Best movies like Permanent Record
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Permanent Record? Offer your expertise to guide others to tv shows and movies you've already watched that might appeal to them also. Support expanding the assembly of people recommending videos to one another. We encourage your participation!
Plot Summary:
David Sinclair seems to have everything going for him: he's smart, musically talented, and very successful. To top off his senior year in high school, his band is trying to get a recording session. Therefore, David's suicide leaves everyone, especially his best friend and band-mate, Chris, with a lot of questions.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: cult classic, touching, emotional, realistic, retro, sincere, serious, gloomy, crying, sentimental
Best tv shows and movies like Permanent Record (1988):
Similar in 89%
West of Here (2002)
Plot Summary:
Finding his only escape in music, Gil Blackwell (Josh Hamilton) decides to leave his monotonous business life in Boston when his cousin dies in a car accident. Gil ignores his father's disapproval and takes the family's antique truck for the promised land of California, but on the way a chance encounter reunites him with an old college flame, Genevieve (Fried Green Tomatoes' Mary Stuart Masterson), who joins his journey.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 146
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: road movie, sincere, touching, emotional, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Stealing Home (1988)
Plot Summary:
Billy Wyatt (Harmon), a former high school and minor-league baseball baseball player receives a telephone call from his mother revealing that his former child-sitter, and later in his teens, his first love, Katie Chandler (Foster), has died. Wyatt returns home to deal with this tragedy reminescing over his childhood growing up with his father, Katie and best friend Alan Appleby.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, sincere, serious, realistic, touching, fairy tale, light, inspirational, romantic
Similar in 82%
I Love You, I Love You Not (1996)
Plot Summary:
School student and her European-born grandmother share sad stories of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, Germany, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, serious, realistic, crying, scary, fairy tale, light, romantic, rough
Similar in 89%
Shout (1991)
Plot Summary:
A new music teacher in a 1955 West Texas home for wayward boys brings new vision and hope for many of the interned boys.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 90%
The Man Who Loved Yngve (2008)
Plot Summary:
It's November 1989 and the world is changing, so is Jarle who attends Kongsgård HS in Stavanger. He plays the guitar/lead singer in a local radical punkband, got a great girlfriend and has the coolest best friend. But its all about to change when Yngve enters the classroom.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Norway
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, serious, lgbt cinema, cult classic, teen, sexual, crying
Similar in 79%
Eban and Charley (2000)
Plot Summary:
29-year-old Eban has retreated home to his parent's house in Seaside Oregon after the dissolution of his teaching job in Seattle. There he courts 15-year-old Charlie and eventually the two start a sexual relationship. As the age of consent in Oregon is 18 years and given the age difference, the adults in this drama take a dim view of this development.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 792
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, sexy, serious, realistic, gloomy, sexual, crying
Similar in 88%
The Good Humor Man (2005)
Plot Summary:
A mischievous high school sophomore faces a conflict of conscience vs. character when his best friend becomes linked to the death of a youth from another clique in suburban Middle America circa '76.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 656
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, atmospheric, serious, erotic, independent film
Similar in 75%
Running on Empty (1988)
Plot Summary:
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, thought provoking, serious, political, retro, feel good, entertaining, stylized, independent film
Similar in 84%
A Time for Dancing (2002)
Plot Summary:
Their love of dance, and their friendship, is challenged for two high school girls when one is diagnosed with cancer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 952
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, sentimental, touching, sad, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, serious, erotic, offbeat, psychological, gloomy, crying
Similar in 82%
All the Right Moves (1983)
Plot Summary:
Sensitive study of a headstrong high school football star who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a football scholarship. His equally ambitious coach aims at a college position, resulting in a clash which could crush the player's dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, melancholic, sentimental, sincere, feel good, touching, serious, inspirational, erotic
Similar in 81%
Sing Street (2016)
Plot Summary:
A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 99000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sweet, touching, realistic, feel good, teen, lyrical, sentimental, depressing, inspirational, romantic
Similar in 89%
The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003)
Plot Summary:
A quirky teen with a penchant for war reenactments, Kelly Ernswiler obsesses over military tactics with his buddy Bart. The school bully is one of Kelly's regular headaches, and he also has to deal with a frustrating situation at home, where his father is a recovering drug addict. Kelly's life gets even more complicated when he falls for Tabby, Bart's pretty and soon-to-be-wed older sister.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: intense, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, inspirational, feel good, epic, scenic, light
Similar in 87%
Preacher's Kid (2010)
Plot Summary:
Small-town girl Angie King leaves the church and her home to pursue a dream of singing stardom. Luckett plays Angie, the daughter of a stern but loving bishop, whose attraction to the hunky star (Tank) of a traveling gospel show takes her on the road…and into romance, heartbreak and the realization that happiness may lie in the home she left behind.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 865
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, christian film, independent film
Similar in 87%
Footloose (1984)
Plot Summary:
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: teen, cult classic, serious, captivating, inspirational, retro, epic, emotional, romantic comedy, colorful
Similar in 79%
Listen to Your Heart (2010)
Plot Summary:
Danny Foster doesn't have much: an apartment as small as his paychecks, no family, and a struggling music career. Yet for him, "every day is a great day to be alive," an attitude he gained from his mother's unwavering optimism during her losing battle with cancer. It's love at first sight when Danny meets Ariana, a wealthy girl from Greenwich, CT who tragically cannot hear the music she inspires him to write. Ariana, hearing impaired since childhood, is torn between hanging onto the shelter her controlling mother provides and fighting for a love that, if given the chance, might just change her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, romantic, heartbreaking, emotional, sad, cute, indie film
Similar in 79%
Normal Adolescent Behavior (2007)
Plot Summary:
High school student Wendy has an odd relationship with her five friends: They're openly sexual with each other, swapping partners every week. But this is all thrown into turmoil when she meets Sean, a new student in school who has a crush on her. Wendy wants to be with Sean, but doesn't want to disappoint her friends, whom she has known since grade school. When she does decide to leave them, her best friend, Billie, threatens revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, bleak, serious, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, sexy, erotic, sexual
Similar in 84%
Odd Girl Out (2005)
Plot Summary:
A mother and her daughter confront the intimidation of teen peer pressure and the emotionally brutalizing social rituals of high school.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, exciting, captivating, touching, suspenseful, sad, teen
Similar in 80%
The Last Song (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, serious, teen, emotional, romantic comedy, cute, sad, sentimental, realistic
Similar in 79%
Crazy/Beautiful (2001)
Plot Summary:
At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from the affluent neighborhood.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, romantic, intense, teen, touching, emotional, sentimental, romantic drama, erotic, light
Similar in 80%
You Are Not Alone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Young teenager Bo (Anders Agensø) is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth (an uncharacteristically grim Ove Sprogøe). Lonely and scared, he finds a soul mate in the headmaster's son (Peter Bjerg) and the two boys form a bond that slowly grows into a sexual relationship. Frank and unadorned, this Danish film concluded director Lasse Nielsen's youth-oriented trilogy that began with La' Os Være (1975) and continued with Måske Ku' Vi (1976). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, erotic, serious, realistic, sexy, art house, grindhouse, romantic drama, sexual
Similar in 76%
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988)
Plot Summary:
A recent high school graduate is faced with two options, either go to a business school where his father wants him to go to, or get a full time job. However he decides to defy his father and go to Hawaii. Trouble is he has no money. Along the way he comes to understand his parents and eventually bonds with his father.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, humorous, semi serious, touching, entertaining, sex comedy, realistic, erotic, romantic, sexy
Similar in 79%
Outside Providence (1999)
Plot Summary:
In this coming-of-age comedy, Tim Dunphy is leading a go-nowhere existence, spending his days smoking pot and hanging out with his best friend, Drugs Delaney. But Tim's lazy days of getting high are jettisoned after a brush with the law convinces his blue-collar dad to send him to a Connecticut prep school. The one saving grace of the new school is Jane, a fellow student Tim falls for immediately.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, sweet, intense, semi serious, touching, independent film, epic, sentimental, realistic
Similar in 86%
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Plot Summary:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 396000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, romantic, sentimental, tear jerker, sad, sincere, teen, serious, melancholic
Similar in 82%
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Plot Summary:
Andie is an outcast, hanging out either with her older boss, who owns the record store where she works, or her quirky high school classmate Duckie, who has a crush on her. When one of the rich and popular kids at school, Blane, asks Andie out, it seems too good to be true. As Andie starts falling for Blane, she begins to realize that dating someone from a different social sphere is not easy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: romantic, teen, sexy, melancholic, romantic comedy, funny, entertaining, feel good, colorful, retro
Similar in 78%
Gully Boy (2019)
Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age story based on the lives of street rappers in Mumbai.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: India
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing, cult classic, fast, motivational
Similar in 77%
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
Plot Summary:
Georgia Nicolson is fourteen, lives with nosey parents who don't understand her, an annoying three year old sister and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blonde, have a smaller nose and a boyfriend. Revolving around her hilarious journal entries, prepare to be engulfed in the world of the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, teen, feel good, romantic, romantic comedy, humorous, sexy, realistic, heartbreaking, cute
Similar in 80%
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Plot Summary:
A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl.".
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, teen, sincere, melancholic, emotional, independent film, romantic, feel good, sweet, heartbreaking
Similar in 86%
Keith (2008)
Plot Summary:
Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois) is high school royalty, but her queen bee status falls apart when she falls for the new guy at school. Although Keith (Jesse McCartney) ignores her at first, they soon become friends -- even though Natalie suspects that Keith has something to hide. As the free-spirited Keith shows Natalie how to embrace what life offers, they grow closer -- until a secret tests the bounds of their relationship.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sad, psychological, romantic, touching, emotional, serious, bad ending, realistic, heartbreaking, sentimental
Similar in 87%
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Plot Summary:
A young tomboy, Watts, finds her feelings for her best friend, Keith, run deeper than just friendship when he gets a date with the most popular girl in school.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: feel good, romantic, teen, cute, happy, romantic drama, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic