Best movies like Max Havelaar
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
An idealistic Dutch colonial officer posted to Indonesia in the 19th century is convinced that he can make the kinds of changes that will actually help the local people he is in charge of, but circumstances soon make him realize just how out of touch he really is, and it doesn't take long for things to go from bad to worse. Written by [email protected].
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 988
Genere: Drama
Country: Indonesia, Netherlands
Duration: 170 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, epic, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Max Havelaar (1976):
Similar in 88%
The Flaxfield (1983)
Plot Summary:
In a part of Flanders where flax is the main crop, farmer Vermeulen rules his estate like an 'old school' patriarch, stern and authoritarian, nobody else's word is ever taken seriously, just scolded fools, he rather risks being wrong then considering any advice. His marriage is based on a grim understanding: the wife Barbele accepts his heartless manner with everyone, even their studious, smart, healthy, studly son and heir Louis, but his two silly sisters are spoiled with a pointless fancy nunnery boarding school education fit for the upper classes. Farm-life is hard enough, laboring without machines or reliable weather, but this year the stubborn master made it even worse by picking the riskier, badly drained field and sowing later then his neighbors, even when luck turns he'll fetch a lower price for it. Poor practically perfect Louis is granted neither praise, respect nor any pleasure, however hard and well he slaves, obedient like the hired farmhands although well-read. Even.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, eighties
Similar in 86%
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 88%
The Possessed (1988)
Plot Summary:
French-polish movie adaptation of the novel by Dostoievski (also known as Demons), directed by Andrzej Wajda.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 654
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
It's All So Quiet (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of a farmer, Helmer, who realizes that his life has been influenced to an unhealthy extent by his aging father. An adaptation of a bestselling and critically acclaimed novel by Gerbrand Bakker.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, bleak, sad
Similar in 79%
Jerusalem (1996)
Plot Summary:
Members of a devout Christian congregation try to start a new life in Palestine.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland
Duration: 168 min
Plot tags: touching, epic, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 81%
In Memory of Me (2007)
Plot Summary:
Investigates the life a young man who has decided to enter a Jesuit monastery in Venice, but is then overcome by agonizing doubts before his ordination.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 451
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 82%
A Story of David: The Hunted (1960)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Bob McNaught. King Saul of Israel is jealous of the fame and adoration of David, who long ago slew Goliath and brought victory to Saul's armies. Now Saul, egged on by his Edomite counselor Doeg, attempts to have David killed. Saul's son, and David's best friend, Jonathan, conspires to help David, who is reluctant to fight back against his own people the Israelites.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Israel
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, biblical
Similar in 85%
The Resurrection of a Bastard (2013)
Plot Summary:
A criminal from Amsterdam barely surviving a liquidation. An old Frisian farmer bent on revenge. An illegal immigrant with uncertain prospects. Eventually, they meet under an ancient oak tree. Beyond the last town.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 720
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, stylized, anthology, offbeat, realistic, witty, contemplative
Similar in 77%
Once We Were Dreamers (1987)
Plot Summary:
Set in the Middle East in 1919, a group of European Jews planning on settling in the Sinai Desert are attacked by Bedouin tribesmen. As they fight for their lives they realize that they are beginning a struggle for a new Jewish nation. This film chronicles the beginning of the modern Jewish struggle for a homeland.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 83
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Soldier of God (2005)
Plot Summary:
“Soldier of God” A film by W. D. Hogan From The New York Times Director W. D. Hogan‘s sweeping period epic “Soldier of God” unfurls in the Middle East of the late Twelfth Century. As the story opens, the Knights Templar, a religious order originally assigned to protect Christian pilgrims, has disintegrated from chivalric order and justice into dissolute chaos, as its individual factions bloodthirstily vie with one another for power and control.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 523
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, exciting, epic, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Carpenter's Pencil (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story of love and obsession during the Spanish Civil War.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: captivating, emotional, sentimental, realistic, serious
Similar in 75%
The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. At a country fair, young hay-trusser Michael Henchard quarrels with his wife Susan, and in a drunken fit decides to auction off his wife and baby to a sailor for five guineas. The next day, realising his loss, he swears not to touch liquor again for as many years as he has lived so far. Eighteen years later, Henchard has become Mayor of Casterbridge, a man well respected but not well liked. The unexpected return of his wife and daughter Elizabeth Jane sets off a turn of events that force him to face the consequences of his selfish impulses and violent temper.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 196 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 80%
Going Home (1993)
Plot Summary:
Johan Ten Berghe joins the Dutch army when the Dutch East Indies unilaterally declare independence as Indonesia. He initiates his naive driver Twan in life in the East, having grown up there as son of colonial official Hendrik, now missing. Their adventures intertwine with Johan's childhood memories, especially concerning his native best friend, Oeroeg, who joined the rebellion, as well as their nanny and later de facto stepmother. Conflicting loyalties become tangible in extreme situations.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 418
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Belgium, Indonesia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, non-linear
Similar in 77%
Love Belongs to Everyone (2006)
Plot Summary:
Shy, gentle half-wit Dennis, whose only obsession is train-spotting, is released early on account of good behavior after a rape sentence. His parents who run a modest barbershop, skeptic André and Rita, desperately try to keep him out of girl trouble, but his victim's sister Barbara starts a hate campaign. After another girl reports abuse, Dennis is jailed and beaten black and blue daily. Barbara's boyfriend, lawyer Thomas Verelst, accepts to help 'pro deo' (no cost) and pleads that Dennis belongs in a mental institution.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Katie Tippel (1975)
Plot Summary:
In the late 19th century, a young woman moves to Amsterdam with her family and tries to make a living. Preyed upon by various men, she nonetheless rises in society.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: cult classic, touching, serious, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, sexual, sexy, cult film
Similar in 83%
David Copperfield (1970)
Plot Summary:
A made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield Robin Phillips as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 81%
Man Dancin' (2003)
Plot Summary:
Tough comedy drama set in Glasgow. Former enforcer Jimmy exits jail a changed man, but both his criminal boss and a corrupt copper think he's bluffing.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, psychological, rough, suspenseful
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Bo (2010)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen year old Deborah meets Jennifer who steers her into a career as an escort. Under the alias Bo she begins a new life that she cannot handle and starts a downward spiral that only she can end.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, captivating, realistic, erotic, sad, bleak
Similar in 79%
Dance Town (2010)
Plot Summary:
A North Korean refugee, Jung-Nim, is trying to find a new life in South Korea, with people suspecting that she is a spy.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 83
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, touching, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
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The Ditch (2010)
Plot Summary:
The film focuses on the suffering of Chinese who were imprisoned in a forced labor camp called Jiabiangou in the Gobi Desert in winter 1960 under Mao Zedong on the grounds that they were "rightist elements". The film tells of the harsh life of these men, who coped with physical exhaustion, extreme cold, starvation and death on a daily basis.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 526
Genere: Drama
Country: Hong Kong, France, Belgium, South Korea, Netherlands
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, disturbing, bleak, contemplative, slow cinema, aesthetic, captivating, realistic, crying
Similar in 76%
Almayer's Folly (2011)
Plot Summary:
A tale of an occidental merchant, Kaspar Almayer, whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter, Nina, collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 808
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, psychological, captivating, bleak, serious, emotional
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Daybreak (2003)
Plot Summary:
Sweden, shortly before Christmas. Surgeon Rickard is told the job he expected goes to a Dane, because of his substance abuse. It's too late to cancel dinner with his in-laws. The guest couple announces their in-vitro is a success. Then Richard's wife learns he cheated her with Sofie. Meanwhile ugly hag Anita trades drugs to afford a taser to use on her ex Olof and his former physiotherapist. Workaholic builder Anders is disgusted by his grieve-deranged client Knut's plan and decides to spend time on his family, not just money.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, bleak, realistic, serious, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 78%
A Simple Heart (2008)
Plot Summary:
Unable to forget her first love, Félicité, a simple and kind maid, devotes herself completely to her new master, Mathilde Aubain. As the passing of time doesn't heal her wounds, she gives love to all those who surround her: Mathilde's children, her nephew Victor. But fate seems to always deny her from any love in return. Still she tries to find someone who'll accept her unconditional love.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 342
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, touching, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
Confetti Harvest (2014)
Plot Summary:
Dorsvloer vol Confetti tells the story of young Katelijne, who grows up in a religious family in the countryside in Zeeland. Based on the novel by Franca Treur.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, sentimental, touching, serious
Similar in 86%
Great Expectations (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young boy called Pip stumbles upon a hunted criminal who threatens him and demands food. A few years later, Pip finds that he has a benefactor. Imagining that Miss Havisham, a rich lady whose adopted daughter Estella he loves, is the benefactor, Pip believes in a grand plan at the end of which he will be married to Estella. However, when the criminal from his childhood turns up one stormy night and reveals that he, Magwitch, is his benefactor, Pip finds his dreams crumbling. Although initially repulsed by his benefactor, Pip gradually becomes loyal to him and stays with him until his death.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 168 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, sincere, captivating, period piece, costume drama, realistic, period drama, weird
Similar in 82%
The F Word (2005)
Plot Summary:
A frustrated radio DJ takes to the streets of Manhattan during the Republican National Convention after the FCC has slapped his station with $1 million in indecency fines, and popular radio personality Joe Pace (Josh Hamilton) isn't going down without a fight. As the streets fill with restless republicans, angry protestors, and other colorful characters, Joe arms himself with a wireless microphone and a portable transmitter in order to get the opinions of the average person on the street.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 484
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, political
Similar in 76%
Copperhead (2013)
Plot Summary:
A family is torn apart during the American Civil War.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, touching, serious, captivating
Similar in 78%
Back to 1942 (2012)
Plot Summary:
In 1942, Henan Province was devastated by the most tragic famine in modern Chinese history, resulting in the deaths of at least three million men, women and children. Although the primary cause of the famine was a severe drought, it was exacerbated by locusts, windstorms, earthquakes, epidemic disease and the corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, bleak, realistic, intense
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The Wild Ones (2012)
Plot Summary:
Five juvenile delinquents break out of jail and attempt to make their way to a house in the Mendoza foothills of Argentina.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 239
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Netherlands
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, captivating, bleak
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Kidnapped (1995)
Plot Summary:
When Scottish young gentleman David Balfour's father dies, he leaves school to collect his inheritance from uncle Ebenezer, who in turn sells the boy as a future slave to a pirate ship. When staunch Stuart dynasty supporter Alan Breck Stewart accidentally boards the ship, he takes David along on his escape back to Edinburgh. They part and meet again repeatedly, mutually helpful against the Redcoats and respectful, although David is loyal to the English crown, but learns about its cruel oppression. Both ultimately face their adversaries.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 508
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, period drama