Best movies like On the Downlow
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like On the Downlow (2004):
Similar in 89%
Spring Fever (2009)
Plot Summary:
Hired to spy on a philandering husband, Luo Haitao soon becomes entangled in a clandestine affair with the other man. Along with Luo's girlfriend, they succumb to the delirium of drunken nights, but how long can their tryst last?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: China, France
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
The Stranger in Us (2010)
Plot Summary:
In this verité-style drama, Anthony, a newcomer to San Francisco, attempts to come to terms with his abusive ex-lover when he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a street hustler.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 530
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, emotional, captivating, independent film, touching, serious, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Ode to Billy Joe (1976)
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
Similar in 80%
Dog Sweat (2010)
Plot Summary:
Intertwines the lives of six young Iranians as they struggle to satisfy their private desires in the face of conservative Islamic society.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, serious, underground film, islamic
Similar in 83%
Burn the Bridges (2007)
Plot Summary:
Eugenia is a former pop singer who is bedridden and dying of cancer. She is cared for by her daughter, Helena, who dreams of traveling the world and wishes she could be a glamorous pop star like her mother was. Helena’s younger brother Sebastian's dreams are simple and he merely wants to move to the beach. Helena is smart and pretty but she has no friends, male or female and is totally devoted to her mother's care and is also on the verge of initiating an incestuous relationship with Sebastian. Sebastian however, is falling in love with a boy at school named Juan who is the school roughneck and the son of a single father who owns a little bar. Juan is the nemesis of the school preppy named Ismael who comes from such a wealthy home that he has his own chauffeur and bodyguards. Ismael's ping-pong obsessed girlfriend Aurora rents a room at Helena and Sebastian's house where Ismael discovers he is also attracted to Sebastian.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 784
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema, weird
Similar in 80%
Initiation (2009)
Plot Summary:
16-year old Axel and his clique are rioting in a residential home. There he meets the 80-year old Gustav who gains interest in the young boy, as he reminds him of his lost love.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 176
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
The Houseboy (2007)
Plot Summary:
Distraught after he overhears his two 30-something lovers talking about finding a new "toy" to replace him, young Ricky looks for love through a series of random sexual encounters while house-sitting for the couple over the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, he contemplates suicide. But when Ricky meets a compassionate new friend, he may be experiencing the sparks of real love in this compelling and sexy gay drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 736
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, sentimental, emotional, sensual, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, surprise ending
Similar in 80%
Sebastian (1995)
Plot Summary:
In this thoughtful Scandinavian drama, a teenage boy wrestles with his sexuality and learns that most of his deepest fears were unfounded. Sebastian is almost 17 when he figures out that he is a homosexual. Though he lives with wonderful, stable parents and has a good-hearted sister, he finds himself wracked with turmoil and suddenly withdraws from them all. The more they try to understand why, the more distant Sebastian becomes. Things get worse when he falls in love with the handsome Ulf, who comes from an unstable, tempestuous home. Sebastian realizes he is lucky, but still can't help but become irritated when he brings Ulf home for dinner. His parents are too nice and this quietly infuriates their son. Eventually they leave the two boys alone in the house. Sebastian have great fun doing teenage guy stuff, but then they take a bath together and it is then that Sebastian tries to kiss Ulf.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 595
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway, Sweden
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Nasty Baby (2015)
Plot Summary:
Nasty Baby centers around a Brooklyn couple, Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, who are trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. Freddy is an artist, and his latest work is all about babies – it’s clear he’s dying to be a father. Polly is a family practitioner who is more interested in having a baby than having a man. Mo is hesitant about the entire idea, especially when Polly isn’t having success with Freddyʼs sperm and the donor responsibility shifts to him. Set almost entirely in the multicultural vibrancy of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the trio navigates the idea of creating life, when they are confronted by unexpected harassment from particularly aggressive neighborhood man, nicknamed The Bishop. The Bishop is bothersome in small, yet persistent ways, with a hint of danger. As their clashes become increasingly aggressive, someone is bound to get hurt.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, semi serious, captivating, psychological, emotional, mumblecore, cult classic, indie film, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Hard Pill (2005)
Plot Summary:
A despondent gay man throws his life and relationships into turmoil when he volunteers for a controversial pharmaceutical study for a drug designed to make gay men straight.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, contemplative, psychological, sentimental, sexy, captivating, sincere, serious, independent film, sexual
Similar in 90%
Between Two Women (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in Northern England, this powerful tale of suppressed sexuality offers poignant and sharply observant social commentary, interlaced with a tender romance. Vetern actress Barbara Marten tugs at the heart as Ellen Hardy, a working-class mother unhappily married to Geoff and struggling with her feelings for another woman - her 10-year-old son's vivacious teacher, Kathy Thompson.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 727
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, touching, emotional, period piece, deep, independent film, realistic, gloomy, sexual
Similar in 86%
Doubt (2003)
Plot Summary:
A gaggle of friends and observers ponder the fate of a relationship as they watch it collapse in this independent drama from the Philippines. Cris (Andoy Ranay) is a documentary filmmaker with a well-regarded body of work and a large community of friends and admirers. Cris is also gay, and possesses a voracious sexual appetite, claiming to have had sex with over 4,000 men during his years of frequent cruising. But Cris has fallen for Eric (Paolo Gabriel), and has sworn off meaningless sex for the pleasures of monogamy. However, while Cris wants Eric and Eric alone, Eric himself isn't so sure he feels exactly the same way, and is both puzzled and annoyed with Cris' rather ironic jealousy. The tensions between the two take a heavy toll on Cris, leading to a suicide attempt, and as his friends watch from a distance, any number of them speculate on what's going on between Cris and Eric. Duda was screened at part of the 2004 New York Asian-American Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, sentimental, captivating, serious, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
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 90%
Boys Love (2006)
Plot Summary:
Magazine editor Taishin Mamiya interviews high school model Noeru Kisaragi. Despite Noeru's bad attitude, his painting of an ocean intrigues Mamiya and leads to a dinner, during which Noeru solicits Mamiya sexually. Soon Mamiya sees Noeru with another man, and he is shocked to discover at that moment that his interest in Noeru goes beyond article research—he truly wants to know more about him.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 581
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, emotional, touching, serious, realistic, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Boys Life 2 (1997)
Plot Summary:
Compilation of four short films about homoerotic situations involving young men. In "Trevor", by Peggy Rajski, a teenager faces homophobia and falls in love for the first time. Tom DeCerchio directed "Nunzio's Second Cousin", telling the story of a gay cop who forces a gay-basher to come to his house and have dinner with his family. In "Alkali, Iowa", by Mark Christopher, a young gay man finds out some of his father's past secrets. And "Must Be the Music", by Nickolas Perry, follows four teenagers looking for love in nightclubs.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: independent film, anthology, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sketch comedy, sexy, unusual plot structure, sweet
Similar in 85%
Boys Life: Three Stories of Love, Lust, and Liberation (1994)
Plot Summary:
Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the summer, he realizes and embraces that he's gay. In "A Friend of Dorothy," Winston arrives from upstate for his freshman year at NYU. He has to figure out, with some help from Anne, a hometown friend, how to build a social life as a young gay man in the city. In "The Disco Years," Tom looks back on 1978, the year in high school that he came out of the closet after one joyful and several painful encounters.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 531
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: anthology, independent film, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sexy, feel good, sweet
Similar in 86%
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 78%
Anatomy of a Hate Crime (2001)
Plot Summary:
This MTV film dramatizes the horrific hate-crime killing of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard (Cy Carter) in Wyoming. In 1998, Shepard, a gay college student, was savagely beaten by Russell Henderson (Ian Somerhalder) and Aaron McKinney (Brendan Fletcher), who left their victim to die. Flashbacks paint a picture of Shepard's life and provide insight into why the killers, who initially set out to rob the young man, would commit such a brutal murder.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 316
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, emotional, bleak, serious, realistic, controversial, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
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 84%
Blackbird (2014)
Plot Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Randy tries very hard to be a good person. Since his father left, Randy takes care of his emotionally disturbed mother, and he's the kind of friend all of his classmates can depend on. As strong as he seems on the outside, Randy is hiding a secret inner struggle and denial of his true self. It's not until he opens himself up to love that he discovers that becoming a man means accepting who you really are.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 77%
FAQs (2005)
Plot Summary:
After living on the tough streets of LA for a while, India hopes that every gay basher will meet his destiny. In this case Destiny is a black, 6 foot, high heel wearing, gun toting, drag queen with an attitude and a soft place in her heart for homeless gay boys.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 528
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, talky, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
The Matthew Shepard Story (2002)
Plot Summary:
In a senseless act of hatred, openly gay college student Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998. This critically-acclaimed, moving film recounts the final days of Matthew's killers' trial—and the weeks leading to Matthew's death—with unnerving detail. Stockard Channing delivers an unforgettable, Emmy® Award-winning performance as Matthew's grieving mother, Judy, in a story of a murder that moved a nation to action. Also starring Law & Order's Sam Waterston.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, disturbing, serious, detective, weeping, bleak, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
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
Similar in 82%
La Mission (2009)
Plot Summary:
Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, independent film, queer cinema, bilingual
Similar in 79%
Brother to Brother (2004)
Plot Summary:
A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, thought provoking, touching, realistic, captivating, social, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Children of God (2010)
Plot Summary:
Johnny (Johnny Ferro) is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. Lena is a pastor’s wife. Her husband demonizes homosexuality to further his career, yet he’s on the DL as well. When Lena discovers that her husband has infected her with VD, he accuses her of infidelities. These characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Bahamas
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, stylized, lgbt cinema, gloomy, crying, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 81%
Pedro (2008)
Plot Summary:
An intimate biopic of Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive Cuban-American, who was cast for the MTV reality show, The Real World: San Francisco, in 1994. Due to his experience on the Real World, Pedro became a celebrity and a sympathetic face of the AIDS epidemic for millions of Americans who had never met anyone with HIV/AIDS.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 535
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, sincere, contemplative, non-linear, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Zooey (2006)
Plot Summary:
Angel and Zooey are not your typical newlyweds. Zooey is a professional prostitute and Angel is a drug dealer. Yet they are not without hopes and dreams, of escaping their life in the streets and starting a new in a fresh painted cottage with picked fence, kid and a dog, in Manitoba, Canada, Life gets in the way however when their best friend gets in trouble with her pimp. They sacrifice everything to save her, including their own dreams.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 77%
On the Outs (2004)
Plot Summary:
Follows the choices made by three young women - one a drug dealer, one an addict, one a pregnant teen - in Jersey City.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 692
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, emotional, anthology, bleak, realistic, independent film
Similar in 76%
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