Best movies like Iowa
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A cautionary tale of love, crime, fantasy and addiction that follows two young Iowan lovers who decide to go into the "batch" business - cooking their own methamphetamine - only to watch it burn a searing hole in their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 425
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Iowa (2005):
Similar in 84%
A Wonderful Night in Split (2004)
Plot Summary:
The film is set over the course of a New Year's Eve night in the Croatian port city of Split, where it follows three parallel plots. The first plot line features a small-time drug dealer Nike (Marinko Prga) and a young widow Marija (Nives Ivankovic); the second plot line deals with a drug addict called Maja (Marija Skaricic) who decides to have sex with an US Navy sailor called Franky (Coolio) in exchange for some heroin; the third one shows a young couple, Luka and Andela (Vicko Bilandzic and Ivana Roscic) who spend the night desperately looking for a place to celebrate the New Year by having their first sexual experience. The plots are connected through Dino Dvornik's concert, where all of them pass through at some point, and through the omnipresent fireworks that dot the night sky over the course of the film.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Croatia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, neo noir, disturbing, rough, bleak, realistic, anthology
Similar in 88%
Eye of God (1997)
Plot Summary:
A small Oklahoma town is stripped of its innocence when one of its boys (Nick Stahl) turns up mute and bloodied by the lakeside. Unable to tell his story, the local sheriff (Hal Holbrook) embarks on a quest to uncover the roots of a gruesome crime. He's led to Ainsley DuPree (Martha Plimpton) and her new husband, Jack (Kevin Anderson), a man whose interest in family may very well outweigh his morals.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: anthology, independent film, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, suspenseful, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
The Casino Job (2009)
Plot Summary:
Barry Kaylin is living the dream. Not yet 40, he owns four Las Vegas casinos and lives the life of the bachelor to the fullest. One night, while meeting with two potential business associates, he hires five local dancers to flirt and lounge around his mansion and lagoon pool.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 988
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 78%
Boulevard (1994)
Plot Summary:
A street prostitute takes in an abused young woman on the run from her misogynist boyfriend, leading to both facing off against the prostitute's dreaded pimp and a relentless police detective out to arrest all of them.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 648
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 89%
Route 9 (1998)
Plot Summary:
During a routine surveilance on desolate Route 9, two small town deputies come across over one million dollars in cash, a van full of drugs, several dead bodies and not a witness in sight.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Girls Are for Loving (1973)
Plot Summary:
Two women who like control face each other in a battle over jealousy and weaknesses. The US is about to sign a trade treaty with an Asian country; in exchange for friendly relations, the US will loan the Asians money to purchase US goods under contract. Evil siren Ronnie St. Clair tries various ways to find out which US companies will get these contracts, so that she can do some inside trading to make money on the stock market. The CIA hires gun-carrying, man-eating chanteuse and stripper, Ginger MacAllister, to put a stop to Miss St. Clair’s plan. Ginger and her CIA contact, Clay Boyer, an African-American, are attracted to each other. Will they live to ignite this spark?.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 254
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, erotic, rough, sexy, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual, independent film
Similar in 77%
Loaded (2008)
Plot Summary:
A young, wealthy club kid's life spirals downward into an out-of-control world of drugs, sex and violence.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Weapons (2007)
Plot Summary:
Weapons presents a series of brutal, seemingly random youth-related killings over the course of a weekend in a typical small town in America, and tragically reveals how they are all interrelated.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 648
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, hood, crime drama, bleak, realistic, non-linear
Similar in 78%
The Coverup (2008)
Plot Summary:
Personal injury attorney Stuart Pepper faces the challenge of his young career when he takes on a controversial case of wrongful death in small town Iowa. Kevin Thacker's body was found in the alley outside the Marshalltown Police Department after the young man was arrested for drunk driving. The arresting officer's story is highly suspicious and everyone involved, from the investigating detective to the FBI, appear to be aiding in covering up what actually happened that fateful night. With a promise made to the Thacker family to expose the truth, Stu dives head first into an uphill battle against lies and corruption. What transpires will change this lawyer's life forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 725
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, thought provoking, independent film, detective, rough
Similar in 90%
The Free Will (2006)
Plot Summary:
After nine years in psychiatric detention Theo, who has brutally assaulted and raped three women, is released. Living in a supervised community, he connects well with his social worker Sascha, finds a job at a print shop and even a girlfriend, Nettie, his principal's brittle and estranged daughter. But even though superficially everything seems to work out Theo's seething rage remains ready to erupt.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: bleak, psychological, sincere, rough, serious, realistic, depressing, disturbing, controversial, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
Plot Summary:
From the sight of a police officer this movie depicts the life in New York's infamous South Bronx. In the center is "Fort Apache", as the officers call their police station, which really seems like an outpost in enemy's country. The story follows officer Murphy, who seems to be a tuff cynic, but in truth he's a moralist with a sense for justice.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: detective, bleak, realistic, grim, hood, crime drama, perverse, rough, serious, captivating
Similar in 88%
Heaven Knows What (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young heroin addict roams the streets of New York to panhandle and get her next fix, while her unstable boyfriend drifts in and out of her life at random.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspenseful, thrilling, erotic, retro, social, controversial, cynical, art house
Similar in 87%
Tropical Snow (1988)
Plot Summary:
New York is the dream city of Tavo and Marina, where the lovers hope to start a better life; at home in Bogota they have to work as pocket pickers at the airport to support their families. Dealer Oskar can persuade them to smuggle drugs in their stomachs on plane to New York - although both know of the risks, since Marina's sister died on a similar journey. However on arrival at the airport in New York they show nerves and all their dreams start to shatter.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Colombia, USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: independent film, neo noir, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Cocaine Angel (2006)
Plot Summary:
A week in the life of a young drug addict.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 323
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, mumblecore, independent film, sincere, witty, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Girls in Prison (1994)
Plot Summary:
Framed for the murder of a record company president in 1952 Hollywood, young, aspiring singer Aggie O'Hanlon is sentenced to life in prison and tries to adjust to her life life behind bars in a hellish womens prison where she is befriended by other "lifer" inmates who help her out when Aggie finds herself marked for murder by an unknown source who thinks she knows more about the murder than she does.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 678
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, psychotronic, erotic, campy
Similar in 86%
Three (2002)
Plot Summary:
The final installment in director Lucas Belvaux's trilogy follows Pascal, a cop who sees a return to credibility in the capture of escaped convict Bruno--who in turn is harbored by Pascal's morphine-addicted wife Agnes. Pascal's already precarious ties to Agnes are strained further when he meets and falls for her fellow schoolteacher friend Cecile. With Pascal focused on Bruno and Cecile, Agnes is forced to find a fix on her own.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 926
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative, bleak, art house, thought provoking
Similar in 83%
Sucker Punch (2003)
Plot Summary:
Mike Sullivan spends his nights kidnapping runaways so his boss, Lamar, can turn them into prostitutes. He is a crack addict and a thief and he is in love with a resentful prostitute, Rhonda, who doesn't love him back. Although he has aspirations of escaping this world, it isn't until he is nearly killed by corrupt cops for stealing money from his boss that he decides to redeem himself. In an attempt to save his own soul, he tries to get Rhonda out of the business, and is forced to battle Lamar and his henchmen, as well as Rhonda's unwillingness to change. As punishment for betraying Lamar, Mike is forced into a series of misdeeds, and in a shocking ending, must commit unredeemable acts as he tries to save Rhonda and himself.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 171
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, tense, semi serious, crime drama, rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 86%
Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009)
Plot Summary:
Various stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel "Life is Hot in Cracktown".
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, serious, bleak, realistic, captivating, adaptation directed by original author
Similar in 79%
.45 (2006)
Plot Summary:
Kate and her brutish boyfriend Big Al sell handguns on the streets of New York. She's smart, stylish, and self-confident, but all that leaves her when Al, in a jealous and self-indulgent rage, beats her. Three friends encourage her recovery: Vic, a woman who would like to be Kate's lover; Reilly, who runs with Al but also is attracted to Kate and repulsed by Al's violence; and, Liz, the counselor assigned to Kate from a battered-women's program. Vic and Reilly talk about killing Al, Liz gives pep talks; Kate remains frightened. Will Al's menace and Kate's dependency hold sway?.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, suspenseful, disturbing, bleak, sexy, erotic, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Cement (2000)
Plot Summary:
What's the bond between partners, between brothers, and between spouses? In L.A., Bill Holt handcuffs Sean Rickhart inside a rebar frame for a freeway pillar at a construction site; Bill's going to bury Sean in quick-drying cement. Guided by the narration of Nin, Bill's coke-snorting partner, we go back and forth over the past 48 hours to find out what brings Bill and Sean to this deadly scene. Missing money, cops on the take, Sean's two brothers (one the leader of the mob, the other a camera-carrying simpleton), Bill's wife, dead young police officers, infidelity, and Bill and Nin's partnership make a mix as volatile and unstable as the cement is solid and immobile.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 654
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: neo noir, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, dark, independent film, tense
Similar in 85%
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Plot Summary:
This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: depressing, disturbing, bleak, rough, serious, controversial, grim, cult classic, realistic, dark
Similar in 85%
El padrino (2004)
Plot Summary:
In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper in the drug world, and his new life as a dealer begins. In a world where a man wants everything, he may end up with nothing.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 762
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting
Similar in 84%
Consignment (2007)
Plot Summary:
Consignment is the authentic and brutal story of an East Coast drug dealer forced to flee to California only to realize state lines don't erase past sins.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 83%
Laws of Gravity (1992)
Plot Summary:
Jimmy and Jon are a couple of Brooklyn guys who somehow never found their way into workaday society; they never found their way into big-time crime, either.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, neorealism, cult film
Similar in 80%
Willie Dynamite (1974)
Plot Summary:
Willie Dynamite is a pimp who operates in New York City. Willie was a big success as a pimp, but now, just as fast as he rose to the top, he has hit bottom. A former prostitute who has become a social worker tries to get Willie to clean up his life while it is still possible.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: hood, crime drama, grim, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, detective
Similar in 85%
Zooey (2006)
Plot Summary:
Angel and Zooey are not your typical newlyweds. Zooey is a professional prostitute and Angel is a drug dealer. Yet they are not without hopes and dreams, of escaping their life in the streets and starting a new in a fresh painted cottage with picked fence, kid and a dog, in Manitoba, Canada, Life gets in the way however when their best friend gets in trouble with her pimp. They sacrifice everything to save her, including their own dreams.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 82%
Dusty and Sweets McGee (1971)
Plot Summary:
A "straight" couple dabbles in drugs and become heroin addicts.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 289
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 82%
Blue Hill Avenue (2001)
Plot Summary:
A child of a middle class home with solid moral values is lured into a world of crime and corruption.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, bleak, realistic, serious, crime drama, beautiful
Similar in 89%
Light Sleeper (1992)
Plot Summary:
A drug dealer with upscale clientele is having moral problems going about his daily deliveries. A reformed addict, he has never gotten over the wife that left him, and the couple that use him for deliveries worry about his mental well-being and his effectiveness at his job. Meanwhile someone is killing women in apparently drug-related incidents.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, psychological, serious, neo noir, entertaining, social, existential, sincere, captivating
Similar in 86%
Havoc (2005)
Plot Summary:
A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a violent Latino gang. Suddenly, their role-playing seems a little too real.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sexy, independent film, erotic, psychological, bad ending, intense, serious, suspenseful, tense