Best movies like Mandala
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The film follows the differing lives of two Buddhist monks in Korea. By following their lives and their interaction throughout the film, Im creates a contemplation of the nature of individualism, religious belief and enlightenment.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 380
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Mandala (1981):
Similar in 81%
Crime Delicado (2005)
Plot Summary:
Antônio Martins, respected theatrical critic, is a very rational man. But a chance meeting with young Inês, a nude painting model, is going to rock him. Inês keeps a relationship with painter José Torres Campana, an older man with a deep influence over her. Antônio gets jealous, and the three become characters of a drama saturated with desire and danger.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
Dark in the White Light (2015)
Plot Summary:
A Buddhist monk on a spiritual quest. A Student trying to test his limits. An organ dealer growing his business. A surgeon who heals by day and rapes women at night.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Drama
Country: Sri Lanka
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: sinhala, weird
Similar in 84%
The Games of Countess Dolingen (1981)
Plot Summary:
In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the countess singing in a mausoleum while the visual image of the graveyard's many tombstones passes before one's eyes. Back home, the husband -- also a "father-figure" -- is looking over his collection of wooden angels. Some time elapses, and he surreptitiously sees a thief come down through the chimney, steal some things, and then leave. To combat any recurrence, he builds an iron, escape-proof cage around the fireplace, and then goes away on a trip. When he comes back, he finds the thief dead in the cage. Thus far, the camera has only shown the husband in profile or from the back. Then there is another story about a young girl, with a spiteful, nasty mother, who is trying to cope with her own attraction to a man.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, classic horror
Similar in 76%
The Rabbit Man (1990)
Plot Summary:
Hans and Lollo just had their first child. Hans is a gym teacher and is constantly tormented by his pupils. Hans's dad Bengt, is a news reporter on TV9, the channel who shows "such as people want to see". Bengt's latest report series is about a rapist who likes little girls. Bengt begins to suspect Hans.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 213
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Mandara (1971)
Plot Summary:
About two student couples who become members of an obscure sect. The cult seeks a prehistoric utopia with free sex and without society's norms and values. The students are torn between ambient pressure and the sect leader's authority to organ music in the creative camera angles.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 498
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: independent film, weird
Similar in 86%
Scorpio Nights 2 (1999)
Plot Summary:
Andrew (Albert Martinez) is meticulous almost to the point of obsession. From the way he carries his clothes to the manner he delivers his Physics lectures, Andrew is methodical in everything he does. But his ordered existence is suddenly disrupted when one sexually adventurous student, Valerie (Joyce Jimenez), starts seducing him. Andrew gives in to the temptation, and soon, the two are caught in an explosive relationship that knows no bounds.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 506
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy
Similar in 79%
Lulu (1980)
Plot Summary:
Lulu models for a young painter who tries to seduce her. When her husband enters the room he dies from a heart attack. Lulu marries the painter, who commits suicide when he finds out that she has been having a long standing affair with Dr Schon and whose son gives her a job. Lulu kills Dr Schon and goes to London to live with his son. Eventually, she becomes a prostitute and dies a victim of Jack the Ripper.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sensual, erotic
Similar in 75%
Floodhouse (2004)
Plot Summary:
Two girls are sent to live in the Australian bush with their hippy father. As they gradually bond, a stranger arrives from a town called Paradise.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 60
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Threes, Menage a Trois (1968)
Plot Summary:
Meet a couple of hipster swingers addicted to love. He's a novelist and she's a leather fetishist who provides valuable and stimulating research for his lurid erotic adventure tales! Their open marriage allows the couple to travel a delirious, flesh-filled but barren human landscape where endless carnal thrills can take their toll on the soul!.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 40
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 61 min
Plot tags: sensual
Similar in 82%
This Transient Life (1970)
Plot Summary:
Near a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an assistant to a master sculptor, only to proceed to complicate matters with his affairs.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: spiritual, erotic
Similar in 90%
Beyond Sleep (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young man's mythical quest for a stone that fell from the sky. He searches, stumbles and suffers as he traverses the sadistic universe of Northern Europe. He only finds redemption on the very edge of madness. Based on the iconic Dutch novel 'Nooit meer slapen' by Willem Frederik Hermans.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 915
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Norway
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, weird
Similar in 83%
Young Mother 2 (2014)
Plot Summary:
Yeong-gil is in graduate class and is stressed about getting a job. To make things worse, he's not had any experience with women yet, so he's always searching for something in his dreams but wakes up to nothing. Then one day, there is a change in his life, he puts his hand in The Box of Pandora and gets a job although it wasn't a regular position. He sleeps with his female superior during the interview even though it's not how he imagined it. Then one day, he visits Joo-yeon's home and meets her beautiful mother. Can he keep himself from being seduced by this woman?.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 381
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Red Bikini (2017)
Plot Summary:
A couples' trip to Pattaya turns into hell when each others' secrets come out into the open! Soo-jeong and Tae-hyeon decide to go abroad with Sang-jin and Ji-hyeon to celebrate Ji-hyeon's birthday. However, Ji-hyeon can't make it last minute and the three set off. However the local tour guide tricks them into losing everything they've got. Then they meet Lizzie, who Sang-jin falls for right away. They cross the line and Soo-jeong who secretly had a crush on Sang-jin, films them quietly. She then threatens Sang-jin to tell Ji-hyeon with the video of their affair and demands he takes her in. Tae-hyeon finds out about everything and the dreamy vacation turns into hell.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 28
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: erotic
Similar in 87%
The Last Monk (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Last Monk is the journey of a young newly-married woman from the world of the newly-rich, 30-something IT engineers and corporate managers in New Delhi, to the vast, stark beauty of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas. It is a journey from the superficial materialism of the new young Indian middle class to the universal mysticism of Buddhism. The otherworldly landscape becomes inseparable from the cosmic power of the physical and mystical universe as she discovers her own spirituality and a sexuality beyond the physical, led and mentored by a young khempo, or lay Buddhist monk vital, verbose, funny, and a fountain of cosmic truths. The Last Monk is part of a growing movement in Indian cinema, approaching the societal and spiritual issues raised by todays rapidly-changing India.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 49
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Zen Noir (2004)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 373
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: spiritual, inspirational, neo noir, detective, dark comedy
Similar in 89%
Sri Siddhartha Gautama (2013)
Plot Summary:
Sri Siddhartha Gautama is a Sinhala movie released on 24 January, 2013. The movie is directed by Saman Weeraman and featured Anchal Singh and Gagan Malik as lead characters.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Sri Lanka
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sinhala, spiritual
Similar in 77%
Golden Kingdom (2015)
Plot Summary:
Story of four young monks left alone in their remote monastery in Myanmar. Shot entirely in newly-opened Myanmar with non-actors, the film bridges spirit, cinema, and traditional Burmese storytelling to open a view onto an unseen world.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 150
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Myanmar
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, tense, atmospheric, contemplative
Similar in 77%
A Buddha (2005)
Plot Summary:
Un Buda follows two brothers orphaned as children when their parents were taken by the military during the "Dirty Wars" of the 1970s in Argentina. Tomas is now a drifting and withdrawn young man who experiments with ascetic practices and has an instinctive compassion for others. His older brother Rafael is a university philosophy professor, detached and alone. Their struggles with each other and the world around them in Buenos Aires take a dramatic turn when they find themselves at a rural Zen center.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 805
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: spiritual
Similar in 87%
Siddhartha (1972)
Plot Summary:
Siddhartha is the story of a young Brahmin and his search for a meaningful way of life. His journey takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures, material wealth, self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony that he had been seeking. The story is based on the best-selling novel by German Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: India, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: spiritual, philosophical, road movie, dramatic, surreal, existential, independent film, psychological, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 85%
The True Story of the Nun of Monza (1980)
Plot Summary:
Sister Virginia de Leyva becomes the new Mother Superior at the convent of Monza. Said convent turns out to be a veritable hotbed of sinful carnality and depravity. Debauched priest Don Arrigone and lecherous womanizer Giampaolo Osio plot to seduce sister Virginia. But will their wicked and lustful actions continue to go unnoticed?.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 346
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexploitation film
Similar in 79%
Justine de Sade (1972)
Plot Summary:
Therese, a beautiful but naive young girl, who finds herself being passed around from depraved pervert to depraved pervert, enduring just about every kind of sexual degradation there is while still believing that some kind stranger will eventually help her.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 454
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy, Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, suspense, controversial, sensual, bleak, serious, realistic, sexual, grindhouse, sexy
Similar in 78%
Crocodile (1996)
Plot Summary:
Crocodile is a 1996 South Korean film. It was the directorial debut of Ki-duk Kim and stars Cho Jae-hyun as "Crocodile".The film tells the story of a man living at the edge of the Han River in Seoul, who saves a woman trying to commit suicide. He then proceeds to rape and abuse her until an odd relationship develops between them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: depressing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, avant garde
Similar in 82%
Himalaya (1999)
Plot Summary:
As the denizens of a Tibetan village prepare for their arduous annual trek to exchange salt for grain, the community's allegiances are split between aging chieftain Tinle (Thilen Lhondup) and rebellious young Karma (Gurgon Kyap). Tinle tries to maintain his clout and preserve obedience to ancient customs when Karma challenges the old man's power.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Switzerland, UK, Nepal
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: road movie, independent film, atmospheric, spiritual, dramatic, tense, sincere, epic, serious, captivating
Similar in 85%
I, a Woman, Part II (1968)
Plot Summary:
Newly married to a sexually perverted German millionaire, Siv submits herself to endless degradation before discovering that her husband harbors a diabolical secret.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Travelers and Magicians (2003)
Plot Summary:
A young government official, named Dondup, who is smitten with America (he even has a denim gho) dreams of escaping there while stuck in a beautiful but isolated village. He hopes to connect in the U.S. with a visa out of the country. He misses the one bus out of town to Thimphu, however, and is forced to hitchhike and walk along the Lateral Road to the west, accompanied by an apple seller, a Buddhist monk with his ornate, dragon-headed dramyin, a drunk, a widowed rice paper maker, and his beautiful daughter, Sonam.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Bhutan
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: road movie, atmospheric, serious, captivating, spiritual, independent film, inspirational, philosophical, poignant, anthropological
Similar in 84%
Little Buddha (1993)
Plot Summary:
Little Buddha is a movie about the life of Siddhartha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Liechtenstein, UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: unusual plot structure, spiritual, fairy tale, retro, philosophical, existential, cult classic, independent film, sentimental, meditative
Similar in 75%
Zen (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen sect of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: spiritual, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, contemplative, inspirational, independent film, thinking, esoteric
Similar in 87%
Samsara (2001)
Plot Summary:
A love story situated in the Himalayas. A Buddhist monk can't choose between life and the way of the Buddha.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: India, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: philosophical, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, captivating, spiritual, sentimental, sexy, sincere, realistic
Similar in 81%
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
Plot Summary:
Three people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to seek enlightenment - Hyegok calls him Kibong!; and, an orphan lad Haejin, whom Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as a curious and nearly self-sufficient child.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: spiritual, slow cinema, psychedelic, thinking, aesthetic, psychological, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, captivating
Similar in 81%
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Plot Summary:
This South Korean film takes place on an isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: philosophical, atmospheric, melancholic, meditative, spiritual, art house, touching, stylized, scenic, lyrical