Best movies like The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Like his father, Tom is a real estate agent who makes his money from dirty, and sometimes brutal, deals. But a chance encounter prompts him to take up the piano and become a concert pianist. He auditions with the help of a beautiful, young virtuoso pianist who cannot speak French - music is their only exchange. But pressures from the ugly world of his day job soon become more than he can handle.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: tense, neo noir, talky, stylized, lyrical, psychological, sincere, serious, captivating, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005):
Similar in 88%
G:MT Greenwich Mean Time (1999)
Plot Summary:
Six London school-leavers attempt to make it in the world, balancing the challenge of trying to make a name for themselves in the music industry against the pressures and tragedies of everyday life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 681
Genere: Drama, Music, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 82%
Fingers (1978)
Plot Summary:
Keitel plays the lead in this schizophrenic movie in which he is continually pulled by the two conflicting sides of his personality, on the one hand that of a quiet piano virtuoso and on the other a ruthless debt collector for his mobster father. Keitel is introspective as only Keitel can be, really making the audience feel for him and his pained existence.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: neo noir, grim, cult classic, independent film, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Pigalle (1994)
Plot Summary:
It's a grim world of prostitution, drug dens, transvestites, junkies and murderers. The seediest side of urban life is examined in this tragedy. The film follows the complex, interwoven lives of four characters as they live their harsh and gritty nocturnal lives on the city streets. The main characters are Fifi a pickpocket who is simultaneously involved with Divine, a transvestite hooker and Vera a peep show dancer who refuses to be a hooker. Vera lives with her would-be pimp Jesus le Gitan, a small-scale drug dealer. When the area riff-raff become embroiled in hostilities, two of main characters are slowly killed in horrible ways. Fifi is then left to avenge their deaths.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 185
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Switzerland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Rodrigo D: No Future (1990)
Plot Summary:
"Rodrigo D: No futuro" explores the bleak and precarious lives of working class street kids in Medellín. So dangerous is this world that three of its nonprofessional actors have been killed violently since production wrapped in 1988. Rodrigo has headaches and thinks about his mother, who died sometime previous to the film's story. He is also looking for a drum kit so he can start a punk band with his friends, who sell cocaine to school kids, and steal cars to survive.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: Colombia
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Exiles (2004)
Plot Summary:
One day Zano suggest a crazy idea to his companion Naïma: travel across France and Spain down to Algeria, where they might ultimately come to know the land their parents once had to flee.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Music
Country: France, Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: road movie, captivating, serious, realistic, epic, crying
Similar in 88%
The Page Turner (2006)
Plot Summary:
Mélanie Prouvost, a ten-year-old butcher's daughter, is a gifted pianist. That is why she and her parents decide that she sit for the Conservatory entrance exam. Although Mélanie is very likely to be admitted, she unfortunately gets distracted by the president of the jury's offhand attitude and she fails. Ten years later, Mélanie becomes her page turner, waiting patiently for her revenge.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Music, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, serious, tense, realistic, suspenseful, psychological thriller, psychosexual thriller, mesmerizing, crying
Similar in 83%
The Drummer (2007)
Plot Summary:
When Sid insults a powerful triad boss, his father sends him to Taiwan for safety. Bored and restless, he discovers a community of Zen drummers high in the hills, and joins up - a decision inspired by a pretty face that soon becomes a challenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 911
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, realistic, contemplative, atmospheric, captivating, sincere, uplifting, serious, stylized
Similar in 81%
You Will Be Mine (2009)
Plot Summary:
Marie leaves home to study the piano at the conservatory in Lyons. Through lack of money, she is obliged to share an apartment with Emma, a friend of the family who has lived alone since the death of her father. The two young women develop a strange fascination for one another, which soon develops into an intense mutual need.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, sexy, tense, sexual, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Domestic Life (2013)
Plot Summary:
Juliette was simply not sure about coming to live in this residential suburb of the greater Paris metropolitan area. All the women here are in their forties, have children to raise, houses to keep and husbands who return home late at night.Today she has an appointment in Paris that is important for her career, but she also has to run errands and pick up the kids from school. During the course of her day, monopolized by petty, everyday tasks, Juliette can feel the noose of domestic obligations and household chores slowly tightening around her neck.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 424
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, captivating, contemplative, biting
Similar in 85%
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 76%
Midnight Dancers (1994)
Plot Summary:
Brothers Joel (Alex Del Rosario), Dennis (Grandong Cervantes) and Sonny (Lawrence David) work together as dancers at a low-rent gay bar in downtown Manila, in the Philippines. Despite his mother's pleas, Sonny decides to quit college to work full-time at the bar, while Dennis has moved beyond dancing into prostitution at the urging of the manipulative club manager. Joel, the eldest, tries to balance his secret gay life with his socially respectable role as a husband and father.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tagalog, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, sexual, neorealism, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic
Similar in 80%
Look at Me (2004)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of human beings who know exactly what they'd do if they were somebody else, but can't handle being themselves very well, who are very simply struggling to find out who they are.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: stylized, lyrical, sincere, semi serious, humorous, talky, realistic, witty, contemplative, biting
Similar in 86%
The Crazy Stranger (1997)
Plot Summary:
A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Romania, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, sexy, sentimental, humorous, romantic, art house, realistic, semi serious, crying, light
Similar in 86%
Black & White (1999)
Plot Summary:
Rich Bower is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager, who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry. But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: stylized, serious, realistic, hood, talky, sexy, independent film, psychological, controversial, biting
Similar in 90%
Running on Empty (1988)
Plot Summary:
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, thought provoking, serious, political, retro, feel good, entertaining, stylized, independent film
Similar in 82%
Clean (2004)
Plot Summary:
After losing her husband to a heroin overdose, Emily Wang fights to overcome her own addictions and to be reconciled with her estranged son.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Canada, UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, touching, sincere, serious, contemplative, realistic, crying, independent film, road movie
Similar in 80%
A Heart of Stone (1992)
Plot Summary:
Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband's who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, heartbreaking, sincere, thought provoking, touching, anthology, art house, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Saraband (2003)
Plot Summary:
The movie is a sequel to Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage (1973), where we revisit the characters of Johan and Marianne, then a married couple. After their divorce, Johan and Marianne haven't seen each other for 32 years. Marianne is still working, as a divorce lawyer. Johan is quite well off and has retired to a house in the Orsa finnmark district of Sweden. On a whim, Marianne decides to visit him. Johan's son from a previous marriage, Henrik, lives nearby in a cottage with his daughter Karin, a gifted cello player. The relationship between father and son is strained. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Finland, Germany, Austria
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, meditative, sincere, touching, depressing, art house, cerebral, philosophical, eros
Similar in 81%
Performance (1970)
Plot Summary:
Young gangster Chas Devlin seeks refuge from the mob in a basement belonging to a reclusive, fading rock star Turner.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, surreal, atmospheric, stylized, sexy, cult classic, bleak, neo noir, psychological, serious
Similar in 86%
Money (1983)
Plot Summary:
A forged 500-franc note is cynically passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is - which will have devastating consequences on his life, causing him to turn to crime and murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Switzerland
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: spiritual, slow cinema, depressing, neo noir, sad, contemplative, anthology, cynical, grim, aesthetic
Similar in 81%
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Plot Summary:
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future following the suicide of his singing partner.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 161000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: depressing, atmospheric, bleak, meditative, clever, independent film, melancholic, harsh, lyrical, contemplative
Similar in 79%
Read My Lips (2001)
Plot Summary:
She is almost deaf and she lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, touching, rough, serious, realistic, breathtaking, psychological, clever
Similar in 80%
A Prophet (2009)
Plot Summary:
Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: harsh, tense, bleak, rough, atmospheric, political, dramatic, psychological, breathtaking, realistic
Similar in 77%
Four Minutes (2006)
Plot Summary:
Jenny is young. Her life is over. She killed someone. And she would do it again. When an 80-year-old piano teacher discovers the girl’s secret, her brutality and her dreams, she decides to transform her pupil into the musical wunderkind she once was.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Germany
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, captivating, emotional, sincere, sad, independent film, serious, realistic, gay cinema
Similar in 85%
Paris 36 (2008)
Plot Summary:
A star is born in a time of both celebration and instability in this historical drama with music from director Christophe Barratier. In the spring of 1936, Paris is in a state of uncertainty; while the rise of the Third Reich in Germany worries many, a leftist union-oriented candidate, Léon Blum, has been voted into power, and organized labor is feeling its new power by standing up to management.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music, Musical, Romance
Country: France, Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, inspirational, colorful, period piece, visual, visually stunning, sentimental, touching, serious
Similar in 87%
Together (2002)
Plot Summary:
When a violin prodigy Xiaochun and his father head to Beijing seeking fame and fortune, they soon discover a fierce world of cutthroat ambition. But when Xiaochun is "adopted" by a famous music tutor, success finally seems within reach - until a shocking discovery begins to unravel his entire world, and the boy must make the most difficult choice of his life. Can he achieve the fame his father had always hoped for without losing the extraordinary passion that sets him apart?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: China, South Korea
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, stylized, uplifting, atmospheric, sincere, depressing, sad, feel good
Similar in 79%
Billy Elliot (2000)
Plot Summary:
Set against the background of the 1984 Miner's Strike, Billy Elliot is an 11 year old boy who stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family's set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes!.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 141000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: UK, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, feel good, uplifting, emotional, crying, sweet, sentimental, captivating, realistic
Similar in 90%
Betty Fisher and Other Stories (2001)
Plot Summary:
Grieving after the death of her young son Joseph, novelist Betty Fisher enters a dark depression. Hoping to bring her out of it, her mother Margot arranges to kidnap another child, Jose, to replace the son Betty lost. Although she knows it's wrong, Betty accepts Jose as her new son. Meanwhile, Jose's mother Carole is looking for her son with the help of her boyfriend Francois and some of his criminal cohorts.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, stylized, tense, harsh, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, sincere, serious, depressing
Similar in 82%
8 Mile (2002)
Plot Summary:
The setting is Detroit in 1995. The city is divided by 8 Mile, a road that splits the town in half along racial lines. A young white rapper, Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. summons strength within himself to cross over these arbitrary boundaries to fulfill his dream of success in hip hop. With his pal Future and the three one third in place, all he has to do is not choke.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 314000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: inspirational, hood, serious, realistic, harsh, feel good, lyrical, stylized, captivating, tense
Similar in 87%
The Piano Teacher (2001)
Plot Summary:
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: France, Austria, Germany
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sexual, disturbing, psychological, controversial, bleak, emotional, art house, serious, erotic, psycho sexual