Best movies like Islands in the Stream
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
An isolated sculptor is visited by his three sons just before the start of WWII.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like Islands in the Stream (1977):
Similar in 82%
Miss Rose White (1992)
Plot Summary:
Rose White (Sedgwick) is a modern young career woman in post-World War II New York City who has largely relegated her Jewish heritage to scrapbooks and memories. Born in Poland but fortunate enough to escape the country before the Nazi occupation and the Holocaust wiped out her family, she is stunned to learn her older sister somehow survived the horror and is coming to America. The sisters' reunion is complicated by Lusia's (Amanda Plummer) memories of her struggles to survive and the revelation of past family secrets.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 269
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, crying
Similar in 85%
Calm at Sunset (1996)
Plot Summary:
The struggle between a father and son at odds over the youths career choice. The 18 years old James Pfeiffer quits college and decides to become a fisherman like his father. Margaret and Russell are very upset with their son's decision. They had a lot of hopes for him, finishing law school and, like his older brother Joseph, make a decent living on shore rather than an uncertain and dangerous career at sea. But James dreams of having his own boat and is determined to persevere.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 131
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
What If God Were the Sun? (2007)
Plot Summary:
A grieving nurse finds comfort and inspiration in her new assignment, where she meets a terminally ill woman with a quick with and strong faith.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 435
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, atmospheric, emotional, serious
Similar in 89%
The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay (2003)
Plot Summary:
Alison Dodge, a 17-year old raised by her mother, decides on her own to spend her last summer before college getting to know her father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 807
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 78%
Earthwork (2009)
Plot Summary:
In 1994, real-life crop artist Stan Herd traveled from Kansas to Manhattan's Upper West Side to create a massive environmental artwork on land owned by Donald Trump. The multi-acre artwork was made from soil, rock, plants and vegetation near an underground railway tunnel. Stan recruited a number of homeless individuals living in the tunnel to become his crew. Over the months it took to complete the earthwork, Stan dealt with a myriad of difficulties in bringing his unique, rural art form to an urban canvas and the many costs his art exacted upon his life. In the process, he unexpectedly encountered the true meaning of his art and it's ultimate, lasting rewards.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 882
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, sincere, realistic, serious, independent film
Similar in 85%
Harry & Son (1984)
Plot Summary:
Widower Harry Keach is a construction worker who was raised to appreciate the importance of working for a living. He takes a dim view of his sensitive son Howard's lackadaisical lifestyle and has a strained relationship with his daughter Nina as he does not approve of her husband. When Harry is fired from his job, his life changes drastically as he is made to focus on the relationships around him.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, realistic, talky, independent film, touching
Similar in 80%
Orphan (2009)
Plot Summary:
A Chilean family deals with the new values in a quickly changing world.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 207
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile, France, Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, sincere
Similar in 88%
Everybody's Fine (1990)
Plot Summary:
Matteo Scuro is a retired Sicilian bureaucrat, a widower with five children, all of whom live on the mainland and hold responsible jobs. He decides to surprise each with a visit and finds none as he imagined.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, sentimental, clever, serious, emotional, tragicomedy, realistic, contemplative, road movie
Similar in 83%
The Dollmaker (1984)
Plot Summary:
Jane Fonda gives an Emmy-winning performance as Gertie Nevels, a pioneer woman and the mother of five from the Kentucky hills who is forced to uproot her children to follow her husband Clovis (Levon Helm) to Detroit when he finds work during World War II. One setback follows another and shattering tragedy strikes the family. It's all up to Gertie to find new strength, courage and determination to keep her family together and strong.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 946
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 88%
Archipelago (2010)
Plot Summary:
Patricia (Kate Fahy) and her two children, young adults Edward (Tom Hiddleston) and Cynthia (Lydia Leonard), arrive for a break at a holiday cottage. As rain and wind lash against the windows, Patricia grows exasperated at the absence of her husband, who remains an unheard voice on the phone. Good-natured Edward struggles to hide his angst at where his life is heading and assumes a fatherly role while becoming weirdly familiar with Rose (Amy Lloyd), the family’s hired cook. Cynthia, meanwhile, looms like a dark cloud and snaps and lashes out for no clear reason.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sincere, atmospheric, serious, contemplative, weird, hot
Similar in 89%
Family Tree (2010)
Plot Summary:
When Frédérick, the patriarch of the Alsatian Muller family, is conspicuously absent from his son Charles' funeral, Frédérick's surviving son and his granddaughter, raw from their loss, await an explanation. Once revealed, Frédérick's reasons and the painful secret Charles harbored for years threaten the foundations of the entire family.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 205
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 89%
The Gathering (1977)
Plot Summary:
When Adam Thornton learns that he only has a little time left, he decides that he wants to make peace with his family. Only problem is that most of his family are not exactly fond of him because he walked out on his wife and of his stubborn nature and he hasn't spoken to his youngest son after having an argument with him which he was in the wrong but only realize after his son left and has not been heard from since. But he goes to her to help him find him. But when his doctor says that it won't be good for him to travel, she suggests that they invite them all for Christmas. While most of them come, Adam's attempt at reconciliation won't be easy.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 790
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, vintage
Similar in 77%
In Our Nature (2012)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of two couples at a crossroads. What was supposed to be a romantic getaway for two young lovers, turns into an uncomfortable confrontation when the young man's estranged father shows up ... with his own girlfriend. As their collisions mount, the weekend transforms into a major turning point for each of them.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 831
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, talky, independent film, crying
Similar in 80%
In the Gloaming (1997)
Plot Summary:
Danny, dying of Aids, returns home for his last months. Always close to his mother, they share moments of openness that tend to shut out Danny's father and his sister.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
How I Got Lost (2009)
Plot Summary:
HOW I GOT LOST is the heartbreaking yet hopeful story of Andrew and Jake, two friends dealing with loss amidst events bigger than them. Andrew is the friend we all have, the one who convinces you to come along despite your better judgment. Talented but with seemingly nothing to lose, his tailspin is balanced only by his professional drive to succeed as a trader on Wall Street. His best friend Jake, broken-hearted and writing sports instead of fiction, does his best to clean up the mess his friend creates until he runs into his capricious ex, Sarah again. So Andrew convinces him to ditch New York and hit the road, going nowhere. They commandeer a cab to Philadelphia, where they borrow Andrews moms station wagon. But when their car runs out of gas in the middle of Pennsylvania, Andrew reveals the real reason for the trip -- his father has died, and he doesn't think he can make it through the funeral alone.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 84%
The Wool Cap (2004)
Plot Summary:
This film, originally made for tv, stars William H. Macy as a mute superintendent of a apartment building that is falling apart who becomes the unwilling guardian to a young girl with a bit of an attitude. The film is an updated and Americanized version of the 1962 feature film Gigot starring Jackie Gleason, who also wrote the original story.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, feel good, spiritual
Similar in 86%
Reconciliation (2009)
Plot Summary:
RECONCILIATION is a groundbreaking, provocative story about an estranged father and son struggling to overcome the heartbreaking consequences of their past. Grant Taylor (Eric Nenninger) has been troubled by intense childhood memories ever since his wife, Sara (Chelsey Crisp), gave him the exciting news..."You are going to be a dad!" As fatherhood nears, Grant privately wrestles with his embarrassment and anger toward his own father. His memories come to a head when Sara receives a call informing them that Grant's dad, Jeff (Jack Maxwell), is terminally ill and his last wish is to see his son. With Sara's encouragement, Grant reluctantly goes to see the man he disowned at his 10th birthday party, when he found out his father was gay. At the hospice, father and son confront the past as they come face to face for the first time in 16 years. Will Grant forgive his father for abandoning their family.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
Islander (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a tragic accident at sea, Eben Cole loses his family, friends and stature in his island fishing community. He returns to the island an outcast but determined to win back the way of life he fought so hard to protect. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Maine coast, Islander captures the grit and integrity of this hard working community and celebrates man's unerring need for redemption.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 75%
Carry Me Home (2004)
Plot Summary:
A widow named Harriet and her two children Carrie and Brian are living in rural New York in 1947 and are still recovering from the death of Harriet's husband killed in World War II. Carrie is a tomboy and hangs around with boys and they have their own clubhouse. Carrie and her friends make mischief and taunt their mentally challenged neighbor Charlie by stealing one of his puppies. Harriet meets a man named Bernard and begin a courtship, but Carrie is furious that her mother is dating Bernard and wants it to stop. The jealousy and anger of Carrie raises to a fever pitch when Carrie and her friends destroy their neighbor Mr. Grizzle's garden and pour sugar into his tractor. Grizzle then takes Charlie's other puppies away from him and then Grizzle's barn is destroyed by fire. Carrie learns it's time for her to grow up and make amends with her mother and her neighbors for the grief and pain she caused them.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 229
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 88%
Off the Black (2006)
Plot Summary:
An aging, disillusioned alcoholic (Nick Nolte) gets a younger friend (Trevor Morgan) and wants him to pose as his son at a school reunion.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, touching, realistic
Similar in 83%
One Day You'll Understand (2008)
Plot Summary:
A man endeavors to collect memories of his grandparents who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Germany, Israel
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Particles of Truth (2003)
Plot Summary:
Life, love, and the fear of failing... Lilli Black, battling her painful memories and the secrets surrounding her dying father, collides into the complicated and obsessive life of Morrison Wiley on the streets of New York City. This peculiar love story exposes Lilli's internal bouts and her nightmarish "bad luck". We weave in and out of eight defective lives and go for a turbulent mental ride where Lilli's reality spirals out of control and we're lead to an unforgettable climax where some fall apart and some piece themselves together.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 587
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 79%
Decoration Day (1990)
Plot Summary:
A cantankerous widower (Garner) who is virtually living the life of a recluse is forced to rejoin his community when his Godchild (Skaggs) gets in trouble and a childhood friend (Cobbs), a black tenant farmer, refuses to belatedly accept a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 581
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
The Last Days of Patton (1986)
Plot Summary:
The Last Days of Patton is a 1986 made-for-television film sequel to the 1970 film Patton, which portrays the last few months of the general's life. George C. Scott reprises the role of General George S. Patton, and Eva Marie Saint portrays Beatrice Patton, the general's wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Rising Place (2001)
Plot Summary:
The close friendship of two young women, each of a different race, and their struggle to find purpose in their lives during this time of social injustice and world war.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 208
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
The Autumn Heart (1999)
Plot Summary:
When a school bus driving woman (Tyne Daly) has a heart attack, she makes one request of her three daughters (Ally Sheedy, Marla Sucharetza, Marceline Hugo) - she wants them to find their long lost brother, who was taken away by their father (Jack Davidson) 16 years ago. What they discover is that while they have struggled, their father has become a wealthy man and their brother is in school at Harvard.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 230
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Substance of Fire (1996)
Plot Summary:
Isaac Geldhart is a Holocaust survivor who, overcome by grief at the recent death of his wife, seems determined to run his publishing firm into the ground by printing books that have no hope of financial success. His son Aaron, who also works at the company, grows frustrated with Isaac's emotional decline and attempts to take over the firm. The resulting crisis involves Isaac's other two children, his daughter Sarah and his dying son Martin.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 667
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: melancholic, talky, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, contemplative, gloomy, sexy
Similar in 89%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 77%
In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997)
Plot Summary:
In the Warsau Ghetto of 1943, one man's struggle to keep his family together leads him to the ultimate crisis of faith, and one final chance at redemption. Written by legendary 'Twilight Zone' creator, Rod Sterling.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Out of the Ashes (2003)
Plot Summary:
The real-life story of Gisella Perl, a Jewish Hungarian doctor imprisoned in the notorious Auschwitz death camp of World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, bleak, captivating, emotional, contemplative, uplifting