Turkey
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, psychological, sexual, crying, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Pola X (1999)
Plot Summary:
A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Switzerland, Germany, Japan
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: sexy, meditative, disturbing, psychological, serious, romantic, controversial, offbeat, mysterious, sensual
Similar in 83%
Fögi Is a Bastard (1998)
Plot Summary:
A 15 year old boy (Beni) falls in love with Fögi, a singer in a Rock band. As Fögi seduces him, he is only willing to follow him where ever Fögi wants to. But Fögi is a drug addict and pulls Beni deeper and deeper into the hell of drug addiction.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Switzerland, France, Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sexual, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
The Deep End (2001)
Plot Summary:
With her husband Jack perpetually away at work, Margaret Hall raises her children virtually alone. Her teenage son is testing the waters of the adult world, and early one morning she wakes to find the dead body of his gay lover on the beach of their rural lakeside home. What would you do? What is rational and what do you do to protect your child? How far do you go and when do you stop?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, suspenseful, suspense, emotional, psychological, intense, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Cruising (1980)
Plot Summary:
A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S/M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: disturbing, suspenseful, psychological, detective, sexual, erotic, sexy, cult classic, intense, slasher
Similar in 77%
The Boston Strangler (1968)
Plot Summary:
Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, disturbing, rough, suspense, detective, suspenseful, slasher, psychosexual thriller, retro
Similar in 87%
The School of Flesh (1998)
Plot Summary:
In Paris, Dominique, a middle-aged fashion professional, solicits the services of the handsome Quentin , a bisexual bartender and prostitute who is 15 years her junior. After they first sleep together, their business transaction becomes transformed into a passionate love affair. However, the couple's romance becomes an ugly power struggle when social class and age distinctions begin to bubble toward the surface.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: France, Luxembourg, Belgium
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sexy, enigmatic, serious, psychological, touching, erotic, sexual, disturbing, sincere, realistic
Similar in 87%
Trouble Every Day (2001)
Plot Summary:
Scientist Shane Brown neglects his new bride, instead spending their honeymoon searching for an old colleague who disappeared after a research paper he had written was discredited by the medical community. It turns out that Dr. Semeneau is living in obscurity in order to protect his wife, whom he keeps prisoner in a room with boards nailed across the doorway. The narrative unfolds the dark secret that drives each party.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, scary, psychological, bloody, art house, atmospheric, rough, brutal, surreal
Similar in 81%
All Good Things (2010)
Plot Summary:
Newly-discovered facts, court records and speculation are used to elaborate the true love story and murder mystery of the most notorious unsolved murder case in New York history.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, enigmatic, suspense, suspenseful, intense, serious, realistic, psychological, psychological thriller