Best movies like Ode to Billy Joe
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies related to Ode to Billy Joe? Contribute your expertise to lead others to tv series and films you've watched previously that might interest them as well. Facilitate widening the network of individuals introducing videos to each other. We value your involvement!
Plot Summary:
Billy Joe confesses his love to the lovely Bobbi Lee only to cover his growing fear that he may, in fact, be homosexual. One night, at a barn dance, he gets a little drunk and rather than going with the hired whores, gives into his desires and sexual relations with an unnamed man. The guilt causes him to run away, hide in the woods and eventually confess everything to Bobbi Lee who doesn't want to believe him only because she was enjoying the forbidden nature of their love. In the end, he cannot accept his sexuality nor can he hide behind Bobbi Lee and that's why he throws himself off the Tallahachee bridge.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: southern gothic, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like Ode to Billy Joe (1976):
Similar in 85%
On the Downlow (2004)
Plot Summary:
Isaac and Angel are two young Latinos involved in a south side Chicago gang. They have a secret in a world where secrets are forbidden.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
1918 (1985)
Plot Summary:
It's 1918, the height of United States involvement in World War I - Liberty Bonds are sold, German immigrants are suspected as traitors or saboteurs, young men everywhere succumb to the patriotism and propaganda and enlist. In a small Texas town, Horace Robedaux feels the pressure - he doesn't want to leave his young wife Elizabeth and their young child Jenny - but Elizabeth's can't-do-anything-right little brother is constantly talking about the war, and Elizabeth's stern father, who opposed the marriage initially, now has plans to take care of his daughter and the child so Horace can fight for his country. But the influenza epidemic sweeping the town (and the nation) may change everyone's plans.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 439
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Diary of Preston Plummer (2012)
Plot Summary:
On the day of his college graduation, Preston Plummer cannot think of a single thing he really loves. Adrift, Preston follows a beautiful but troubled young woman to a small island town where he begins to fall for her, but it all threatens to fall apart when he uncovers her family’s dark past.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 390
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, captivating, realistic, romantic, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 76%
Pope Dreams (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the vein of Good Will Hunting and Garden State, POPE DREAMS is a coming of age tale about a young man at a crossroads in life. Filled with heart, music, life, and loss. And a set of drums. Oh, and the Pope. POPE DREAMS is about a directionless nineteen-year old boy, Andy Venable, who works for his hard-case dad in a store warehouse during the day and plays drums in a loud heavy-metal band at night. His only clear goal at the moment is to get his sick mother, a devout Catholic, to meet the Pope before she dies. While he's busy with that, he falls for a girl who's totally out of his league and gets discovered by two Broadway producers for a musical talent that just might be his true calling. Andy's a dreamer. But dreaming is easy. It's reality that's hard.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 285
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, sentimental, independent film, serious
Similar in 79%
The Toy Soldiers (2014)
Plot Summary:
On one evening in a decade of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, the innocence of youth and family unravels. Five parallel coming-of-age stories dramatize the stages of grief. A youthful mother in a custody battle over her children, finds tranquility with the bottle. The abuse of her ex-husband still haunts the children; a nineteen year old drug addict, and his younger brother, a bullied closet homosexual.There's the story of the dog; a teen who offers sexual favors to gain acceptance, the challenged classmate who would do anything for her love, and the redhead beauty, haunted by a secret, tragic past. These lives and others will change forever on this final evening before their hangout, The Toy Soldiers Roller Rink, closes its doors for the final time.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, suspenseful, sexy, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 76%
The Event (2003)
Plot Summary:
An intense relationship drama that takes the form of a mystery, The Event centers around a series of unexplained deaths that occur among the gay community in New York's fashionable Chelsea district. Nick, a district attorney investigating the most recent case, a suspicious apparent suicide, and her interviews with friends and family of the deceased trigger extensive and intricately interwoven flashbacks that reveal surprising facts about the man's life and death.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Expecting Amish (2014)
Plot Summary:
18-year-old Hannah Yoder is ready to become an Amish adult - which means baptism into the Church and marriage to her boyfriend, Samuel. However, her friends convince her to visit Hollywood for Rumspringa where she meets Josh and the two hit it off instantly. When she returns to Amish country, Hannah must make the painful choice of staying with Samuel or return to Josh and risk being shunned forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 845
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic
Similar in 86%
Same Same But Different (2009)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Benjamin Prufer and Sreykeo Solvan. The unexpected and uncertain love story of Sreykeo, a 21 year old bar girl in Phnom Penh and Ben, a young German student traveling to Cambodia on a post graduation summer trip. When Ben returns home to Germany he discovers that Sreyko is sick and he takes on the responsibility to save her. On the way he discovers a world where not everyone is dealt the same cards and where motivations are not always pure.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, touching, realistic, sincere, offbeat, serious, captivating, gloomy
Similar in 81%
The Wise Kids (2011)
Plot Summary:
A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, sexual, christian film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Virgin (2003)
Plot Summary:
When a teenager finds herself pregnant, with no memory of having had sex, she determines that she is carrying the child of God.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 601
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, captivating, erotic, sincere, serious, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 78%
Future Weather (2012)
Plot Summary:
Abandoned by her dreamer single mom, a teenage loner becomes obsessed with ecological disaster, forcing her and her grandmother, a functioning alcoholic, to rethink their futures.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 545
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, captivating, psychological, sexy, sentimental, serious, independent film
Similar in 79%
In Between Days (2006)
Plot Summary:
A Korean immigrant falls in love with her best friend while navigating her way through the challenges of living in a new country.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 609
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, South Korea, USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sentimental, contemplative, captivating, depressing, mumblecore, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 87%
Driving Not Knowing (2015)
Plot Summary:
An estranged poet attempts to rekindle a complex relationship with a strung-out musician during a weekend in rural nowhere; their toxic past, however, won't be so easily forgotten.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 55
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, unusual plot structure, melancholic, independent film, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Candles on Bay Street (2006)
Plot Summary:
DeeDee returns to her hometown with her 11 year old son, Trooper, 13 years after she ran off with her boyfriend. Her childhood best friend, Sam, is now married and he and his wife, Lydia, are the town's veterinarians. Lydia is a little wary about DeeDee after Sam tells her that they were best friends growing up and DeeDee was his first crush. But DeeDee and Trooper find their way into many hearts of the townspeople with their sweet helpfulness and friendships. DeeDee sets up a candle making business in town square and invites many of the ladies of the town to weekly candle making parties, and through these parties she and Lydia become good friends. One evening after dinner with Lydia and Sam, DeeDee tells Sam she's very sick and she doesn't have much longer to live and she needs his help to find a good family in town to adopt Trooper. Sam later tells Lydia everything and they decide to adopt Trooper themselves if/when something happens to DeeDee.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Lebanon, Pa. (2010)
Plot Summary:
Will, a charming 35-year-old Philadelphia ad man, heads to Lebanon, Pa. to bury his recently deceased father. He forms an unexpected friendship with CJ, his bright, newly pregnant 17-year-old cousin. As Will becomes interested in CJ's married teacher and CJ confronts her conflicted father, both struggle with formidable decisions about the path their lives will take. Can we vault our differences and meet in the middle? This bittersweet comic drama tenderly explores the cultural divide in America through the lives of one extended family.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 584
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, psychological, captivating, sincere, clever, touching, serious, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Truce (2003)
Plot Summary:
Martín Santomé has been woking in an office for the last 50 years, but his life will change when he starts falling in love with a woman named Laura Avellaneda.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, stylized, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Marathon (2010)
Plot Summary:
Drama by Biju Viswanath, Marathon was adapted from Harteis's memoir of the same name. Explores the relation ship between two poets Richard Harteis and William Meredith former US poet laureate and winner of every major American award for poetry including the 1988 Pulitzer prize.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, sentimental, gloomy, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Our Sons (1991)
Plot Summary:
Our Sons is a 1991 made-for-TV movie starring Julie Andrews and Ann-Margret as two mothers of gay sons, one of whom is dying of AIDS. As a small town waitress, Ann-Margret's character must overcome her own homophobia and learn to love her son unconditionally. In the process, she cements a lasting friendship with Andrews's character. The movie was inspired by the 1987 documentary Too Little, Too Late. Andrews' character is secretly homophobic, and Ann-Margret's character is openly homophobic. The dying son is played by Željko Ivanek; Hugh Grant plays his partner.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 739
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, sincere, contemplative, gloomy, tear jerker
Similar in 78%
Fly Away (2011)
Plot Summary:
The poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager severely impacted by autism, forced to reckon with her daughter's future. As her child becomes an adult, what used to work, no longer does. What will sustain her daughter, and herself? A parent-child love story, when love means letting go.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 90%
Due East (2002)
Plot Summary:
The movie spotlights an intelligent high school senior and National Merit Scholar (Bryant) who has never been part of the "in crowd." She teaches a high school equivalency night class, tends to the needs of her widower father, Jesse (Forster), and pretty much stays to herself. But when she meets a loner who recently moved to the town of Due East, she feels a sense of belonging for the first time in her life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, touching, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Paradise (1991)
Plot Summary:
Willard Young is a 10-year-old boy who is sent by his mother to stay with her best friend Lily Reed, who lives in the Delta shrimp-fishing country in a town called Paradise. Lily and her husband Ben have been living in an unmentioned emotional vacuum since the death of their own three year old boy. Willie makes friends with the local 9-year-old tomboy Billie Pike, who teaches him to be comfortable with himself. When Willard gains a handle on his own emotions, he can now help Lily and Ben to connect, overcome grief and rediscover themselves.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, sad, cult classic, feel good, realistic, semi serious, inspirational, light
Similar in 86%
What Girls Learn (2001)
Plot Summary:
Two teenage girls must come to terms with their stepfather when their mother is struck by illness.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 340
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, sincere, emotional, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 79%
The Last Year (2002)
Plot Summary:
Paul's homosexual affair at Bible College with a new student named Alex sets tongues wagging, mostly with un-Christian reactions. The dean, himself a closet case, threatens to expel Paul, and the football jocks have their eye on Alex. The church confessional is sure to be busy as spirituality and sexuality clash in this movie based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 399
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Tully (2000)
Plot Summary:
Tully Jr. and Earl live on their father's Nebraska ranch, proud and independent to a fault. While the shy, reclusive Earl spends his free time watching movies, the cockier Tully works his way through a succession of short-term affairs and an off-again, on-again relationship with April, a stripper in town. When their childhood friend Ella returns to town to start a veterinary practice, however, Tully falls for her -- although the townsfolk have their doubts that he could ever commit to one woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, serious, independent film, realistic, romantic, social, sincere, thought provoking
Similar in 76%
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
Plot Summary:
Singer is a deaf-mute whose small world brings him in contact with a young girl, Mick, who cherishes a seemingly hopeless dream of becoming a concert pianist. At first hostile, Mick soon becomes friends with Singer, hoping to enlarge his small world. Three other central characters come to Singer for help also, each of them seeing in him a powerful force.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: southern gothic, thought provoking, gothic, sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 89%
The Best Day of My Life (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Best Day of My Life is the story of a dysfunctional family as seen through the eyes of young Chiara (Maria Luisa De Crescenzo) who is about to receive her first communion. The family includes matriarch Irene (Virna Lisi) and her three grown up children.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, sentimental, captivating, serious, emotional, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 83%
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
Plot Summary:
Life in the small town of Grandview, Illinois is one that is just like any other city or town. Tim Pearson, soon to be graduating high school wants to go to Florida to study oceanography. He meets Michelle "Mike" Cody and is attracted to her. She runs the local Demolition Derby place. Ernie "Slam" Webster is on of the drivers in the derby who's wife is cheating on him and wants to later on be with Mike. Tim falls for Mike and a big love triangle is about to happen.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, captivating, independent film, retro, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, feel good
Similar in 79%
Swimming (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two girl friends in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina find their relationship changing as they encounter new arrivals to the town.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 943
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 78%
Just a Dream (2002)
Plot Summary:
Film crew arrives in a small town in Nevada desert. Ends up changing the life of a 12-year-old kid and a friend of his, a movie lover.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, sentimental, touching, realistic