Best movies like Manila
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A tribute to filmmakers and National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. In the "Day" segment, Piolo Pacual portrays the role of William, a drug addict who tries to rebuild his sense of self and reconnect with the people around him. For the "Night" segment, Pascual portrays the role of Philip, who works as a bodyguard for a mayor's son. The bodyguard believes that his boss considers him as part of the family but after a shooting incident, he realizes his real worth to his boss. As he struggles to hide, he is slowly consumed by the claws of darkness lurking the city.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 133
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, touching, serious, neo noir, bleak, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Manila (2009):
Similar in 76%
Arctic (2014)
Plot Summary:
Simon and Jota are two young scoundrels who hit the street every day to eke out a living. Each one wants what he lacks. Simon cannot stand being surrounded by his large family all the time. Jota wants to stop leading a lonely life and will do his best to have his own family.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 121
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, touching, hood, road movie, bleak, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Wholetrain (2006)
Plot Summary:
This feature takes a look at the graffiti movement and young people who populate the niche culture. Following four such artists as they shape the graffiti community through both their art and their interactions, the film tells the story of how the foursome's decision to paint an entire train would affect their lives forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Poland
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, stylized, exciting, rough, emotional, realistic, fast
Similar in 85%
Houston (2013)
Plot Summary:
A German corporate headhunter travels to Houston, Texas, in pursuit of a renowned oil company CEO, only to have his life fall apart.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, suspenseful, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Something in the Way (2013)
Plot Summary:
Ahmad, a porn obsessed taxi driver from Jakarta, falls for the beautiful young prostitute Kinar and struggles with sexual frustration and misguided piety.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Drama
Country: Indonesia
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, bleak, sincere, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Sauna on Moon (2011)
Plot Summary:
In Guangdong, the forefront of China's reform and opening-up, the business of a sauna is fairly flat. The boss, Wu, together with his team, pursuits his dream and constructs a entertainment kingdom persistently with their wisdom, effort and positive spirit. Eventually, after a special fashion show, Wu tears for his uneasy success. During the period, some of his employees leave hopelessly, some are imprisoned, some are still longing for a better tomorrow by his side.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Adela (2008)
Plot Summary:
Adela, (Philippines' screen legend Anita Linda) a former radio personality, celebrates her 80th birthday. Alone, and without support, she longs for the family and stability of years gone by. Mundane events take on heightened meaning as Adela gauges her life against those of the sea of humanity. Adela is about the quiet moments in life that can fill us with either joy or sorrow.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 91
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, neorealism
Similar in 84%
Freddy Hotel (2014)
Plot Summary:
Freddy Angi, separate and homeless, stumbles into strange love affairs, including one with his wife Anna. The two meet now and then as lovers in a hotel room.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 17
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy, Romania
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, bleak
Similar in 86%
Street Days (2010)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged, unemployed heroin-addict, Checkie, loiters on the Tbilisi street outside his son’s school, where he himself was once a promising student. His wife, meanwhile, struggles to pay the tuition and understand her husband’s lack of interest in the family’s survival—even as the bank repossesses their furniture. But when a group of policemen blackmails Checkie into entrapping the son of his wealthy friend, husband and wife are unified by the uncertainty of their deepening moral dilemma, and a series of worsening foul-ups, in Levan Koguashvili’s lightly humorous yet realistic drama about the fate of a generation left behind in Georgia’s post-Soviet era.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, rough, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 87%
If Nothing Else Works Out (2008)
Plot Summary:
In 2006, a journalist in financial problems, a woman who dresses as a man and a troubled taxi driver become friends, and gradually, an awkward, strong emotional bond emerges among them, especially when they decide to play a confidence game.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 281
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, touching, serious, clever, offbeat, bleak, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Blood and Rain (2009)
Plot Summary:
Taxi driver Jose begins his night shift bent on revenge after his brother's murder at the hands pf a violent gang. But when an accident brings him unexpectedly closer to his party-girl fare Angela, the damaged pair must struggle against forces already set in motion, drawing them inexorably into the rain soaked underworld of Bogota.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 332
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia, Argentina
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, neo noir, realistic, suspenseful, atmospheric
Similar in 79%
Blue Lips (2014)
Plot Summary:
Six people's lives come together.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 82
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 79%
Morphine (2008)
Plot Summary:
The year is 1917. We are in the Russian countryside. It is the middle of freezing winter. A pale young, newly educated doctor arrives. Having to deal with one medical challenge after another he soon becomes the center of everyone's attention. To soothe the impressions of human suffering he turns to morphine.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, tense, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Good Time Max (2007)
Plot Summary:
Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, independent film, inspirational
Similar in 78%
Dealer (2004)
Plot Summary:
In an impressive follow up to his debut film Forest, Benedek Fliegauf tells the uncompromising story of a day in the life of a drug dealer. His clients include the leader of a religious sect, a friend who needs a final fix, a former lover who has had his child, a student, and a black marketeer. Fliegauf's film recreates life in a city that resembles a ghost town, an alienated world with its own priorities and realities. It is, he says '. an imaginary city with a strongly spiritualist atmosphere. This necropolis is the film's real protagonist'.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, serious, stylized, contemplative, experimental, avant garde, cult classic, bleak, realistic
Similar in 90%
In Vanda's Room (2000)
Plot Summary:
With the intimate feel of a documentary and the texture of a Vermeer painting, In Vanda’s Room takes an unflinching, fragmentary look at a handful of self-destructive, marginalized people, but is centered around the heroin-addicted Vanda Duarte.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Portugal, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 171 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, semi documentary, contemplative, bleak, art house, slow cinema, serious, gloomy
Similar in 80%
A Brother's Kiss (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers, Lex and younger Mick, are living in Harlem. Mick is a policeman, and Lex, who spent youth years in reformatory because of injustice after he confronted the cop who tried to sodomize Mick on the street, is living with his wife Debbie trying to make ends meet and failing. One day Lex calls Mick - he has a problem.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 412
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, rough, bleak, erotic, independent film, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 82%
The Town Is Quiet (2000)
Plot Summary:
A dark tale of working-class life in Marseilles, a city in crisis. Interesting characters include a hard-bitten but compassionate fish market worker with a drug addicted daughter and a moody bartender with a shocking secret life.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, touching, bleak, captivating, realistic, disturbing, neo noir, anthology, psychological
Similar in 89%
Lost Persons Area (2009)
Plot Summary:
A man trying to keep himself afloat and marry the woman he loves sees all that's dear to him threatened in this drama. Marcus (Sam Louwyck) works as a maintenance man for a Belgian power company, keeping lines and electrical towers in repair along a thinly populated area with a few low-income neighborhoods scattered across the plains. Marcus has been living with his pretty girlfriend Bettina (Lisbeth Gruwez) for quite some time; she runs a diner, and they have a nine-year-old daughter Tessa (Kimke Desart) who seems to live in a world of her own. Marcus's boss is Hungarian émigré Szabolcs (Zoltan Miklos Hajdu), and when Marcus is seriously injured on the job, Szabolcs steps in to do his work. However, after meeting Bettina, Szabolcs decides to move into Marcus's personal life as well as his professional life.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 194
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, bleak, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Most High (2004)
Plot Summary:
When Julius (Marty Sader) loses his girlfriend, his job and the life of his pseudo father, Jack, his itch for a "quick fix" suffocates his ambitions and takes him on a trip through the disturbing addiction of crystal meth. Julius confides in Erica (Laura Keys), who lures him into her erratic lifestyle, and their crazy romance brings him terrifying hallucinations and isolation as he learns that hedonism will not eliminate his pain.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Cocaine Angel (2006)
Plot Summary:
A week in the life of a young drug addict.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 323
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, mumblecore, independent film, sincere, witty, gloomy
Similar in 85%
The Knife That Killed Me (2014)
Plot Summary:
A journey through the memories of teenager Paul Varderman as he reflects on the events leading to the fatal moment his life is cut short. Paul moves to a new school and becomes involved with 'The Freaks', a group on the periphery of school life, those who don't fit in: scene kids, emo kids, indie kids. Outsiders. At the same time he attracts the attention of the schools twisted and manipulative bully, Roth. When Paul delivers a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a rival school, it sparks a dangerous feud. Faced with growing pressures from both groups, Paul must decide where his friendship lies, a decision that may cost him his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Angel's Fall (2004)
Plot Summary:
Zeynep, Tülin Özen works in a hotel as a housekeeper. But she suffers hell on earth because of her father's behavior. She only talks to Mustafa, 'Engin Dogan' who works in the same hotel and he is interested in Zeynep. She is not interested in Mustafa who is younger than Zeynep, but she is not indifferent to him. While Zeynep is trying to make a bonfire of bad situation, Selçuk, Budak Akalin who lives on the other side of city is a voice technician. He feels guilty after his wife's death. The suitcase which has his wife's dresses changes the Zeynep's destiny.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, Turkey
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, atmospheric, touching, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 75%
My Joy (2010)
Plot Summary:
A routine run for a truck driver turns into a nightmare he can’t escape in this psychological drama from filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. Georgy (Viktor Nemets) is driving a load of freight into Russia when, after an unpleasant encounter with the police at a border crossing, he finds himself giving a lift to a strange old man (Vladimir Golovin) with disturbing stories about his younger days in the Army. After next picking up a young woman (Olga Shuvalova) who works as a prostitute and is wary of the territory, Georgy finds himself lost, and despite asking some homeless men for help, he’s less sure than he was before of how to make his way back where he belongs. As brutal images of violence and alienation cross the screen, Georgy’s odyssey becomes darker and more desperate until it reaches an unexpected conclusion.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: road movie, disturbing, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, dread, slow cinema, aesthetic, atmospheric
Similar in 86%
Choking Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, serious, gloomy
Similar in 79%
The End of Innocence (1990)
Plot Summary:
Seemingly autobiographical story of a woman overwhelmed with trying to please everyone except herself, and not finding any answers until she's admitted to a rehab center by her parents. Eventually here is where she finds her answers.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 233
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, serious, emotional, contemplative, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 84%
The Second Chance (2006)
Plot Summary:
Ethan Jenkins (Michael W. Smith) and Jake Sanders (introducing Jeff Obafemi Carr) are both passionate pastors who worship the same God from the same book--but that's where the similarity ends. When they are suddenly thrown together in a tough neighborhood and forced to work side by side, Ethan discovers there is no boundary between the streets and the sanctuary.Written by Tracey Zemitis.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: christian film, serious, realistic, captivating, tense, suspenseful, inspirational, feel good
Similar in 75%
Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young kid from Kansas moves to New York to work on a magazine. He gets caught up in the world of drink and drugs, and starts a steady decline. The only hope is the cousin of one of his drinking partners, can she pull him through it ?.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: intense, serious, sentimental, touching, bleak, realistic, stylized, unusual plot structure, suspense, melancholic
Similar in 79%
Zooey (2006)
Plot Summary:
Angel and Zooey are not your typical newlyweds. Zooey is a professional prostitute and Angel is a drug dealer. Yet they are not without hopes and dreams, of escaping their life in the streets and starting a new in a fresh painted cottage with picked fence, kid and a dog, in Manitoba, Canada, Life gets in the way however when their best friend gets in trouble with her pimp. They sacrifice everything to save her, including their own dreams.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Balancing Act (2012)
Plot Summary:
Having cheated on his wife, Giulio, a municipal employee, moves out, but has to find a solution on how to still support his family, and himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 823
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, psychological, tense, captivating, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Colossal Youth (2006)
Plot Summary:
After the Portuguese government demolishes his slum and relocates him to a housing project on the outskirts of Lisbon, 75-year-old Cape Verde immigrant Ventura wanders between his new and old homes, reconnecting with people from his past.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Portugal, France, Switzerland
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: contemplative, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, slow cinema, bleak