Best movies like Perfect Obedience
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The fictional Father Ángel de la Cruz is based on Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, whose long history of child abuse was not addressed until 2006 and only publicly acknowledged in 2009. But director Luis Urquiza chooses to structure his film through the largely uncomprehending, wondering eyes of 13-year-old Julián, who travels from the arms of his loving pastoral family into the austere, hallowed halls of the seminary. Singling out the boy as his intimate disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and redubbing him “Sacramento Santos,” Father Ángel begins Julian’s instruction into the mysteries of “perfect obedience,” whose cardinal rule is: Never question a superior’s actions.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Perfect Obedience (2014):
Similar in 81%
David im Wunderland (1998)
Plot Summary:
15-year-old David lives with his family and around another hundred Jacobins in a closed community in Germany. The monotonous life of this early Christian community consists of pray.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 54
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
The Male Gaze: Nocturnal Instincts (2021)
Plot Summary:
Strap yourself in for an exhilarating journey into darkness with these five award-winning short films from across the globe that delve into heart-pumping escapades varying from the intensely erotic to the ultra-violent to the warm-inside feels. The night has never looked so inviting. Segments: After Dawn [Passée l'aube] (2017), Poof (2018), Spiral (2018), Night of Love (2018), Floating Melon [浮果] (2015).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Sweden, Israel, China, Belgium
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing, anthology
Similar in 75%
The Summer House (2014)
Plot Summary:
A haunting portrait of a well-established German family living on the outskirts of Berlin in their ideal world, but are slowly shaken by external influences. It's a subtle portrait of human desire, inner desolation, self-deception and moral decadence.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, controversial, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
The Children's Rebellion (1992)
Plot Summary:
In the 19th century, children -- particularly the children of the poor -- were considered to be an exploitable resource of docile and cheap labor. Anyone who had the effrontery to steal so much as a portion of a loaf of bread for any reason would (at the very least) go to prison, regardless of their age. However, people of conscience were beginning to protest against this situation. The story takes place in a prison for children where conditions are particularly harsh. The warden is a thick-headed martinet who demands complete compliance with the rules, or the children will be brutally dealt with. The assistant warden is a more modern man, and is appalled by the whole institution, but seeks to begin by reforming it. To that end, he has invited a journalist to come and see the conditions that prevail there, in the hopes that she will rouse public opinion against at least this one form of injustice.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Crossway (2008)
Plot Summary:
A very interesting thriller about the coming of age of a troubled young man searching his place in this world. Teenage boy Jonathan (Fabien de Marchi) is having a hard time living with his father and stepmother. On a whim, he steals some money and embarks on a journey of forbidden pleasures. He spends the night in abandoned building and wakes up bound and is held prisoner by Antoine (Johan Libéreau), a young drug dealer wanted by the police. The two boys forge an ambiguous relationship between violence, compassion and fascination. Victim, Jonathan ends up taking a liking to his tormentor.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 53 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 85%
A Night Too Young (2012)
Plot Summary:
On New Year's Day, two preteen boys wind up in the apartment of Katerina, a teacher from their school, along with her friends, Stepan and David. As the older trio bickers, drinks and flirts, the boys gain eye-opening insight into the adult world.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 140
Genere: Drama
Country: Czech Republic, Slovenia
Duration: 65 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, serious, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 89%
The Fire That Burns (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two boys in their early teens in a strictly-run pre-WWII Catholic School form a firm friendship which is troubled by an abbot who is obsessed with the younger of the students.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Sublime (2022)
Plot Summary:
When 16-year-old Manu realises that he has fallen in love with his bandmate Felipe, turbulent emotions start brewing beneath the surface. How do you avoid losing a friendship once its very foundation has shifted?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 908
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: art house
Similar in 89%
Alaska Is a Drag (2017)
Plot Summary:
Tough, but diva fabulous, Leo, an aspiring drag superstar, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. He and his twin sister are trapped in the monotony of fist fights and fish guts. Out of necessity, Leo learned to fight back, which catches the attention of the local boxing coach. When a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner, Leo has to face the real reason he's stuck in Alaska.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 524
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Karadima Forest (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on true events, involving powerful Catholic priest Fernando Karadima, who committed crimes of child abuse and pedophile between 1980's-2000's. The struggle of his victims, to be able to reveal the truth and look for justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 996
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile, Argentina
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspense, suspenseful, art house, cult film
Similar in 76%
Boy Crush (2007)
Plot Summary:
Seven short films in which gay youths and young men negotiate society, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. In several, teen boys come out, perhaps first to a close friend - how will the friends react? For some youths, coming out risks violence. In two films, love is thwarted - by mother, in one, and by immigration, in another.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 142
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, France, Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Retablo (2017)
Plot Summary:
Segundo sees silence as his only option for dealing with his father Noé’s secret. The 14-year-old lives with his parents in a village high up in the mountains. Noé is a respected artisan and Segundo’s role model. With loving eye for detail, he artfully crafts altarpieces for church and homes, and is preparing his son to follow in his footsteps. But cracks form in their tight bond.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Peru, Germany, Norway
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, unusual plot structure, captivating, suspenseful, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Judgment (1990)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based story of a Louisiana priest accused of molesting young parishioners, and of the family of one of his victims, caught between their loyalty to their son and to their Church.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 417
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 84%
The Chosen Ones (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the late 70s, young Petra Grust begins teaching at the progressive Odenwald School. She is flattered by the trust placed in her by its widely respected headmaster Simon Pistorius. But gradually certain incidents at the boarding school begin to unsettle her. Petra then realizes that Pistorius is abusing Frank, a 13-year-old. When Frank is told that he has to spend school holidays with Pistorius, he tries to commit suicide. Petra tells Frank's father (the chairman of the school's governing body) but he believes Pistorius instead of his own son. Petra fails to convince people of the man's true nature. 30 years later, Frank goes to Petra, who has long since left the school and has stopped teaching altogether. He has never been able to speak about what happened but now, after the suicide of another pupil, he is no longer willing to remain silent. He wants Petra to bear witness at the school's forthcoming anniversary celebrations.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 202
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
Little Gay Boy (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young gay boy, from his birth to his teenage years, in which he experiments his sexuality and his own boundaries, to the day he finally meets his father.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, experimental, avant garde, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Marilyn (2018)
Plot Summary:
Marcos and his family work as ranch hands. While his father and brother handle the heavier tasks, Marcos stays home, close to his mother. Each one has their future laid out before them, yet Marcos bides his time waiting for Carnival, the one moment where he can let his true self out to shine. The sudden death of his father leaves his family in a very vulnerable situation. The ranch owner hounds them to go away, while Marcos’s mother pressures him to take over the work in the fields. Nicknamed Marilyn by the other teenagers in town, Marcos is a target for desire and discrimination.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Chile
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, tense, sincere, unusual plot structure, disturbing, contemplative, crying, interesting, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
The Day Will Come (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set in the blooming 1960s, the film centres around two young brothers who are instantly robbed of their lives when they are placed in a boy's home forgotten by time. Armed only with a vivid imagination and a fickle hope, the boys engage in the frightening battle against Headmaster Heck and his lethal tyranny. The film is based on actual events.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, social
Similar in 89%
Our Fathers (2005)
Plot Summary:
In the '80s, priests and especially the Father Geoghan arrested for sexual abuse of minors. Cardinal Law, also indicted, and the diocese was aware of the actions of these men of the church and was kept secret for years, until the victims decide to seek redress.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 567
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
Beautiful Beings (2022)
Plot Summary:
A teenage boy, raised by a mother who considers herself psychic, takes a bullied kid into his group of violent misfits. As the group’s troubles escalate toward life-threatening situations, an inner voice awakens in the boy and, with the help of his mother and his new friend, he manages to find his own path.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Czech Republic
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: crying, tripping
Similar in 76%
The Boys of St. Vincent (1992)
Plot Summary:
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage ran by a religious community in Newfoundland.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, disturbing, bleak, sad, art house, sincere, rough, thought provoking, serious, emotional
Similar in 75%
Funny Boy (2020)
Plot Summary:
A student must navigate issues of sexuality, identity and family amid Sri Lanka's social turmoil of the 1970s and 1980s.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 990
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, aesthetic, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
10 1/2 (2010)
Plot Summary:
Tommy, 10 years old, is well known by Social Services. He is considered a danger to society. Gilles, his guardian at this halfway house, sees potential for redemption in this kid driven by violence.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 88%
Aclà's Decent Into Floristella (1992)
Plot Summary:
Set in Sicily in the 1930's, Aurelio Grimaldi's feature debut chronicles the harsh story of twelve-year-old boy, Aclà, sold into slavery by his destitute parents to work in the underground Floristella sulfur mines. Overworked and underfed, Aclà toils from Monday to Saturday in the steamy, candle-lit labyrinths. Repeatedly beaten and abused by his "owner" and with constant threats of being raped, Aclà plots his escape to the sea... but this leads to dire consequences for the boy and his family.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 411
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: political, gay cinema
Similar in 88%
Una (2016)
Plot Summary:
When a young woman unexpectedly arrives at an older man's workplace, looking for answers, the secrets of the past threaten to unravel his new life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, cynical, thought provoking, sad, disturbing, suspense, art house, independent film, psychological thriller
Similar in 82%
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Plot Summary:
The dysfunctional twenty-three years old Sarah takes her six year old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and lowlife style and is introduced to booze and drugs and mentally, physically and sexually abused by Sarah, her lovers and her religiously fanatic family.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France, Japan
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, rough, serious, depressing, realistic, art house, controversial, stylized, intense
Similar in 86%
The Catholic School (2021)
Plot Summary:
Three well-off young men—former students at Rome’s prestigious all-boys Catholic high school San Leone Magno—brutally tortured, raped, and murdered two young women in 1975. The event, which came to be known as the Circeo massacre, shocked and captivated the country, exposing the violence and dark underbelly of the upper middle class at a moment when the traditional structures of family and religion were seen as under threat.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing, period piece
Similar in 88%
For My Brother (2014)
Plot Summary:
The two brothers Aske (17 years old) and Bastian (12 years old) live with their father, Lasse. Their mother died seven years earlier. Every day they live in a world where fear, violence and alcohol are huge factors, but where the brothers' strong and close relationship means everything. Aske's fight for survival means that he has to serve his father's sexual needs, which include abuse from the father, but also from paying customers and the father's friend Hans (who has a lot of contacts in the pedophile environment). Aske tries everything to keep his little brother out of it all so that he won't experience the same as himself. But one day Bastian is abused by their father and Aske's entire world is about to fall apart. The brothers choose to move to Norway, far away in the beautiful mountains. Their friendship outshines everything! They are together and far away from their evil father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 715
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: rough, disturbing, touching, suspense, independent film
Similar in 85%
The Child I Never Was (2002)
Plot Summary:
A serial killer dispassionately discusses the nuts and bolts of his grisly avocation, as well as the youthful traumas which helped to mold him into a psychopath, in this disturbing independent drama from Germany, based on the true story of of Germany's most famous child murderer Juergen Bartsch who, between the ages of 15 and 19, abused, tortured and killed four schoolboys in the Ruhr region of Germany from 1962 to 1966.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, serious, bleak, art house, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
By The Grace of God (2018)
Plot Summary:
Alexandre lives in Lyon with his wife and children. One day, he discovered by chance that the priest who abused him to scouts always officiates with children. He then starts a fight, quickly joined by François and Emmanuel, also victims of the priest, to "release their word" on what they suffered.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: realistic, disturbing, psychological, suspenseful, gothic, social, independent film, crying, queer cinema, cult film
Similar in 78%
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Plot Summary:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic, controversial, heartbreaking, serious, gloomy, emotional