Best movies like Paulina
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Paulina is a young lawyer with a promising career in Buenos Aires, who chooses to go back to her home town. Her father, Fernando, is a well known judge. Against his will, Paulina decides to teach in a suburban high school as part of an inclusion program. One night, after the second week working there, she's brutally assaulted by a gang. With the disapproval of the people around her, she decides to go back to work, in the neighborhood where she was attacked, without realizing that her attackers may be even closer than she thought.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina, Brazil, France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing, non-linear
Best tv shows and movies like Paulina (2015):
Similar in 88%
The Summit (2017)
Plot Summary:
At a Latin American Presidents’ Summit in Chile where the region’s alliances and geopolitical strategies are shaped, Hernán Blanco, the president of Argentina, lives a political and family drama. Through his son in law, he’s implicated in a corruption case. On her father’s call, Marina Blanco, attends the Summit to find protection, to earn time and to negotiate a way out. That past once calm and domestic, becomes a menacing element, almost fantastic, seen from the top of public life, seen from the Summit.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Argentina, France, Spain
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, art house
Similar in 89%
A Violent Life (2017)
Plot Summary:
Despite the life threat hanging over his head, Stéphane decides to go back to Corsica for the funeral of Christophe, a childhood friend and companion in arms, murdered the day before. On this occasion, the chain of events which made him, the learned petit-bourgeois from Bastia, shift from delinquency to political radicalization and then to clandestinity, comes back to his mind.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 440
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 88%
Orphan (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young woman who moves to Paris and has a brush with disaster. The grown-up at last, an accomplished woman, who thought she was safe from her own past. Gradually, these characters come together to form a single heroine.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, non-linear, no music
Similar in 84%
Beauty and the Dogs (2017)
Plot Summary:
Mariam just wanted to enjoy the night, when a tragic event occurs. Despite the trauma, the pretty tunisian student is determined to go to the police. But what can be done when your persecutor is your only chance?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Qatar, Switzerland
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, suspense, suspenseful, rough, touching, captivating, disturbing, crime thriller
Similar in 81%
Nuclear (2019)
Plot Summary:
In a small village under the shadow of a nuclear power station, a toxic family with a past must face the ghosts that threaten their future.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 429
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Brava (2017)
Plot Summary:
Janine works in a bank giving credits to clients to buy houses and receives the offer of a promotion to work in a future branch in China for which she takes Mandarin classes. One night he travels from work to his home on the subway. There is attacked by two young delinquents a very old woman and Janine tries to avoid it. The young follow her and it is then that they steal and attack her sexually. After recovering from the blows and the anguish he gets up and sees his attackers raping a helpless young girl. Janine, instead of taking some initiative to stop them, flees home. From that situation her life is disrupted and her job promotion to China, her consolidated partner and her present as an independent woman become secondary and worthless issues. Janine lives in anguish and tormented by the memory of that traumatic situation. To try to recompose himself, he travels to the countryside to see his father who is a widower and is trying to rebuild his life after the death of his wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 111
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, thought provoking, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Just the Two of Us (2023)
Plot Summary:
When Blanche meets Grégoire, she thinks she has found the one. The ties that bind them grow quickly, and a passionate affair ensues. Together, they relocate. For Blanche, far from her family, from her twin sister, Rose, a new life begins. But little by little, she finds herself caught in the grip of a deeply possessive and dangerous man.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Damaged (2014)
Plot Summary:
An English teacher's life turns upside-down once a new student moves in across the street.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 575
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
The Student (2015)
Plot Summary:
Lana, a teacher in high school, does not know what to do about Benny, a new student, who is an aggressive yet coldblooded alfa male. Benny intimidates her and she tries to escape his dark magnetism.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, erotic
Similar in 84%
Koblic (2016)
Plot Summary:
Tomás Kóblic, a former pilot and captain of the Argentinian Navy, disobeys an order and becomes a fugitive in order to survive. He chooses to hide in a small town in the south of the country, where his presence will catch the attention of the unscrupulous and violent local marshal.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina, Spain
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, disturbing, social, mindfuck, exciting
Similar in 82%
You Can't Take My Daughter (2020)
Plot Summary:
A young woman fights to keep her rapist from gaining custody of her daughter.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 497
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Guilt (2022)
Plot Summary:
After being sexually assaulted by an acquainted and incapable of dealing with the situation, a woman leaves her whole life behind and hides herself away in an isolated cabin in the mountains.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
The Red and the Blue (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story of a teacher and his students, set in an Italian high school.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 738
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 75%
A Student's Obsession (2015)
Plot Summary:
High school teacher Stephanie breaks the cardinal rule of not getting romantically involved with one of her students. To make things worse, her handsome teenage lover James starts to demonstrate psychotic, obsessive behavior. When James starts stalking Stephanie and her family, Stephanie is forced to teach James the ultimate dangerous lesson.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 340
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 80%
You Shall Not Lie (2022)
Plot Summary:
The peaceful life of the residents of the coastal urbanization of Belmonte changes radically the day a sex video of Macarena, a school teacher, and Iván, one of her adult students, appears on the networks. This event shakes the lives of all of them, especially Macarena, who is repudiated by her family and neighbors, including Ana, her best friend and Iván's mother. Things in the town get even more complicated when the lifeless body of one of Belmonte's inhabitants appears on the cliff. Whose body is it? Does this death have something to do with the sex video of the teacher and the student?.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 648
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Daddy's Perfect Little Girl (2021)
Plot Summary:
A 12-year-old girl becomes jealous when her adoptive father develops a budding relationship with a woman and her teenage son.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 380
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Hostile Border (2015)
Plot Summary:
When she’s deported to México, Claudia must choose between reconciling with her estranged father or partnering with a dangerous smuggler to return to the U.S.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 611
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
A Teacher's Obsession (2015)
Plot Summary:
A high-school English teacher becomes dangerously obsessed with a star athlete who needs academic help.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 396
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 76%
The Man in the Basement (2021)
Plot Summary:
A Parisian couple decides to sell an unsanitary basement in their building. A very ordinary, nondescript man, Mr. Fonzic, shows up to buy it. Nothing unusual there, until the man moves into the cellar and makes it his permanent residence. The couple tries desperately to cancel the sale but to no avail. Worse, Mr. Fonzic becomes a threat to their family as he befriends their teenage daughter on whom he seems to exert a perverted influence.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 714
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
My Daughter's Disgrace (2016)
Plot Summary:
A high school senior’s life is turned upside down when photos of her naked body are distributed to a revenge porn website. Frustrated by police inaction, her mother takes the investigation into her own hands.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, sexy
Similar in 89%
Sadistic Yoga (2007)
Plot Summary:
The female instructor Mariko gives yoga classes at a high-class club in Tokyo. She has a crush on Rika whom she gives private lessons to. When she notices bruises on Rika's body, Mariko learns that the young woman is involved in a highly abusive S&M relationship. On order to gain the affections of her student, Mariko decides to take revenge against the men in Rika's life.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 34
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychotronic
Similar in 80%
Return to Sender (2015)
Plot Summary:
A nurse living in small town goes on a blind date with a man who is not the person he says he is.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, suspense, psychological, thought provoking, captivating, psychological thriller, powerful
Similar in 79%
The Lost Choices (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young women is raped while on her way home. When she is rejected by the police, because they don't believe her, she sets out revenge. But not only on her rapist, but also the police and everybody who did not believe her.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 208
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Cradle of Lies (2006)
Plot Summary:
Following a whirlwind romance, a woman begins to unravel the dark secrets of her husband's past when his obsession to produce a male heir turns deadly.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 346
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
The Choice (2015)
Plot Summary:
A childless couple struggle in the aftermath of a sexual assault leaves the woman pregnant.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 297
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
The Quietude (2018)
Plot Summary:
Against the backdrop of a military dictatorship, Eugenia is reunited with her estranged family following her father’s stroke and is forced to confront dark secret.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, touching, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, erotic
Similar in 75%
The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981)
Plot Summary:
Sarah McDavid, an idealistic young teacher, takes a job in a rough high school where she is eventually attacked and raped in her classroom after school hours and decides to buck the school system in an attempt to make schools safer for students and teachers alike, against the advice of the school's principal, Dr. Keys, who tries to gloss over the hazardous conditions and the incident itself to avoid bad publicity and decreased enrollment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
My Teacher, My Obsession (2018)
Plot Summary:
Riley is struggling to make friends after transferring to a new high school where her father, Chris, is an English teacher. When she meets Kyla, they quickly becomes close friends. However, the friendship takes a strange turn when Riley learns that Kyla is obsessed with her dad. Will Kyla successfully seduce Chris and start a twisted new life with him by removing everyone in her path, or will Riley be able to save her father from Kyla’s treacherous plot before it’s too late?.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: romantic, captivating, talky, semi serious, erotic, sexy, slasher, independent film
Similar in 82%
The Queen's Classroom (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Queen's Classroom is a live-action Japanese television drama about Maya Akutsu, a new teacher at Hanzaki Elementary School who strives for perfection and punishes her students in unorthodox manners. A 12 year old student, Kazumi Kanda, has been able to withstand her strange punishments so far but the other 23 students begin to fold under the pressure. A South Korean remake of the same title starring Go Hyun-jung in the lead role, was produced in 2013.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 368
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 85%
An Affair (2018)
Plot Summary:
A newly appointed teacher finds herself being followed, and soon discovers that one of her own students is obsessed with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Norway
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, sensual