Best movies like Sonny
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
New Orleans, 1981. Sonny Phillips, just discharged from the Army, returns home. The only life he's known is as a gigolo, working for his mother, but he wants to leave that behind. However, the job his Army buddy promised doesn't materialize, and he can't escape his past.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, disturbing, erotic, bleak, realistic, crying, southern gothic, crime drama
Best tv shows and movies like Sonny (2002):
Similar in 84%
Powder Blue (2009)
Plot Summary:
On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: bleak, emotional, serious, touching, realistic, scary, atmospheric, erotic, disturbing, anthology
Similar in 76%
What Alice Found (2003)
Plot Summary:
A poor young woman is recruited by a friendly couple traveling in an RV into becoming part of the dark world of truck stop prostitution.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 86%
Highway (2002)
Plot Summary:
Jack is caught with the wife of his employer, a Vegas thug. The thug sends goons after Jack, who convinces his best friend, Pilot, to flee with him. Pilot insists that they head for Seattle, but doesn't tell Jack why. The goons learn from Pilot's drug source where the youths are headed, and they follow, hell bent on breaking Jack's feet. On the road, Jack and Pilot give a ride to Cassie, a distressed young woman. She and Jack hit it off. They pick up an aging stoner headed to Seattle for Kurt Cobain's memorial, and they help a circus sideshow family. Why is Pilot so set on Seattle, will the goons catch Jack, and is there any way the friends' competing needs can be resolved?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: road movie, rough, serious, realistic, witty, cynical, offbeat, erotic, period piece, cult classic
Similar in 77%
Ethan Mao (2004)
Plot Summary:
Kicked out of his house because he's gay, Ethan Mao returns home to steal and ends up holding his family hostage on a fateful Thanksgiving Day.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 623
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, disturbing, tense, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, crying, independent film
Similar in 83%
Shadows & Lies (2010)
Plot Summary:
The story of William Vincent as he recounts the eccentric and curious path that has brought him, at mortal risk, to New York City, after four years in exile, to rescue a woman he scarcely knows, Ann, from the vague crime syndicate that first brought them together.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, realistic, neo noir, student film
Similar in 78%
Skins (2002)
Plot Summary:
An inspirational tale about the relationship between two Sioux Indian brothers living on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, rough, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Bloody Mama (1970)
Plot Summary:
Sexually abused as a young girl, Kate "Ma" Barker (Shelley Winters) grows into a violently powerful woman by the 1930s. She lovingly dominates her grown sons, and grooms them into a pack of tough crooks. The boys include the cruel Herman (Don Stroud), who still shares a bed with Ma; Fred (Robert Walden), an ex-con who fell in love with a fellow prisoner; and Lloyd (Robert De Niro), who gets high on whatever's handy. Together they form a deadly, bizarre family of Depression-era bandits.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, grindhouse, bleak, neo noir, hood, cult classic, independent film, psychological, tense, rough
Similar in 90%
Blue Ridge Fall (1999)
Plot Summary:
After a boy kills his father he must turn to his frinds to cover his tracks with tests their loyality and friendship.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: crime drama, tense, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 75%
Flawless (1999)
Plot Summary:
An ultraconservative police officer suffers a debilitating stroke and is assigned to a rehabilitative program that includes singing lessons - with the drag queen next door.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: talky, independent film, light, thinking, cult classic, comedy drama, sentimental, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Tropical Snow (1988)
Plot Summary:
New York is the dream city of Tavo and Marina, where the lovers hope to start a better life; at home in Bogota they have to work as pocket pickers at the airport to support their families. Dealer Oskar can persuade them to smuggle drugs in their stomachs on plane to New York - although both know of the risks, since Marina's sister died on a similar journey. However on arrival at the airport in New York they show nerves and all their dreams start to shatter.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Colombia, USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: independent film, neo noir, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Slingshot (2005)
Plot Summary:
Two cunning and manipulative drifters venture into Farifield County, Connecticut looking to seduce wealthy and lonely housewives.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 708
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, rough, realistic, suspenseful, sentimental, touching, exciting, light, captivating
Similar in 79%
Little Boy Blue (1997)
Plot Summary:
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, serious, suspense, bleak, sexy, explicit, realistic, crying, independent film
Similar in 88%
Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)
Plot Summary:
World-weary arthur Fernando has returned to his native Colombia to live out his days in peace. But Fernando's once-quiet hometown has become a hotbed of violence, drugs and corruption. On the brink of despair, Fernando meets Alexis, a beautiful but hardened street kid who lives by the rule of the gun. Together, they forge an unlikely relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Colombia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, meditative, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, crying, sexy, enigmatic
Similar in 87%
From the Edge of the City (1998)
Plot Summary:
Minority-group Greeks from an outer suburb of Athens struggle with their life on society's fringe and exploitation of one another.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, neo noir, lgbt cinema, disgusting, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 78%
Less Than Zero (1987)
Plot Summary:
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: stylized, erotic, inspirational, retro, sad, art house, cerebral, cult classic, visually stunning, erotic drama
Similar in 75%
The Naked Kiss (1964)
Plot Summary:
A former prostitute discovers that her philanthropic fiance is involved in perversion.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: neo noir, controversial, noir, dark, surreal, disturbing, art house, grindhouse, tense, independent film
Similar in 84%
River's Edge (1986)
Plot Summary:
A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions vary.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, independent film, dark, grim, creepy, cult classic, controversial, psychological, bleak, retro
Similar in 83%
L.I.E. (2001)
Plot Summary:
In this biting and disturbing coming-of-age tale from writer-director Michael Cuesta, life is bittersweet along the L.I.E., also known as the Long Island Expressway, as suburban teen Howie Blitzer learns all too clearly. In the space of a week, he loses nearly everything and everyone he knows and is left to navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, controversial, brutal, enigmatic, touching, realistic, sexy, stylized, independent film
Similar in 75%
Pixote (1980)
Plot Summary:
Pixote, a 10-year-old runaway boy, is arrested on the streets of Sao Paulo during a police round-up homeless people. Pixote endures torture, degradation and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of the runaways are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old transvesite hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape where they make their living by the life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, bleak, realistic, rough, atmospheric, serious, political, controversial, hood
Similar in 83%
White Boy Rick (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story of teenager, Richard Wershe Jr., who became an undercover informant for the police during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspense, hood, disturbing, retro, rough, neo noir, sad, independent film, non fiction, anamorphic
Similar in 80%
Hardcore (1979)
Plot Summary:
A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in California to look for his runaway teenage daughter who is making porno films in the porno pits of Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: neo noir, disturbing, erotic, psychological, art house, retro, depressing, slasher, social, controversial
Similar in 86%
Blood In, Blood Out (1993)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", and the story focuses on how a violent crime and the influence of narcotics alter their lives. Miklo is incarcerated and sent to San Quentin, where he makes a "home" for himself. Cruz becomes an exceptional artist, but a heroin addiction overcomes him with tragic results. Paco becomes a cop and an enemy to his "carnal", Miklo.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: intense, bad ending, entertaining, rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, cult classic, inspirational, retro
Similar in 80%
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Plot Summary:
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: emotional, harsh, rough, thought provoking, intense, realistic, sentimental, epic, crying, hood
Similar in 80%
Ash Wednesday (2002)
Plot Summary:
Ash Wednesday is set in the Manhattan of the early 1980's and is about a pair of Irish-American brothers who become embroiled in a conflict with the Irish Mob.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: intense, rough, suspenseful, serious, realistic, talky, crying, independent film, exciting, surprise ending
Similar in 89%
Cost of a Soul (2010)
Plot Summary:
Wounded in the war, Tommy Donahue and DD Davis return home from Iraq to the slum neighborhood they grew up in. Tommy returns to his wife, Faith, whom he abandoned while she was pregnant to escape a life of crime. Tommy meets his disabled six year-old daughter, Hope, for the first time, and she begins to melt his frozen heart. While DD struggles to make an honest living, his older brother, Darnell, has risen to become the neighborhood kingpin. DD faces the pressure to save his younger brother, James, from following in Darnell’s dangerous footsteps. Tommy and DD find themselves trapped in the same slum they joined the military to escape. As they struggle for redemption, their own families become entangled in a web of crime, corruption and violence.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 214
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, serious, psychological, captivating, rough, bleak, independent film
Similar in 87%
Willie Dynamite (1974)
Plot Summary:
Willie Dynamite is a pimp who operates in New York City. Willie was a big success as a pimp, but now, just as fast as he rose to the top, he has hit bottom. A former prostitute who has become a social worker tries to get Willie to clean up his life while it is still possible.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: hood, crime drama, grim, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, detective
Similar in 86%
Strays (1997)
Plot Summary:
Rick (Diesel) is frustrated by the repetitious grind of one-night stands and aimless hustling. Whilst looking for more to his life he meets Heather (Lanza), a neighbour. Rick takes the opportunity to escape his boring life style with her, but soon finds that his volatile behaviour threatens to finish their relationship before it even really begins.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: cult classic, tense, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Plot Summary:
A naive male prostitute and his sickly friend struggle to survive on the streets of New York City.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 118000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, depressing, controversial, cult classic, psychological, rough, serious, bleak, grim
Similar in 89%
Suspicious River (2000)
Plot Summary:
A young married woman (Parker) sells her body, not just for money, to guests at the motel where she works as a receptionist.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 852
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, rough, disturbing, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual
Similar in 87%
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Plot Summary:
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: road movie, cult classic, surreal, art house, lgbt cinema, touching, serious, captivating, melancholic, independent film