Best movies like Smolensk
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Inspired by true events of 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash in Smolensk, the film tells the partially fictional story of crash and various people affected by the tragedy. The protagonist is a journalist Nina, who refuses to accept the official version of the story and pursues her own independent investigation.
IMDB Rating: 1.2
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, political, semi documentary, factual, mumblecore, disturbing, dark
Best tv shows and movies like Smolensk (2016):
Similar in 85%
Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story (2019)
Plot Summary:
An investigative reporter Nellie Bly, who’s on a mission to expose the deplorable conditions and mistreatment of patients at the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum, and feigns mental illness in order to be institutionalized to report from the inside. The movie is an account of actual events surrounding Nellie’s stay beginning after she has undergone treatment, leaving her with no recollection of how she came to the asylum or her real identity.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, psychological thriller, disturbing, psychological, atmospheric, realistic, dark
Similar in 76%
438 Days (2019)
Plot Summary:
On the eve of June 28th, 2011 Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson put everything at stake by illegally crossing the border from Somalia into Ethiopia. After months of research, planning and failed attempts, they were finally on their way to report on how the ruthless hunt for oil effected the population of the isolated and conflict-ridden Ogaden region. Five days later they lay wounded in the desert sand, shot and captured by the Ethiopian army. But when their initial reportage died, another story began. A story about lawlessness, propaganda and global politics. After a Kafkaesque trial they were sentenced to eleven years in prison for terrorism. And they were far from alone. Their cellmates were journalists, writers and politicians persecuted for not bowing down to dictatorship. Their reportage about oil was transformed into a story about ink, and their daily lives turned into a fight for survival inside the notorious Kality prison in Addis Ababa.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Sweden
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, rough, thought provoking, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, exciting
Similar in 77%
Wildcat (2021)
Plot Summary:
An ambitious reporter stationed in the Middle East who is taken captive after her convoy is ambushed. She is confronted by the trauma of her past and must find a way to bring down the militants who incarcerated her.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 513
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Talk Radio (1988)
Plot Summary:
A rude, contemptuous talk show host becomes overwhelmed by the hatred that surrounds his program just before it goes national.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, talky, suspense, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychological, clever
Similar in 79%
The Shooter (2013)
Plot Summary:
The five days when Copenhagen was held in a panic grip by an intelligent activist and former elite shooter, who takes to arms when a woman journalist writes about the government’s broken promises in an environmental question.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, political
Similar in 88%
A Dark Reflection (2015)
Plot Summary:
A journalist digs deep into the world of aviation and discovers some uncomfortable truths. And a conspiracy trail dating back to 1954. But why is no one saying anything?.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 659
Genere: Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 85%
Christmas 9 to 5 (2019)
Plot Summary:
Jennifer is a tough crime beat reporter who gets the assignment of her life: to find the true meaning of Christmas. When she goes undercover in a department store as a 9 to 5 sales clerk from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, she finds her true calling and meets the man of her dreams. It's a Christmas she will never forget.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 673
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Baltic Storm (2003)
Plot Summary:
A journalist from Berlin, Germany, and a Swedish lawyer discover the truth behind the sinking of the "MS Estonia" in 1994, where more than 850 people drowned.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, interesting
Similar in 78%
The Hater (2020)
Plot Summary:
A duplicitous young man finds success in the dark world of social media smear tactics — but his virtual vitriol soon has violent real-life consequences.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, captivating, disturbing, intellectual, political, dark
Similar in 81%
Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
Plot Summary:
The McMartin family's lives are turned upside down when they are accused of serious child molestation. The family run a school for infants. An unqualified child cruelty "expert" videotapes the children describing outrageous stories of abuse. One of the most expensive and long running trails in US legal history, exposes the lack of evidence and unprofessional attitudes of the finger pointers which kept one of the accused in jail for over 5 years without bail.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: depressing, political, clever, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, talky
Similar in 78%
Whisky Romeo Zulu (2004)
Plot Summary:
Whisky Romeo Zulu tells the story prior to the crash of LAPA Boeing 737 that on August 31, 1999, caught fire after hitting an embankment in the center of Buenos Aires, killing 67 people. The disaster changed the history of civil and commercial aviation in Argentina, and the film recounts, from the standpoint of the director, a former airline pilot-how in some countries the safety of the flight is incredibly precarious.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, thought provoking, suspenseful, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
Survive! (1976)
Plot Summary:
Sixteen plane crash survivors stranded in the Andes turn to cannibalism to stay alive. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 578
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, grindhouse, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychotronic
Similar in 77%
06/05 (2004)
Plot Summary:
A fictional version of the events that led to the assassination of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn on May 6, 2002. The movie is based upon the book "The sixth of May" by Tomas Ross.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, suspenseful, disturbing, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Captain (2019)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of a pilot who had to ensure the safety of 128 passengers and crew members on the plane when its windshield became damaged mid-flight. The incident is regarded as one of the miracles in aviation history.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspense, sentimental, disturbing, action adventure, tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, factual, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Manuscripts Don't Burn (2013)
Plot Summary:
Khosrow and Morteza set out on a mission to kill someone. The assassination ought to be arranged as a suicide. At the last minute however, they are obliged to change their initial plans….
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Iran
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, rough, serious, political, controversial
Similar in 81%
The 9/11 Commission Report (2006)
Plot Summary:
Independent writer-director Leigh Slawner helms this chilling dramatization of the findings laid out in the best-selling 9/11 Commission Report, a document that sought to analyze the circumstances surrounding coordinated terrorist attacks against American civilians on Sept 11 2001.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 497
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, mockbuster, independent film
Similar in 89%
The Infiltrator (1995)
Plot Summary:
The Infiltrator is an American film about an Israeli freelance journalist who travels to Germany circa the early 1990's and uncovers a story about a dangerously pervasive underground Neo-Nazi faction, who are intent to bring Nazism back to the forefront in Germany. It originally aired on HBO in 1995. Among its cast include: Oliver Platt, Arliss Howard, and Tony Haygarth. It is based on the book In Hitler's Shadow : An Israeli's Journey Inside Germany's Neo-Nazi Movement by Yaron Svoray.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 731
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Complicit (2013)
Plot Summary:
An MI5 officer's attempts to foil a possible terrorist plot are undermined by bureaucracy and moral dilemmas. Will he make the world a safer place or be complicit in making a tense situation even worse?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 789
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, disturbing, thought provoking, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Able Danger (2008)
Plot Summary:
Tom Flynn, the idealist owner of a left-leaning radical café/bookstore and the quixotic publisher of a hard hitting 911 conspiracy expose, finds himself entangled with a mysterious Eastern European beauty, Kasia, who is on the run from strong hand of a global 911 cover up. In this contemporary take on film noir. When Tom is implicated in the murder of his friend and employee, he is forced to unravel Kasia's complex web of lies. As it turns out, Kasia possesses the smoking gun that proves the identities and methods of the real architects of 911, and Tom Flynn is willing to die to expose the truth. Written by Dave Herman.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 129
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: neo noir, serious, realistic, suspenseful, black and white, independent film, political thriller
Similar in 87%
Mad City (1997)
Plot Summary:
A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: intense, thought provoking, realistic, suspenseful, talky, tense, bleak, serious, political, suspense
Similar in 89%
The Pentagon Papers (2003)
Plot Summary:
This compelling political drama is based on the true story of high-ranking Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg, who, during the Nixon era, strove to preserve American democracy by leaking top-secret documents to the New York Times and Washington Post. The documents in question would eventually become famous as the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the true reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, disturbing, captivating, realistic, political, bleak
Similar in 88%
King's Game (2004)
Plot Summary:
Starting a new job as a political journalist at a leading newspaper, Ulrik Torp witnesses a brutal struggle for power in the Midparty's ranks -- a struggle that coincides with the charismatic party leader's involvement in a near fatal car accident. A flurry of lies and media speculation surrounds the incident. Gradually, Ulrik unearths a ruthless conspiracy involving the incumbent prime minister.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: political thriller, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, political
Similar in 89%
The Parallax View (1974)
Plot Summary:
An ambitious reporter, investigating a senator's assassination, realizes witnesses to the shooting are systematically dying and discovers a multi-million dollar corporation which serves as a front for the recruitment of political assassins.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, disturbing, suspenseful, psychological, neo noir, political, intense, political thriller, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspenseful, thought provoking, clever, captivating, disturbing, spiritual, neo noir, emotional
Similar in 77%
Not Without My Daughter (1991)
Plot Summary:
An American woman, trapped in Islamic Iran by her brutish husband, must find a way to escape with her daughter as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: factual, tense, thought provoking, touching, bleak, realistic, sad, retro, suspense, poignant
Similar in 90%
The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999)
Plot Summary:
An account of early 1970s social activist Ira Einhorn, who allegedly murdered his girlfriend and then fled the country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 763
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, factual
Similar in 75%
The China Syndrome (1979)
Plot Summary:
A modern nightmare nearly becomes reality in this tension-filled story about an "incident" at a nuclear power plant. Jane Fonda stars as Kimberly Wells, an ambitious TV reporter covering a story on energy sources, who is present at the nuclear plant when a startling accident occurs that nearly causes the meltdown of the reactor. A newsreel cameraman accompanying Wells (Michael Douglas) captures the incident on film but the television station won't air the footage. Though the plant's corporate heads are quick to deny the possibility of any real danger, Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon), the plant's veteran engineer, discovers faulty equipment at the plant. Attempting to tell others about his findings, an attempt is made on his life. In desperation, he forcibly takes control of the power plant and invites the media to hear his ceremony. But the corporation is determined to stop him in a taut and shocking climax!.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, tense, political, psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, neo noir, political thriller
Similar in 75%
JFK (1991)
Plot Summary:
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 167000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 189 min
Plot tags: controversial, suspense, political, captivating, disturbing, tense, political thriller, factual, suspenseful, talky
Similar in 78%
All the President's Men (1976)
Plot Summary:
In the run-up to the 1972 elections, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward covers what seems to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters. He is surprised to find top lawyers already on the defense case, and the discovery of names and addresses of Republican fund organizers on the accused further arouses his suspicions. The editor of the Post is prepared to run with the story and assigns Woodward and Carl Bernstein to it. They find the trail leading higher and higher in the Republican Party, and eventually into the White House itself.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 124000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political, cerebral, realistic, serious, suspense, factual, tense, captivating, neo noir
Similar in 88%
The Ides of March (2011)
Plot Summary:
Dirty tricks stand to soil an ambitious young press spokesman's idealism in a cutthroat presidential campaign where 'victory' is relative.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 229000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: political thriller, talky, political, suspense, clever, tense, realistic, psychological, suspenseful, tricky