Best movies like Sign of the Lion
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
An American in Paris lives by sponging off his working friends, and throws a party using borrowed money when his rich American aunt dies, believing firmly in his horoscope.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sincere, humorous, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, semi serious
Best tv shows and movies like Sign of the Lion (1962):
Similar in 83%
Women Women (1974)
Plot Summary:
The fantasies and dreams of two over-the-hill actresses are intertwined with their realities, as the two roommates struggle to survive their day-to-day lives in the expensive and difficult world of Paris.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: semi serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Suzanne's Career (1963)
Plot Summary:
In the second of Rohmer's moral tales, he examines the relationship between two friends and a girl who at first appears easily exploited. It is a complex tale of feelings and misconceptions, acted out within the head of the main character, as part of Rohmer's attempt to more easily simulate the mindscape quality of literature within a film.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, clever, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, weird
Similar in 88%
Don't Forget You're Going to Die (1995)
Plot Summary:
Benoit has planned out his life. Unfortunately he has forgotten the military duty. After he is called to duty he tries everything to get around. He goes to a psychiatrist who gives him medicine against depression. As this doesn't work out he tries suicide. The story gets even worse as he is told by a military doctor that he is HIV positive. Benoit tumbles down into the drug scene. Then he goes to Italy and meets Claudia. Things seem to improve, but only for a short time.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 577
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Louise Wimmer (2011)
Plot Summary:
The middle-aged titular heroine (Masiero) of this bare-bones, Dardenne-esque debut has certainly fallen on hard times: Living between her car and a storage shed, working a part-time job as a hotel chambermaid, and trying against all odds to obtain public housing, Louise scrapes by on a day-to-day subsistence that’s only a few Euros away from skid row.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 422
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, gloomy
Similar in 79%
If You Die, I'll Kill You (2011)
Plot Summary:
In Paris' cosmopolitan and colorful 10th arrondissement, Philippe, who's fresh out of prison, crosses paths with Avdal, a Kurd who is trying to track down an Iraqi war criminal. Avdal, who dreams of staying in France, plans to bring his fiancee Siba to Paris. She's due to arrive in the next few days. The two men strike up a friendship and when Avdal dies suddenly and unexpectedly, Philippe finds himself left to organize the funeral arrangements. What should he do with the body? Siba arrives in Paris, and soon learns that Avdal has died. She is taken in by a group of Kurdish men and before long she also meets Philippe - all of whom are quite smitten by her beauty. Meanwhile, Avdal's father Cheto, a devout Muslim, comes to Paris to grieve for his son. He intends to force Siba to return to her homeland, but the young woman has now had a taste of freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, humorous, realistic, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 78%
The Pianist (1998)
Plot Summary:
Mario Gas directed this music-themed Spanish drama set in Barcelona of the mid-'80s. When famed composer Lluis Doria (Laurent Terzieff) visits a transvestite club, he learns his lifelong friend Albert Rossell (Serge Reggiani) is the house pianist. A flashback takes the tale four decades into the past where the younger Rossell (Pere Ponce) rejoins Teresa (Paulina Galvez) after having spent years in prison for helping anti-Franco anarchists. The story continues into Paris of the '30s, the period when Doria and Rossell first met, sharing a mutual interest in music and Teresa, before civil war sent them in different directions.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 106
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
1001 Grams (2014)
Plot Summary:
When Norwegian scientist Marie attends a seminar in Paris on the actual weight of a kilo, it is her own measurement of disappointment, grief and, not least, love, that ends up on the scale. Finally Marie is forced to come to terms with how much a human life truly weighs and which measurements she intends to live by.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, contemplative, serious, psychological, captivating, sexy, touching, gloomy
Similar in 88%
The Letter (1999)
Plot Summary:
A well-bred, lovely, spiritual, sad young woman marries an attentive physician who loves her. She feels affection but no love. Soon after, without design, she falls in love with Pedro Abrunhosa, a poet and performance artist. He also loves her. She keeps her distance from him, confessing her love to a friend who is a nun and, later, to her husband. Hunger for her love and jealousy consume him; she attends him as he wastes away. With his death, she can marry and express her passion, but what she does and how she explains herself, particularly to her cloistered friend, is at the heart of the film. Glimpses of convent life and of Abrunhosa on stage give contrast and mute comment.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 730
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Portugal, Spain
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Six in Paris (1965)
Plot Summary:
Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d'Etoile (Rhomer) concerns a haberdasher and his umbrella; and La Muette (Chabrol), a bourgeois family and earplugs.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: anthology, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Pater (2011)
Plot Summary:
Vincent Lindon and Alain Cavalier drink together in bars while coming up with tall tales.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 506
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, experimental, contemplative, fake documentary
Similar in 77%
Hold Back (2012)
Plot Summary:
Paris, today. Dorcy, a young black Christian, wants to marry Sabrina, a young North African. It what would be a simple matter if it weren't for the fact that Sabrina has 40 brothers and that this easygoing wedding has crystallized a taboo still rooted in the mentalities of the two communities: no marriages between Blacks and Arabs. Slimane, the elder brother, and guardian of traditions, will oppose this union in every way possible.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 233
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, tense, thought provoking
Similar in 87%
G.H.B. (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reflection on love and pleasure experienced by three women, set in France, New York, and Shanghai.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 25
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Long Absence (1961)
Plot Summary:
The Long Absence (French: Une aussi longue absence) is a 1961 French film directed by Henri Colpi. It tells the story of Therese (Alida Valli), a café owner mourning the mysterious disappearance of her husband sixteen years earlier. A tramp arrives in the town and she believes him to be her husband. But he is suffering from amnesia and she tries to bring back his memory of earlier times.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 967
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Living on Love Alone (2010)
Plot Summary:
Julie Bataille is fed up with student jobs. At 23, with a 5-years university degree, she wants to work for real. She meets Ben by chance at a job interview. He's a guy who chose to live by the day, getting by with whatever crosses his path and small-time trafficking. Ben asks her to come and spend the summer with him in the South. Julie declines. Then one day, on an impulse, she leaves everything behind and joins him.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 394
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, semi serious, sincere, realistic, cynical, offbeat, biting, suspense
Similar in 89%
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 86%
My Life to Live (1962)
Plot Summary:
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: art house, philosophical, intellectual, black and white, visual, atmospheric, serious, depressing, erotic, inspirational
Similar in 83%
Betty (1992)
Plot Summary:
When Betty is caught en flagrante, her bourgeois in-laws and husband force a divorce settlement upon her and bar her from seeing her two daughters. She is rescued from an alcoholic stupor by Laure, a middle-aged woman who takes Betty to her hotel lodgings, extends friendship and care, and listens to her story. Laure's lover, Mario, the proprietor of the bar where Betty and Laure met, is first a friend, then Betty's next conquest.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 88%
Summer Nights (2014)
Plot Summary:
Michele and Helene seem to be the perfect couple. However, on weekends, Michele steps into a secret life, as a transvestite, Mylene, in a hidden French forest. There, Mylene meets with a lover, Flavia, another transvestite who once fought alongside Michele in war. Michele works to balance his double life, but soon, Helene becomes concerned with her husband's mysterious trips.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 108
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, humorous, semi serious, sincere, sexy, sexual
Similar in 87%
Les corps impatients (2003)
Plot Summary:
Paul and Charlotte are in love. Charlotte discovers she has a grave malady and Paul supports her. But Paul is also attracted to Ninon, another girl. Charlotte accepts Paul to have an affair with her, and the three start a difficult and ambiguous relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 613
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 88%
A Very Private Affair (1962)
Plot Summary:
A gorgeous teen, Jill, resides in Switzerland with her mother and harbors feelings for the handsome Fabio, an older man who is married to one of her friends. Growing restless, Jill moves to Paris to pursue ballet, but instead finds success and fame as a model and actress. When Jill, now a celebrity, seeks to retreat from the limelight and returns home to Switzerland, she begins a romance with the newly divorced Fabio, leading to an unwelcome media circus.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, mind bending, realistic, witty, contemplative, stylized
Similar in 79%
Bad Girl (2012)
Plot Summary:
Louise simultaneously discovers that she is pregnant and that her mother is seriously ill. Happiness and guilt, euphoria and sadness, filial love and love, period. She'll need a good nine months to cope with all this.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, captivating, sexy, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Those Who Remain (2007)
Plot Summary:
Bertrand (Vincent Lindon) dutifully visits his terminally ill wife every day, braving the long train and bus ride to and from the hospital. Lorraine (Emmanuelle Devos) not so willingly visits her boyfriend who was diagnosed with colon cancer. They bump into each other during one of their visits and begin to meet for coffee. Coffee turns into Lorraine offering to drive Bertrand to the train station and the two turn to each other in their time of grief and confusion.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 623
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, atmospheric, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Black Limousine (2010)
Plot Summary:
A ghost story set in the city of dreams (IMDb.com).
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, atmospheric, captivating, sincere, bleak
Similar in 79%
Les Jours venus (2014)
Plot Summary:
An ex soixante- huitard is forced to look back at his past .His kids look at him like an old soldier from a very distant war.His banker called him urgently.His last script idea is refused.He remembers meeting his wife in Sarajevo during the war.Most importantly he can't figure out the meaning of the concept of camera/catastroph.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 74
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: clever, realistic, humorous, talky, semi serious, offbeat, contemplative, postmodern
Similar in 79%
Summer (1986)
Plot Summary:
A lonely Parisian woman comes to terms with her isolation and anxieties during a long summer vacation.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, anthology, cute, aesthetic, psychological, sincere, clever, touching, humorous
Similar in 79%
The Moon Child (2011)
Plot Summary:
David, a professor of dermatology, has been treating 13-year-old Romain since he was a baby. Afflicted with a rare skin condition, Romain must avoid sunlight and is condemned to live in the shade. David and Romain have become the closest of friends and nothing can separate them. But then David learns that he is about to be transferred to another clinic in another town. How will he be able to break the news to Romain? And how will Romain cope with this new crisis in his life?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 256
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
A Single Girl (1995)
Plot Summary:
A young Parisian must make major decisions about pregnancy, a job and her boyfriend.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexual, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, rough
Similar in 89%
The Three-Way Wedding (2010)
Plot Summary:
A play writer entertains the actors of his next play, including his ex-wife and her new lover. Everyone is finding his new place.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, sincere, offbeat, humorous, witty, contemplative
Similar in 82%
It All Starts Today (1999)
Plot Summary:
Set in a forlorn mining town near Valencienne in the north of France, the story is about one man's struggle to bring life to his once prosperous village and its inhabitants. Philippe Torreton, who won a César for Best Actor with his title role in Capitaine Conan, plays Daniel, the head teacher of a nursery school in a town demoralized by unemployment. Daniel is determined against all odds to bring life to the community. When a parent who has come to pick up her children collapses at the school grounds due to alcohol abuse, and social services turns a deaf ear to all pleas for help, Daniel decides to take the law into his own hands. Despite resistance from the townspeople, in the long run his efforts are not fruitless.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: social, sincere, thought provoking, touching, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 82%
Balancing Act (2012)
Plot Summary:
Having cheated on his wife, Giulio, a municipal employee, moves out, but has to find a solution on how to still support his family, and himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 823
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, psychological, tense, captivating, sincere, gloomy