Best movies like Sand Storm
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A Bedouin village in Northern Israel. When Jalila's husband marries a second woman, Jalila and her daughter's world is shattered, and the women are torn between their commitment to the patriarchal rules and being true to themselves.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, Germany, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, social
Best tv shows and movies like Sand Storm (2016):
Similar in 87%
Hive (2021)
Plot Summary:
Fahrije’s husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo so she sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision: to wait for his return, or to continue to persevere.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Kosovo, Switzerland, Albania
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, political, social
Similar in 84%
To Take a Wife (2004)
Plot Summary:
The story takes place in Haifa, Israel, in 1979, during three days before the Shabbat. A young woman trying to raise three children, work from home, and observe the strict Moroccan traditions of her family finds herself at constant odds with her husband and her brothers, who want her to stay married and leave behind the notions of being loved and free.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 607
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Israel
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Care (2018)
Plot Summary:
Jenny, a single mother raising two daughters after her husband leaves, is aided by her widowed mother, Mary. But Jenny struggles to stay afloat after Mary suffers a devastating stroke and develops dementia.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspenseful, thrilling
Similar in 86%
When Time Got Louder (2022)
Plot Summary:
Departing for college, Abbie leaves her parents and brother who has autism and is non-verbal. As she explores her independence and sexuality, she's torn between her new life and her love for her brother.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, lgbt cinema, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Asia (2020)
Plot Summary:
Asia is the single mother of 17-year-old Vika. Vika's deteriorating health urges Asia to finally find her voice as a mother and to embrace and cherish their time together.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 703
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, captivating, social
Similar in 81%
Angel Face (2018)
Plot Summary:
A single mother abandons her 8-year-old daughter after meeting someone in a nightclub.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, touching, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Nocturnal Agony (2011)
Plot Summary:
A highly successful upper middle class woman with a loving family has her seemingly “perfect” world turned upside down when the hidden secrets from her past suddenly resurface, forcing her and her beloved mother into a painful examination of their lives, their relationship with one another, and their faith in God.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 65
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, christian film
Similar in 80%
Happy Lambs (2015)
Plot Summary:
The perfect world of a small family breaks, when Can discover that his mother works in a brothel. In a maelstrom of anger, guilt and despair Mother and son are forced to forgive himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 213
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, sexy
Similar in 84%
Balance, Not Symmetry (2019)
Plot Summary:
An American student living a privileged existence at Glasgow School of Art faces the unexpected death of her father. Consumed with her loss, she finds herself re-examining both her life and inner circle.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 146
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Before the Rooster Crows (2016)
Plot Summary:
Teenager Carmín lives in a mountainous village in the center of Puerto Rico with her tough and conservative grandmother. Her mother left for the US without her. The arrival of her father, after long years in prison, eases Carmín’s profound sadness. The relationship with him, however, brings its own ambiguousness and complexities and as Carmín moves into womanhood this causes great confusion, mostly for her.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 214
Genere: Drama
Country: Puerto Rico
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Dark Was the Night (2018)
Plot Summary:
In the aftermath of tragedy, a woman and her teenage son must forge into uncharted territory in order to move on with their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 685
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Camila Comes Out Tonight (2021)
Plot Summary:
When her grandmother becomes seriously ill, Camila is forced to move to Buenos Aires, leaving behind a liberal public high school for a scholastic, traditional private institution. Suddenly a senior without any friends, and with her single mother caught up in family affairs; Camila's fierce yet immature temperament is put to the test as she deals with the jarring change of scenery, and the alluring set of possibilities and experiences that lie in wait in the big city.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
A Distant Cry from Spring (2018)
Plot Summary:
A Distant Cry from Spring (TV Movies).
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 14
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 90%
The Gravedigger's Wife (2021)
Plot Summary:
Guled and Nasra are a loving couple, living in the outskirts of Djibouti city with their teenage son, Mahad. However, they are facing difficult times: Nasra urgently needs an expensive surgery to treat a chronic kidney disease. Guled is already working hard as a gravedigger to make ends meet.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 685
Genere: Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France, Somalia, Qatar
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
My Happy Family (2017)
Plot Summary:
Tbilisi, Georgia, 2016: In a patriarchal society, an ordinary Georgian family lives with three generations under one roof. All are shocked when 52-year-old Manana decides to move out from her parents’ home and live alone. Without her family and her husband, a journey into the unknown begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia, Germany, France
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, art house, existential, cerebral, crying
Similar in 76%
The Animal's Wife (2016)
Plot Summary:
Colombian director Víctor Gaviria melds stark realism with nail-biting thrills in this story about a teenage girl who is kidnapped and forced into marriage with a ferocious shantytown thug.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 444
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
In Between (2016)
Plot Summary:
The film captures the daily duality of three young Palestinian women in Tel Aviv, caught between hometown tradition and big city abandon, and the price they must pay for a lifestyle that seems obvious to many: the freedom to work, party, fuck, and choose.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Israel
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sincere, psychological, unusual plot structure, humorous, captivating, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Paper Spiders (2020)
Plot Summary:
A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
The Choice (2015)
Plot Summary:
A childless couple struggle in the aftermath of a sexual assault leaves the woman pregnant.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 297
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 79%
She Walks (2015)
Plot Summary:
An illegal Chinese immigrant and her teenage daughter are held captive in their home after a stranger breaks in.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 50
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Great Plains (2016)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by True Events An abused wife and mother to a young boy escapes her violent husband and heads for California with her son. She soon learns that her husband has accused her of kidnapping and the law is in hot pursuit. Now a fugitive, she must risk her life and freedom to protect them both from this predator of a man.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 155
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Interlude (2016)
Plot Summary:
Sofia, recently separated, takes her daughters to a small coastal town. Each one in their own universe, live the interlude as a challenge to free themselves and face their fears.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 19
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 86%
The Ever After (2014)
Plot Summary:
Ava and Thomas live--to outside eyes--the good life, complete with a child and a lovely home in Los Angeles, but something is lost. Ava has placed her acting career on hold to play the mother and good wife, while Thomas' job as a fashion photographer puts him in dangerously tempting situations. When trauma strikes, they must confront their innermost vulnerabilities to recover their disintegrating marriage.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 421
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Tammy's Always Dying (2019)
Plot Summary:
A daughter's attempt to care for her ornery, ailing mother.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 409
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 85%
North to Home (2022)
Plot Summary:
Suzanne McBride is excited to spend her birthday with her family. It will be the first time that her three adopted daughters will be together in years. This seems like a great time for a family reunion, but the sisters are each wrestling with unique challenges that threaten to derail this special occasion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 84%
La casa delle donne (2003)
Plot Summary:
It all begins in 1919 in the countryside surrounding Bari, Apulia. From a rich farmer and his three concubines(two of them the sisters of his handyman and the third his maid) a complicated family is formed, in which paternity and maternity is occasionally uncertain. Twenty years later, the eldest of the group weds and flees to Bari. The rest of the relatives move - not only to the same city - but into the same building. Furthermore, the "tribe" expands with the addition of the in-laws of the first-born.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Not on My Watch (2017)
Plot Summary:
A single mother gets entangled in a web of lies to protect her sons.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 241
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Things Behind the Sun (2006)
Plot Summary:
Now that Itzhak's father is in a coma, and dying, Itzhak is finally willing to visit him, thus breaking a ten-year silence. During his visits to the hospital, Itzhak, a beaten and reserved man, is frustrated to find himself neglected by his own family: his wife, a long suppressed artist whose life's dream is fulfilled that same week; his twenty-seven-year-old son - a "philosopher" still living at home; and his twenty-five-year-old daughter - a tormented lesbian who has had no contact with her family for a long time. Itzhak doesn't realize, though, that his ten year old daughter, Didush, neglected and almost invisible to her family, is secretly visiting her grandfather whom she has never met previously and sets out to discover the old family secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 98
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, touching, sincere, serious
Similar in 81%
Aviva, My Love (2006)
Plot Summary:
Aviva, a hard-working hotel cook in the small northern Israeli town of Tiberias, is on the brink of finally fulfilling her lifelong dream. For years she kept her remarkable writing abilities under wraps, until her sister, Anita, introduces her to Oded, an accomplished novelist. Immediately recognizing Aviva's talent, Oded takes her under his wing, promising to help her achieve greatness. But the journey to greatness effects her life and the lives of her family - her unemployed husband, her trouble children, her unstable mother, and primarily her sister, a funny and sensitive woman who have her own dreams. When Aviva discovered that Oded has other plans for her work, her world collapses.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 494
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Inch'Allah (2012)
Plot Summary:
A Canadian doctor finds her sympathies sorely tested while working in the conflict ravaged Palestinian territories.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, serious, emotional, disturbing, psychological, captivating, bleak, gloomy, extraordinary