Best movies like Kiss of the Spider Woman
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a homosexual, is found guilty of immoral behaviour and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he's in. During the time they spend together, the two men come to understand and respect one another.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: political, psychological, sincere, touching, captivating, clever, emotional, talky, sexy, erotic
Best tv shows and movies like Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985):
Similar in 88%
The New Twenty (2008)
Plot Summary:
Five best friends in their late 20's discover new truths about themselves and the friendships they thought would last forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 517
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, sincere, sexy, captivating, talky, sexual
Similar in 80%
Hell Without Limits (1978)
Plot Summary:
Family honor, greed, machismo, homophobia, and the dreams of whores collide in a Mexican town. Rich, elderly Don Alejo is poised to sell the town for a profit, needing only to buy a whorehouse to own all the buildings and close the deal. It's owned by a man and his daughter: Manuelita is gay, aging, afraid; he cross-dresses and entertains as a flamenco dancer; he wants to sell and leave. His daughter wants to stay. The return of Pancho complicates things: he's a hothead Alejo tries to control and he scared Manuelita the year before. Things come to a head as Pancho breaks Alejo's hold on him, then flirts and dances with Manuelita and finds himself at risk of being called a "maricón.".
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: art house, offbeat, serious, emotional, realistic, homoerotic, queer cinema, campy
Similar in 89%
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Plot Summary:
Recently divorced career woman Alex Greville begins a romantic relationship with glamorous mod artist Bob Elkin, fully aware that he's also intimately involved with middle-aged doctor Daniel Hirsh. For both Alex and Daniel, the younger man represents a break with their repressive pasts, and though both know that Bob is seeing both of them, neither is willing to let go of the youth and vitality he brings to their otherwise stable lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sexy, controversial, mind blowing, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, tense
Similar in 75%
I Love You (1981)
Plot Summary:
Man meets woman, and invites her home. The two start an intense relationship in order to shield themselves from loneliness.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: pornochanchada, psychological, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, weird
Similar in 88%
So Pretty (2019)
Plot Summary:
Four young queers in New York City struggle to maintain their proto-utopian community against the outside world as their lives curiously merge with the 1980s German novel "So schön" by Ronald M. Schernikau.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 376
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, sexy, unusual plot structure, captivating, disturbing, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Handsome Harry (2009)
Plot Summary:
An ex-Navy man carrying out the last wish of a dying shipmate renews contact with old friends to break the code of silence around a mysterious, long-buried crime.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, psychological, atmospheric, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
A Woman's Way (2009)
Plot Summary:
George is released from prison after 14 years of incarceration for a murder he committed in his small Greek village. He spends his first night out in a cheap downtown hotel in Athens. There he meets Strella, a young transsexual prostitute. They spend the night together and soon they fall in love. But the past is catching up with George. With Strella on his side he will have to find a new way out.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, captivating, erotic, sexy, surreal, disturbing, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 79%
So Hard to Forget (2010)
Plot Summary:
Julia is a 35-year-old English Literature teacher struggling with depression as she tries to get her life back together again after her long, intense love affair with Antonia. Feeling totally abandoned after she and her enigmatic girlfriend broke up, Julia is thrown into a desperate, painful process. Her life and her values have been tinged with unbearable melancholy and her life's measure seems reduced to out-of-focus fragments of her memories. Her inner turmoil and conflicts hamper a process now made necessary - that of readapting to her new life. It is impossible for her to disguise her pain when she attempts to narrate emotions.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 519
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, captivating, deep, sincere, realistic, gloomy, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 78%
Nobody's Watching (2017)
Plot Summary:
Nico is a young Argentine actor fighting to build a career in the US, without assistance, or connections, never too far from heart-breaking failure, but often blinded by the mirage of immediate success.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Brazil, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, tense, sincere, captivating, soap opera, erotic, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Querelle (1982)
Plot Summary:
Here is the story of a beautiful, proud and tough loner, a sailor named Querelle, whose commanding officer Seblon worships and desires him from afar. Querelle turns on his drugs-smuggling partner and murders him. He then goes to a notorious brothel run by the rapacious Lysiane, who leads Querelle into his first homosexual encounter. Then, Querelle has become vulnerable and soft, and soon the once powerful object of passion comes to belong to Seblon.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sexual, controversial, erotic, sexy, art house, stylized, emotional, twist ending, sensual, erotic drama
Similar in 84%
Great Freedom (2021)
Plot Summary:
In post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans Hoffmann is repeatedly imprisoned under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Nevertheless, over the decades, he continues his quest for freedom and love, even if he finds it in the most unusual places.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, touching, unusual plot structure, emotional, talky, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema, cult film
Similar in 83%
Initiation (2009)
Plot Summary:
16-year old Axel and his clique are rioting in a residential home. There he meets the 80-year old Gustav who gains interest in the young boy, as he reminds him of his lost love.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 176
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
A Few Days of Respite (2010)
Plot Summary:
Mohsen teaches French at the University of Tehran, and Hassan is a photographer. Mohsen and Hassan are also lovers, and in Iran they live in fear, as homosexuality is punishable by death. Tired of denying their love, Mohsen and Hassan flee Iran to head to Paris, where they'll be illegal aliens but can at least live openly as a couple. To avoid arousing suspicion until they arrive in Paris, Mohsen and Hassan keep their distance while traveling, and during a train stop, Mohsen helps a sixty-ish women, Yolande, with her luggage. The two strike up a conversation and she clearly enjoys his company; over dinner, she offers to help him find work in town and let him stay at her apartment. It's clear to Yolande that Mohsen is an illegal immigrant, but she doesn't realize that he's gay, and he finds himself wondering if he should stay with Hassan or live with Yolande, where he would not have love but would enjoy safety, security and could easily become a French citizen through marriage.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Algeria
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Night Flight (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three teenage boys who were once close friends grow apart when they reach high school: Yong-ju lives hiding his true gender identity, Gi-woong becomes the leader of the school gang, and Gi-taek an obsessive manga fan. Tired of the constant malicious bullying by Gi-woong’s gang, Gi-taek betrays them by disclosing that Yong-ju has loved Gi-woong for years. Surrounded by an insecure boundary of the school and wounded by betrayals, the boys are driven into catastrophe.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, romantic, lgbt cinema, tense, bleak, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Sebastian (1995)
Plot Summary:
In this thoughtful Scandinavian drama, a teenage boy wrestles with his sexuality and learns that most of his deepest fears were unfounded. Sebastian is almost 17 when he figures out that he is a homosexual. Though he lives with wonderful, stable parents and has a good-hearted sister, he finds himself wracked with turmoil and suddenly withdraws from them all. The more they try to understand why, the more distant Sebastian becomes. Things get worse when he falls in love with the handsome Ulf, who comes from an unstable, tempestuous home. Sebastian realizes he is lucky, but still can't help but become irritated when he brings Ulf home for dinner. His parents are too nice and this quietly infuriates their son. Eventually they leave the two boys alone in the house. Sebastian have great fun doing teenage guy stuff, but then they take a bath together and it is then that Sebastian tries to kiss Ulf.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 595
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway, Sweden
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Boys On Film 17: Love Is the Drug (2017)
Plot Summary:
Explore hidden desires on a sleepover, fall in love with the handyman and be seduced by a stranger on the beach as you discover why Love Is the Drug. Boys On Film 17 includes nine complete films: Nicholas Colia's "Alex And The Handyman" starring Keaton Nigel Cooke, Aaron Profumo, and Hogan Gorman; Dawid Ullgren's "Mr. Sugar Daddy" starring Bengt C.W. Carlsson and Aleksandar Gajic; Brendon McDonall's "Spoilers" starring James Peake and Tom Mumford; André D. Chambers's "Tellin' Dad" starring Carl Loughlin, Ricky Tomlinson, and Michael Byron; Eyal Resh's "Boys" starring Wyatt Griswold and Pearce Joza; Martin Edralin's "Hole" starring Ken Harrower and Sebastian Deery; Lorelei Pepi's animated "Happy & Gay"; André Santos and Marco Leão's "Pedro" starring Filipe Abreu and Rita Durão; and Anthony Schatteman's "Kiss Me Softly" starring Ezra Fieremans, Marijke Pinoy, and Marc Van Eeghem.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Boys Life 2 (1997)
Plot Summary:
Compilation of four short films about homoerotic situations involving young men. In "Trevor", by Peggy Rajski, a teenager faces homophobia and falls in love for the first time. Tom DeCerchio directed "Nunzio's Second Cousin", telling the story of a gay cop who forces a gay-basher to come to his house and have dinner with his family. In "Alkali, Iowa", by Mark Christopher, a young gay man finds out some of his father's past secrets. And "Must Be the Music", by Nickolas Perry, follows four teenagers looking for love in nightclubs.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: independent film, anthology, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sketch comedy, sexy, unusual plot structure, sweet
Similar in 83%
Making Love (1982)
Plot Summary:
A perfect typical LA couple find their happily-ever-after life broken when Zach confronts his long-repressed attraction for other men.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, talky, semi serious, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Nighthawks (1978)
Plot Summary:
A gay man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night. A respectable geography teacher by day; by night, hanging out in London's gay bars, looking for a long-term relationship, but usually encountering only one-night stands. Ron Peck later talks about his experiences of growing up as a gay man, the attitudes to homosexuality in Britain, and his journey towards making this film in the 1991 movie "Strip Jack Naked: Nighthawks II".
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 681
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Happy Endings Sleepover (2019)
Plot Summary:
American CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American spy highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's job to get him safely to Antwerp where the agent will board a freighter. Johnnie, who is a young gay man, meets and falls in love with a Danish lad named Sander, who is apparently straight. Wanting to keep his friend close to him, he makes the mistake of bringing him on the mission. What will become of their friendship if Johnnie confesses his love to Sander? And is the Russian agent all he seems to be? Set against a backdrop of European espionage, Happy Endings Sleepover is a celebration of gay youth in a world where love should never be Top-Secret.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 424
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, contemplative
Similar in 78%
FAQs (2005)
Plot Summary:
After living on the tough streets of LA for a while, India hopes that every gay basher will meet his destiny. In this case Destiny is a black, 6 foot, high heel wearing, gun toting, drag queen with an attitude and a soft place in her heart for homeless gay boys.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 528
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, talky, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Tattoo (2013)
Plot Summary:
Brazil, 1978. The military dictatorship that resulted from a coup in 1964 begins to stumble. In a cabaret-like theater located on the periphery between two cities in the northeast of Brazil, a group of artists challenges power and conventional morality with theater plays and public interferences. Led by Clécio Wanderley, the troupe Chão de Estrelas, strongly supported by its homosexual audience, along with intellectuals and other artists, practices political resistance through anarchy and mockery.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, disturbing, captivating, realistic, period piece, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 88%
The Big Brass Ring (1999)
Plot Summary:
Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become president of the United States. While making a stop in St. Louis, a chance encounter brings his past back to haunt him.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 831
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 85%
Pariah (2011)
Plot Summary:
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, realistic, sincere, serious, emotional, spiritual, lgbt cinema, sexual, powerful
Similar in 90%
End of the Century (2019)
Plot Summary:
Two men meet in Barcelona and after spending a day together they realize that they have already met twenty years ago.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: unusual plot structure, sexy, psychological, sentimental, romantic, captivating, melancholic, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Time to Leave (2005)
Plot Summary:
Romain, 31, a photographer, learns that a malignancy may kill him within a few months. Decisions: treatment? work? how to tell his lover and his family. He remembers the sea and himself as a child. He stares in the mirror. He's cruel: facing death, he pushes people away - what's the point? He visits his grandmother to tell her; on the way, he chats briefly with a waitress. He looks at old photos, visits a childhood tree house. He takes pictures. Returning from his grandmother's, he stops for food and sees the waitress, Jany, again. She makes a request. He returns to an empty flat - his lover has left. Can Jany's proposition give him a way to move past self-pity?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, realistic, serious, talky, lgbt cinema, art house, contemplative, gloomy, intellectual
Similar in 86%
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Plot Summary:
Two modern-day cowboys meet on a shepherding job in the summer of '63, the two share a raw and powerful summer together that turns into a lifelong relationship conflicting with the lives they are supposed to live.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 376000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, sexy, sad, melancholic, crying, sexual, neo western, controversial, heartbreaking
Similar in 88%
Before Night Falls (2000)
Plot Summary:
Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, lyrical, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, sincere, sad, factual
Similar in 77%
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Plot Summary:
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: road movie, cult classic, surreal, art house, lgbt cinema, touching, serious, captivating, melancholic, independent film
Similar in 88%
A Home at the End of the World (2004)
Plot Summary:
Three friends form a bond over the year, Johnathan is gay, Clare is straight and Bobby is neither, instead he loves the people he loves. As their lives go on there is tension and tears which culminate in a strong yet fragile friendship between the three.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, intense, sincere, erotic, sexual, depressing, romantic, cult classic, art house