Best movies like Rosetta
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Young and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, bleak, art house, realistic, contemplative, emotional, spiritual, suspense, social, sad
Best tv shows and movies like Rosetta (1999):
Similar in 84%
An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Plot Summary:
In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find themselves.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: China
Duration: 230 min
Plot tags: depressing, melancholic, rough, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, sad, art house, art film
Similar in 75%
Nil by Mouth (1997)
Plot Summary:
The family of Raymond, his wife Val and her brother Billy live in working-class London district. Also in their family is Val and Billy's mother Janet and grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict and Raymond kicks him out of the house, making him live on his own. Raymond is generally a rough and even violent person, and that leads to problems in the life of the family.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, bleak, realistic, rough, controversial, thought provoking, sad, cult classic, powerful
Similar in 90%
Dodes'ka-den (1970)
Plot Summary:
By turns tragic and transcendent, Akira Kurosawa’s film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them—the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor—finds reasons to carry on. The unforgettable Dodes’ka-den was made at a tumultuous moment in Kurosawa’s life. And all of his hopes, fears, and artistic passion are on fervent display in this, his gloriously shot first color film.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: touching, meditative, compassionate, atmospheric, depressing, surreal, emotional, mind bending, psychedelic, anthology
Similar in 85%
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 75%
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 86%
1 Out of 7 (2011)
Plot Summary:
Runaway teen Lexi find herself alone and pregnant on the streets. Seemingly beyond hope, she must turn to Devon, a woman with her own demons, to help her find a way back from her past mistakes.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 199
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, serious, realistic, bleak, independent film
Similar in 79%
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 84%
The Poker House (2008)
Plot Summary:
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, rough, serious, emotional, dark, teen, bleak, tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 90%
Lorna's Silence (2008)
Plot Summary:
In order to become the owner of a snack bar with her boyfriend, Lorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, becomes an accomplice to a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, atmospheric, harsh, psychological, touching, sincere, neo noir, erotic, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
Hi, Tereska (2001)
Plot Summary:
Teenager Tereska comes from poor family and has to face difficult world and mean people around her.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: disturbing, touching, serious, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 84%
In Bloom (2013)
Plot Summary:
Eka and Natia leave their childhood behind and ignore societal customs to escape from their turbulent family lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia, Germany, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, captivating, social, art house, transgressive, sincere, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
The Bench (2000)
Plot Summary:
Kaj is a stubborn man with a great deal of pride. The former chef lives in a council flat. He has wasted his life and is now on a council job training scheme for the long-term unemployed, where he refuses to let the foreman of the activation project boss him about. When Kaj's daughter, with whom he has not been in touch for nineteen years, moves into the same council estate on the run from her violent husband, a change comes over Kaj. His initial instinct is to avoid her, but by chance he ends up helping to look after Jonas, her six-year-old son. For the first time for years Kaj need not survive on his own devices. Now he has responsibilities and a family of his own.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, inspirational, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Two Days, One Night (2014)
Plot Summary:
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: depressing, independent film, sincere, serious, compassionate, atmospheric, emotional, thought provoking, bleak, cerebral
Similar in 79%
Gimme Shelter (2013)
Plot Summary:
After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: emotional, psychological, rough, serious, sad, cult classic, teen, tear jerker, bleak, realistic
Similar in 90%
Nobody Owns Me (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of a lone father's relationship with his daughter, of the destructive power of alcohol, of a child's vulnerability, but also of love, betrayal and socialist politics in 1970s Sweden. A unique and moving story freely based on Åsa Linderborg's best-selling novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, social
Similar in 75%
All or Nothing (2002)
Plot Summary:
Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy, and she works on the checkout at a supermarket.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: depressing, emotional, bleak, serious, realistic, meditative, sentimental, sincere, talky, offbeat
Similar in 83%
Mouchette (1967)
Plot Summary:
Robert Bresson plumbs great reservoirs of feelings with one of the most searing portraits of human desperation ever put on film.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: art house, black and white, depressing, bleak, emotional, disturbing, contemplative, stylized, spiritual, inspirational
Similar in 89%
The Kid with a Bike (2011)
Plot Summary:
Abandoned by his father, a young boy is left in the hands of an unqualified childcare provider.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, meditative, atmospheric, emotional, surreal, disturbing, compassionate, touching, psychological
Similar in 81%
Fat Girl (2001)
Plot Summary:
Elena is 15, beautiful and flirtatious. Her less confident sister, Anais, is 12, and constantly eats. On holiday, Elena meets a young Italian student who is determined to seduce her. Anais is forced to watch in silence, conspiring with the lovers, but harboring jealousy and similar desires. Their actions, however, have unforeseen tragic consequences for the whole family.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: bleak, erotic, psychological, sexy, tense, controversial, disturbing, sensual, stylized, sexual
Similar in 76%
Nobody Knows (2004)
Plot Summary:
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: depressing, touching, serious, atmospheric, bleak, gloomy, heartbreaking, contemplative, melancholic, meditative
Similar in 77%
The Child (2005)
Plot Summary:
Bruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, harsh, rough, depressing, art house, independent film, bleak, realistic, aesthetic
Similar in 89%
Christiane F. (1981)
Plot Summary:
This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, depressing, harsh, serious, realistic, gloomy, brutal, atmospheric
Similar in 83%
Precious (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret--she can't read.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, emotional, rough, sad, inspirational, disturbing, touching, independent film, harsh
Similar in 79%
Half Nelson (2006)
Plot Summary:
Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: depressing, independent film, talky, emotional, serious, inspirational, feel good, melancholic, intense, indie film
Similar in 84%
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged London factory worker is shocked when the mixed-race daughter she gave up at birth decides to track her down. At first she denies she is her mother. All family members become emotional, as everyone's secrets are exposed.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: emotional, independent film, touching, realistic, dark comedy, sincere, spiritual, social, art house, comedy drama
Similar in 82%
Breathe (2014)
Plot Summary:
Charlie, a 17-year-old girl tortured by doubt, is thrilled when she becomes friends with Sarah, but when Sarah tires of Charlie and looks for a new friend, their relationship takes an ominous turn.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, sentimental, realistic, depressing, suspense, social, stylized, poignant
Similar in 90%
The Promise (1996)
Plot Summary:
In this acclaimed and gripping social portrait of immoral lives in need of rescue, Igor (Jérémie Renier), aged 15, and his father Roger (Olivier Gourmet) deal in housing and peddling illicit labor in the outlying districts of Liege, Belgium. Scams, lies and swindling rule their lives. When one of his father’s illegal workers gets injured on the job and asks Igor to promise to take care of his wife and baby, Igor finds himself at a crossroad. He wants to keep the promise, but the price would be to betray his father.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Tunisia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, slow cinema, inspirational, thought provoking, art house, aesthetic, mesmerizing, tense, touching, serious
Similar in 83%
Oslo, August 31st (2011)
Plot Summary:
Anders is a recovering drug addict in an Oslo rehab clinic. On the 30th August, he is given a day’s leave to attend a job interview in the city centre.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway, Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: depressing, touching, gloomy, melancholic, bleak, heartbreaking, emotional, disturbing, stylized, independent film
Similar in 86%
Fish Tank (2009)
Plot Summary:
Everything changes for 15 year old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Netherlands
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: bleak, emotional, gloomy, sincere, disturbing, sexy, realistic, teen, serious, depressing
Similar in 88%
Thirteen (2003)
Plot Summary:
Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before Tracy's new world and attitude finally takes a toll on her, her family, and old friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: teen, sincere, realistic, tense, disturbing, emotional, intense, serious, depressing, bleak