Best movies like Luminous Motion
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A mom and her 10 year son motor around the country as she makes ends meet by turning tricks until her car breaks down. She then temporarily takes up with a hardware store owner until she gets her own place. Then the kid's father shows up to try to take the two over.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 347
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, offbeat, serious, realistic, detective, black comedy, dark comedy
Best tv shows and movies like Luminous Motion (1998):
Similar in 75%
Turn the River (2007)
Plot Summary:
A pool shark takes the ultimate gamble when she kidnaps her own son and flees her ex-husband.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, realistic, serious, gloomy, crying, detective, neo noir
Similar in 86%
Seventeen Years (1999)
Plot Summary:
Is a simple family drama that evolves into a moving study of immutable family ties and is also a scathing indictment of the political and penal system in China.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 626
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland, China, Italy, Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 81%
First, Last and Deposit (2000)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen-year-old Tessa (Jessica White) faces more than the usual tribulations of adolescence. When bad times hit, she and her mother find themselves living on the streets. The injustice of poverty is emphasized by the fact that Tessa's school chums are the children of very wealthy parents, and the only way to fit in is by lying. Add the gorgeous and expensive trappings of their Santa Barbara community, and you get a portrait of cruel contradictions seen through the eyes of a young girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, bleak, gloomy, crying
Similar in 84%
Mirage (2004)
Plot Summary:
As Macedonia faces its difficult transition, a boy escapes into a world of his own creation.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country:
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, art house, bleak
Similar in 76%
Second Best (1994)
Plot Summary:
The difficult relationship between a british postal officer and his adoptive son.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 77%
Safe Passage (1994)
Plot Summary:
A mother with seven sons feels like she's losing control of her life and her family. But personal.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, melancholic, serious, sentimental, talky, independent film, crying, dread, light
Similar in 87%
Fathers and Sons (2005)
Plot Summary:
Intertwined tales of three families who grow up on the same street, focusing on the relationship of fathers and sons. The first section features Anthony and Jenny and traces the father-son bond that develops between Anthony and his newborn son over 30 years. The second story centers on the affairs of an airline pilot who shares a house but not a life with his wife. He crosses paths with an unusual woman and spends an extraordinary night with his son. The final chapter follows the homecoming of Elliot to his estranged family. As his father dies, Elliot meets and falls in love with a woman who sees past his tough-guy exterior.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 406
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, emotional, captivating, offbeat, crying, entertaining
Similar in 86%
The Indian Runner (1991)
Plot Summary:
An intensely sad film about two brothers who cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent, antisocial and unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things which his brother desperately tries to point out to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, rough, serious, independent film, cult classic, tense, captivating, controversial
Similar in 86%
The Safety of Objects (2001)
Plot Summary:
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, depressing, confusing, disturbing, compassionate, suspense, touching, serious, emotional
Similar in 82%
Along the Way (2007)
Plot Summary:
A funny, gripping and powerful drama about the post graduation summer of four lifelong friends and one night that changed the course of their lives... forever. Like Crash , Saint Elmo s Fire and it s inspiration Stand By Me, Along the WAY is a haunting portrait of American Youth. A profound and poignant story about friendship, the moments that shape us and an unforgettable story that deserves it place among the best and brightest that the independent film world has to offer.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, offbeat, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 83%
Little Boy Blue (1997)
Plot Summary:
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, serious, suspense, bleak, sexy, explicit, realistic, crying, independent film
Similar in 90%
Steal Me (2005)
Plot Summary:
Chasing his wayward mother to Montana, fifteen year old Jake finds the picture perfect Tucker family instead who photoshop him into their lives, despite his questionable past. Too bad Jake can not stop himself from stealing, being seduced by the sexy next door neighbor, courting the mother of the house, encouraging the son in his first love affair, and leading the neighborhood boys in an ever escalating series of pranks. A drama about stealing radios, cars, and hearts.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film, crying
Similar in 87%
Around the Bend (2004)
Plot Summary:
A tale of four generations of men, all of whom have had their offspring at a young age: a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a father in his twenties and a son who is about 7 years old. When the oldest member passes away, the trio heads out on the road together in the Southwest to search out an old family secret that connects to their past.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, road movie, emotional, semi serious, humorous, family saga, realistic, crying, funny
Similar in 83%
Jerome (1998)
Plot Summary:
Jerome is a day in the life of a dreamer. Wade Hampton has found himself trapped by responsibility and lack of understanding by those closest to him. As a result, Wade simply leaves his old life with the idea of fulfilling a repressed dream of becoming an artist in Jerome, Arizona, a town he knows only through a postcard given to him years earlier by a co-worker. Naturally, an action as extreme as this is not without consequences. On his way, Wade meets Jane, a road hard, enigmatic drifter who lives the life of total freedom he has longed for. As the two speed farther and farther across the scorching Arizona desert, events snowball into an unforeseen crisis forcing Wade to confront realities he never could have imagined only hours earlier.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 143
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Redwood Highway (2013)
Plot Summary:
Marie, a reluctant resident of a retirement community in Southern Oregon, decides to walk 80 miles down the Redwood Highway to see the ocean for the first time in 45 years.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, feel good, serious, realistic, independent film, detective
Similar in 81%
Leo (2002)
Plot Summary:
A young mother is plagued by a tragic mistake and alienates her little boy. A brilliant writer is released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence and begins working at Vic's Diner. Their stories converge when the man must overcome obstacles of the past to save the little boy and ultimately himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, sincere, crying
Similar in 79%
The Dynamiter (2011)
Plot Summary:
All fourteen-year-old Robbie Hendrick ever wanted was a family. Yet as another Mississippi summer begins, his wayward mother has run off again fearing a breakdown and he's left to burn the days caring for his half brother, Fess. As the deep days and nights pass without her return and with older brother Lucas dangerously in their lives again, Robbie must face the fact that his dream of a family may only be a dream and he might just lose the only family he's ever had: Fess.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 609
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, feel good, gothic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 84%
The Dream Catcher (1999)
Plot Summary:
An abandoned teen jumps a freight train in Philadelphia intent on reaching his uncle in Indiana, whom he believes will help him with financial difficulties including a pregnant girlfriend. In Ohio, he meets another homeless teen, who escorts him to his uncle. Finding his uncle equally broke, the duo head on to Oklahoma City to try to find the first teen's long-gone ex-con father. A confrontation between father and son send the duo on into exploits in the west including getting beaten up, busting into an Indian reservation church, and hitch-hiking with a beautiful nurse.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 606
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, road movie
Similar in 86%
Standing Up (2013)
Plot Summary:
Based on one of the most beloved Young Adult novels of all time: Two kids are stripped naked and left together on an island in a lake - victims of a vicious summer camp prank; But rather than have to return to camp and face the humiliation, they decide to take off, on the run together. What follows is a three day odyssey of discovery and self-discovery.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, realistic, serious, sad, independent film
Similar in 86%
Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993)
Plot Summary:
Rebelling against his dreary life in a small Arizona town, salesman Nick abandons his girlfriend, Beth, and strikes out onto the highway in search of... something else. Encouraged by her best friend, Carol, Beth reluctantly accepts the romantic attentions of Sid, a local housepainter.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, independent film, clever, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, philosophical, thought provoking, intellectual
Similar in 80%
American Gun (2005)
Plot Summary:
Seemingly disparate portraits of people -- among them a single mother, a high school principal, and an ace student -- Distinctly American -- all affected by the proliferation of guns in American society.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, emotional, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, inspirational, independent film, gloomy
Similar in 75%
12 and Holding (2005)
Plot Summary:
Three pre-adolescents with virginal and eager-of-signals naivety, hit headlong against monstrous and inhospitable loneliness, in the incandescent fire among the ashes of their own inocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental, serious, depressing, harsh, art house
Similar in 80%
Faces (1968)
Plot Summary:
An old married man leaves his wife for a younger woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: intense, art house, black and white, independent film, talky, biting, existential, visually stunning, aesthetic, psychological
Similar in 77%
We the Animals (2018)
Plot Summary:
Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an imagined world all his own.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, sentimental, touching, inspirational, social, sad, poignant, independent film, indie film
Similar in 85%
Our Father (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. Their mother (Achta) eventually despairs and sends them to Koranic school. Unhappy, they plan their escape until the eldest boy falls in love with a deaf girl (Khalil).
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 734
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Chad, Netherlands
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, captivating, contemplative, crying, entertaining
Similar in 76%
The Keys to the House (2004)
Plot Summary:
Meeting his handicapped son for the first time, a young father attempts to forge a relationship with the teenager.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, touching, emotional, sincere, bleak, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
Along the Ridge (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young father and his two children struggle to find harmony after his wife leaves them for another man.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic
Similar in 84%
Jack (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jack, in full puberty, not only has to deal with his parents' divorce, but also feels his world is falling apart when his dad tells him he is living with a man. He slowly comes to terms with his own feelings when the girl he has a crush on turn out to have a gay dad as well and his best friend's parents end up not having the perfect marriage Jack thought they had.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 576
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, humorous, realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, semi serious, melancholic, clever, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Savage Grace (2007)
Plot Summary:
This examination of a famous scandal from the 1970s explores the relationship between Barbara Baekeland and her only son, Antony. Barbara, a lonely social climber unhappily married to the wealthy but remote plastics heir Brooks Baekeland, dotes on Antony, who is homosexual. As Barbara tries to "cure" Antony of his sexuality -- sometimes by seducing him herself -- the groundwork is laid for a murderous tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Spain, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sexy, erotic, emotional, controversial, talky, psychological, intense, sincere, serious
Similar in 85%
White Oleander (2002)
Plot Summary:
A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, erotic, sentimental, gothic, social