Best movies like The Assistant
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Daniel Petrie scripted and directed this Canadian-British film, an adaptation of the memorable 1957 Brooklyn-based novel by Brooklyn-born Bernard Malamud, author of The Natural. During the Depression, drifter Frank Alpine (Gil Bellows) and hobo Ward Minogue (Jaimz Woolvett) rob the small Bober family grocery. Minogue attacks frail Morris Bober (Armin Mueller-Stahl) because he has little money. Later, guilt sends Alpine back to the store, where he goes unrecognized and is hired by Bober as an assistant, despite the objections of Ida Bober (Joan Plowright). While Frank works the store, receiving miniscule wages, he falls for Bober's daughter, Helen (Kate Greenhouse), and Morris eventually learns who Frank really is.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: independent film, detective
Best tv shows and movies like The Assistant (1997):
Similar in 82%
The Ragman's Daughter (1972)
Plot Summary:
Based on the Alan Sillitoe short story. Tony, a worker at a cheese factory, is also a petty thief. He moves from robbery after robbery until he meets Doris, the daughter of the local ragman. Slowly, he falls in love with her and must decide whether he will stay a thief or start a new life with Doris.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 131
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, poliziottesco
Similar in 75%
The Worker's Life (1987)
Plot Summary:
An acknowledged and proven factory worker gets fired after workers' strike.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Under the Skin (1996)
Plot Summary:
Passion, criminal instincts and traditions melt together in this film that shakes our understanding of crime.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Peru, Spain, Germany
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Mouvements du désir (1994)
Plot Summary:
During the long train ride from Montreal to Vancouver, a man and woman find themselves increasingly attracted to each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 160
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, France, Switzerland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: avant garde
Similar in 88%
The Outsiders (1986)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book written by author Pai Hsien-yung and first published in 1983 in Taiwan. A-Qing, a young student is discovered during sex by a night watchman, young A-Qing is beaten and expelled from home by his violent abusive father. In a public park in Taipei he is found by Yang (a middle-aged photographer), who introduces him to three other teenage boys--all abandoned by their families because they were gay. They form a kind of surrogate family. When A-Qing meets Wang Kei-Lung, he falls madly in love.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Cuore cattivo (1995)
Plot Summary:
After a robbery gone awry, a young man breaks into an apartment and takes a wheelchair bound girl hostage.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 141
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Chasing Fire (2013)
Plot Summary:
Living behind the shadow of her mother, Kristin falls in love with Shane, an aspiring musician, whom she soon discovers to have something innately in common with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Philippines
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, captivating, disturbing, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 78%
In All Innocence (1998)
Plot Summary:
High-profile lawyer Michel takes on the defence of a young and pretty small-time thief, Cécile, after the botched hold-up of a jewellery shop. As predicted by his elegant art-dealer and sculptress wife Viviane, Michel goes well beyond his brief, jeopardising his career and ruining his marriage of 18 years.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 880
Genere: Drama, Crime, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 77%
The Wedding Murders (2016)
Plot Summary:
Serial Killer Henry Sparks fall in love with his childhood sweetheart Detective Prospect Jenkins who is after him.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Crime, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspense, suspenseful, unusual plot structure, captivating, disturbing, independent film, detective, gay cinema
Similar in 75%
And Then You Die (1987)
Plot Summary:
A drug deal must deal with the mafia, Hells Angels, and police who want to arrest him. -- WorldCat.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 86
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, detective
Similar in 76%
Dearest Jane (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young girl learn to accept love and change, after being sent to live with her uncle in Indiana.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 161
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, tense, suspense, contemplative, independent film, unusual plot structure
Similar in 78%
Friends (1993)
Plot Summary:
Three female friends, in the end of the eighties, share a house in Johannesburg, South Africa. Each of them has her own way to live the apartheid. Thoko is a black teacher, she practices non-violent passive resistance. The afrikaner Aninka takes refuge in archaeology not to see the reality. Sophie is a white militant, putting bombs in public places... Each of them respect the other two's ideas, but one of Sophie's bombs will change everything.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, South Africa
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: crying, independent film
Similar in 84%
The Nark (1982)
Plot Summary:
A Paris police detective (Richard Berry) plays rough with a prostitute (Nathalie Baye) and her pimp/lover (Philippe Léotard), whom he wants as an informant.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: neo noir, anthology, detective, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crying, eighties
Similar in 77%
Post Mortem (1999)
Plot Summary:
In this tough French-Canadian drama, two outsiders -- one who works with the law, another who lives outside it -- come together with unfortunate consequences. Linda (Sylvie Moreau) is a devoted single mother who will do anything to support her five-year-old daughter, Charlotte (Sarah Lecompte-Bergeron). Unfortunately, a lot of what Linda does best isn't exactly legal, such as luring well-to-do men into the park and then mugging them. One night, Linda is trying to coax a visitor from America into the shadows when the situation starts to go wrong. Meanwhile, Ghislain (Gabriel Arcand) is a shy, lonely fellow who works at the morgue and likes to listen to the blues late at night. In time, we discover that Linda and Ghislain met at one time, leading to an ugly encounter for both of them.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 500
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, cinema verite
Similar in 80%
As Tears Go By (1988)
Plot Summary:
Two parallel stories of Wah caught in the mist of a love affair with his beloved cousin, Ngor and his relationship with his triad brother, Fly, who seems to never fall out of trouble.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: neo noir, mind bending, psychedelic, surreal, crime drama, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, black comedy
Similar in 78%
Breaking and Entering (2006)
Plot Summary:
Set in a blighted, inner-city neighbourhood of London, Breaking and Entering examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British landscape architect and Amira, a Bosnian woman – the mother of a troubled teen son – who was widowed by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, heartbreaking, psychological, stylized, compassionate, thought provoking, realistic, anime, crime thriller
Similar in 83%
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 78%
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Plot Summary:
Based on "Sister of the Road," the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman, 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30's meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and they team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, lyrical, rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, atmospheric, serious, independent film, psychotronic
Similar in 86%
Thieves Like Us (1974)
Plot Summary:
Bowie, a youthful convicted murderer, and bank robbers Chicamaw and T-Dub escape from a Mississippi chain gang in the 1930s. They hole up with a gas station attendant and continue robbing banks. Bowie, who is injured in an auto accident, takes refuge with the daughter of the gas station attendant, Keechie. They become romantically involved but their relationship is strained by Bowie's refusal to turn his back on crime. The film is based on the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson. The novel is also the source material for the 1949 film They Live by Night, directed by Nicholas Ray.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: neo noir, road movie, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Last Good Time (1994)
Plot Summary:
A reclusive aging widower struggling with tax problems has a complete change in his views of life as he has a chance encounter with a young woman who moves in with him briefly.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 339
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
The Wounded Man (1983)
Plot Summary:
Henri is a lonely, isolated young man who lets no one get close to him. He meets a street hustler and comes out of his shell, going 180 degrees into gay obsession. Though he has yet to physically approach the object of his affection, Henri builds up so much unrequited lust that it explodes with horrible results.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, sexual, neorealism, homoerotic, sexy
Similar in 82%
Hurricane Streets (1997)
Plot Summary:
Marcus is a kid on Manhattan's mean streets. He's turning 15, his father is dead, his mother is in prison for smuggling undocumented aliens. His grandmother is raising him. He has four close buddies who have a basement clubhouse; they shoplift and sell the wares to kids. One is moving toward selling drugs. Marcus wants to take a breather from the city and visit family in New Mexico. He also meets Melena, 14, a sweet kid who dreams of going to Alaska; her father is not just protective but angry and uncommunicative. The gang pressures Marcus to move up to burglary and car theft. He just wants to breathe open air. Can anything go right?.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: independent film, realistic, rough, bleak, serious, disturbing, clever, bad ending, sad, harsh
Similar in 89%
Oyster Farmer (2004)
Plot Summary:
A love story about a young man who runs away up an isolated Australian river and gets a job with eighth generation oyster famers.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating, offbeat, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 82%
Love the Hard Way (2001)
Plot Summary:
Claire, a brilliant student, seeks answers to the meaning of life in the calm of her biology laboratory. One day, she meets a mysterious young man, Jack, at the cinema, and is intrigued by his style, assurance and audacity. Apart from his artistic activities, Jack has a regular scam going, ripping off foreign businessmen with his loyal mate Charlie and two actresses. But his tough guy exterior conceals a secret passion for old books, and he dreams of writing a novel one day. Jack falls hard for Claire's purity and curiosity. An unusual romance develops between them. But Jack is scared of their growing intimacy and rejects Claire, withdrawing into his shell. Abandoned and confused, Claire gradually begins to neglect her studies and embarks on a spiraling course of self-destruction, whilst Jack, who tries to ignore her, concentrates on his criminal activities. However, a sharp detective, named Linda Fox, is following his dodgy tracks.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Crime, Romance
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: neo noir, bleak, serious, realistic, romantic, romantic drama, independent film, gloomy, detective
Similar in 83%
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 77%
Solomon & Gaenor (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young Jew in 1911 Wales tries to make his living by selling fabrics door to door, but to do so he must hide his nationality. On one of his sales he meets and falls in love with a demure young woman with a strong-willed father and a Jew-hating brother. The two fall in love and she becomes pregnant, but only then does she learn of his ethnic background. When anti-Jewish riots break out, the two are forced to flee and become separated.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sad, independent film, historical drama, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, period drama
Similar in 85%
Disco Pigs (2001)
Plot Summary:
Pig and Runt born on the same day, in the same hospital, moments apart. Twins, all but by bloodline. Inseparable from birth, they are almost telepathic. They are one, needing no one else, inhabiting a delicate, insular and dangerous world where they make their own rules and have their own language. But days before their 17th birthday the balance of their world begins to shift. Pig's sexual awakening and jealousy begins to threaten their private universe.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, rough, suspenseful, independent film, philosophical, heartbreaking, melancholic, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Earthly Possessions (1999)
Plot Summary:
A bored wife, who is planning to run away from her minister husband, is taken hostage in a bank robbery. However, she sees the thrill in being involved in the chase and becomes an accomplice to helping the younger robber escape his pursuers. As things progress, she learns he pulled the robbery to get enough money to help his pregnant girlfriend leave a home for unwed mothers. The two have a brief flirtation, but it is clear the housewife just needs something to enliven her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sincere, captivating, suspense, humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious, corny
Similar in 76%
B. Monkey (1998)
Plot Summary:
When wistful introvert Alan Furnace meets quick-witted bombshell Beatrice, he has no idea of her secret life as "B. Monkey" -- the top thief-for-hire in London's criminal underworld. Charmed by Furnace's innocent and chivalrous ways, Beatrice resolves to reform. But to cash in on her first chance at real love, she must escape her former partner in crime, the ruthless Paul Neville -- and a dark past that seems to haunt her every step.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: neo noir, black comedy, cult classic, serious, realistic, surprise ending, independent film, dark comedy, erotic, romantic
Similar in 90%
Kidulthood (2006)
Plot Summary:
A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: hood, serious, tense, rough, teen, emotional, cult classic, bleak, captivating, realistic