Best movies like Skin
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In the late Seventies, a Dutch teenager named Frankie, who is the son of a holocaust survivor, lives in a working class area in Holland. Frankie’s mother is taken to hospital in a terminal condition, causing a bigger rift between him and his father. This leads to Frankie becoming the interest of the local Nazi skinhead group.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, non-linear, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Skin (2008):
Similar in 78%
Neds (2010)
Plot Summary:
NEDs (Non Educated Delinquents) is the story of a young man’s journey from prize-winning schoolboy to knife-carrying teenager. Struggling against the low expectations of those around him, John McGill changes from victim to avenger, scholar to NED, altar boy to glue sniffer. When he attempts to change back again, his new reality and recent past make conformity near impossible and violent self determination near inevitable.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, France, Italy
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, atmospheric, gloomy, biting, hood, sad
Similar in 85%
A Way of Life (2004)
Plot Summary:
At 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) across the street becomes target to her growing paranoia that Social Services are going to take her daughter, Rebecca, away from her. Her behavior becoming increasingly desperate as her delusions over her neighbor grow.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, realistic, disturbing, sad, serious, gloomy
Similar in 85%
My Dog Killer (2013)
Plot Summary:
Môj pes Killer is a one-day drama portraying eighteen-year-old Marek living near the Slovak-Moravian border with his dad and his racist friends. However, Marek's best true friend is his dog. His life is shaken up when he discovers the secret of his lost mother Marika.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 343
Genere: Drama
Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, disturbing, bleak, realistic
Similar in 90%
Oi! Warning (1999)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 786
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 90%
Speak Up! It's So Dark... (1993)
Plot Summary:
Psychological drama about the meeting between a neo-nazi and a Jewish doctor.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Combat Girls (2011)
Plot Summary:
Marisa, a 20-year-old German girl, hates foreigners, Jews, cops, and everyone she finds guilty for the decline of her country. She provokes, drinks, fights and her next tattoo will be a portrait of Adolf Hitler. The only place she feels home is the Neo-Nazi gang she belongs to, where hate, violence, and heavy parties are the daily rules. When 14-year-old Svenja joins the group, Marisa appears like a role model to her: she fits the purest idea of a combat girl fighting for the group's ideology. But Marisa's convictions will slowly evolve when she accidentally meets a young Afghan refugee. Confronted to him, she will learn that the black and white principles of her gang are not the only way. Will Marisa ever be able to get out of this group?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, disturbing, tense, rough, realistic, serious, political, sad, hood, steamy
Similar in 75%
Cadence (1990)
Plot Summary:
As punishment for drunken, rebellious behavior, a young white soldier is thrown into a stockade populated entirely by black inmates. But instead of falling victim to racial hatred, the soldier joins forces with his fellow prisoners and rises up against the insanely tyrannical and bigoted prison warden.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: inspirational, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 77%
Made in Britain (1982)
Plot Summary:
Trevor sometimes-violent skinhead with no regard for authority, and would rather spend his time stealing cars than sitting in the detention centre to which he is sent. His social worker, Harry Parker, tries to do his best, but Trevor is only interested when there’s something that he can get out of it. The authorities within the centre try to make Trevor conform to the norms of society, but he takes no notice, and would rather speak in a torrent of four-letter words and racial abuse.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, cult classic, powerful, terrifying, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 77%
Awaydays (2009)
Plot Summary:
On the Wirral in the grim early years of Margaret Thatcher's premiership, the opportunities for thrill seeking young men looking to escape 9 to 5 drudgery are what they've always been: sex, drugs, rock n' roll, fashion, football and fighting.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic, gloomy, cult film
Similar in 75%
In the Custody of Strangers (1982)
Plot Summary:
A teenage delinquent who goes on a drunken joyride is left in jail overnight by his parents in the hope that he might learn a lesson from it. But events follow which result in the boy spending far longer behind bars than anyone had foreseen.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 458
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 78%
The Knife That Killed Me (2014)
Plot Summary:
A journey through the memories of teenager Paul Varderman as he reflects on the events leading to the fatal moment his life is cut short. Paul moves to a new school and becomes involved with 'The Freaks', a group on the periphery of school life, those who don't fit in: scene kids, emo kids, indie kids. Outsiders. At the same time he attracts the attention of the schools twisted and manipulative bully, Roth. When Paul delivers a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a rival school, it sparks a dangerous feud. Faced with growing pressures from both groups, Paul must decide where his friendship lies, a decision that may cost him his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Small Faces (1995)
Plot Summary:
Three teenage brothers, gang-member Bobby, troubled mama's boy Alan and self-assured prankster Lex, reside in a downtrodden section of Glasgow, Scotland, circa 1968. But while Bobby and Alan are beginning to experience the power of raging hormones, the story focuses on Lex, who begins a downward spiral after he accidentally shoots the leader of Bobby's gang. Lex's cockiness and immaturity unfortunately prevent him from understanding the effect his subsequent crimes will have on both himself, and on those around him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, independent film, tense, rough, serious, road movie, thought provoking, clever, brutal
Similar in 89%
War (2014)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Matteo is attractive, albeit somewhat girlish and frail. The whole world is against him. He has no friends and his parents seem to live in a different universe. The pressure increases as his awkward attempts to win his father’s respect fail. One night two men carry him off: his parents send him to a remote alp, where he is forced to spend the summer working hard on a family farm. When Matteo arrives on the alp, a surprise awaits him.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, sincere, bleak
Similar in 75%
Zion and His Brother (2009)
Plot Summary:
Zion, aged 14 and his brother Meir, 17, are facing a crisis in their relationship after a terrible accident. They keep the secret to themselves and it haunts them until, finally, Zion re-examines his loyalty towards his older brother and decides that he is ready to take responsibility for his own life.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 147
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Nobody Owns Me (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of a lone father's relationship with his daughter, of the destructive power of alcohol, of a child's vulnerability, but also of love, betrayal and socialist politics in 1970s Sweden. A unique and moving story freely based on Åsa Linderborg's best-selling novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, social
Similar in 85%
Bluebird (2013)
Plot Summary:
On a freezing January evening, school bus driver Lesley completes her route, but her final inspection abruptly ends when a bluebird comes into view. What happens next shakes her small Maine logging town, proving that even the slightest actions have enormous consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 976
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, bleak, serious, realistic, independent film, atmospheric, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Lost Angels (1989)
Plot Summary:
Rich L.A. party brat Tim (Adam Horovitz) spins into a cycle of despair after his parents divorce, and trying to fill the void with drugs and trouble only buys him a ticket to an asylum. But with the help of a psychiatrist (Donald Sutherland) who has taken an interest in him, will Tim try to pull himself out of the muck of teenage rebellion and ennui?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, thought provoking, suspenseful, independent film, rough, captivating, gloomy, cult film
Similar in 83%
Groenten uit Balen (2011)
Plot Summary:
The story of the laborer family Debruycker during the turbulent strike by Vieille Montagne in 1971.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Belgium
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 85%
A City of Sadness (1989)
Plot Summary:
Soon after Japan relinquishes control of Taiwan in 1945, the Lin brothers face hardships from the changing culture. Bar owner Wen-heung (Chen Sown-yung), the eldest brother, falls foul of local gangsters, Wen-sun disappears, and Wen-leung, scarred by his experiences in the war, ends up in an insane asylum. Deaf-mute photographer Wen-ching (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), the youngest brother, decides to make a stand and fight the Kuomintang government from China that is assuming power.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: realistic, sad, saga, black and white, slow cinema, aesthetic, tense, rough, serious, captivating
Similar in 83%
Auschwitz (2011)
Plot Summary:
Auschwitz is a hard-hitting war film which shows life as it really was at the death camp.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Canada, Germany
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, tense, serious, postmodern, controversial, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Snow Pirates (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the shadow of the military coup in 1980, these children aged 12-13, playing their childish games soon arrive at an understanding of life's responsibilities and are hastily introduced into the world of the grownups.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 334
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Turkey
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, captivating, bleak
Similar in 90%
Hanussen (1988)
Plot Summary:
A man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters. He always speaks the truth, which brings him to the attention of powerful Nazis. He predicts their rise (good propaganda for them) and their violence (not so good). He's in pain and at risk. What is Hanussen's future?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Hungary, West Germany, Austria
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: spiritual, sad, esoteric, intelligent, tense, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Against the Wall (1994)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of the Attica Prison uprising of 1971.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: political, cult classic, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 83%
The Kautokeino Rebellion (2008)
Plot Summary:
Religious and cultural reawakening inspires rebellion in a 19th century Norwegian village.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, realistic, esoteric, bleak
Similar in 83%
The Believer (2001)
Plot Summary:
A hardcore American racist skinhead who, because of his intelligence, leads a gang dedicated to fighting the enemy: the supposed American-Jewish conspiracy for domination. However, he's hiding a secret: he's Jewish-born, a brilliant scholar whose questioning of the tenets of his faith has left him angry and confused, turning against those who he thinks have a tragic history of their own making.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, bleak, independent film, realistic, psychological, thought provoking, intellectual, intense, philosophical
Similar in 84%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, political, depressing, stylized, harsh, rough, cult classic, social, tense, sincere
Similar in 75%
Brainstorm (2000)
Plot Summary:
A trip to the mental institution hell. This odyssey is lived by Neto, a middle class teenager, who lives a normal life until his father sends him to a mental institution after finding drugs on his pocket. The maconha cigarrete is just the final drop that exposes the family tragedy. Send to a mental institution, Neto gets to know a completely absurd, inhumane reality in which the people are devoured by a corrupt and cruel institution system. The documentary type language used by the director give this movie a sensation of realty that increases even more the impact of the emotions Neto goes through. In the mental institution, Neto is forced to mature. The transformations that he goes through change this relations with his father.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, controversial, tense, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 80%
Blue Spring (2001)
Plot Summary:
Soon after being named the new leader of his high school's gang system, Kujo grows bored with the violence and hatred that surround him. He wants desperately to abandon his post… but his once-enviable position of power has a strange way of making him feel powerless.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, disturbing, serious, manga
Similar in 84%
Fuehrer Ex (2002)
Plot Summary:
Ingo Hasselbach, whose parents were Communist Party members in East Germany during his childhood, has lived at both ends of the political seesaw. The question of how people reach a change of heart is a profound one; Hasselbach describes the external forces that led to his founding Germany's first neo-Nazi political party and the internal ones that led him away from it five years later.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, disturbing, tense, rough, bleak, realistic
Similar in 88%
Gandhi, My Father (2007)
Plot Summary:
With Gandhi My Father, producer Anil Kapoor and director Feroz Abbas Khan have shed light onto Gandhi the person, rather than Gandhi the icon. Using Gandhi’s political career as a canvas, the film paints a picture of his intricate, complex, and strained relationship with his son Harilal Gandhi.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: India, UK, South Africa, USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, captivating, gujarati, serious, realistic, cult film