Best movies like Norman
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to Norman? Share your familiarity to steer others discover tv shows and films you've already seen that might suit them too. Boost the cohort of people recommending videos to one another. We value your contribution!
Plot Summary:
A teenager pretends to be dying from cancer as a way to cope with the realities of his daily existence and his father's terminal illness.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: humorous, emotional, tragicomedy, semi serious, sincere, touching, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Norman (2010):
Similar in 86%
Tiger Eyes (2012)
Plot Summary:
After Davey's father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, touching
Similar in 86%
Lullaby (2014)
Plot Summary:
Estranged from his family, Jonathan (Hedlund) discovers his father has decided to take himself off life support in forty-eight hours’ time. During this intensely condensed period, a lifetime of drama plays out. Robert (Jenkins) fights a zero sum game to reclaim all that his illness stole from his family. A debate rages on patients’ rights and what it truly means to be free. Jonathan reconciles with his father, reconnects with his mother (Archer), sister (Brown-Findlay), and his love (Adams) and reclaims his voice through two unlikely catalysts – a young, wise-beyond-her-years patient (Barden) and a no-nonsense nurse (Hudson). Through this intensely life affirming prism, an unexpected and powerful journey of love, laughter, and forgiveness unfolds.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, realistic, sad
Similar in 83%
Happyland (2014)
Plot Summary:
Having grown up in a world of manufactured happiness, Lucy, the cynical teenage daughter of a idealistic theme park princess mom, wants to get out and experience something real. When Ian, the new park owner's son, arrives and sweeps her off her feet, Lucy is left wondering if fairy tale endings do exist after all. But when a scandalous secret turns her life upside down, she learns Happyland is far from a walk in the park.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 21 min
Plot tags: sentimental, semi serious, humorous, realistic
Similar in 75%
To Find a Man (1972)
Plot Summary:
A boarding-school girl (Pamela Sue Martin) comes home pregnant and asks the boy (Darren O'Connor) next door for help getting an abortion.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 162
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sincere, touching, humorous, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
The Best Thief in the World (2004)
Plot Summary:
Izzy, the youngest son of a troubled New York family, takes a shine to breaking into people's apartments as a way to get attention.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 544
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, independent film, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 87%
The Secret Lives of Dorks (2013)
Plot Summary:
In The Secret Lives of Dorks, Payton (Gaelan Connell) is a pathetic dork, a comic book geek whose high school career is one hopeless faux pas after another. Yet he's a dreamer and madly in love with the head cheerleader Carrie (Riley Voelkel), who he is determined to win over. But she is wise to his desperate advances, so to get off his radar she creates a plan to push him into the arms of a dorkette at the school, Samantha (Vanessa Marano).
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, feel good, light, captivating, romantic, scenic, teen, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 89%
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)
Plot Summary:
After learning that a brain aneurysm will kill him in about 90 minutes, a perpetually unhappy man struggles to come to terms with his fate and make amends with everyone he has ever hurt.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: compassionate, sentimental, surreal, stylized, thought provoking, tragicomedy, dark comedy, humorous, teen, parody
Similar in 90%
The Fat Boy Chronicles (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Fat Boy Chronicles is a motion picture about Jimmy Winterpock, an obese high-school student who deals with bullying and trying to lose weight. The film is inspired by a true story and was released in 2010 as a major motion picture.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 889
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, inspirational, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
Love Is the Drug (2006)
Plot Summary:
Jonah Brand (John Patrick Amedori) isn't necessarily the type of guy who would interest ultra-hot Sara Weller (Lizzy Caplan). But when she and her friends find out he works at a pharmacy, they charm him into their circle and gain his trust with manipulative fawning. Jonah knows he's playing with danger, but it's tough to resist the game. Daryl Hannah and D.J. Cotrona co-star in this grizzly tale of addiction and obsession.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 794
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, independent film, suspense, suspenseful, dark, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Lost Islands (2008)
Plot Summary:
A family with five kids in the 80s get into a crisis when twin brothers fall in love with the same girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 664
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, emotional, sentimental, realistic, stylized
Similar in 86%
Picture Day (2012)
Plot Summary:
A rebellious teenager forced to repeat her last year of high school is caught between adolescence and adulthood - and between two very different male admirers.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, melancholic, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Defying Gravity (2008)
Plot Summary:
Cassandra, a mute runaway girl, takes refuge in the cemetery in which her mother is laid to rest. She is watched over by Jorge, the cemetery caretaker, an illegal alien who is committed to the restoration of a classic '60 cadillac hearse. Shore is a dynamic, handsome, and brilliant young man who also happens to be homeless. After almost hitting Cassandra in his dilapidated VW bus, he becomes fascinated by the gothic cemetery waif and attempts to befriend her. A sequence of events results in Cass getting lost. Jorge and Shore flee the cemetery in a stolen hearse to find Cassandra before her abusive step-father does. All paths lead to Yermo - the site of a roadside diner and a feisty but compassionate transvestite waitress named Lola.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, offbeat, independent film, campy
Similar in 88%
As Cool as I Am (2013)
Plot Summary:
A smart teenage girl comes of age in a small town with her self-centered parents who had her when they were teenagers.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, independent film, vintage
Similar in 76%
Finding Joy (2013)
Plot Summary:
Pompous and self-absorbed Kyle, is unhappily stuck in his life, longing to relive the success of his first novel. His not-so-desirable life rapidly unravels forcing him to return home to his wildly eccentric family with his tail between his legs. Life at home begins to show signs of improvement when Kyle meets the spunky, vivacious girl across the street who recruits Kyle to help her make the world a better place, making him feel alive for the first time in ages and inspiring his writing. But its short-lived. Joys been told shes going to die soon and wants Kyle to write her obituary.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 426
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, realistic, touching, emotional, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 83%
Quitters (2015)
Plot Summary:
Quitters tells the story of the Raymans, a wealthy Jewish family that's falling apart. The son, Clark, is a bright and curious high schooler with a talent for manipulation. As his mother May enters treatment for a pill addiction, and he and his father Roger stop getting along, Clark thinks about running away from home. He just needs to decide where to go.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating, independent film
Similar in 84%
Isn't It Delicious (2013)
Plot Summary:
When Joan Weldon discovers she is dying of lung cancer, she sets out to reconcile her dysfunctional relationships with her three children, her husband, and along the way, her former best friend. The family's destructive ways are offset by messy and somewhat humorous attempts by Joan to set her children on the right course before she dies. In this big dysfunctional mix, they will all learn to connect in their own ways, and realize on their own terms what life is about.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 78%
God Said, 'Ha!' (1998)
Plot Summary:
Julia Sweeney tells the viewers the monologue about the hard time in her life when her brother fought with cancer and she was also diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, witty, talky, independent film, clever, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, minimal cast
Similar in 89%
Two Weeks (2006)
Plot Summary:
In this bittersweet comedy, four adult siblings gather at their dying mother's house in North Carolina for what they expect to be a quick, last goodbye. Instead, they find themselves trapped — together — for two weeks.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, humorous, realistic, spiritual, tear jerker, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Men Don't Leave (1990)
Plot Summary:
After her husband John dies unexpectedly, Beth Macauley is unprepared for life without him. She is unemployed with no job skills and $60,000 in debt from on-going renovations to their house located in suburban Bingham. She doesn't know what to do but sell what material possessions she has, such as the family pick-up truck and the house, and move into an apartment in the city, namely Baltimore. Beth just wants to survive by finding a job she doesn't dislike, and keep her family together while trying to maintain her sanity and sense of self-worth.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, sincere, feel good, realistic, semi serious, independent film, light, road movie
Similar in 89%
My Father Is a Cleaning Lady (2011)
Plot Summary:
Polo is 16 and has all the worries of a teenager his age. Between a bedridden mother and a sister who dreams of being a Miss, the only one he can look up to is his father. Unfortunately, he works as a maid.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 325
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, humorous, captivating, psychological, light, entertaining, touching, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 77%
One Last Thing... (2005)
Plot Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Dylan is dying of cancer. When a charitable organization offers to grant Dylan his final wish, the teen has a surprising request: to meet supermodel Nikki Sinclair. Much to his mother's dismay, Dylan, with the help of his best friends, goes to New York to fulfill his dream.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: emotional, tragicomedy, humorous, realistic, sexy, semi serious, independent film, crying
Similar in 85%
Atypical (2017)
Plot Summary:
Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, takes a funny, yet painful, journey of self-discovery for love and independence and upends his family.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: light, sincere, humorous, funny, saga, hilarious, teen, comedy drama, touching, emotional
Similar in 80%
Two-Bit Waltz (2014)
Plot Summary:
Suspension from school, the loss of a friend, a broken heart and lack of inspiration lead to Maude's downfall in this romp through teenage error. Your teenage years are never easy… but for Maude, things couldn't be worse. Within one week, she is suspended from school, stranded by her best friend, dumped by the boy she loved and inherits an enormous amount of money with the passing of her grandmother– only to be claimed under one condition: Maude must prove by age 18 that she knows exactly what to do with her life. But with her 18th birthday rapidly approaching, Maude must dive into a world of self-discovery or else lose the inheritance.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 455
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: semi serious, sentimental, humorous, realistic, witty, stylized, clever, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 89%
The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008)
Plot Summary:
A commitment-phobic man reunites with his estranged, ailing father and comes to terms with his own childhood.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 86%
Manhood (2003)
Plot Summary:
A black comedy about a reformed womanizer who struggles to keep his family together.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Treading Water (2013)
Plot Summary:
At first glance, Mica seems a perfectly normal boy. But first glances can often be deceiving... For one, Mica's house is now a museum honouring Guillermo Garibai, the legendary Mexican crooner. Mica spends most of his time there, giving guided tours to aging Garibai fans. But stranger still, Mica smells. He smells like fish. Numerous doctors, his life-long therapist and even his own parents are at a loss. No one wants to be Mica's friend. Girls won't talk to him. His life appears pointless, uneventful, doomed. That is, until Laura walks into it.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 728
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico, Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: semi serious, touching, humorous, realistic, stylized, offbeat, vintage
Similar in 86%
Rocket Science (2007)
Plot Summary:
Hal, a 15-year-old high-school student with a minor yet socially alienating (and painful) disability: he stutters uncontrollably. Determined to work through the problem, Hal opts for an extreme route he joins the school debating team, which sends him on a headfirst plunge into breakneck speech competitions and offers a much-needed boost toward correcting the problem.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: clever, sincere, psychological, sentimental, touching, teen, indie film, realistic, funny, feel good
Similar in 88%
Terri (2011)
Plot Summary:
Terri, a pajama-clad, disaffected high school student learns how to engage the world with the help of Mr. Fitzgerald, his assistant principal.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: melancholic, compassionate, mumblecore, clever, thought provoking, sweet, surreal, visually appealing, sex comedy, comedy drama
Similar in 76%
Everybody's Doing It (2002)
Plot Summary:
Angela and Travis consider having sex for the first time just as their high school starts up an abstinence education program. Making matters worse, a "good girl" collects abstinence pledges from students and blows the whistle on Angela and Travis.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating
Similar in 75%
White as Milk, Red as Blood (2013)
Plot Summary:
Leo falls in love with Beatrice, a slightly older high-school student who has leukemia.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, semi serious, psychological, humorous