Best movies like Summer of 85
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
What do you dream of when you're 16 years old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can't get a bigger kick than dying. And that's why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, thought provoking, captivating, sincere, aesthetic, stylized, novela, cute, sexy, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Summer of 85 (2020):
Similar in 76%
Seashore (2015)
Plot Summary:
A lonely beach on the southernmost coast of Brazil is the scene for two friends, on the brink of adulthood, to explore their understanding of themselves and one another. Martin (Mateus Almada) has been sent by his father to retrieve what appears to be an inheritance-related document from the family of his recently deceased and estranged grandfather. Tomaz (Mauricio Jose Barcellos) accompanies him, seemingly hoping to regain some of their former closeness. The two boys shelter themselves in a glass house, in front of a cold and stormy sea.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Brazil
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, talky, sincere, atmospheric, captivating, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 84%
Departure (2015)
Plot Summary:
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, serious, captivating, realistic, controversial, contemplative, erotic, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
My Best Friend (2018)
Plot Summary:
Lorenzo is a teenager who lives in Patagonia. One day his family receives in his house to Caíto, the son of some friends who are going through a serious family situation and can not take care of him. He is a complicated kid and has difficulty adapting to the new home. Despite the differences, a unique friendship arises between them. Each has much to learn from the other. Caito, still with his things, has that share of rebellion that Lorenzo needs to break the strict molds in his head and to let his most repressed instincts and passions flow. Home life becomes chaotic but vital and engaging. Caíto is much more than a troublesome boy: he is someone who forces Lorenzo's parents to reopen a dark chapter of their past that they would rather not remember.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Argentina
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, romantic, semi serious, lgbt cinema, cute, crying, sexy, tragicomedy, enigmatic, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Like a Brother (2005)
Plot Summary:
Sebastien is a small town boy who moves to Paris and begins to explore the gay night life there. When a friend from back home calls to announce he's coming to Paris, Sebastien confronts some unrequited feelings.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, touching, erotic, lgbt cinema, independent film, sexy
Similar in 79%
A Brother (2018)
Plot Summary:
15-year-old Tom (Simon Royer) is going to spend another calm summer with his parents and younger sister at their summer house. But by fate, another family comes to spend some time with them, with their 17-year-old son Félix (Marin Lafitte). In the unforgettable summer, Félix will introduce Tom to new things.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema, sexy, psychological, sentimental, unusual plot structure, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Heartstopper (2022)
Plot Summary:
Charlie, a highly strung, openly gay over-thinker, and Nick, a cheerful soft-hearted rugby player, meet at a British all-boys grammar school. Friendship blooms quickly, but could there be something more...? Based on Alice Oseman's bestselling graphic novel series HEARTSTOPPER.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, disturbing, cute, teen, feel good, queer cinema, gay cinema, fun
Similar in 75%
Boys (2014)
Plot Summary:
BOYS tells the story of Sieger, a sporty, rather quiet 15-year-old boy who discovers love during the summer holidays. Sieger is training in the new athletics team for the national relay championships and meets the intriguing and unpredictable Marc. The friendship that develops seems nothing out of the ordinary, but Sieger secretly harbours stronger feelings for Marc. He engages in a lonely struggle with himself when it emerges that Marc is also in love with him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, sentimental, lgbt cinema, captivating, disturbing, sexy, independent film, sexual, cute
Similar in 90%
The Witnesses (2007)
Plot Summary:
Manu arrives in Paris, in the early days of AIDS, at the beginning of the 1980s. He strikes up a friendship with Adrien, a wealthy doctor in his early fifties, who introduces him to Sarah and Mehdi, a young couple.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, erotic, crying, clever, realistic, contemplative, detective
Similar in 85%
The Way He Looks (2014)
Plot Summary:
Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Brazil
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, cute, romantic, sweet, sexual, serious, realistic, lgbt cinema, romantic drama, spectacular
Similar in 84%
Reinventing Marvin (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young gay man determined to reinvent his life leaves everything behind on his quest for self-realization.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: non-linear, psychological, tense, captivating, thought provoking, unusual plot structure, contemplative, art house, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
North Sea Texas (2011)
Plot Summary:
Pim lives in a run-down house in a dead-end street somewhere on the Flanders coast, together with his mother Yvette Bulteel. Life here smells of cold French fries, cheap cigarettes, vermouth and stale beer. Mother Yvette uses her friend Etienne, with his lousy grey Fiat, as a driver for the nights she has to “perform”. As a kid Pim dreams of a better life, imagining princesses and beauty queens. But when Pim turns 16 he dreams of Gino, the handsome boy next door, instead. Ever since they were children there has been this tension between them. Now Gino is Pim’s motorcycling hero. Cold mockery, little humiliations and tiny bits of hope make up Pim’s life. No wonder he sometimes flees to his dream world.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, lgbt cinema, romantic, suspenseful, erotic, art house, sexual, cute
Similar in 77%
Wild Reeds (1994)
Plot Summary:
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, lgbt cinema, sad, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
You Are Not Alone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Young teenager Bo (Anders Agensø) is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth (an uncharacteristically grim Ove Sprogøe). Lonely and scared, he finds a soul mate in the headmaster's son (Peter Bjerg) and the two boys form a bond that slowly grows into a sexual relationship. Frank and unadorned, this Danish film concluded director Lasse Nielsen's youth-oriented trilogy that began with La' Os Være (1975) and continued with Måske Ku' Vi (1976). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, erotic, serious, realistic, sexy, art house, grindhouse, romantic drama, sexual
Similar in 86%
Monster Pies (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mike has felt alienated and alone for as long as he can remember, until a new boy arrives at his school - awakening feelings and a world of possibilities he'd never before dared to dream of.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, psychological, captivating, lgbt cinema, cute, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Plot Summary:
A pair of teenage boys growing up in a working-class neighbourhood of Thamesmead, in south-east London, become aware of their homosexuality. While both were vaguely aware they might be gay, neither had ever acted on their impulses. Once they decide that they're attracted to each other, neither is sure just what to do.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, sweet, lgbt cinema, sincere, semi serious, independent film, realistic, thought provoking, social
Similar in 85%
Dream Boy (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story of Nathan, a young teenager who tries to flourish in a romantic relationship with neighbour Roy. The two young men will have to face the brutal reality of the rural south of the United States in the late 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, serious, realistic, lgbt cinema, sexy, gothic, art house, independent film
Similar in 84%
Come Undone (2000)
Plot Summary:
Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy Mathieu is 18-years-old and on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric and falls in love. The film, like a dream, flows back and forth between the past and present, often asking us to fill the deliberate jumps in time.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, meditative, lyrical, sentimental, contemplative, erotic, sexual, lgbt cinema, serious
Similar in 76%
Free Fall (2013)
Plot Summary:
A promising career with the police, a baby on the way... Marc's life seems to be right on track. Then he meets fellow policeman Kay and during their regular jogs Marc experiences a never-before-felt sense of ease and effortlessness -- and what it means to fall in love with another man. Torn between his family and his new feelings for Kay, Marc sees his world careening more and more out of control. Suddenly, his life is in free fall and Marc realizes that try as he may, he can't make everyone happy. Least of all, himself.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: emotional, sexual, disturbing, atmospheric, touching, sincere, lgbt cinema, serious, erotic, sexy
Similar in 85%
Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)
Plot Summary:
In 1987, as martial law ends in Taiwan, Jia-han and Birdy fall in love amid family pressure, homophobia and social stigma.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sincere, romantic, touching, captivating, social, realistic, disturbing, lgbt cinema, crying, independent film
Similar in 85%
Being 17 (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set in the beautiful high Pyrenees in south-west France, Damien lives with his mother Marianne, a doctor, while his father, a pilot, is on a tour of duty abroad with the French military. At school, Damien is bullied by Thomas, who lives in the farming community up in the mountains, nut learns to fight back. The boys find themselves living together when Marianne invites Thomas to come and stay with them while his mother is ill in hospital. Damien must learn to live with the boy who terrorised him.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: erotic, sentimental, romantic, uplifting, disturbing, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Edge of Seventeen (1998)
Plot Summary:
A gay teenager finds out who he is and what he wants, who his friends are, and who loves him, in this autobiographical tale set in middle U.S. in the 1980s. Growing up, learning about life, love, sex, friends, and lovers.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: teen, independent film, touching, realistic, sexual, crying, lgbt cinema, avant garde, sentimental, sincere
Similar in 77%
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Plot Summary:
Two modern-day cowboys meet on a shepherding job in the summer of '63, the two share a raw and powerful summer together that turns into a lifelong relationship conflicting with the lives they are supposed to live.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 376000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, sexy, sad, melancholic, crying, sexual, neo western, controversial, heartbreaking
Similar in 76%
Maurice (1987)
Plot Summary:
In 1909, Maurice Hall (James Wilby) enters Cambridge, where he befriends wealthy Clive Durham (Hugh Grant). Clive confesses he is sexually attracted to Maurice, who realizes he is a homosexual when he begins to return Clive's feelings. The two embark on an intense but chaste affair to avoid tarnishing Clive's reputation, but eventually the relationship ends, and Clive marries Anne (Phoebe Nicholls). While visiting Clive, Maurice is drawn toward his friend's servant, Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves).
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, sexy, melancholic, scenic, costume drama, erotic, romantic, period piece, touching, lgbt cinema
Similar in 85%
Akron (2015)
Plot Summary:
Benny, a college freshman at the University of Akron, Ohio meets and falls for fellow freshman Christopher at a football game. With the support of their families and friends they embark on a new relationship. But a tragic event in the past involving their mothers soon comes to light and threatens to tear them apart.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: talky, sincere, atmospheric, touching, captivating, emotional, lgbt cinema, cute, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 87%
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Plot Summary:
Elio Perlman is spending the summer with his family at their vacation home in Lombardy, Italy. When his father hires a handsome doctoral student, the curious 17-year-old finds himself developing a growing attraction to the young man.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 302000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France, USA, Brazil
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: touching, lgbt cinema, independent film, disturbing, sincere, homoerotic, romantic, sad, erotic, sexy
Similar in 80%
Heartstone (2016)
Plot Summary:
A remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thor and Christian experience a turbulent summer as one tries to win the heart of a girl while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. When summer ends and the harsh nature of Iceland takes back its rights, it's time to leave the playground and face adulthood.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iceland, Denmark
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, social, crying, depressing, epic, psychological, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
I Am Jonas (2018)
Plot Summary:
When Jonas was 14 he met the charismatic but mysterious Nathan. In addition to guiding him in his sexuality, Jonas soon confronts something dark and even dangerous about his new friend. Now an attractive, sexually assured adult, memories still haunt him Trying frantically to put the missing pieces together, Jonas becomes determined to break the shackles of the past and finally set himself free.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: melancholic, sincere, touching, suspense, art house, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 88%
Matthias and Maxime (2019)
Plot Summary:
Two childhood best friends are asked to share a kiss for the purposes of a student short film. Soon, a lingering doubt sets in, confronting both men with their preferences, threatening the brotherhood of their social circle, and, eventually, changing their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, emotional, captivating, art house, homoerotic, lgbt cinema, aesthetic, feel good, queer cinema
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
Similar in 75%
I Killed My Mother (2009)
Plot Summary:
Hubert, a brash 17-year-old, is confused and torn by a love-hate relationship with his mother that consumes him more and more each day. After distressing ordeals and tragic episodes, Hubert will find his mother on the banks of Saint Lawrence river, where he grew up, and where a murder will be committed: the murder of childhood.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching, captivating, sad, sentimental, sexy, brutal, depressing