Best movies like Maelstrom
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Bibiane is the daughter of a well-known fashion designer who dabbles in modeling when she's not busy helping to run the family business with her brother. But Bibiane has not been especially happy in her work lately, owing in part to an unexpected pregnancy that led her to have an abortion. Bibiane tries drowning her sorrows in alcohol and drugs, and late one night, after several drinks too many, she hits a jaywalker while driving home. The pedestrian staggers away after the accident, and the next morning, Bibiane remembers what happened and is frightened at the prospect that she may have killed someone. When Bibiane reads a newspaper account the next day of a seafood delivery man who died in his kitchen after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, she's convinced she was responsible for the crime. Guiltily attending the man's funeral, Bibiane strikes up a conversation with his son, Evian, and soon the two have become romantically involved, with Bibiane unable to tell Evian her secret.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, meditative, harsh, psychological, philosophical, surreal, art house, cerebral, intense, cult classic
Best tv shows and movies like Maelstrom (2000):
Similar in 89%
August 32nd on Earth (1998)
Plot Summary:
Young Simone gets hit by a near fatal car crash, and as she questions her mortality, she also decides to have a baby. Her candidate for a father is her best friend Phillipe who happens to be seeing someone. He agrees, as long as they conceive in Salt Lake City, in the desert. The trip teaches many lessons about love, solitude, and self-discovery.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: art house, touching, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, weird
Similar in 82%
Sunlight Jr. (2013)
Plot Summary:
Quickie-mart employee Melissa and paraplegic Richie are very much in love. Supported only by Melissa’s small hourly wage, they are nevertheless thrilled to learn that Melissa is pregnant. Then their situation deteriorates, and their tenuous financial situation threatens to bring their happy life crashing down.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, sincere, sentimental, touching, christian film, aesthetic, bleak
Similar in 77%
Wetlands (2011)
Plot Summary:
On a dairy farm in the Eastern Townships, in the middle of a drought and while the land is parching, a drama will disrupt the life of the Santerre family. Confronted to each other they will have to learn to forgive.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 560
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, avant garde, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Lola (2001)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a troubled woman and her search for identity. She is given a choice between a return to the dysfunction of the past, or a new life in self assumed identity.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 245
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspense, independent film
Similar in 88%
The Sensation of Sight (2006)
Plot Summary:
This off-beat drama about man's search for meaning amidst the ache of despair chronicles Finn, an introspective English teacher entering a mid-life crisis impelled by a recent tragedy, as he sets afoot selling encyclopedias to the town locals.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 636
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, realistic, contemplative, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 89%
Chorus (2015)
Plot Summary:
A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 511
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, touching, realistic, bleak, serious, black and white, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
Niagara Motel (2005)
Plot Summary:
A group of struggling individuals cross paths at a low-rent motel in the tourist Mecca of Niagara Falls.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 636
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, sincere, captivating, humorous, independent film, sexual, sexy
Similar in 90%
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%
Hidden Diary (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the 1950s, Louise left her husband when their children were still little. She was never heard from again. Her daughter Martine stayed in the small seaside town, where she became a doctor. Martine's daughter, Audrey, a thirty-year-old independent woman, returns to visit her parents. By chance, she finds a notebook that belonged to her grandmother, a diary that may at last explain her departure. Will it reveal the things left unsaid, that have altered the relationships within the heart of the family ever since? In it, will Audrey find answers to the questions that she is asking herself about her own future?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 549
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Love Come Down (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers in their early 20s, one black, one white, each the other's keeper since their family was torn apart by a decade old tragedy. Neville is a comedian struggling with his comedy, and his brother, Matthew, is a boxer consumed with the pleasure and pain of his skin. Neville becomes enchanted with Niko, a beguiling young singer who becomes entangled with him on his journey of self-discovery. With the support of their long-time friend Julian and Sister Sarah, a nun with a past, Neville and Matthew come to understand love in all its forms. Written by Conquering Lion Productions/FilmWorks.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 332
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, independent film, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 82%
A Night for Dying Tigers (2010)
Plot Summary:
The night before Jack (Gil Bellows) is slated to begin a five-year prison sentence for murder, his wife, Melanie (Jennifer Beals), and assorted siblings gather for a dinner to bid Jack farewell and good luck on his trip up the river. But the party slides into a bitter fight over the bad behavior of Jack's brothers (John Pyper-Ferguson and Tygh Runyan) and sister Karen (Lauren Lee Smith). Terry Miles directs this dark comic drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, serious, gloomy
Similar in 90%
The Law of Enclosures (2000)
Plot Summary:
Story of the same couple, first in their teenage years and then in their twilight years, paradoxically set in the same time during the backdrop of the Gulf War in the Middle East.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 276
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, touching, emotional, erotic, mind bending, offbeat, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 81%
The Whore's Son (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ozren is raised in Vienna by his mother Silvija, who works as a prostitute, and his aunt and uncle. The film shows the demimonde of Vienna in the early 1990ies and deals with Ozren's finding out that his mother is not a waitress (as he was initially told) and with the way he copes with it.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 321
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, Luxembourg
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, emotional, stylized, erotic, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
A Single Girl (1995)
Plot Summary:
A young Parisian must make major decisions about pregnancy, a job and her boyfriend.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexual, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, rough
Similar in 75%
Morvern Callar (2002)
Plot Summary:
Morvern Callar wakes on Christmas morning to discover that her troubled boyfriend has committed suicide, leaving behind the unpublished manuscript to his first novel and a sum of money intended to pay for his burial. Instead, Morvern attempts to use both to reinvent her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, talky, psychological, touching, serious, contemplative, sincere, atmospheric, erotic, intellectual
Similar in 75%
Happiness Runs (2010)
Plot Summary:
The neglected child of parents living on a commune, Victor is helpless to resist the atmosphere of sex and drugs that permeates his world, but he"s smart enough to know that if he is going to survive, he has to get out.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 714
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, cerebral, atmospheric
Similar in 85%
Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976)
Plot Summary:
Emanuelle is sent to Bangkok on a journalism assignment. While there, she embarks on her own exploration of the secrets of sensual pleasure. While learning much, she also reveals several secrets of her own.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: erotic, art house, cult classic, grindhouse, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, sexploitation film, cult film
Similar in 83%
This Girl's Life (2003)
Plot Summary:
"Slice of life" take on life of international porn celebrity, Moon, and her musings on modern life, love and loss.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, serious, realistic, erotic, captivating, sexual, sexy
Similar in 82%
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 81%
The Outlander (2005)
Plot Summary:
It is the early 20th century. A stranger arrives in the small, rural community and disrupts the lives of its inhabitants. The man, who refuses to give his name, is dubbed The Outlander. A traveller who disdains conventional behaviour and parochialism, The Outlander disturbs the villagers' complacency and scandalizes the community; he also elicits admiration and gains a woman's love. He ultimately leaves in the same manner he had arrived, but not before he has helped the villagers open their eyes to the larger world beyond their village.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 406
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, sentimental, touching, realistic, serious
Similar in 82%
Cet amour-l? (2001)
Plot Summary:
Cet Amour-là is an intimate portrait of a legendary love affair. Set against the beauty of the Breton seaside, it is also a film that revels in the insights that Marguerite Duras' writing affords.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, sentimental, sincere, serious, captivating, clever, realistic, talky, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Bereft (2004)
Plot Summary:
A young Vermont widow is haunted by the memory of her dead husband, while trying to date again.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 409
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, serious, emotional, independent film, realistic
Similar in 86%
Normal (2007)
Plot Summary:
A deadly car accident brings together a group of previously unrelated people, each of whom is forced to deal with the emotional fallout.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, erotic, gloomy, sexual, sexy, hot
Similar in 86%
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Plot Summary:
A drop-out from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil-rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: road movie, serious, realistic, thought provoking, captivating, cynical, cerebral, cult classic, philosophical, existential
Similar in 84%
Aloft (2014)
Plot Summary:
As we follow a mother and her son, we delve into a past marred by an accident that tears them apart. She will become a renowned artist and healer, and he will grow into his own and a peculiar falconer who bears the marks of a double absence. In the present, a young journalist will bring about an encounter between the two that puts the very meaning of life and art into question, so that we may contemplate the possibility of living life to its fullest, despite the uncertainties littering our paths.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, Canada, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, atmospheric, sincere, realistic, surreal, teen, contemplative, gloomy, interesting
Similar in 87%
Crash (1996)
Plot Summary:
After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, disturbing, sexual, psychological, sexy, surreal, bleak, art house, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 84%
Winter Sleep (2014)
Plot Summary:
Aydin, a retired actor, owns a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal and his sister Necla, who is coping with her recent divorce. During the winter, snow covers the ground and boredom brings the return of old memories, pushing Aydin to flee….
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 55000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, France, Germany
Duration: 196 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, philosophical, art house, meditative, independent film, lyrical, serious, realistic, cerebral, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
Plot Summary:
A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, sensual, controversial, art house, psychological, witty, talky, postmodern, mumblecore, black comedy
Similar in 83%
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Plot Summary:
The lives of a lawyer, an actuary, a housecleaner, a professor, and the people around them intersect as they ponder order and happiness in the face of life's cold unpredictability.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, bleak, meditative, depressing, touching, serious, contemplative, existential, cerebral
Similar in 90%
Magnolia (1999)
Plot Summary:
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 325000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 188 min
Plot tags: philosophical, cerebral, sincere, depressing, mind bending, clever, non-linear, mindfuck, meditative, mind blowing