Best movies like Northern Lights
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Emma approaches adulthood, she tries to live an ordinary life and keep up to her late mothers expectations. However her anxiety weighs over her, stopping her from enjoying the last few youthful years.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, suspenseful, independent film, surprise ending
Best tv shows and movies like Northern Lights (2016):
Similar in 86%
How Not to Disappear Completely (2015)
Plot Summary:
'How Not To Disappear Completely' follows a week in the life of a young photographer Tom as he returns to London after spending two years traveling in India. Tom is at a crossroads in his life. A stranger in the cold hard city, he struggles to reconnect with his friends whilst searching for his half sister. Along the way Tom is forced to face up to his past and soon realises that it may not be his life he's been running away from but himself.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 14
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, melancholic
Similar in 76%
Girl with Green Eyes (1964)
Plot Summary:
Catholic-Irish farm girl Kate, along with her gregarious best friend Baba, moves to Dublin to pursue a more exciting life.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, romantic drama, independent film
Similar in 82%
Cheerleader (2016)
Plot Summary:
Cheerleader dives into the mind of a teenager as she tries desperately to win her boyfriend back.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 71
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, suspense, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 77%
Young Hearts (2020)
Plot Summary:
Two young neighbors embark on a first love relationship in which they struggle to remain kids amid the complexities of modern adolescence.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, suspense, suspenseful, romantic comedy
Similar in 77%
The Dream Prince (1996)
Plot Summary:
14-year old Em likes to hang around in her old play house. One day a boy, Jakob, sets fire to it, and Em catches a brief glimpse of him before he disappears. They meet again a few days later. For the first time in her life, Em falls in love. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Sweden
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: teen, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
My Best Summer (2019)
Plot Summary:
Geng Geng had been an ordinary girl before her entry to the best high school in the province by chance. She doesn't like her life there until she meets Yu Huai, her seatmate - their names make up the word "Geng geng yu huai", meaning "Unforgettable memories". They don't like each other at the beginning, but soon they start to understand each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 314
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, captivating, romantic
Similar in 86%
I Capture the Castle (2003)
Plot Summary:
A love story set in 1930s England that follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, and the fortunes of her eccentric family, struggling to survive in a decaying English castle. Based on Dodie Smith's 1948 novel with the same name.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, atmospheric, stylized, lyrical, semi serious, romantic, period piece, colorful, intense, sex comedy
Similar in 88%
Domain (2009)
Plot Summary:
Nadia (Béatrice Dalle) is in her 30s and begins a serious relationship with a teen named Pierre (Isaïe Sultan).
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 193
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Austria
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Love is the Word (2013)
Plot Summary:
Love is the Word is a moving, romantic and funny coming-of-age drama about the magic of first love and the misery of first lost, set in 1978: the year 'Grease' hit the big screen.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 630
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sentimental, realistic, captivating, emotional, sexy
Similar in 76%
Broken (2012)
Plot Summary:
Three suburban English families' lives intertwine with tragic consequences.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, realistic, serious, emotional, teen, suspense, sad, disturbing, grindhouse
Similar in 79%
Fit (2010)
Plot Summary:
Takes a look at gay and straight love among the new millennials. Everything from secret crushes to homophobic attitudes are revealed by the rambunctious students taking Drama and Dance from Loris. None of the teens are what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in very queer ways.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 494
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, touching, realistic, educational, crying
Similar in 87%
The Goob (2014)
Plot Summary:
We’re in the middle of a heat-wave in Fenland England. Goob Taylor has spent each of his sixteen summers helping Mum run the transport cafe and harvest the surrounding beet fields. When Mum shacks up with swarthy stock-car supremo and ladies’ man gene Womack, Goob becomes an unwelcome side thought. However Goob’s world turns when exotic beet picker Eva arrives. Fuelled by her flirtatious comments, Goob dreams of better things.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, captivating, emotional, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 90%
Friends (1971)
Plot Summary:
French teens Paul and Michelle run away from home to a remote beach and have a baby.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: erotic, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Cocoon (2020)
Plot Summary:
In the heat of a shimmering Berlin summer, Nora spends her days as a third wheel to her older sister Jule and her best friend Aylin. When Romy comes onto the scene, a friendship blossoms. Nora instantly falls for her, opening up a whole new world and unexpected summer of love.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, touching, emotional, talky, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
6 Years (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young couple bound by a seemingly ideal love, begins to unravel as unexpected opportunities spin them down a volatile and violent path and threaten the future they had always imagined.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, touching, mumblecore, intense, teen, indie film, heartfelt, independent film
Similar in 90%
Go (2001)
Plot Summary:
Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school that is dedicated to memory of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His father is a grizzled ex-boxer who recently changed his citizenship from North to South Korea so he and his wife – Sugihara's mom – could visit Hawaii. Though his father regularly gets drunk and thrashes him, he also taught Sugihara the finer point of the sweet science. At one point in the film, Sugihara takes out an entire basketball team that was bent on taking him out. Upon graduation, Sugihara enters a normal Japanese high school where he meets and soon falls for Sakurai – a loose-sock copper-haired damsel who is attracted to Sugihara's restless spirit. As the film progresses, Sugihara struggles to throw off the stigma of his ethnicity and live a quiet, successful life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, sweet, realistic
Similar in 78%
Kids in Love (2016)
Plot Summary:
Drifting through his gap year with its internships and travel plans, Jack has always suspected there was more to life than this. A chance encounter with the beautiful and ethereal Evelyn swerves his life radically off course.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, entertaining, melancholic, psychological, teen
Similar in 89%
JJ+E (2021)
Plot Summary:
Elisabeth and John-John live in the same city, but they inhabit different worlds.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Sweden
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing, teen
Similar in 78%
The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010)
Plot Summary:
Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, realistic, touching, serious, talky, independent film, sexy, mumblecore, indie film
Similar in 75%
Cry Me a Sad River (2018)
Plot Summary:
Qi Ming is a handsome boy and he is also a top student at school, but Yi Yao is a so-called bitch on everyone’s lips. Qi and Yi grew up together and they have been maintaining a good relationship. However, everything is interrupted and changed by Tang Xiaomi. Rumors have become a sharp weapon to destroy people. Yi Yao's life falls into darkness, and she suffers all kinds of cruel bullying at school.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 479
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, tense, sentimental, thought provoking, touching, unusual plot structure
Similar in 85%
Chemical Hearts (2020)
Plot Summary:
When a hopelessly romantic high school senior falls for a mysterious new classmate, it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss, and most importantly themselves.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, compassionate, melancholic, sentimental, captivating, romantic, feel good, tear jerker, romantic comedy
Similar in 83%
The Truth About Jane (2000)
Plot Summary:
Jane, a high school teenager, tries to deal with the discovery that she is a lesbian after developing an intense friendship with another girl who makes her discover her true sexuality, which is only the start of Jane's troubles when Jane's unaccepting mother, Janice, struggles with her surprising revelation of brought forth by her only daughter.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, sentimental, touching, serious, disturbing, crying, emotional, realistic, talky, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Now Is Good (2012)
Plot Summary:
A girl dying of leukemia compiles a list of things she'd like to do before passing away. Topping the list is her desire to lose her virginity.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sad, emotional, romantic, heartbreaking, teen, sentimental, tear jerker, realistic, romantic drama, intense
Similar in 78%
14+ (2015)
Plot Summary:
Alex glides his mouse tenderly over online images of Vika. He has been smitten ever since he saw her with her friends and cannot get her out of his head. Now he has found Vika’s profile online and has learned a lot about her. Vika has no idea about any of this. She is beyond Alex’s reach because her school and block of flats are enemy territory for him. Alex nonetheless sneaks into a disco at her school and plucks up the courage to ask her to dance. Incensed by the intruder, the other boys give Alex a beating.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Russia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, serious, realistic, suspense, disturbing, slang, crying, tension
Similar in 80%
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Plot Summary:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 396000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, romantic, sentimental, tear jerker, sad, sincere, teen, serious, melancholic
Similar in 77%
Stuck in Love. (2012)
Plot Summary:
An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged children come to terms with the complexities of love in all its forms over the course of one tumultuous year.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, heartbreaking, sweet, emotional, independent film, romantic, teen, sad, romantic comedy, humorous
Similar in 83%
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Plot Summary:
A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl.".
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, teen, sincere, melancholic, emotional, independent film, romantic, feel good, sweet, heartbreaking
Similar in 89%
Keith (2008)
Plot Summary:
Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois) is high school royalty, but her queen bee status falls apart when she falls for the new guy at school. Although Keith (Jesse McCartney) ignores her at first, they soon become friends -- even though Natalie suspects that Keith has something to hide. As the free-spirited Keith shows Natalie how to embrace what life offers, they grow closer -- until a secret tests the bounds of their relationship.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sad, psychological, romantic, touching, emotional, serious, bad ending, realistic, heartbreaking, sentimental
Similar in 85%
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
Plot Summary:
Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control when her secret letters to every boy she's ever fallen for are mysteriously mailed out.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 120000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, sincere, light, sweet, realistic, teen, cute, captivating, romantic comedy
Similar in 90%
A Walk to Remember (2002)
Plot Summary:
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life and also a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 219000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, inspirational, tear jerker, sad, sentimental, emotional, sincere, dramatic, teen