Best movies like Joshua Then and Now
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to Joshua Then and Now? Share your knowledge to help others find tv series and films you've already watched that might suit them too. Boost the circle of people putting forward videos to one another. We appreciate your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Based on a novel by Mordecai Richler, allegedly his autobiography, it tells the story of a Jewish writer, from his life as a young boy in Montreal to his more complicated grown-up life.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 607
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, clever, serious, realistic, semi autobiographical
Best tv shows and movies like Joshua Then and Now (1985):
Similar in 84%
Under the Stars (2007)
Plot Summary:
Selfish, opportunistic Benito returns to his home in Navarre when he learns that his father is dying. There, he reconnects with his younger brother Lalo, a metal sculptor who is emotionally needy. Benito also develops a surprising bond with Ainara, the young daughter of his brother's girlfriend, Nines.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 644
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, touching, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Echoes of the Rainbow (2010)
Plot Summary:
Told through the eyes of sticky-fingered eight-year-old boy Big Ears, Echoes of the Rainbow takes place in a close-knit grassroots community in 1960s Hong Kong. Big Ears' mother and father run the neighborhood shoe store, and his older brother Desmond is every family's dream son - an outstanding athlete with grades worthy of Hong Kong's best school.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sincere, sentimental, serious, realistic, sad, gloomy
Similar in 80%
The Right Way (2004)
Plot Summary:
Amy and David are two underachievers from suburbia. Amy has had a rough life raised by her neglectful drug addicted single mother. David has been raised in a more conventional family, but his lack of motivation has driven his father crazy. When Amy meets David it seems they both find what they are looking for. But when Amy gets pregnant, both Amy and David go through a personal and surreal crisis in making choices. Which leads them to decide if they should do it the right way or the wrong way?.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, surreal, controversial, independent film, humorous, semi serious, sex comedy, black comedy
Similar in 86%
A Thousand Kisses (2006)
Plot Summary:
Rising, rather autobiographical novelist Giph has a hot girlfriend, doctor and model Samarinde. His crude, domineering and progressive mother Ria's suffering an incurable decease in which she suffers from paraplegia. Her inevitably ensuing death is brought forward with euthanasia. Giph is struggling to handle the situation with his mother. Shortly after his mother has passed he away, he decides to join his fun loving friends on La Palma for a holiday. There Samarinde tells her boyfriend she's expecting his baby.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, erotic, contemplative
Similar in 82%
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
Plot Summary:
The younger son of a working-class Jewish family in Montreal, Duddy Kravitz yearns to make a name for himself in society. This film chronicles his short and dubious rise to power, as well as his changing relationships with family and friends. Along the way the film explores the themes of anti-semitism and the responsibilities which come with adulthood.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sad, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, biting, semi autobiographical, suspense
Similar in 80%
Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995)
Plot Summary:
Filmed entirely on location in East Hampton, Long Island, "Last Summer in the Hamptons" concerns a large theatrical family spending the last weekend of their summer together at the decades-old family retreat which economic circumstances have forced them to put on the market. Victoria Foyt plays a young Hollywood actress whose visit wreaks havoc on the stellar group of family and friends - led by matriarch Viveca Lindfors and made up of an extraordinary mix of prominent New York actors, directors, and playwrights. In the course of a very unusual weekend, comic as well as serious situations arise, and the family's secrets - of which there are many - begin to unravel.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 434
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, talky, sincere, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, psychological, romantic
Similar in 87%
Momma's Man (2008)
Plot Summary:
In Momma's Man an adult decides to escape the pressures of life and return to his old bedroom at his parents' house. An odd premise, but executed with skill and tenderness.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 761
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, mumblecore, sincere, captivating, touching, serious, independent film
Similar in 84%
Curse of the Starving Class (1994)
Plot Summary:
Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. Drama about a dirt-poor 1950's-era farm family. Dad's a foul talking drunk and Mom is desperately trying to save what's left of their family life.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: gloomy, independent film, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Lost Song (2008)
Plot Summary:
Pierre and Elisabeth, a couple in their thirties, move with their baby into a cottage on a lake for the summer. The setting is idyllic, and the couple’s happiness seems within reach. Every day, Pierre goes to work in the city while Elisabeth rehearses for an upcoming voice recital. Despite the benevolent presence of her mother-in-law who lives in the neighbouring house, the young woman feels isolated and overwhelmed in her new role as a mother. Her entourage is concerned, but no one fully grasps the extent of Elisabeth’s distress. Muted violence soon takes hold and tightens its grip.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 124
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, serious, sentimental, bleak, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy, tragic ending
Similar in 84%
You Can Thank Me Later (1998)
Plot Summary:
In this Canadian comedy-drama, Shirley Cooperberg heads a Montreal Jewish family. During her husband's operation, her brood arrives at the hospital -- failed writer Eli, neurotic Susan, and successful theatrical producer Edward. An onslaught of one-liners find targets amid sibling rivalries and angst-ridden animosities.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 259
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, touching, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Art of Crying (2006)
Plot Summary:
Life is not easy for 11-year-old Allan living in South Jutland during the early 1970s. His mentally unstable father frequently threatens suicide and his mother has long since given up. It's up to Allan to keep the family together. When a rival family threatens his father's livelihood, Allan starts committing atrocious acts.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, black comedy, cult classic, crying, cult film
Similar in 90%
Childstar (2004)
Plot Summary:
Childstar is about an egotistical 12-year-old named Taylor Brandon Burns who has skyrocketed to fame at that young age. His relationship with his driver, Rick, takes a turn when Taylor confides in him about the problems of celebrity and the fears of his impending teenage years. When Taylor disappears with his new girlfriend, Rick attempts to find the boy and help him through this troubling period.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, light, captivating, thought provoking, clever, offbeat, realistic, witty, independent film
Similar in 77%
Barney's Version (2010)
Plot Summary:
The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy, Canada
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: emotional, unusual plot structure, sincere, witty, semi serious, sad, realistic, talky, romantic, thought provoking
Similar in 78%
The Misfortunates (2009)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Gunther Strobbe grows up surrounded by alcohol, trash and his completely useless father and uncles. Slowly but surely, he's being prepared for the same hapless life. Can he defy his destiny?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, semi serious, sentimental, humorous, realistic, dark comedy, epic, disturbing, comedy drama
Similar in 77%
Winter Passing (2005)
Plot Summary:
Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father, a reclusive novelist, wrote to her mother, who has since passed away. Returning to Michigan, Reese finds that an ex-grad student and a would-be musician have moved in with her father, who cares more about his new friends than he does about his own health and well-being.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, serious, realistic, heartbreaking, cult classic, psychological, clever, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Good Fences (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1970s, Tom Spader is an attorney who is determined to end what he has dubbed "the colored man's losing streak." When his winning of a high-profile case thrusts him into the limelight, he decides to moves his wife and their two kids out of their mixed lower-middle-class town and into the posh enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 876
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, black comedy, biting, suspense
Similar in 83%
The Best Thief in the World (2004)
Plot Summary:
Izzy, the youngest son of a troubled New York family, takes a shine to breaking into people's apartments as a way to get attention.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 544
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, independent film, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Star Maps (1997)
Plot Summary:
Carlos wants to be an actor. But his father, Pepe, wants him to work in the family business, that is, male prostitution. Carlos decides that he will be one of his father's boys until he can get his foot in the door in Hollywood.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: independent film, emotional, intense, rough, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, sexy, depressing
Similar in 82%
The World According to Garp (1982)
Plot Summary:
Based on the John Irving novel, this film chronicles the life of T S Garp, and his mother, Jenny. Whilst Garp sees himself as a "serious" writer, Jenny writes a feminist manifesto at an opportune time, and finds herself as a magnet for all manner of distressed women.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, offbeat, cult classic, clever, touching, humorous, black comedy, sad, period piece, picaresque
Similar in 83%
Tribute (1980)
Plot Summary:
A shallow Broadway press agent learns he is dying just as his son by his ex-wife arrives for a visit.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 821
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: poignant, sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 76%
Raising Genius (2004)
Plot Summary:
The film is about a boy who locks himself in the bathroom to work out math equations on the shower wall. The boy has obsessive compulsive parents. The boy is obsessed with a cheerleader named Lacy, who lives across the street from.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 467
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, offbeat, dark comedy, teen comedy, cult film
Similar in 77%
Marine Life (2000)
Plot Summary:
Marine Life revolves around the choatic family life of June, a middle-aged lounge singer and mother. Aging and twice divorced, lounge singer June Nordstrom tries to cope with her fading beauty, her troubled offspring, her waning career and her young lover, who begins seeing a woman his age behind June's back.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, humorous, emotional, semi serious, captivating, independent film
Similar in 86%
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 90%
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 80%
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 80%
Soft Fruit (1999)
Plot Summary:
For the first time in 15 years, all four siblings in a family show up to care for their dying mother, who is only given a couple of weeks to live. One comes from America with her two children. A divorced sister also comes with her child and sneaks off regularly to meet a mystery man who may be her ex-husband. The third & youngest daughter is an unmarried nurse aware of her ticking biological clock. The only son chases after his grumpy father who seems to not care a whit about his wife's circumstances. The four are also faced my their mother's dreams to accomplish a few things before she dies - to visit a beach she had visited in the past, to see her youngest married, and to visit Paris. She also wants to be embalmed and be honored with a 21 gun salute. Thus the whole group has to set off in the quest to fulfill their mother's wishes.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 566
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: humorous, independent film, black comedy, sentimental, touching, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, dark comedy, erotic
Similar in 81%
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: depressing, sincere, talky, dark comedy, absurd, indie film, intellectual, realistic, witty, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
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 80%
Dad (1989)
Plot Summary:
A busy executive (Ted Danson) learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him (Jack Lemmon) than ever before. Estranged from his own son (Ethan Hawke), the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, feel good, uplifting, inspirational, sincere, thought provoking, poignant, comedy drama
Similar in 85%
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
Plot Summary:
In 1976, a lower-middle-class teenager struggles to cope living with her neurotic family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, humorous, disturbing, sincere, semi serious, teen, independent film, clever, black comedy, period piece