Best movies like Shank
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Teenage gang member Cal, hides his sexuality from his fellow gang members despite their often violent dislike of anyone that isn't the same as them, be they unsuspecting shoppers, foreign students, gays, etc. When his world collides with Olivier, a student he rescues from a pointless beating, he encounters a lifestyle that presents as many new experiences as it does obstacles.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, erotic, captivating, talky, compassionate, lgbt cinema, sexual, crying, romantic
Best tv shows and movies like Shank (2009):
Similar in 87%
Drown (2015)
Plot Summary:
Len is a Surf Lifesaving champion, a legend in the cloistered surf club just like his father. When the younger, faster, and fitter Phil arrives at the club, Len’s legendary status starts to crumble. Then Len sees Phil arriving in the company of another man. Phil is gay. After the annual awards dinner, Len finds Phil in the Club House locker room and violently attacks him. To Len’s surprise, Phil refuses to rat on Len about the beating. When Phil wins the annual Surf Lifesaving competition, Len’s defeat is final. In an act of revenge, Len gets Phil drunk and subjects him to a series of humiliating acts. But, the hatefulness forces Len to come face to face with a fundamental question: can he accept the truth about his own sexuality.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Sport, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, tense, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
The Fruit Machine (1988)
Plot Summary:
Eddie and Michael are two 16-year-old gay friends from Liverpool. Berated by his father for his camp behavior, Eddie runs away from his Liverpool home and joins Michael, a streetwise hustler, who is also on the run.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, serious, grindhouse, independent film, realistic, crying, crime drama, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 83%
Jesus (2016)
Plot Summary:
18-year-old Jesús lives with his stern, somewhat unaffectionate father in Santiago, Chile. When not doing drugs, having casual sex or simply slouching in front of the TV, Jesús and his friends perform in a K-pop boyband. But his routine is thrown into chaos one evening when he and his drunken posse viciously assault a young gay man and leave him for dead. It’s an act that propels Jesús into a profound moral crisis which have severe consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 462
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Colombia
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sexy, homoerotic, psychological, unusual plot structure, contemplative, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 84%
Young Hunter (2020)
Plot Summary:
Ezequiel, a sixteen-year-old gay teenager in his sexual awakening, meets a boy of twenty-one. They quickly start a relationship and the situation unravels unexpectedly.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, stylized, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)
Plot Summary:
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party takes place over 24 hours at the birthday pool party of 17-year-old preacher's kid Henry Gamble. The party guests include adults and teenagers from his church, as well as Henry's "secular" friends, including the closeted young Logan, who has eyes for Henry.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, lgbt cinema, suspenseful, contemplative, mumblecore, dark comedy, teen
Similar in 88%
Sexual Tension: Volatile (2012)
Plot Summary:
Have you ever met someone who made your body heat up, get a little nervous and sweaty, and made your crotch stir a bit? Sexual Tension: Volatile will reignite those lustful feelings as it weaves six scintillating experiences of men in various stages of nudity and many forms of erotic male bonding. A pulsating, sexually-charged thrill ride.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, USA, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, erotic, anthology, touching, captivating, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
My Best Friend (2018)
Plot Summary:
Lorenzo is a teenager who lives in Patagonia. One day his family receives in his house to Caíto, the son of some friends who are going through a serious family situation and can not take care of him. He is a complicated kid and has difficulty adapting to the new home. Despite the differences, a unique friendship arises between them. Each has much to learn from the other. Caito, still with his things, has that share of rebellion that Lorenzo needs to break the strict molds in his head and to let his most repressed instincts and passions flow. Home life becomes chaotic but vital and engaging. Caíto is much more than a troublesome boy: he is someone who forces Lorenzo's parents to reopen a dark chapter of their past that they would rather not remember.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Argentina
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, romantic, semi serious, lgbt cinema, cute, crying, sexy, tragicomedy, enigmatic, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Like a Brother (2005)
Plot Summary:
Sebastien is a small town boy who moves to Paris and begins to explore the gay night life there. When a friend from back home calls to announce he's coming to Paris, Sebastien confronts some unrequited feelings.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, touching, erotic, lgbt cinema, independent film, sexy
Similar in 79%
Boys (2014)
Plot Summary:
BOYS tells the story of Sieger, a sporty, rather quiet 15-year-old boy who discovers love during the summer holidays. Sieger is training in the new athletics team for the national relay championships and meets the intriguing and unpredictable Marc. The friendship that develops seems nothing out of the ordinary, but Sieger secretly harbours stronger feelings for Marc. He engages in a lonely struggle with himself when it emerges that Marc is also in love with him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, sentimental, lgbt cinema, captivating, disturbing, sexy, independent film, sexual, cute
Similar in 78%
This Special Friendship (1964)
Plot Summary:
A tale of the tender relationship between a twelve-year-old boy and the upperclassman who is the object of his desire. All set in the rigid atmosphere of a Jesuit-run school.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Cold Showers (2005)
Plot Summary:
Mickael's family is struggling (they don't have enough money to pay for hot water) however his life is full with Judo and his girlfriend Venessa. Then Mickael makes a decision to open up his relationship to include Clement his rich-kid Judo partner, starting a chain of events.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: realistic, erotic, serious, emotional, melancholic, captivating, sexual, art house, eros, sensual
Similar in 87%
Cal (2013)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-year-old Cal returns from France to Britain after receiving news that his mother is ill. His finds his home city of Bristol facing hard economic times brought on by the global economic crisis, with poverty and crime on the rise and rioting and looting almost a nightly occurrence. It is not a warm homecoming as his sick mother remains stubbornly homophobic and wants nothing to do with the now openingly gay Cal while his battered Auntie Jane, now living in a run down council house, dulls her stagnation with welfare funded booze and disturbing attempts to sexually seduce her nephew. Navigating his way across this new landscape he meets a young student who needs his help. However his act of kindness brings him into contact with a lawless drug dealing pimp and a race against time to make peace with his mother and get out of town as quickly as possible. An intense tale of a family mired in poverty, angry and lost but still searching for love, respect and acceptance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, erotic, tense, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Brother to Brother (2004)
Plot Summary:
A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, thought provoking, touching, realistic, captivating, social, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Tiger Orange (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the small Central California town where they grew up, two estranged gay brothers struggle to reconnect after the recent death of their father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, lgbt cinema, homoerotic, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Children of God (2010)
Plot Summary:
Johnny (Johnny Ferro) is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. Lena is a pastor’s wife. Her husband demonizes homosexuality to further his career, yet he’s on the DL as well. When Lena discovers that her husband has infected her with VD, he accuses her of infidelities. These characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Bahamas
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, stylized, lgbt cinema, gloomy, crying, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 80%
Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006)
Plot Summary:
A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his new found sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: surreal, serious, sentimental, sincere, touching, realistic, erotic, art house, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Hidden Kisses (2016)
Plot Summary:
Nathan, 16, lives alone with his father Stephane. A newcomer in high school, he is invited to a party and falls in love with Louis, a boy in his class. They find themselves out of sight and kiss each other, but someone takes a picture of them. Soon, the photo is published on Facebook and a storm overtakes their lives as they face bullying and rejection.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema, realistic, captivating, disturbing, existential, cute, melancholic, atmospheric, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Sugar (2004)
Plot Summary:
Cliff has just turned 18 and his little sister has a gift for him: booze, a joint, a subway token and the command to have sex. Heading out on the town, Cliff finds friendship -- and more -- in the person of a young hustler named Butch. But Butch's dark side, along with a growing drug problem, leaves suburban family boy Cliff fearing for their future in this gay coming-of-age tale.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
The Way He Looks (2014)
Plot Summary:
Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Brazil
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, cute, romantic, sweet, sexual, serious, realistic, lgbt cinema, romantic drama, spectacular
Similar in 90%
Beach Rats (2017)
Plot Summary:
An aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn struggles to escape his bleak home life and navigate questions of self-identity, as he balances his time between his delinquent friends, a potential new girlfriend, and older men he meets online.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, captivating, disturbing, erotic, exciting, sexy, lgbt cinema, social, controversial
Similar in 77%
The Journey of Jared Price (2000)
Plot Summary:
"The Journey of Jared Price" is a gay-themed coming-of-age 2000 film written, produced and directed by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black. Black won the Oscar award for Best Original Screenplay for "Milk". The Journey of Jared Price was Black's first feature film. A hustler for a roommate, a wealthy Hollywood executive for a boss, a lonely blind woman and a loveable new best friend make "The Journey of Jared Price" an adventure you will never forget. Jared Price is a small town boy who arrives in Hollywood with a few hundred bucks and a lifetime of dreams. See how he handles each situation he gets into and grows in his understanding of who he is. When what he thinks is his first love turns out to be false, see how he is helped and given the strength to stay in L.A. and try again. This film will remind you that love is worth waiting for and that there is always hope.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, erotic, serious, realistic, sexual, independent film, sexy
Similar in 83%
You Are Not Alone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Young teenager Bo (Anders Agensø) is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth (an uncharacteristically grim Ove Sprogøe). Lonely and scared, he finds a soul mate in the headmaster's son (Peter Bjerg) and the two boys form a bond that slowly grows into a sexual relationship. Frank and unadorned, this Danish film concluded director Lasse Nielsen's youth-oriented trilogy that began with La' Os Være (1975) and continued with Måske Ku' Vi (1976). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, erotic, serious, realistic, sexy, art house, grindhouse, romantic drama, sexual
Similar in 86%
Watercolors (2008)
Plot Summary:
Carter, a troubled teen stays with a friend of his dads and starts flirting with her son Danny. After the weekend school returns, however Carter a school jock tells Danny he does not want to be seen with him at school. Their relationship grows outside school hours though & soon enough Danny falls in love with Carter & after Danny is attacked romance ensures, but can it last.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, emotional, serious, art house, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Plot Summary:
A pair of teenage boys growing up in a working-class neighbourhood of Thamesmead, in south-east London, become aware of their homosexuality. While both were vaguely aware they might be gay, neither had ever acted on their impulses. Once they decide that they're attracted to each other, neither is sure just what to do.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, sweet, lgbt cinema, sincere, semi serious, independent film, realistic, thought provoking, social
Similar in 78%
Dream Boy (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story of Nathan, a young teenager who tries to flourish in a romantic relationship with neighbour Roy. The two young men will have to face the brutal reality of the rural south of the United States in the late 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, serious, realistic, lgbt cinema, sexy, gothic, art house, independent film
Similar in 86%
Get Real (1998)
Plot Summary:
A tenderly romantic coming-of-age story as two boys in a British school fall in love.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, teen, sincere, romantic, emotional, realistic, sexy, lgbt cinema, romantic comedy
Similar in 89%
Come Undone (2000)
Plot Summary:
Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy Mathieu is 18-years-old and on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric and falls in love. The film, like a dream, flows back and forth between the past and present, often asking us to fill the deliberate jumps in time.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, meditative, lyrical, sentimental, contemplative, erotic, sexual, lgbt cinema, serious
Similar in 82%
Free Fall (2013)
Plot Summary:
A promising career with the police, a baby on the way... Marc's life seems to be right on track. Then he meets fellow policeman Kay and during their regular jogs Marc experiences a never-before-felt sense of ease and effortlessness -- and what it means to fall in love with another man. Torn between his family and his new feelings for Kay, Marc sees his world careening more and more out of control. Suddenly, his life is in free fall and Marc realizes that try as he may, he can't make everyone happy. Least of all, himself.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: emotional, sexual, disturbing, atmospheric, touching, sincere, lgbt cinema, serious, erotic, sexy
Similar in 76%
Floating Skyscrapers (2013)
Plot Summary:
Kuba attends an art opening with his girlfriend of two years and bumps into Mikal. The connection between these two young men is instantaneous and intoxicating, and despite opposition from all sides, he allows Mikal into his life. The results go beyond anything he could have imagined. This intimate and bold second feature from Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski captures the often-complicated consequences of finding love where others do not want it.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Poland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, erotic, bleak, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Plot Summary:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic, controversial, heartbreaking, serious, gloomy, emotional