Best movies like Love Forbidden
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Rodolphe Marconi writes, directs, and stars in the coming-out drama Défense d'Aimer (Love Forbidden). Marconi plays Bruce, a young student from Paris who accepts a fellowship in Rome. He takes a flat at the Villa Medicis and writes full time. He eventually meets Italian native Matteo (Andrea Necci) and develops feelings for the man. However, Bruce is confused because Matteo also seems interested in the American student Irene (Irene D'Agostino). Love Forbidden premiered in the U.S. at the 2003 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, sexy, serious, realistic, stylized, gloomy, sexual
Best tv shows and movies like Love Forbidden (2002):
Similar in 82%
Two Drifters (2005)
Plot Summary:
After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman named Odete (Ana Cristina De Oliveira) descends into madness and claims to be pregnant with the child of Rui's (Nuno Gil) late lover, Pedro (João Carreira). As grief-stricken Rui mourns Pedro's death, Odete tries to transform herself into Pedro.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, serious, stylized, sexual, lgbt cinema, sexy, queer cinema
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East Palace West Palace (1996)
Plot Summary:
In China, homosexuality isn't illegal, but homosexuals are routinely persecuted by police and arrested for "hooliganism". The film focuses on a young gay writer A-Lan who, being attracted to a young policeman, manages to have himself interrogated for a whole night. His life-story which he tells during the interrogation reflects the general repression of the Chinese society. The policeman's attitude shifts from the initial revulsion to fascination and, finally, to attraction.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic, talky, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
The Angelic Conversation (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love, in a dreamlike landscape. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare sonnets, that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 894
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: experimental, atmospheric, serious, surreal, contemplative, stylized, sexual, avant garde, sexy, queer cinema
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The Stranger in Us (2010)
Plot Summary:
In this verité-style drama, Anthony, a newcomer to San Francisco, attempts to come to terms with his abusive ex-lover when he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a street hustler.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 530
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, emotional, captivating, independent film, touching, serious, crying, queer cinema
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Girlfriends (1968)
Plot Summary:
Architect Paul Thomas insinuates himself into the relationship of two bisexual women living in a St. Tropez villa with tragic consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, atmospheric, sexy, serious, realistic, stylized, sexual, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
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Adrift (2009)
Plot Summary:
Adrift begins with the wedding of Duyen and Hai. Duyen is a beautiful tourist guide and translator who marries Hai, a taxi driver who is two years her junior. Duyen thinks the marriage will make her happy but it turns out more difficult, especially since her childlike husband is uninterested in her efforts of intimacy and the marriage remains unconsummated. Cam, secretly in love with Duyen, is bitter about the marriage. Cam has Duyen deliver a letter to Tho, a handsome lothario and tourist guide who physically hurls himself on Duyen when she visits his home to deliver the letter. After Tho reports back to Cam that Duyen is sexually inexperienced, Cam diabolically persuades Duyen to take a temporary job as a translator on one of Tho’s beach tours, knowing what will happen. Duyen's time at the beach with Tho results in an affair leading to Duyen's sexual awakening but continued uncertainty about herself, marriage, and life.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 320
Genere: Drama
Country: Vietnam, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, psychological, sexy, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy, sexual
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Young Hunter (2020)
Plot Summary:
Ezequiel, a sixteen-year-old gay teenager in his sexual awakening, meets a boy of twenty-one. They quickly start a relationship and the situation unravels unexpectedly.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, stylized, queer cinema
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American Translation (2011)
Plot Summary:
A sexually ambiguous Frenchman tours his native countryside with his naive American lover in pursuit of the ultimate thrill. From the moment they meet, brooding Chris (Pierre Perrier) and the beautiful Aurore (Lizzie Brocherè) fall instantly and passionately in love but it's not long before their intense connection is consumed by Chris's dark obsession with gay men. Before long, the pair embarks on a violent and sexual journey filled with seduction and destruction of young gay hustlers. Hard-hitting, intensely sexy and wildly controversial, American Translation is a twisted Bonnie and Clyde for a new generation.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 872
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: erotic, serious, realistic, disturbing, sexual, twisted, offbeat, gloomy, sexy, queer cinema
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Man at Bath (2010)
Plot Summary:
Omar and Emmanuel go to great lengths to prove they are not in love.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, erotic, sincere, serious, sexual, independent film
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Dry Cleaning (1997)
Plot Summary:
A bored couple takes in a young man who turns their lives inside out.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Spain
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, sexual
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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
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This Is My Body (2001)
Plot Summary:
Gifted student Antoine goes against his family’s wishes and accepts the lead role in a controversial director’s film. He learns that the role had previously been offered to a young man who committed suicide after an on-set affair – and events conspire to draw Antoine towards the same lover.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 213
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Portugal
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
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The Last Day (2004)
Plot Summary:
At Christmas time, 19 year old Simon returns home to visit his dysfunctional family with Louise, a fearless girl he met during his train ride. While Simon struggles to cope with the growing distance between him and his parents, he starts to examine his feelings when Louise develop a liaison of her own with his childhood friend Mathieu.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, atmospheric, serious, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, surprise ending, crying, sexy
Similar in 78%
Replay (2001)
Plot Summary:
Nathalie and Louise are friends from childhood. While studying drama at University Louise becomes hopelessly obsessed with her friend. Jealous of the male friends she has she breaks up the friendship, followed by a suicide attempt. Later, Louise marries, but finds time to see the, by now quite accomplished actress, Nathalie. They fight through the years, La Repetition following them as their friendship comes together and breaks up frequently, while never actually reaching anything that can be called a climax.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, weird
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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
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Hard Pill (2005)
Plot Summary:
A despondent gay man throws his life and relationships into turmoil when he volunteers for a controversial pharmaceutical study for a drug designed to make gay men straight.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, contemplative, psychological, sentimental, sexy, captivating, sincere, serious, independent film, sexual
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Play the Devil (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set against the backdrop of Trinidad and Tobago’s mystical Carnival, a gifted and struggling young man becomes the object of intrigue for an older, well-meaning businessman until their worlds collide.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 347
Genere: Drama
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
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Where Horses Go to Die (2016)
Plot Summary:
Daniel is an artist who has lost his desire to paint. An unexpected meeting with three « working girls » one evening marks the beginning of a surreal adventure. Later that night, the wildest dreams and the worst nightmares of his three new muses unravel in his imagination.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 83
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, sexy, touching, melancholic, experimental, gay cinema
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Paths (2017)
Plot Summary:
Andreas and Martin share all the ups and downs of everyday life, and their son is maturing. A cautious approach to the traces of a long relationship. The love story of two people. Not about how they come together, not a phase they go through, but all of their shared experiences: all the years between the first kiss and today.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 508
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, queer cinema
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Through a Boy's Eyes (2018)
Plot Summary:
When a boy becomes a young man, the way he sees the world can change not just his perceptions of those around him, but how others see him. As burgeoning desires come to the surface, there is the choice of either embracing and acting upon them, or burying them. Includes: On the Roof [En la azotea] (2015); The Son [El hijo] (2012); Inside [Dentro] (2013); Tomboy [Même pas mort] (2007); Paradigma (2016).
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 133
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Spain
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, melancholic, queer cinema
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Label Me (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema
Similar in 87%
The Sex Movie (2006)
Plot Summary:
Four friends spend an evening together after time apart. Differences in sex and sexuality reveal deep-rooted conflicts and long-hidden longings.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 921
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, captivating, sexual, sexy
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Porn Theater (2002)
Plot Summary:
In a Parisian porn theater, a cashier, a 50-year-old man and a young projectionist are drawn into a complex love affair.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 889
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, semi serious, sexy, captivating, erotic, terrifying, contemplative, sexual, gay cinema
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Boys On Film 7: Bad Romance (2011)
Plot Summary:
Experience an alternative take on attraction with Boys On Film. Bad Romance explores the darker side with a collection of edgy and sexy short films, including: Alain Hain's "Curious Thing" starring Danny Bernardy and Matthew Wilkas; Christoph Scheermann's "Cake and Sand" starring Bartholomew Sammut and Jan Andreesen; Michael Rozanov's "Watch Over Me" starring Guy Kapulnik and Davidi Hoffman; Joachim Back's "The New Tenants" starring David Rakoff and Jamie Harrold; Kim Jho Gwang-soo's "Just Friends?" starring Lee Je-hoon and Yeon Woo-jin; Étienne Desrosiers's "Mirrors" starring Xavier Dolan, Stéphane Demers, and Julie Beauchemin; Christopher Banks's "Communication" starring Rudi Vodanovich and Alexander Campbell; Tomer Velkoff's "The Traitor" co-starring Shmulik Goldstein; Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein's "The Strange Ones" starring David Call, Tobias Campbell, and Merritt Wever; and Tamer Ruggli's "Cappuccino" starring Benjamin Décosterd and Manuela Biedermann.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 101
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, light, sexy, unusual plot structure, contemplative, gay cinema, queer cinema
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Five Senses of Eros (2009)
Plot Summary:
In this anthology film centered around the theme of "Eros," five seperate stories are presented by five top Korean directors. The main characters from each segment are connected with each other in one way or another.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, atmospheric, realistic, stylized, anthology, sexy, erotic, sexual
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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
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Cal (2013)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-year-old Cal returns from France to Britain after receiving news that his mother is ill. His finds his home city of Bristol facing hard economic times brought on by the global economic crisis, with poverty and crime on the rise and rioting and looting almost a nightly occurrence. It is not a warm homecoming as his sick mother remains stubbornly homophobic and wants nothing to do with the now openingly gay Cal while his battered Auntie Jane, now living in a run down council house, dulls her stagnation with welfare funded booze and disturbing attempts to sexually seduce her nephew. Navigating his way across this new landscape he meets a young student who needs his help. However his act of kindness brings him into contact with a lawless drug dealing pimp and a race against time to make peace with his mother and get out of town as quickly as possible. An intense tale of a family mired in poverty, angry and lost but still searching for love, respect and acceptance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, erotic, tense, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
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Interior. Leather Bar. (2013)
Plot Summary:
Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine the lost 40 minutes from "Cruising" as a starting point to a broader exploration of sexual and creative freedom.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, sexual, offbeat, serious, realistic, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
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Wandering Heart (2021)
Plot Summary:
Santiago, gay single father, has reached a tipping point in his life. Reeling from a bitter breakup, he is facing the impending departure of his daughter Laila, with whom he shares a close yet emotionally charged relationship. As the fear of being alone threatens to swallow him whole, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Over the course of a chaotic summer divided between Argentina and Brazil, Santiago must learn to let go of Laila so each can find their own freedoms.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 601
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Chile
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, touching, emotional, talky, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
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Free Fall (2013)
Plot Summary:
A promising career with the police, a baby on the way... Marc's life seems to be right on track. Then he meets fellow policeman Kay and during their regular jogs Marc experiences a never-before-felt sense of ease and effortlessness -- and what it means to fall in love with another man. Torn between his family and his new feelings for Kay, Marc sees his world careening more and more out of control. Suddenly, his life is in free fall and Marc realizes that try as he may, he can't make everyone happy. Least of all, himself.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: emotional, sexual, disturbing, atmospheric, touching, sincere, lgbt cinema, serious, erotic, sexy