Best movies like Salaam Bombay!

Similar in 86%

Where the Day Takes You (1992)

Plot Summary:

A group of teen-age runaways try to survive in the streets of Los Angeles. Drugs, prostitution, violence and bureaucratic indifference all pose threats to the kids, who nevertheless prefer this harsh life to going back to their families. King, somewhat older, provides some leadership the kids.

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Sister (2012)

Plot Summary:

A drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.

Similar in 77%

Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)

Plot Summary:

From the sight of a police officer this movie depicts the life in New York's infamous South Bronx. In the center is "Fort Apache", as the officers call their police station, which really seems like an outpost in enemy's country. The story follows officer Murphy, who seems to be a tuff cynic, but in truth he's a moralist with a sense for justice.

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The Rose Seller (1998)

Plot Summary:

13-year-old Monica leads a street life, making her living by selling flowers to couples in local nightspots, she is joined by 10-year-old Andrea who runs out of her house after her mother beats her.

Similar in 78%

Once Were Warriors (1994)

Plot Summary:

A drama about a Maori family lving in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

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Joe the King (1999)

Plot Summary:

A destitute 14 year old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother. Petty thefts for food grow into more major takes until he steals a cash box from the diner where he works. Although Joe uses the money to pay off some of his father's debts and to replace his mother's records that his father smashed in a fit of temper, Joe gets no thanks.

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Less Than Zero (1987)

Plot Summary:

A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.

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Sweet Sixteen (2002)

Plot Summary:

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

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Pixote (1980)

Plot Summary:

Pixote, a 10-year-old runaway boy, is arrested on the streets of Sao Paulo during a police round-up homeless people. Pixote endures torture, degradation and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of the runaways are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old transvesite hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape where they make their living by the life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death.

Similar in 90%

Prince of the City (1981)

Plot Summary:

New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice help eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.

Similar in 85%

Tsotsi (2005)

Plot Summary:

The South African multi-award winning film about a young South African boy from the ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster. Tsotsi, who left home as a child to get away from helpless parents, finds a baby in the back seat of a car that he has just stolen. He decides that it his responsibility to take care of the baby and in the process learns that maybe the gangster life isn’t the best way.

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Kidulthood (2006)

Plot Summary:

A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.

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Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Plot Summary:

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.

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Hate (1995)

Plot Summary:

Aimlessly whiling away their days in the concrete environs of their dead-end suburbia, Vinz, Hubert, and Said -- a Jew, African, and an Arab -- give human faces to France's immigrant populations, their bristling resentment at their social marginalization slowly simmering until it reaches a climactic boiling point. La Haine means Hate.

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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

Plot Summary:

Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.

Similar in 88%

This Is England (2006)

Plot Summary:

A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.

Similar in 75%

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Plot Summary:

Bob and his friends Dianne, Rick and Nadine have been drug addicts for years and live from one high to the next. Gus Van Sant attempts to show an intimate look into the lives of heroin addicts with his film Drugstore Cowboy.

Similar in 75%

My Crazy Life (1993)

Plot Summary:

Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.

IMDB Rating: 6.5

IMDB Votes: 2000

Genere: Crime, Drama

Country: USA, UK

Duration: 92 min

Plot tags: realistic, talky, serious, hood, cult classic, independent film, bleak, hispanic, crime drama, sincere