Best movies like Paradise in Service
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Set in the island Kinmen, often seen as the most dangerous military base because it’s geographically close to China, "Paradise in Service" follows the adventure of a boy who serves his military service in Unit 831 from 1969 to 1972, in preparation for a war that could erupt anytime. Through an unlucky lottery draw result, Pao, a twenty-something young man from Southern Taiwan has to serve the military in the remote and perilous Kinmen. Moreover, he is assigned to the Sea Dragon (ARB), a unit noted for the toughest physical training. It never occurs to Pao, however, that the greatest challenge in his military service lies not in the Sea Dragon but in Unit 831, a special task he is later appointed to… In this peculiar assignment, Pao vows to keep his virginity against all odds.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 843
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Taiwan, China
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, emotional, captivating, psychological, touching, humorous, stylized, semi serious
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Dust in the Wind (1986)
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A-yuan and A-yun are both from the small mining town of Jio-fen. In the city, A-yuan is an apprentice by day and goes to night school, and A-yun works as a helper at a tailors. Everyone thinks they are meant for each other, so do they. They fail to see time and fate are beyond their control.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slow cinema, teen, aesthetic, rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
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IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Egypt
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, islamic, sincere, serious
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The Maias: Story of a Portuguese Family (2014)
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IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 885
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Portugal, Brazil
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, romantic, saga, gloomy
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, realistic
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 934
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Country: Russia, Netherlands
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Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, atmospheric, realistic, art house, contemplative, talky
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IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Argentina
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Girlfriend Boyfriend (2012)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: emotional, semi serious, sincere, captivating, romantic drama, humorous, non-linear, queer cinema
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 357
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
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The One That Got Away (2008)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, sentimental, psychological, emotional, touching, serious, realistic
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Circle of Love (1964)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 639
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: art house, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, sexual, sexy, confusing
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 912
Genere: Drama
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, touching, serious, captivating, realistic
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 162 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, captivating, emotional, serious, realistic, family saga, saga, iconic
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The Polish Bride (1998)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 799
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, melancholic, light, feel good, captivating, sexual, erotic
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
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IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
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Country: Taiwan, China
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IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 224
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Country: USA, Georgia
Duration: 93 min
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Plot Summary:
Bollywood film about the famous courtesan of the title. Aishwarya Rai stars in the lead role. The film is directed by J.P. Dutta and also stars Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
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Plot tags: sentimental, touching, captivating, emotional, serious, realistic, stylized
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IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 771
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: India
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 410
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A Married Woman (2005)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: India
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Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, touching, captivating, realistic, emotional, semi serious, romantic, mesmerizing, stylized
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Cafe Setareh (2006)
Plot Summary:
Filmmaker Saman Moghadam details the struggles of three women living in an antiquated district of Tehran in this emotionally resonant drama. Fabria's husband has been morally corrupted, and now it's up to her to take charge of the small café that proves the only source of income to the couple. Saloomeh is a beautiful young woman who dreams of marrying Ebi, but how will the couple survive on the salary of a simple mechanic? Lastly, middle aged Moluk has fallen for a much younger man, and her heart breaks when she discovers that her love is unrequited.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 899
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
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Plot Summary:
Bridgette is an actress teaching aerobics, and she falls in love with idle playboy Adam, who runs his father's gym. One day she finds out that one of her ex-lovers died of AIDS and, thinking that Adam is having an affair with another woman, after some hesitation, goes through with the test. She turns out to be positive.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 471
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Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
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Plot Summary:
Bruce Pritchard is paralysed in a soccer game and is confined to a wheelchair in a convalescence home. But this doesn't slow his lust for life. Then he meets Jill and has to think about the effects of disability.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 648
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
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The Affair (1973)
Plot Summary:
A crippled lady songwriter meets an older lawyer, who becomes her first love.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
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Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
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Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
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Lover's Concerto (2002)
Plot Summary:
Lee Ji-hwan receives photographs in the mail that reminds him of how he met two girls, Shim Su-in and Kim Gyeong-heui, one summer five years ago. He shares his memories with his friend Cheol-hyeon. He recalls initially being in love with Su-in, but she rejects him. Throughout the summer, the three remain friends. Ji-hwan and Gyeong-heui develop feelings for each other but are reluctant to admit it. Ji-hwan recalls the complex relationship between the three to Cheol-hyeon.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, romantic, captivating, romantic comedy, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
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The Sea Is Watching (2002)
Plot Summary:
Based on Akira Kurosawa's final unproduced script, this Edo-period drama takes place almost entirely inside an ocean-village brothel. O-Shin is a young brothel worker who one night helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the warnings of her fellow workers, particularly Kikuno and the brothel's owner, O-Shin falls in love with the samurai.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Romance, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, touching, captivating, contemplative, gloomy, jidai geki
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Old Fashioned (2014)
Plot Summary:
A romantic-drama, OLD FASHIONED centers on Clay Walsh, a former frat boy who gives up his carousing and now runs an antique shop in a small Midwestern college town. There, he has become notorious for his lofty and outdated theories on love and romance. When Amber Hewson, a free-spirited young woman with a restless soul, drifts into the area and rents the apartment above his shop, she finds herself surprisingly drawn to his noble ideas, which are new and intriguing to her. And Clay, though he tries to fight and deny it, simply cannot resist being attracted to her spontaneous and passionate embrace of life. Ultimately, Clay must step out from behind his relational theories, and Amber must overcome her own fears and deep wounds, as the two of them, together, attempt the impossible: an “old-fashioned” courtship in contemporary America.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
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