Best movies like Sleeping Giant
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age tale that turns on three teenagers who are having a vacation by a lakeside.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: cult classic
Best tv shows and movies like Sleeping Giant (2015):
Similar in 85%
Last Summer (2018)
Plot Summary:
During a long hot summer in the 1970s, four boys roam free through a neglected rural paradise, until a tragedy strikes that sets them against the adult world and changes their lives forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 357
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 79%
Sparrows (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a 16-year-old Icelandic boy, Ari, who lives with his mother in Reykjavík, She has to leave the country for a new job, sending him back to the small town of his youth. There he finds his old friend, suddenly a young woman with a tricky romantic relationship; and his father has become a victim of the financial crisis.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iceland, Denmark, Croatia
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: captivating, sincere, suspenseful, melancholic
Similar in 81%
Amy George (2011)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen-year-old Jesse wants to be an artist, but believes that his mundane middle-class Toronto life has left him unprepared. After reading a book on what it takes to be a "true-artist", he sets out looking for risk, ecstasy, wildness and women. Amy George is a microbudget independent drama about the time in a boy's life when he's at his least likeable.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 188
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, unusual plot structure, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 81%
City Boy (1992)
Plot Summary:
Nick, a 17-year-old in search of his father, gains employment with a logging company in a beautiful and mysterious virgin forest known as the Limberlost. Through his relationships with new associates and his adventures in this new and strange environment, Nick learns the value of personal honesty and integrity and discovers what defines true friendship. He finds himself torn between his affection for Angelica, who believes with her Aunt Olivia that the forest should be preserved, and loyalty to his boss, the owner of the lumber company. In the end, this city boy must choose between his own safety and the lives of those he has come to love.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
Thorn Castle (2012)
Plot Summary:
Tutajos is an excellent student whose parents decide to reward his academic achievements with a vacation to the countryside. Robbed of his gadgets and easy city-lifestyle, Tutajos finds himself completely out of his element – until a goodhearted ranger named Matula teaches him how to get back to nature. As Tutajos’ best friend Bütyök joins him on his vacation, the two boys learn the joys of camping, hunting, and living off of the land.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 263
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: Hungary
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
The Cormorants (2016)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of their twelfth year Matteo and Samuele spend their days between the river, the forest and the shopping center, but compared to previous years, something is changing. The game becomes boring, imagination gives way to discovery, adventure turns into life experience. A summer without beginning and without end, the story about a friendship, an age and a land which are obliged to change with the inexorable passage of time.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Kicks (2016)
Plot Summary:
When his hard-earned kicks get snatched by a local hood, fifteen-year old Brandon and his two best friends go on an ill-advised mission across the Bay Area to retrieve the stolen sneakers.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, psychological, captivating, hood, action adventure, suspense, social, mind blowing, aesthetic
Similar in 75%
Softie (2021)
Plot Summary:
Ten-year-old Johnny stands out from his family and his tough neighborhood in Eastern France. He's sensitive, intelligent and interested in all kinds of things way beyond his years. With curiosity, he observes the ups and downs of his young single mother's turbulent love life. Things change when a new teacher, fresh from the big city, takes over Johnny's class. Mr. Adamski believes in Johnny and wants to open a new world to him. The sophisticated young teacher also intrigues the boy.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: social
Similar in 88%
Weirdos (2016)
Plot Summary:
Two Nova Scotian teens who hit the road in July 1976 accompanied by the laconic ghost of (the still-living) Andy Warhol.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 550
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, tense, sexy, unusual plot structure, contemplative, road movie
Similar in 82%
In Your Absence (2008)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Pablo is a quiet, lonely boy with a troubled past. His only friend is Julia, a shameless 15-year-old girl who is more than willing to help Pablo with his transition from childhood to adolescence, and give him some advice on sex, love and life in general. On a quiet country road just outside of the village, Pablo meets Paco, an oddly calm, well dressed stranger whose car just broke down. Nevertheless, he seems more interested in the boy than fixing his problem.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 949
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Spain
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, surprise ending, captivating, disturbing, art house, tense, atmospheric, rough, realistic
Similar in 81%
Hide Your Smiling Faces (2013)
Plot Summary:
Tommy and his older brother Eric live in the midst of vast remote forests. The death of their friend pushes them close to the edge. Eric doesn’t know how to channel his energy. All at once, nature’s vastness feels stifling.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, bleak, serious, gothic, mumblecore, visually stunning, atmospheric, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
And Then I Go (2017)
Plot Summary:
Two teenage outsiders are demoralized daily at school, until an idea for vengeance offers them a terrifying release.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, unusual plot structure, psychological, thought provoking, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
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 83%
The Giants (2011)
Plot Summary:
Brothers Danny and Zak, 15 and 13 & 3/4 are spending the summer in their deceased grandfather's house, waiting in vain for their mother, who is otherwise busy, and running low on cash. To make some money they decide to rent out the house to a local drug dealer, but things don't go exactly as planned.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, feel good, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 75%
Jet Boy (2001)
Plot Summary:
Dave Schultz' feature debut Jet Boy is a drama about a boy attempting to figure out his future. Nathan (Branden Nadon) goes on a search to find his father after his mother dies of a drug overdose. Nathan has been prostituting himself in order to get by when he befriends Boon Palmer (Dylan Walsh). In Dylan, Nathan sees his possible future. In Nathan, Dylan sees a chance to rectify his past.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, emotional, erotic, sexy, independent film, bleak, gloomy, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Freedom Is Paradise (1989)
Plot Summary:
Young Sasha is brought into a state-run children's home because his mother died early and his father spends most of his life in prison. The conditions are like in a penal institution. Sasha tries several times to escape and to search for his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 322
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: road movie, crying
Similar in 78%
Everything Is Fine (2008)
Plot Summary:
Josh is an ordinary teen living in an ordinary suburb. One morning he finds his friend's dead body. Next, he discovers that three more friends also have killed themselves, leaving him out of their pact. As the sole survivor, Josh becomes more and more detached from the world around him. It is a modern portrait of today's teens: invincible yet fragile, clear-thinking yet confused.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, touching, erotic, sincere, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 87%
A Birder's Guide to Everything (2013)
Plot Summary:
David Portnoy, a 15-year-old birding fanatic, thinks that he's made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father's remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 79%
King Jack (2015)
Plot Summary:
Growing up in a rural town filled with violent delinquents, Jack has learned to do what it takes to survive, despite having an oblivious mother and no father. After his aunt falls ill and a younger cousin comes to stay with him, the hardened 15-year-old discovers the importance of friendship, family, and looking for happiness even in the most desolate of circumstances.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 84%
War of the Buttons (1994)
Plot Summary:
The children of Ballydowse and Carrickdowse engage in battles where they cut of the buttons, shoe-laces and underwear of their captured opponents. This is to get the boys in trouble with their parents. They go to battle in mass groups of dozens, throwing stones and cutting off their opponents buttons etc. And sometimes they go to battle completely naked and exposed. In one such scene about 30 boys return from a battle to celebrate victory at a barn-house only to find some girls waiting for them and they get very embarrassed at losing their privacy.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: UK, France, Japan, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, epic, sincere, serious, contemplative, light, romantic, sexy
Similar in 82%
Mud (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive and make a pact to help him escape from an island in the Mississippi.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 187000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, atmospheric, touching, suspenseful, realistic, southern gothic, independent film, tense, enigmatic
Similar in 85%
Giant Little Ones (2018)
Plot Summary:
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: captivating, emotional, realistic, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, independent film, freeze frame, indie film, meditative, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
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 78%
Close (2022)
Plot Summary:
Two thirteen year-olds have always been incredibly close but they drift apart after the intimacy of their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. An emotionally transformative and unforgettable portrait of the intersection of friendship and love, identity and independence, and heartbreak and healing.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands, France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sad, teen, crying, iconic
Similar in 84%
Walkabout (1971)
Plot Summary:
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aborigine boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: road movie, atmospheric, visual, surreal, scenic, visually stunning, meditative, thought provoking, touching, philosophical
Similar in 89%
The Cure (1995)
Plot Summary:
Dexter, age 11, who has AIDS, and his next door neighbor Eric, a little older and much bigger, become best friends. Eric also becomes closer to Dexter's mother than to his own, who is neglectful and bigoted and violently forbids their friendship upon learning of it. Dexter and Erik start the journey to find "The Cure" they had read about in the local newspaper.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sad, touching, tear jerker, inspirational, sincere, realistic, depressing, spiritual, epic, crying
Similar in 90%
White Water Summer (1987)
Plot Summary:
When the experienced guide Vic accompanies the city boy Alan and his three friends on their first wilderness experience, he not only hope to teach the four boys lessons about the wilderness, but about themselves. Vic pushes them to the limit. Soon after alienating the boys, Vic finds himself in desperate need of help and must rely on his students in order to survive.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: intense, sincere, exciting, suspenseful, feel good, serious, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, scary
Similar in 75%
White Squall (1996)
Plot Summary:
Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, touching, serious, rough, inspirational, feel good, nautical, anamorphic, profound
Similar in 84%
The Kings of Summer (2013)
Plot Summary:
Joe Toy, on the verge of adolescence, finds himself increasingly frustrated by his single father, Frank's attempts to manage his life. Declaring his freedom once and for all, he escapes to a clearing in the woods with his best friend, Patrick, and a strange kid named Biaggio. He announces that they are going to build a house there, free from responsibility and parents. Once their makeshift abode is finished, the three young men find themselves masters of their own destiny, alone in the woods.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, sentimental, funny, emotional, humorous, melancholic, teen, indie film, realistic
Similar in 85%
Stand by Me (1986)
Plot Summary:
After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 432000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sad, emotional, feel good, atmospheric, cult classic, teen, road movie, inspirational, clever