Best movies like Polina
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Polina is a young dancer from a modest family. After years of ballet academy, she is accepted by the Bolshoi; still, she decides to try and audition of a modern dance company in France. She makes it, but her journey will not end there.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, romantic, touching, captivating, disturbing, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like Polina (2016):
Similar in 90%
Under the Stars of Paris (2020)
Plot Summary:
Christine’s life has not been easy lately. Her lonely routine is divided between free food banks distributions and wandering the streets. On a cold winter night she founds Suli, an 8-year-old Eritrean boy, sobbing in front of her shelter. Christine understands that he is lost and has been separated from his mother. Bounded by their marginal condition, they embark together on an emotional journey to find Suli’s mother in the underground world of Paris.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 312
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Between Two Worlds (2021)
Plot Summary:
Marianne Winckler, a well-known author, goes to live in northern France to research for her new book on the subject of job insecurity. Without revealing her true identity, she gets hired as a cleaner, working with a group of other women. In this new role, she experiences financial instability and social invisibility first-hand. But she also discovers mutual assistance and solidarity, strong bonds shared by these behind-the-scenes working women.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Land Legs (2015)
Plot Summary:
Dom, 36 years old, is a sailor on board of the fishing boat Petit Gael II from the port of Les Sables d'Olonne, a small town in western France. He is used to leave for the open sea for at least three weeks in a row. Despite of his absences, his teenaged children decided to live with him since the divorce of the parents. But when his daughter Mailys gets pregnant, Dom understands that he will have to choose between the sea and his family.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 132
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, touching, unusual plot structure, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 79%
The Justice of Bunny King (2021)
Plot Summary:
Bunny King is a mother of two, a rough cut diamond with a sketchy past. While battling the system to reunite with her children, a confrontation leads her to take her niece Tonyah under her wing. With the world against her and Tonyah, Bunny’s battle has just begun.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 671
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 76%
The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)
Plot Summary:
La leggenda del santo bevitore (literally "The legend of the holy drinker") is a 1988 Italian film directed by Ermanno Olmi. It tells the story of a drunken homeless man (played by Rutger Hauer) in Paris who is lent 200 francs by a stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to; the film depicts the man's constant frustrations as he attempts to do so. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. It is based on the 1939 novella by the Austrian novelist, Joseph Roth.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: spiritual, artsy, neorealism, anamorphic, psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Break (2018)
Plot Summary:
Lucie, a young dancer suffers an accident. When she wakes up from a coma, she and her partner start training for a dance show. On the way, she starts looking for her estranged father, a path that might lead her to life-changing love.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, romantic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Louise Wimmer (2011)
Plot Summary:
The middle-aged titular heroine (Masiero) of this bare-bones, Dardenne-esque debut has certainly fallen on hard times: Living between her car and a storage shed, working a part-time job as a hotel chambermaid, and trying against all odds to obtain public housing, Louise scrapes by on a day-to-day subsistence that’s only a few Euros away from skid row.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 422
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Atomic Age (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two young boys, Victor and Rainer, take the commuter train to spend the evening in Paris. In a nightclub on the banks of the Seine they go from one disappointment to another, from failed chat ups to street brawls. But as they get carried away by the night, they leave the city for the forest. In the silence of the moonlight nature, the desire between the two friends becomes increasingly vibrant. A new day is born from their friendship.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 484
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, exciting, melancholic, touching, captivating, suspense, teen, independent film
Similar in 75%
Party Girl (2014)
Plot Summary:
Angélique is a 60-year-old bar hostess. She still likes to party, she still likes men. At night, she makes them drink, in a cabaret by the French-German border. As time goes by, clients become rare. But Michel, her regular client, is still in love with her. One day, he asks Angélique to marry him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 88%
The Dancer (2000)
Plot Summary:
Elle a une passion: la danse. Une ambition: danser a Broadway. Un handicap: elle est muette. Le samedi soir, dans une boite new-yorkaise, elle affronte les plus grands DJ et, quelle que soit la musique, techno, funk, jazz ou soul, elle garde le tempo et met le public a genoux. Un soir, dans la foule, un jeune scientifique la decouvre, fascine. Avec elle, il inventera un systeme qui lui permettra de danser, de s'exprimer et d'aimer.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching, feel good, independent film
Similar in 76%
The Bolshoi (2017)
Plot Summary:
Julia is incredibly talented. She can become a great ballerina. But for this purpose she must give up everything: the interests of the family, her first love, friendship. Over and over again the heroine will face a complex choice between the dream of beauty and real life. The history of the rise of a young provincial girl to the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. A film about dreams, beauty, and ballet.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: sad, realistic, artsy, colorful, colourful
Similar in 82%
Ama (2021)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of the myth of maternity around the story of Pepa and her daughter, who are evicted from their home and forced to wander for a place to live with no support network.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 256
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Closed Note (2007)
Plot Summary:
Kae Horii moves into her new flat in an undisclosed area of Kyoto. While unpacking her belongings, she discovers a hidden compartment behind a inconspicuous mirror. In that compartment, Kae finds a notebook, that turns out to be a diary belonging to the previous tenant. Later that evening Kae starts to read the diary. The writer of the diary is Ibuki Mano, a young lady about to embark on her first year as an elementary school teacher. Ibuki is also in love with a man named Takashi, who may or may not hold similar feelings for Ibuki.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 411
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Birds of Paradise (2021)
Plot Summary:
Two dancers at an elite ballet academy in Paris must compete for a contract to join the highly coveted Opéra National de Paris as they confront their competitive nature, sexual awakenings and how far they would go to win.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing, touching, teen
Similar in 80%
Dance Academy: The Movie (2017)
Plot Summary:
This 2017 movie follows the original dance academy TV show and tracks where the characters are in their lives now.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Australia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sentimental, captivating
Similar in 82%
The Lovers on the Bridge (1991)
Plot Summary:
Set against Paris' oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, while it was closed for repairs, this film is a love story between two young vagrants: Alex, a would be circus performer addicted to alcohol and sedatives and Michele, a painter driven to a life on the streets because of a failed relationship and an affliction which is slowly turning her blind.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: romantic, atmospheric, enigmatic, art house, touching, feel good, disturbing, stylized, offbeat, heartbreaking
Similar in 84%
Vagabond (1985)
Plot Summary:
Mona Bergeron is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the film flashes back to the weeks leading up to her death. Through these flashbacks, Mona gradually declines as she travels from place to place, taking odd jobs and staying with whomever will offer her a place to sleep. Mona is fiercely independent, craving freedom over comfort, but it is this desire to be free that will eventually lead to her demise.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: road movie, disturbing, art house, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, contemplative, social, retro
Similar in 86%
All Is Forgiven (2007)
Plot Summary:
Victor lives in Vienna with Annette, his beautiful Austrian wife and their daughter Pamela. It’s spring. Fleeing his work, Victor spends his days outside: he plays with Pamela, pays a visit to Annette’s parents, loiters in the park with the drug dealers. Very much in love, Annette is confident that he’ll get a hold of himself as soon as they return to Paris. But back in France, Victor relapses into his bad habits. After a violent dispute, Victor moves into the room of a junkie he has fallen in love with. Annette leaves Victor and disappears with Pamela. 11 years later: Pamela is 17. She lives in Paris with her mother. One day, she learns that her father lives in the same city. She decides to see him again. –Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 956
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Elles (2011)
Plot Summary:
A journalist tries to balance the duties of marriage and motherhood while researching a piece on college women who work as prostitutes to pay their tuition.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Poland, Germany
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: captivating, thought provoking, serious, realistic, erotic, sexy, social, sexual, sensual, profound
Similar in 90%
Elisa (1995)
Plot Summary:
Marie has had a tough childhood ever since her mother Elisa committed suicide. She has spent most of her life in an orphanage and now makes a living as a small time criminal in Paris. Now she wants to unravel her past and find her father whom she blames for her mother's death.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: anthology, tense, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
The Town Is Quiet (2000)
Plot Summary:
A dark tale of working-class life in Marseilles, a city in crisis. Interesting characters include a hard-bitten but compassionate fish market worker with a drug addicted daughter and a moody bartender with a shocking secret life.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, touching, bleak, captivating, realistic, disturbing, neo noir, anthology, psychological
Similar in 89%
The White Crow (2018)
Plot Summary:
Director Ralph Fiennes captures the raw physicality and brilliance of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet’s most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France, Serbia
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, disturbing, retro, social, non-linear, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
The Dreamlife of Angels (1998)
Plot Summary:
In Lille, two penniless young women with few prospects become friends. Isa moves in with Marie, who's flat-sitting for a mother and child in hospital in comas following a car crash. Isa is out-going, unskilled, with hopes of moving south to warmer climes. Marie usually is either angry or detached. Then, while Isa begins to visit the child in whose flat they live, going to hospital to read to her, Marie slowly falls for a rich youth. At first Marie keeps him at bay, then she not only pursues him, she begins to dream he is her life's love. When Isa tries to warn Marie, their friendship flounders. How will Marie handle the inevitable? And once they lose the flat, where will they go?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, depressing, emotional, meditative, compassionate, psychological, sincere, contemplative, talky
Similar in 85%
Code Unknown (2000)
Plot Summary:
A series of events unfold like a chain reaction, all stemming from a minor event that brings the film's five characters together. Set in Paris, France, Anne is an actress whose boyfriend Georges photographs the war in Kosovo. Georges' brother, Jean, is looking for the entry code to Georges' apartment. These characters lives interconnect with a Romanian immigrant and a deaf teacher.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Austria, Romania, Germany
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sincere, bleak, clever, thought provoking, intellectual, enigmatic, cynical, cerebral, serious, philosophical
Similar in 76%
Center Stage: On Pointe (2016)
Plot Summary:
In Center Stage: On Pointe, Jonathan Reeves (Gallagher) is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy, and enlists his his top choreographers Charlie (Radetsky), Cooper (Stiefel) and Tommy (Wormald) to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker (Muñoz), who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp. Chloe Lukasiak plays Gwen, a talented dance prodigy who competes at the camp. - Denise Petski.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, captivating, psychological, realistic, funny
Similar in 75%
Into the Beat (2020)
Plot Summary:
Katya is a young, outstanding and upcoming ballet dancer. In just a few weeks she is due to have a major audition for the New York Ballet Academy and Katya has good chances of getting a scholarship. But when she meets a group of street-dancers the girl dives into a completely new world.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing, teen
Similar in 84%
Let's Dance (2019)
Plot Summary:
After his crew breaks up, a gifted but insecure hip-hop dancer teaches at a top ballet school in Paris, where he falls for an aspiring ballerina.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Music
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: light, humorous, romantic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Meetings of Anna (1978)
Plot Summary:
Anna is a film director whose job takes her all over western Europe. In each place she either already has some intimate connection, or readily makes one. People seem drawn to her, but inevitably insist on sharing their inmost secrets and discontents with her, despite her obvious and profound lack of interest in these revelations. This does not deter Anna from continuing to meet people, and she genuinely connects with them occasionally, as when she sees her mother briefly in Brussels.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, West Germany
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: art house, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, avant garde, masterpiece
Similar in 82%
Disengagement (2007)
Plot Summary:
A political drama centered around Israel's pullout from the occupied Gaza strip, in which a French woman of Israeli origin comes to the Gaza Strip to find her long ago abandoned daughter.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 819
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Italy, Israel, France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, serious
Similar in 79%
It All Starts Today (1999)
Plot Summary:
Set in a forlorn mining town near Valencienne in the north of France, the story is about one man's struggle to bring life to his once prosperous village and its inhabitants. Philippe Torreton, who won a César for Best Actor with his title role in Capitaine Conan, plays Daniel, the head teacher of a nursery school in a town demoralized by unemployment. Daniel is determined against all odds to bring life to the community. When a parent who has come to pick up her children collapses at the school grounds due to alcohol abuse, and social services turns a deaf ear to all pleas for help, Daniel decides to take the law into his own hands. Despite resistance from the townspeople, in the long run his efforts are not fruitless.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: social, sincere, thought provoking, touching, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy