Best movies like Persepolis
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 99000
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: France, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: adult animation, political, thought provoking, black and white, serious, realistic, depressing, social, anime, visually stunning
Best tv shows and movies like Persepolis (2007):
Similar in 81%
A Room and a Half (2009)
Plot Summary:
A semi-fictional account of Russian poets Josef Brodsky, who was forced into American exile in 1972.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 566
Genere: Animation, Biography
Country: Russia
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, realistic, touching, serious, emotional, surreal, anime, offbeat, witty
Similar in 86%
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (2018)
Plot Summary:
Paris, 1930. Luis Buñuel is penniless after the scandal surrounding the release of his last movie. Sculptor Ramón Acín, a good friend, buys a lottery ticket and promises Buñuel that he will pay for his next movie if he wins the prize.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Spain, Netherlands, Germany
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: adult animation, social, art film
Similar in 77%
Another Day of Life (2018)
Plot Summary:
In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Biography
Country: Spain, Poland, Belgium, Germany, France, Hungary
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: adult animation, psychological, thought provoking, suspenseful, rough, semi documentary, offbeat, social, anime, motion capture
Similar in 89%
Funan (2018)
Plot Summary:
Cambodia, once the ancient kingdom of Funan, April 17th, 1975. The entire country falls under the tyranny of Angkar, the communist party of the Khmer Rouge. The cities are abandoned, the population is thrown to the roads and forced to walk towards an uncertain future.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Drama, History, War
Country: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cambodia
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: exciting, disturbing, adult animation, anime, touching, visually appealing, social, sad
Similar in 83%
The Murder Case of Hana & Alice (2015)
Plot Summary:
Prequel to 2004 coming-of-age live-action film Hana & Alice. After her parents separate, 14 year-old Tetsuko (who will soon be nick-named Alice) moves with her mother to a new town in what she calls "The Boonies" and must enroll as a transfer student in a new middle school. She immediately finds herself bullied due being assigned the seat of "Judas" who is said to have been murdered over a year before. She is told that if anybody knows his fate it would be Hana, the recluse in the house next door, who has been unable to bring herself to attend class since "Judas" disappeared.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: anime, tense, captivating, psychological, touching, adult animation, yuri
Similar in 79%
Charlotte (2021)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she escapes to the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again, and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only an extraordinary act will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Canada, France, Belgium
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, adult animation, 2d animation
Similar in 81%
Crulic - The Path to Beyond (2011)
Plot Summary:
An animated feature-length documentary telling the story of the life of Crulic, a 33 year-old Romanian accused of having stolen a wallet from an important Polish judge. Crulic was brought to the Krakow Detention Center Custody prison. He decided to start a hunger strike from the day he was arrested, demanding a meeting with somebody from the Romanian Consulate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 813
Genere: Documentary, Animation, Biography, Drama
Country: Romania, Poland
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, disturbing, stylized, adult animation, anime, offbeat, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Tehran Taboo (2017)
Plot Summary:
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling modern metropolis, avoiding prohibition has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Animation, Drama
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, psychological, disturbing, social, adult animation, art house
Similar in 75%
Approved for Adoption (2012)
Plot Summary:
This remarkable animated documentary traces the unconventional upbringing of the filmmaker Jung Henin, one of thousands of Korean children adopted by Western families after the end of the Korean War. It is the story of a boy stranded between two cultures. Animated vignettes – some humorous and some poetic – track Jung from the day he first meet his new blond siblings, through elementary school, and into his teenage years, when his emerging sense of identity begins to create fissures at home and ignite the latent biases of his adoptive parents. The filmmaker tells his story using his own animation intercut with snippets of super-8 family footage and archival film. The result is an animated memoir like no other: clear-eyed and unflinching, humorous, and above all, inspiring in the capacity of the human heart.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 625
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, Family
Country: France, Belgium, South Korea, Switzerland
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, stylized, sad, adult animation, anime, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
The Swallows of Kabul (2019)
Plot Summary:
Summer 1998 - Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Drama, War
Country: France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: social, psychological, thought provoking, captivating, political, disturbing, adult animation, deep, crying, 2d animation
Similar in 80%
Vincent (1987)
Plot Summary:
A biography of Vincent van Gogh using only images and the letters he wrote to his brother Theo.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 448
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama
Country: Australia, Belgium
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: spiritual, sad, adult animation, anime, independent film, psychological, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, touching
Similar in 89%
Miss Hokusai (2015)
Plot Summary:
The time: 1814. The place: Edo, now known as Tokyo. A much accomplished artist of his time and now in his mid-fifties, Tetsuzo can boast clients from all over Japan, and tirelessly works in the garbage-loaded chaos of his house-atelier. He spends his days creating astounding pieces of art, from a giant-size Bodhidharma portrayed on a 180 square meter-wide sheet of paper, to a pair of sparrows painted on a tiny rice grain. Third of Tetsuzo's four daughters and born out of his second marriage, outspoken 23-year-old O-Ei has inherited her father's talent and stubbornness, and very often she would paint instead of him, though uncredited. Her art is so powerful that sometimes leads to trouble. "We're father and daughter; with two brushes and four chopsticks, I guess we can always manage, in a way or another.".
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: anime, touching, psychological, sentimental, captivating, manga, fairy tale
Similar in 89%
In This Corner of the World (2016)
Plot Summary:
Newlywed Suzu Urano moves to her new life in Kure City on the coast of Hiroshima Prefecture, where she perseveres through World War II with pluck and determination.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Family, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: anime, thought provoking, tense, touching, captivating, suspenseful, sad, manga, adult animation, seinen
Similar in 80%
A Silent Voice (2016)
Plot Summary:
Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Animation, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: anime, touching, sincere, romantic, sweet, inspirational, biting, manga, adult animation, epic
Similar in 85%
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Plot Summary:
One Christmas Eve three people, a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, a former drag queen Hana and a dependent runaway girl Miyuki, discover an abandoned newborn while looking through the garbage.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: anime, touching, adult animation, atmospheric, witty, emotional, feel good, light, talky, intense
Similar in 87%
The Breadwinner (2017)
Plot Summary:
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Family, War
Country: Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, heartbreaking, sincere, suspense, sad, anime, adult animation, serious, educational, manga
Similar in 88%
Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Plot Summary:
Much awarded animated documentary, in which director and Israeli army veteran Ari Folman interviews friends and former soldiers about their memories of the 1982 Lebanon war and especially the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut. The usage on animation enabled Folman to illustrate their personal memories and dreams.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Documentary, Animation, Biography, Drama, History, Mystery, War
Country: Israel, France, Germany, USA, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, disturbing, adult animation, psychological, serious, atmospheric, bleak, realistic, surreal, political
Similar in 90%
Waking Life (2001)
Plot Summary:
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: philosophical, spiritual, psychedelic, surreal, psychological, stylized, clever, adult animation, mindfuck, intellectual
Similar in 79%
The Congress (2013)
Plot Summary:
More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, Robin Wright decides to take her final job: preserving her likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent and the head of Miramount Studios, her digital doppelganger will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want, with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator, Wright’s double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to speak at Miramount's "Futurological Congress". However, a group of terrorists plot an attack on the convention.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Israel, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, USA, India
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: surreal, philosophical, thought provoking, mind bending, stylized, psychedelic, atmospheric, psychological, cerebral, psychological thriller
Similar in 75%
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)
Plot Summary:
A member of an elite paramilitary counter-terrorism unit becomes traumatized after witnessing the suicide bombing of a young girl and is forced to undergo retraining. However, unbeknownst to him, he becomes a key player in a dispute between rival police divisions, as he finds himself increasingly involved with the sister of the girl he saw die.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Animation, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: anime, bleak, heartbreaking, rough, serious, psychological, philosophical, disturbing, manga, adult anime
Similar in 87%
Kandahar (2001)
Plot Summary:
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, surreal, disturbing, bleak, tense, atmospheric, depressing, lyrical, road movie, talky
Similar in 90%
My Father and My Son (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Turkish man, whose wife died while giving birth to his son during a military coup, finally returns home. Estranged from his father for turning his back on the family farm, he takes his 8 year-old and tries to repair relations.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Turkey
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, emotional, thought provoking, captivating, sincere, dorama, educational, political thriller
Similar in 90%
The Miracle Maker (1999)
Plot Summary:
A mother and father in search of help for their sick daughter cross paths with an extraordinary carpenter named Jesus, who has devoted his life to spreading God's word. An amazing miracle brings to light the true meaning of Christ, and the sacrifices he endured for the deliverance of mankind. A compelling story of faith, trust, and devotion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Russia, UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, biblical, touching, captivating, epic, christian film, spiritual, educational, serious, emotional
Similar in 89%
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Plot Summary:
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 301000
Genere: Animation, Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: depressing, anime, touching, heartbreaking, sad, emotional, harsh, dramatic, sentimental, tear jerker
Similar in 89%
Mary and Max (2009)
Plot Summary:
A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. In the mid-1970's, a homely, friendless Australian girl of 8 picks a name out of a Manhattan phone book and writes to him; she includes a chocolate bar. He writes back, with chocolate. Thus begins a 20-year correspondence. Will the two ever meet face to face?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 184000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, depressing, emotional, adult animation, black comedy, sincere, stylized, sad, gloomy, dark comedy
Similar in 88%
The Plague Dogs (1982)
Plot Summary:
The Plague Dogs is a 1982 animated film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The story is centred on two dogs named Rowf and Snitter, who escape from a research laboratory in Great Britain. In the process of telling the story, the film highlights the cruelty of performing vivisection and animal research for its own sake.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: adult animation, disturbing, heartbreaking, serious, realistic, suspenseful, road movie, psychedelic, offbeat, depressing
Similar in 75%
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Plot Summary:
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to, quite literally, "leap" backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: anime, touching, feel good, humorous, manga, surreal, mind bending, mind twisting, psychological, funny
Similar in 82%
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Plot Summary:
Under constant attack by monstrous creatures called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind, U.N. Special Agency NERV introduces two new EVA pilots to help defend the city of Tokyo-3: the mysterious Makinami Mari Illustrous and the intense Asuka Langley Shikinami. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari and SEELE proceed with a secret project that involves both Rei and Shinji. The film was retitled "Evangelion: 2.22" for its DVD/Blu-Ray release.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Animation, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: mecha, anime, atmospheric, enigmatic, intense, exciting, suspenseful, serious, bloody, stylized
Similar in 79%
Coraline (2009)
Plot Summary:
When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 257000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: gothic, surreal, dark fantasy, dark, scary, stylized, bleak, offbeat, disturbing, visually appealing