Best movies like Sand Dollars
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Every afternoon Noelí, a young Dominican woman, hangs out on the beach at Las Terrenas. With her boyfriend, Yeremi, they look for ways to make a living at the expense of one of the hundreds of tourists there. However Noelí also has a steady client, Anne, a much older French woman, who, like many other Europeans, has found an idyllic refuge on the island to spend her last years. For Noelí, the relationship is one of convenience, but the feelings become more intense as they plan to leave together for Paris.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 547
Genere: Drama
Country: Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, queer cinema
Best tv shows and movies like Sand Dollars (2014):
Similar in 75%
Crush (1992)
Plot Summary:
On the way to interview a novelist, Lane and Christina are involved in a car crash which leaves literary critic Christina brain-damaged. Lane undertakes the assignment and becomes attracted to the novelist's 15 year old daughter, leading to stormy emotions.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 555
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, independent film, psychological, road movie, sexy, bad ending, neo noir, suspense
Similar in 85%
Sea Without Shore (2015)
Plot Summary:
A rhythmically captivating exploration of love and loss at the fin-de-siècle. An amorous relationship between two women abruptly cut short. Dissolving under the impact of the loss of her soul mate, the surviving lover is drawn into the depths of mid-winter forests, into spheres of the subconscious, initiated by unknown forces. There is no return. The stream-of-consciousness narration, a collage of poetic fragments, features words by 16th century lesbian poet Katherine Philips, 19th century fin de siècle poets Renée Vivien and Algernon Charles Swinburne whose agnostic, visionary poetry lend the film a hypnotic quality.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 25
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 86%
The Sea Is Behind (2014)
Plot Summary:
Tarik lives in a land without colour, a land where water is contaminated by a strange phenomenon of “water bugs”. Tarik wears make-up and dresses up as a woman. He dances on a cart that is drawn by a dying horse and his father has practically abandoned him. One day, Tarik’s horse Larbi stops in the middle of a procession and refuses to take another step forward. Tarik will have to learn to live again and surrender to the colours of his life, which is the only way to escape the dullness of the world around him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 45
Genere: Drama
Country: Morocco, France, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, disturbing, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 77%
The Night (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young man stands in front of a mirror. The night belongs to him. Every evening, he appraises his appearance, attired in a new shirt, leaves his apartment and waits in a poorly lit alleyway for his johns. One night he meets a female prostitute of his age who’s new in this part of town.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 77
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, suspense, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
La león (2007)
Plot Summary:
Deep in the lush river jungles of Argentina, Alvaro lives a solitary existence fishing and harvesting reeds. What sets him apart from the rest of his village is that he is gay. There are no other gay men in his world, his only means of expression is with the occasional outsider who passes through. Most of these men come via the river taxi El León, whose captain El Turu is a mean man with a homophobic streak and a secret. When illegal loggers appear in the jungle El Turu accuses Alvaro of aiding them, a dispute which leads both men towards confrontation.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 418
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, suspense, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Sixth Happiness (1997)
Plot Summary:
Waris Hussein’s acclaimed drama is based on the autobiography of Firdaus Kanga, who stars in the lead role of Brit, a young man born with brittle bone disease, which causes him to have never grown beyond four feet tall. The film follows his sexual awakening whilst his family simultaneously disintegrates all around him. An extremely moving drama confronting stereotypes around disability, sexuality and race, featuring a powerhouse performance from Kanga.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 147
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 75%
Stories of Our Lives (2014)
Plot Summary:
Created by the members of a Nairobi-based arts collective — who have removed their names from the film for fear of reprisal — this anthology film that dramatizes true-life stories from Kenya’s oppressed LGBTQ community is both a labour of love and a bold act of militancy.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 103
Genere: Drama
Country: Kenya, South Africa
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, stylized, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
The Bay of Love and Sorrows (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Bay of Love and Sorrows is a haunting modern tragedy set on the rural shores of New Brunswick's Bay of Miramichi. In late summer 1973, Michael Skid, the son of a well-to-do judge, returns home and rents a dilapidated farm. He begins to spread the gospel of communal ideals, which he has absorbed during his travels in India. His new worldliness and ideas go over well with impoverished siblings Madonna and Silver Brassaurd and the hopelessly naïve Carrie. They go over less well with Tom Donnerel, a young farmer and Carrie's fiancé. Wounded by Tom's derision, Michael befriends ex-convict Everette Hatch, who, recognizing opportunity, exploits Michael's ideas to his advantage. Believing himself capable of understanding people from the other side of the track, Michael fails to recognize that the ex-con is manipulating him and so sets off a catastrophic chain of events in the community.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 212
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Beastie Boys (2008)
Plot Summary:
Two friends are involved in the male escort business. One starts an honest relationship with one of his clients. The other cheats on his girlfriend and has his many scams catch up to him.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, touching, bleak, sexual
Similar in 83%
Tru Love (2013)
Plot Summary:
TRU, 37, is a serial bed-hopping lesbian who cannot commit to a relationship or a job for long...that is, until she meets ALICE, 60, a beautiful widow, who has come to town at the last minute to visit her daughter, SUZANNE, 35, a too-busy corporate lawyer and Tru's friend. Alice and Tru begin to forge an unlikely friendship...and more. Suzanne, who has a deeply conflicted relationship with her mother and a complicated past with Tru, becomes increasingly alarmed at the growing bond between Tru and her mother. Tensions escalate after Suzanne witnesses an intimate moment between them. She tries to sabotage the budding romance, but it backfires, as Tru Love is hard to contain.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 871
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, captivating, sexy, humorous, semi serious, sexual, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
On the Downlow (2004)
Plot Summary:
Isaac and Angel are two young Latinos involved in a south side Chicago gang. They have a secret in a world where secrets are forbidden.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Sworn Virgin (2015)
Plot Summary:
Years after declaring her eternal virginity and opting to live life as a man in the mountains of Albania, Hana looks to return to living as a woman as she settles into a new existence in modern-day Milan.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Albania, Kosovo, France
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, moody
Similar in 86%
A Change of Heart (1998)
Plot Summary:
Beneath Jim Marshall's veneer as the all-American father and husband, lies a long suppressed desire that is about to ruin his idyllic family. When Elaine Marshall (Jean Smart) catches her husband and his lover in a hotel room, her anger quickly turns to shock as she discovers that Jim's paramour is a young man. What ensues is painful soul-searching for Jim, Elaine, and their family.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 262
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Dog Sweat (2010)
Plot Summary:
Intertwines the lives of six young Iranians as they struggle to satisfy their private desires in the face of conservative Islamic society.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, serious, underground film, islamic
Similar in 78%
Seduction: The Cruel Woman (1985)
Plot Summary:
Wanda is a dominatrix who runs a gallery in a building on the Hamburg waterfront, where audiences pay for the privilege of watching her humiliate her slaves. She is a business woman who smashes sexual stereotypes and social taboos with icy self-possession and an enigmatic smile. As artist she specializes in the staging of elaborate BDSM fantasies and her affairs transgress the usual boundaries of personal and professional life. Along the way she leaves her German lesbian lover, a shoe fetishist, for an American "trainee," and does more than step on the toes of the male performer who has broken the rules of the master-slave relationship by falling in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 216
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, controversial, sexual, weird
Similar in 78%
Charlie Says (2006)
Plot Summary:
The seemingly separate lives of a group of men intersect entwining the fates of each of them over the course of a week.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 555
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Seventeen Times Cecile Cassard (2002)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of a woman, composed of 17 moments from her life.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 544
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, erotic, realistic, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Boy Called Twist (2004)
Plot Summary:
The harrowing tale of a South African street-kid's search for love, based on Dickens' classic story. Growing up neglected in a rural orphanage, Twist escapes to the unpredictable freedom of Cape Town, where he falls in with Fagin's gang of street urchins. With a gritty honesty steeped in its vibrant characters, Boy called Twist superbly captures the contemporary equivalents of Dickens' seedy individuals as it shadows the timeless tale in its own inimitable style.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Sebastian (1995)
Plot Summary:
In this thoughtful Scandinavian drama, a teenage boy wrestles with his sexuality and learns that most of his deepest fears were unfounded. Sebastian is almost 17 when he figures out that he is a homosexual. Though he lives with wonderful, stable parents and has a good-hearted sister, he finds himself wracked with turmoil and suddenly withdraws from them all. The more they try to understand why, the more distant Sebastian becomes. Things get worse when he falls in love with the handsome Ulf, who comes from an unstable, tempestuous home. Sebastian realizes he is lucky, but still can't help but become irritated when he brings Ulf home for dinner. His parents are too nice and this quietly infuriates their son. Eventually they leave the two boys alone in the house. Sebastian have great fun doing teenage guy stuff, but then they take a bath together and it is then that Sebastian tries to kiss Ulf.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 595
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway, Sweden
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Sex My Life (2008)
Plot Summary:
Tells the story of seven Iranian transgender individuals living in Tehran who live pieces of their own lives on the screen.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 82
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, sincere, touching, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Quick Change (2013)
Plot Summary:
Dorina is a transsexual woman. She’s got herself a flourishing career, albeit in an illegal cosmetic surgery business. She is a mother figure to Hero, her eight year old nephew, and a devoted wife to Uno. Between her job and her family, Dorina feels that she is one lucky woman. Until Uno falls in love.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 57
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak
Similar in 82%
Between Two Women (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in Northern England, this powerful tale of suppressed sexuality offers poignant and sharply observant social commentary, interlaced with a tender romance. Vetern actress Barbara Marten tugs at the heart as Ellen Hardy, a working-class mother unhappily married to Geoff and struggling with her feelings for another woman - her 10-year-old son's vivacious teacher, Kathy Thompson.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 727
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, touching, emotional, period piece, deep, independent film, realistic, gloomy, sexual
Similar in 88%
Doubt (2003)
Plot Summary:
A gaggle of friends and observers ponder the fate of a relationship as they watch it collapse in this independent drama from the Philippines. Cris (Andoy Ranay) is a documentary filmmaker with a well-regarded body of work and a large community of friends and admirers. Cris is also gay, and possesses a voracious sexual appetite, claiming to have had sex with over 4,000 men during his years of frequent cruising. But Cris has fallen for Eric (Paolo Gabriel), and has sworn off meaningless sex for the pleasures of monogamy. However, while Cris wants Eric and Eric alone, Eric himself isn't so sure he feels exactly the same way, and is both puzzled and annoyed with Cris' rather ironic jealousy. The tensions between the two take a heavy toll on Cris, leading to a suicide attempt, and as his friends watch from a distance, any number of them speculate on what's going on between Cris and Eric. Duda was screened at part of the 2004 New York Asian-American Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, sentimental, captivating, serious, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Salmonberries (1991)
Plot Summary:
A young orphaned woman, named Kotzebue, is trying to find out who her parents are in the icy landscapes of Alaska. Kotzebue (K.d. Lang) is helped by a east-german librarian (Rosel Zech), whose husband was killed while fleeing from the GDR. Although both women could not be more different from each other, a fragile relationship forms.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 746
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 85%
The God of Wood (2010)
Plot Summary:
Yao (Madi Diocou) and Moroccan Rachid (Soufiane Ouaarab) arrive illegally in Valencia, Spain, and separate. Yao sells pirated DVDs in the street and wanders disconsolately around the barrio until he glimpses divorcee Maria Luisa (Marisa Paredes) working in her boutique. High-strung and irritable, Maria lives with her gay son, Rober (Nao Albet), who, like many other things in life, is a disappointment to her. Rachid, meanwhile, is doing just fine working as a hairstylist in a beauty salon; Rober is hopelessly in love with him. When Yao starts sleeping in Rober's flat, a confrontation between him and Maria suddenly becomes inevitable, and when it comes, what could have been an embarrassment is actually handled with grace.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, sentimental, psychological, captivating, touching, serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 82%
Darker Than Midnight (2014)
Plot Summary:
Davide is different from the other teenagers. Something makes him look like a girl. Davide is fourteen when he runs away from home. His intuition leads him to choose Villa Bellini, a park in Catania, as a refuge. The park is a world in itself, a world of the marginalized, to which the rest of the city turns a blind eye. But one day the past catches up and Davide has to face the most difficult choice, this time alone.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 355
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
FAQs (2005)
Plot Summary:
After living on the tough streets of LA for a while, India hopes that every gay basher will meet his destiny. In this case Destiny is a black, 6 foot, high heel wearing, gun toting, drag queen with an attitude and a soft place in her heart for homeless gay boys.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 528
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, talky, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
An Unexpected Love (2003)
Plot Summary:
Kate Mayer seems to have it all: a nice suburban house, two loving children and a devoted husband. But Kate is anything but happy. She is disappointed not only with her marriage, but with her entire life. In her pursuit of happiness, this frustrated mother files for divorce and gets her first-ever job, working in a small real estate agency. To complicate matters, Kate finds herself strongly attracted to her kindhearted boss, Mac. The surprising twist? Mac happens to be a woman. Will Kate have the courage to risk following her heart? It's one woman's emotional journey of self-discovery.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 926
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, emotional
Similar in 88%
Bloomington (2010)
Plot Summary:
A former child actress attends college in search of independence and ends up becoming romantically involved with a female professor. Their relationship thrives until an opportunity to return to acting forces her to make life-altering decisions.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: sexual, sexy, touching, erotic, serious, realistic, romantic drama, independent film, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
The World Unseen (2007)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on two women who engage in a dangerous relationship during South Africa's apartheid era.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Africa, UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, erotic, romantic, deep, historical drama, independent film, bleak, queer cinema