Best movies like Radical
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence, a frustrated teacher tries a radical new method to break through his students’ apathy and unlock their curiosity, their potential… and maybe even their genius. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Radical (2023):
Similar in 90%
Better Off Dead. (1993)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer fights a losing battle against the courts to overturn the death sentence for a convicted female robber/murderer despite demands from the woman that her death sentence be carried out.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 119
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Perfect Parents (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a violent incident in Lucy's public school, her atheist parents Stuart and Alison decide to find her a safe 'traditional' school. The only one they can afford is St. Mary of the Veil, run by nuns whose 'preference' for Catholic families is de facto exclusivity, given the waiting list. So they pose as devout, and get his murky mate Eddie to find them a priest they can 'bribe' for a parish reference, while Lucy is genuinely converted. It works, but when Stuart overhears a dark secret things take a tragic turn.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 151
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 80%
Evergreen Tree (1961)
Plot Summary:
Yeong-shin (played by the Choi Eun-hee–Shin Sang-ok’s wife) and Dong-hyeok (Shin Yeong-gyun) graduate from college with a cause. They plan to bring education and modernization to farmers living in the rural area of their birth. When they arrive, the pair immediately gets to work, Dong-hyeok builds a village hall and starts aiding the farmers while Yeong-shin tries to gather the children to form a school. However, the villagers at first resent and resist the pair. It is not until one child, Ok-bun, takes the inititive and and learns to read under Yeong-shin’s care that the villages trust the pair and allow their children to be taken from the fields and taught reading, writing and math.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 29
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Daughter of Rage (2022)
Plot Summary:
Nicaragua, today. Eleven-year-old María lives with her mother Lilibeth on the edge of an immense rubbish dump. Their future depends on selling a litter of purebred puppies to a local gang member. When the deal falls through, Lilibeth has to move to the outskirts of the city and leave María to work at a recycling factory. The days go by with no sign of her mother's return. María feels abandoned, confused and angry. One night she meets Tadeo, a kind and romantic boy determined to help her find her mother.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 163
Genere: Drama
Country: Nicaragua, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Partisan (2015)
Plot Summary:
On the edge of a crumbling city, 11-year-old Alexander lives in a sequestered commune alongside other children, their mothers, and charismatic leader, Gregori. Gregori teaches the children how to raise livestock, grow vegetables, work as a community - and how to kill. With the birth of a new baby brother weighing on his mind, Alexander begins to question Gregori’s overpowering influence on the children and their training to become assassins. Threatened by his increasing unwillingness to fall in line, Gregori’s behavior turns erratic and adversarial toward the child he once considered a son. With the two set dangerously at odds and the commune’s way of life disintegrating, the residents fear a violent resolution is at hand.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, realistic, tense, captivating, suspense, sincere, gloomy, independent film, crying
Similar in 87%
Child Murders (1993)
Plot Summary:
A melodrama about children, the child murders that the film’s title refers to are the million and one ways that children’s souls are ravaged by neglect, unkindness and cruelty, even though several physical deaths take place in the story.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 140
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: thought provoking
Similar in 88%
There Was a Little Boy (1993)
Plot Summary:
Julie and Gregg are about to become parents again, but they feel conflicted since their first child was kidnapped and never seen again. But the couple soon faces an even bigger shock. Julie's new bad-boy (really bad-boy) student may actually be her long-lost son! Based on Claire R. Jacobs's book.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Crows (1994)
Plot Summary:
A thin child of about 10, nicknamed "Crow" because she mimics the bird, has no friends and rejects a teacher's hug. At home, she is left on her own, her mom locks her out while entertaining a lover or is asleep. One morning, Crow sees a chubby, cherubic child hugged by both parents as the father leaves for work. When the toddler is left alone, Crow lifts her through the fence and kidnaps her. That day, Crow tries to mother the child, alternately playing with and scolding her, taking her to the beach, leaving shore in a boat, pushing her into the sea in a pique, and eventually carrying the sleeping child back home. Crow returns to her own mother and asks for affection.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 693
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 66 min
Plot tags: surreal
Similar in 85%
Disgrace (2008)
Plot Summary:
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his cherished daughter. After having an affair with a student, he moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, South Africa
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, rough, captivating, sexy, educational, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
Softie (2021)
Plot Summary:
Ten-year-old Johnny stands out from his family and his tough neighborhood in Eastern France. He's sensitive, intelligent and interested in all kinds of things way beyond his years. With curiosity, he observes the ups and downs of his young single mother's turbulent love life. Things change when a new teacher, fresh from the big city, takes over Johnny's class. Mr. Adamski believes in Johnny and wants to open a new world to him. The sophisticated young teacher also intrigues the boy.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: social
Similar in 77%
The Colors of the Mountain (2010)
Plot Summary:
A motley crew of young boys in Colombia lives only for one passion: soccer. But when their precious new ball rolls into a minefield, their dreams are suddenly on hold. Even as the village becomes the center of a tug-of-war between right-wing paramilitary groups and leftist guerrillas, the idea of a rescue attempt is too tempting to resist.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia, Panama
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, bleak, realistic, tense, touching, serious, independent film, crying
Similar in 78%
Liar, Liar: Between Father and Daughter (1993)
Plot Summary:
An 11 year old girl accuses her father of incest.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 465
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: historical drama, crying, independent film
Similar in 90%
Katie Tippel (1975)
Plot Summary:
In the late 19th century, a young woman moves to Amsterdam with her family and tries to make a living. Preyed upon by various men, she nonetheless rises in society.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: cult classic, touching, serious, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, sexual, sexy, cult film
Similar in 79%
So B. It (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young girl named Heidi who lives with her mentally disabled mother, travels across the country to find out about her and her mothers past.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 630
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sad
Similar in 76%
Mediterranea (2015)
Plot Summary:
Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search of a way to provide for his sister and his daughter. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas off of the continent. Ayiva adapts to life in Italy, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous. Determined to make his new situation work he attempts to weather the storm, but it has its costs.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France, USA, Germany, Qatar
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, suspenseful, rough, touching, captivating, melancholic, political, independent film, crying
Similar in 83%
Mother Earth (2010)
Plot Summary:
TIERRA MADRE is based on the true story of Aidee Gonzalez, a woman determined to raise her children with her female partner in the Mexican border town of Tecate. Aidee works hard as an exotic dancer providing for her family. One day her girlfriend shares her desire to have a child of her own, and convinces Aidee to go on the hunt for a male to conceive a child.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 105
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 62 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, touching, psychological, sincere, captivating, suspense, humorous, crying, hispanic
Similar in 78%
The Kindergarten Teacher (2014)
Plot Summary:
A teacher discovers in a five year-old child a prodigious gift for poetry. Amazed and inspired by this young boy, she decides to protect his talent in spite of everyone.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: realistic, clever, serious, contemplative, exciting, captivating, offbeat, biting, suspense, weird
Similar in 84%
The Browning Version (1994)
Plot Summary:
Andrew Crocker-Harris is an embittered and disliked teacher of Greek and Latin at a British prep school. After nearly 20 years of service, he is being forced to retire on the pretext of his health, and perhaps may not even be given a pension. The boys regard him as a Hitler, with some justification. His wife Laura is unfaithful, and lives to wound him any way she can. Andrew must come to terms with his failed life and regain at least his own self-respect.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, talky, grim, anamorphic, colorful, psychological, tense, sentimental, clever, serious
Similar in 87%
Secret Places (1984)
Plot Summary:
Young girls, soon to be women, sharing everything...except their secret places.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 116
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 78%
How to Be a Latin Lover (2017)
Plot Summary:
An aging Latin lover gets dumped by his sugar mama and must fend for himself in a harsh world.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: light, feel good, humorous, captivating, cute, crying, slapstick comedy, double entendre, ridiculous
Similar in 79%
Not One Less (1999)
Plot Summary:
Teacher Gao loves the students in his poor village and is devoted to educating them in the hope of their greater futures. When he is called away to tend to his dying mother for a month, the Mayor calls in an inexperienced 13 year-old replacement, Wei Minzhi; much to Teacher Gao's dismay. Teacher Gao cannot stand the thought of losing anymore students: he has already lost twelve to ever-increasing attrition, and he promises Wei an extra 10 yuan if she succeeds in ensuring that upon his return, there will be not one less. Wei's difficult mission to fulfill Teacher Gao's wish and her own concern for the welfare of the children begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: inspirational, road movie, touching, realistic, sad, art film, informative, sincere, feel good, humorous
Similar in 82%
Leo (2002)
Plot Summary:
A young mother is plagued by a tragic mistake and alienates her little boy. A brilliant writer is released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence and begins working at Vic's Diner. Their stories converge when the man must overcome obstacles of the past to save the little boy and ultimately himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, sincere, crying
Similar in 88%
Walkout (2006)
Plot Summary:
Walkout is the true story of a young Mexican American high school teacher, Sal Castro. He mentors a group of students in East Los Angeles, when the students decide to stage a peaceful walkout to protest the injustices of the public school system. Set against the background of the civil rights movement of 1968, it is a story of courage and the fight for justice and empowerment.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, political, informative, thought provoking, freeze frame
Similar in 76%
Behavior (2014)
Plot Summary:
Meet Chala, an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela suffers an accident, things get complicated….
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Cuba
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, touching, inspirational, bleak, biting, suspense
Similar in 75%
Lean on Me (1989)
Plot Summary:
When principal Joe Clark takes over decaying Eastside High School, he's faced with students wearing gang colors and graffiti-covered walls. Determined to do anything he must to turn the school around, he expels suspected drug dealers, padlocks doors and demands effort and results from students, staff and parents. Autocratic to a fault, this real-life educator put it all on the lin.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: inspirational, feel good, hood, realistic, motivational, political, non fiction, sincere, atmospheric, rough
Similar in 83%
Instructions Not Included (2013)
Plot Summary:
Valentin is Acapulco's resident playboy, until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and him heading with her out of Mexico.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: feel good, sentimental, inspirational, touching, sweet, emotional, humorous, buddy comedy, romantic comedy, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Town (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story of a family living in a small godforsaken town in Turkey seen through the eyes of children and dealing with the growing complexity when one becomes an adult.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: aesthetic, art house, black and white, slow cinema, independent film
Similar in 82%
Conrack (1974)
Plot Summary:
A young, white teacher is assigned to an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina populated mostly by poor black families. He finds that the basically illiterate, neglected children there know so little of the world outside their island.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: deep, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
White Oleander (2002)
Plot Summary:
A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, erotic, sentimental, gothic, social
Similar in 82%
Pay It Forward (2000)
Plot Summary:
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, inspirational, motivational, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, tear jerker, sad, thought provoking