Best movies like North of Vortex
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to North of Vortex? Provide your expertise to guide others towards tv series and films you've seen before that they may enjoy also. Assist in enlarging the group of people proposing videos to each other. We appreciate your input!
Plot Summary:
A bisexual junkie poet (Stavros Zalmas) driving coast-to-coast first picks up a hunky hitchhiking sailor (Howard Napper) and then an androgynous waitress (Valda Drabla) as companions. They form an uneasy erotic triangle that will finally implode in a fateful desert episode. Greek director Constantine Giannaris' moody short black-and-white feature, set to British trumpeter John Eacott’s old-school jazz combo score, is very much in the mode of the New Queer Cinema movement of its era. It unfolds almost entirely without dialogue (although with the voice of Kevin Graal as an all-seeing narrator) as the photogenic protagonists’ classic convertible travels west across a timeless America of diners, pool halls and prairie landscapes.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 107
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Greece
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: sexy, surreal, road movie
Best tv shows and movies like North of Vortex (1991):
Similar in 81%
Westler (1985)
Plot Summary:
Felix from West-Berlin falls in love with Thomas in East-Berlin. At first they keep their relationship going by regular visits from Felix, but the curfew forces him to return every evening. When the East-German authorities become suspicious, Thomas decides to try and flee to the West.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 429
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Bulldog In The White House (2006)
Plot Summary:
"Bulldog in the Whitehouse" takes political satire to obscene new heights: portraying the Bush administration as a cabal of lustful and traitorous gay men who are too busy having sex to notice the empire crumbling down around them. An explosive and darkly comic adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' novel Dangerous Liaisons, the film's web of sex and deceit centers on Bulldog, a hustler who seduces his way into the Washington press corps to gain access to the halls of the political elite. At the bidding of his puppet master, a corpulent and power mad Karl Rove, Bulldog engages in manipulative trysts with Whitehouse hotties like the demure press secretary, the religious leader and the confused, imbecilic good ol' boy president himself.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 96
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical
Similar in 84%
7 Kinds Οf Wrath (2014)
Plot Summary:
Petros is an archaeologist who experiences the naked Greek paranoia in the center of Athens. Either by choice or coincidence, he comes into contact with people who are "different": An Arab immigrant, who comes to Greece, a land of "infidels", determined to conquer it by any means; A Greek-French cello player, who is burdened by the agony of her alcoholic mother; A young Albanian pianist, who carries the curse of his own personal genius and divinity; A Greek immigrant, who was repatriated but now has nowhere to call home; A bank director, who believes everything can be bought, even love; A patrolman, who creates his own version of socio-political reality. Petros' contact with these people is in fact a traumatic experience. For each encounter he has to pay a price. Sometimes the price is material, while other times it's emotional. At times it is both. Will the experience gained make up for the loss?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 116
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Confused Feelings (1981)
Plot Summary:
It is the story of a middle age professor who falls deaply in love with a young student in his English literature class. The student is a boarder in the teacher's house. The teacher is married and his wife knows he is mostly attracted to young men. She loves him nevertheless. The whole story revolves around a book the professor will write, dictating to his young pupil... he will only declare his love at the end of the writing ...and, it is too late.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 115
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
The Man in Her Life (1997)
Plot Summary:
Selya is disappointed with Bobby who only wants sex but no real relationship nor marriage. So she leaves and decides to marry the gay Ramon who, she is convinced, is definitely different.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 383
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Amazing Grace (1992)
Plot Summary:
A drama about two families, each with a gay son. Jonathan is splitting from Miki because the more experienced Miki is playing around. Then Jonathan sees Thomas, the son and grandson of his neighbors, who is back in Israel after failing to make it as a musician in New York: Thomas is ill, detached, in search of hard drugs. Jonathan tries to connect with him. Meanwhile, Thomas's grandmother, facing old age, has become bitter, particularly toward her hard-working daughter. They worry about Thomas. A few blocks away, Jonathan's mother, brother and sister maintain their sometimes bickering relationships, watching Jonathan brave adulthood.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Noah's Arc (2004)
Plot Summary:
Four gay friends live in L.A. and deal with today's issues, boyfriends, aids, your boyfriend's children, making it in the movie biz, etc.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Praxis (2008)
Plot Summary:
Praxis peels away the layers of narrative even as Brian, the film's axis, struggles to create his true self. Brian, a writer on the verge of a breakdown, is aided by Joe and an Elusive Woman as he sifts through the fragments of his persona to discover his true core. Fighting against fear and the indifference of society - aptly symbolized by the medical establishment - his quest reflects the classical mythos of Proteus and the human search for meaning in the universe.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 151
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Body Electric (2017)
Plot Summary:
Elias is a handsome young deputy manager in a garment factory in São Paulo. When he’s not working, he enjoys casual encounters in the big city. The arrival of a young African, Fernando, on the production line piques his interest and Elias finds himself increasingly drawn into socialising with his work colleagues.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 896
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 90%
B-Boy Blues (2021)
Plot Summary:
Follows the relationship of 27-year-old journalist Mitchell Crawford and 21-year-old bicycle messenger Raheim Rivers, who meet at a gay bar in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1993.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 85%
The Angelic Conversation (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love, in a dreamlike landscape. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare sonnets, that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 894
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: experimental, atmospheric, serious, surreal, contemplative, stylized, sexual, avant garde, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Salut Victor (1989)
Plot Summary:
Friendship between two old men becomes love. Slightly-unkempt, tired, and frail, Philippe Lanctot moves into a rest home. The administrator says she wants him to be happy, but that seems far from his mind: he's waiting to die. Then, into his room, unannounced, rolls the voluble Victor Laprade, who draws out Philippe over the next few months. Victor gives Philippe the gift of experiencing the moment. In return, the well-heeled Philippe organises field trips to dinner and to a botanical garden, and, unknown to Victor, becomes the man's benefactor when Victor's children get stingy. The openly-gay Victor also pushes Philippe to acknowledge feelings he's always kept suppressed.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Closing Numbers (1993)
Plot Summary:
Keith, Anna and their son Peter are a close, loving family living in a smart suburban street of a provincial city. Anna is a typical middle-class housewife, filling her day with good works, until one day, when she finds a note that leads to a shattering discovery - her husband has been having an affair. Anna's intense shock at finding out Keith's secret is compounded when she arranges to meet his lover. When Steve arrives at the meeting place, Anna is forced to accept the fact that Keith has been leading a double life for the length of their marriage. Steve stresses the risk of AIDS and urges Anna to have an AIDS test. To show her what it can be like to live with the disease, he introduces her to Jim, who needs 24-hour care and has developed a realistic attitude towards his own death. When Keith leaves home suddenly, Anna is forced to tell her son about the threat of HIV, but Peter turns violently against her and runs away.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 143
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 80%
Open Bodies (1998)
Plot Summary:
Born to a North African father and a French mother, 18-year-old Parisian high school senior Rémi works part-time in an Arab grocery store while studying management and commerce. He responds to a school ad seeking subjects for a film, and Marc, who placed the ad, auditions Rémi by filming an interview with him. Rémi and Marc wind up in bed, and Rémi soon has other sexual experiences – with a guy in a men's room and with a young woman who grabs him while she's dancing in the street.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 81%
He Hated Pigeons (2015)
Plot Summary:
Love is everything with a young man journey's from the north to south of Chile to fulfill a promise.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 110
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Chile
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Fixing Frank (2002)
Plot Summary:
Frank (Miller) is a gay journalist who goes undercover at the urging of his therapist boyfriend Jonathan (Provenza) to write an exposé of Dr. Apsey (Butler). Apsey performs conversion therapy on gay male clients, a practice which Jonathan finds reprehensible. Frank quickly comes clean with Apsey but continues to meet with him under the pretense of interviewing him, but finds himself questioning himself, Jonathan and their six-year relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 490
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: queer cinema, cult film
Similar in 79%
Destiny (1997)
Plot Summary:
Though gay-themed stories about "coming out" and accepting one's sexuality are not uncommon in Western countries, such tales are still rare in many conservative African nations. Considered a ground-breaking film in its native Guinea, and filmed amidst a storm of controversy, Mohamed Camara's Dakan is the first of its nations films to directly address issues surrounding homosexuality. The story centers on the romance between two 20-year-old men, Manga and Sory who are first seen making out in a car. The trouble begins when Manga tells his widowed mother about his love for Sory, who is busy contending with his outraged father. The parents insist that the two never see each other again. Manga's mother then uses witchcraft to cleanse her son and change him into a heterosexual. Time passes and eventually Manga begins to date a girl. But it soon becomes apparent that try as he might, Manga's heart belongs to Sory.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 188
Genere: Drama
Country: Guinea, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Plot Summary:
Recently divorced career woman Alex Greville begins a romantic relationship with glamorous mod artist Bob Elkin, fully aware that he's also intimately involved with middle-aged doctor Daniel Hirsh. For both Alex and Daniel, the younger man represents a break with their repressive pasts, and though both know that Bob is seeing both of them, neither is willing to let go of the youth and vitality he brings to their otherwise stable lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sexy, controversial, mind blowing, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, tense
Similar in 87%
José (2018)
Plot Summary:
José (19 years old) lives with his mother (50s) in Guatemala: a tough life in one of the world's most dangerous, religious, and impoverished countries. José is her youngest and favorite child, and her life is going to church and selling sandwiches. Jose spends his days on crowded buses and in the streets delivering food. Resigned and aloof, in free moments he plays with his phone and looks for random sex. When he meets Luis, Jose is thrust into a dimension of passion and pain and self-reflection that was previously unimaginable.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 820
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Guatemala
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022)
Plot Summary:
Based on the coming-of-age young adult novel by American author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Set in El Paso, Texas in 1987, the film follows two Mexican-American teenagers, Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza and Dante Quintana, their friendship, and their struggles with racial and ethnic identity, sexuality, and family relationships.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 841
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Like You Mean It (2015)
Plot Summary:
When Mark commits to falling back in love with Jonah, he is forced to look at himself with unprecedented courage and honesty.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, tense, sentimental, unusual plot structure, contemplative, lgbt cinema, cute, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
An Unusual Affair (2002)
Plot Summary:
Jochen Wenzel, a young teacher, married with two kids, one day surprisingly falls in love with a young male colleague, Tom Leuthner and they begin an unusual affair (= "Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre"). While Ina, Jochen's wife, worries about Jochen's distanced behavior without having a clue of her husband's affair, Jochen and Tom seriously fall for each other. Torn between his family and his new love, Jochen has to make a decision. Written by Smoothhoney.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 592
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, suspense, captivating, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
More Than Friendship (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mia, Lukas and Jonas always where like one heart and soul since their earliest childhood. Until three years ago when everything changed. Friendship became love that is well beyond all conventions. A Part of the society feels provoked by such kind of companionship and meets them with some lack of understanding to say the least. Even their parents aren't really fond of the situation. Once a year, the trio makes a trip. During which they try to let emotion flow as they come, not having to fear the reactions of others. Now there is the time again for such a trip. And that is where the film starts. After renting a mobile home the journey starts as usual. Only one thing different this time, Jonas was diagnosed with cancer in terminal state a few months ago. The three of them know that this might very well be the last trip they will ever make. Regardless, Mia and Lukas try their best for Jonas not to think of the inevitable. Sadly the vow to spend the last trip only in joy, fails.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 241
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, sexy, suspense, lgbt cinema, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Play the Devil (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set against the backdrop of Trinidad and Tobago’s mystical Carnival, a gifted and struggling young man becomes the object of intrigue for an older, well-meaning businessman until their worlds collide.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 347
Genere: Drama
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 80%
Paths (2017)
Plot Summary:
Andreas and Martin share all the ups and downs of everyday life, and their son is maturing. A cautious approach to the traces of a long relationship. The love story of two people. Not about how they come together, not a phase they go through, but all of their shared experiences: all the years between the first kiss and today.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 508
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Label Me (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema
Similar in 78%
Boys On Film 7: Bad Romance (2011)
Plot Summary:
Experience an alternative take on attraction with Boys On Film. Bad Romance explores the darker side with a collection of edgy and sexy short films, including: Alain Hain's "Curious Thing" starring Danny Bernardy and Matthew Wilkas; Christoph Scheermann's "Cake and Sand" starring Bartholomew Sammut and Jan Andreesen; Michael Rozanov's "Watch Over Me" starring Guy Kapulnik and Davidi Hoffman; Joachim Back's "The New Tenants" starring David Rakoff and Jamie Harrold; Kim Jho Gwang-soo's "Just Friends?" starring Lee Je-hoon and Yeon Woo-jin; Étienne Desrosiers's "Mirrors" starring Xavier Dolan, Stéphane Demers, and Julie Beauchemin; Christopher Banks's "Communication" starring Rudi Vodanovich and Alexander Campbell; Tomer Velkoff's "The Traitor" co-starring Shmulik Goldstein; Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein's "The Strange Ones" starring David Call, Tobias Campbell, and Merritt Wever; and Tamer Ruggli's "Cappuccino" starring Benjamin Décosterd and Manuela Biedermann.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 101
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, light, sexy, unusual plot structure, contemplative, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Raising Heroes (1996)
Plot Summary:
Josh and Paul want to adopt Nickie, the child of Paul's recently deceased friend Susan. Susan's mother opposes gays' adopting, and Monday is the final court date. On Friday, Josh stops by a market for milk and glimpses a Mob hit. Unknown to him, the hitmen are now on his trail. Josh hates confrontation and doesn't tell Paul about the murder or call the cops. Instead, he takes Paul for an idyllic weekend in the Poconos. But Sunday, when they return to the city, the murderers are waiting. The Mob boss orders that both be killed. What chance do Paul, who's in the dark, and Josh, who's basically passive, have against this firepower? What will happen to Nickie without them?.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 122
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Nighthawks (1978)
Plot Summary:
A gay man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night. A respectable geography teacher by day; by night, hanging out in London's gay bars, looking for a long-term relationship, but usually encountering only one-night stands. Ron Peck later talks about his experiences of growing up as a gay man, the attitudes to homosexuality in Britain, and his journey towards making this film in the 1991 movie "Strip Jack Naked: Nighthawks II".
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 681
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Cal (2013)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-year-old Cal returns from France to Britain after receiving news that his mother is ill. His finds his home city of Bristol facing hard economic times brought on by the global economic crisis, with poverty and crime on the rise and rioting and looting almost a nightly occurrence. It is not a warm homecoming as his sick mother remains stubbornly homophobic and wants nothing to do with the now openingly gay Cal while his battered Auntie Jane, now living in a run down council house, dulls her stagnation with welfare funded booze and disturbing attempts to sexually seduce her nephew. Navigating his way across this new landscape he meets a young student who needs his help. However his act of kindness brings him into contact with a lawless drug dealing pimp and a race against time to make peace with his mother and get out of town as quickly as possible. An intense tale of a family mired in poverty, angry and lost but still searching for love, respect and acceptance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, erotic, tense, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema