Best movies like The Better Angels
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
At an isolated log cabin in the harsh wilderness of Indiana circa 1817, the rhythms of love, tragedy, and the daily hardships of life on the developing frontier shaped one of our nation’s greatest heroes: Abraham Lincoln. Abe is a thoughtful and quiet boy who spends his days at the side of his beloved mother while learning to work the land from his stern father. When illness takes his mother, Abe's new guardian angel comes in the form of his new stepmother, who sees the potential in the boy and pushes for his further education.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, realistic, black and white, independent film, postmodern, cult classic, teen
Best tv shows and movies like The Better Angels (2014):
Similar in 86%
Wisconsin Death Trip (1999)
Plot Summary:
Wisconsin Death Trip is an intimate, shocking and sometimes hilarious account of the disasters that befell one small town in Wisconsin during the final decade of the 19th century. The film is inspired by Michael Lesy's book of the same name which was first published in 1973. Lesy discovered a striking archive of black and white photographs in the town of Black River Falls dating from the 1890s and married a selection of these images to extracts from the town's newspaper from the same decade. The effect was surprising and disturbing. The town of Black River Falls seems gripped by some peculiar malaise and the weekly news is dominated by bizarre tales of madness, eccentricity and violence amongst the local population.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: disturbing, social, sad, controversial, black and white, independent film, atmospheric, rough, bleak, serious
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Similar in 88%
Copying Beethoven (2006)
Plot Summary:
A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Germany, UK, Hungary
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, realistic, serious, stylized, period piece, psychological, inspirational, sincere, spiritual
Similar in 77%
Robert the Bruce (2019)
Plot Summary:
In 1306, Scottish King Robert the Bruce turns a defeated outlaw when his country is invaded. But before to free his sacred land, he must manage to regain his will to fight back and survive the persecution of those who want take his head and the English gold.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Australia, UK
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
We of the Never Never (1982)
Plot Summary:
Based on the well-loved Australian classic by Mrs. Aeneas Gunn, this is the remarkable true story of Jeannie Gunn, a woman who fought to overcome sexual and racial prejudice amid the harsh beauties of the outback. Leaving her Melbourne existence for a new life on her husband's isolated ranch, Jeannie's feisty, good-natured attitude soon wins over the misogynistic stockmen, but she faces a much tougher challenge in trying to change their racist attitudes towards the indigenous aboriginal population.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 456
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, crying, period piece, period drama
Similar in 85%
As I Lay Dying (2013)
Plot Summary:
Based on the 1930 classic by Faulkner, it is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's quest to honor her wish to be buried in the nearby town of Jefferson.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, gothic, southern gothic, teen, visually stunning, bleak, stylized
Similar in 79%
Emperor (2020)
Plot Summary:
An escaped slave travels north and has chance encounters with Frederick Douglass and John Brown. Based on the life story of Shields Green.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, inspirational
Similar in 83%
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
Plot Summary:
The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there, and the owner pays them by their productivity. One of the families has a very clever child. They decide to send him to school instead of make him help them, although this represents a great sacrifice. The boy has to wake up very early and walk several miles to get to the school. One day the boy's shoes break when returning home, but they do not have money to buy other. What can they do?.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Italy
Duration: 186 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, touching, serious, contemplative, spiritual, family saga, saga, slow cinema, period drama
Similar in 78%
End of the Spear (2005)
Plot Summary:
"End of the Spear" is the story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. When five young missionaries, among them Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series of events unfold to change the lives of not only the slain missionaries' families, but also Mincayani and his people.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: emotional, inspirational, christian film, tense, uplifting, serious, realistic, biblical, spiritual, existential
Similar in 89%
Vision – From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Plot Summary:
Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, captivating, emotional, contemplative, spiritual, christian film, crying, mystic
Similar in 89%
Bless Me, Ultima (2012)
Plot Summary:
In a village in New Mexico, the life of young farm boy Antonio is dramatically changed when an old medicine woman joins his household. This affecting coming-of-age tale recounts Antonio's experiences to reveal the spiritual conflict in his community.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: spiritual, captivating, realistic, serious, touching, disturbing, esoteric, hispanic
Similar in 86%
The Glass Castle (2017)
Plot Summary:
A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, emotional, sad, psychological, captivating, exciting, road movie, mind bending, dramatic
Similar in 86%
Saving Lincoln (2013)
Plot Summary:
The almost entirely true story of Abraham Lincoln and his self-appointed bodyguard, U.S. Marshal Ward Hill Lamon - a banjo-playing Southerner who foiled repeated attempts on the President's life, and kept him functioning during the darkest hours of the Civil War.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 447
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, stylized
Similar in 82%
Haven (2001)
Plot Summary:
This is the true story of a woman named Ruth Gruber who travels to Europe to help escort 1000 Jewish War victims to the United States. She comes to love and feel sorry for them all, and fights for their rights to live in America.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 514
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, disturbing, serious, captivating, realistic, crying, uplifting
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Similar in 88%
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Plot Summary:
An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 205 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, breathtaking, art house, black and white, philosophical, epic, visual, visually appealing, spiritual, bleak
Similar in 76%
When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of a son's conflicting memories of his dying father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, sincere, realistic, touching, captivating, independent film, serious, crying, light
Similar in 75%
Priest Daens (1992)
Plot Summary:
In the 1890s, Father Adolf Daens goes to Aalst, a textile town where child labor is rife, pay and working conditions are horrible, the poor have no vote, and the Catholic church backs the petite bourgeoisie in oppressing workers. He writes a few columns for the Catholic paper, and soon workers are listening and the powerful are in an uproar. He's expelled from the Catholic party, so he starts the Christian Democrats and is elected to Parliament. After Rome disciplines him, he must choose between two callings, as priest and as champion of workers. In subplots, a courageous young woman falls in love with a socialist and survives a shop foreman's rape; children die; prelates play billiards.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Belgium, France, Netherlands
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: bleak, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, road movie, rough, sexy
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Similar in 76%
Goya's Ghosts (2006)
Plot Summary:
Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: period piece, intense, factual, thought provoking, realistic, dramatic, costume drama, historical drama, spiritual, sad
Similar in 76%
Tesla (2020)
Plot Summary:
The story of the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology—including his own previous work—by pioneering a system of wireless energy that would change the world.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: intellectual, serious, stylized, factual, inspirational, freeze frame, clever
Similar in 88%
Same Kind of Different as Me (2017)
Plot Summary:
International art dealer Ron Hall must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife, a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the journey of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: touching, christian film, inspirational, sincere, captivating, motivational, philosophical, depressing, spiritual, sad
Similar in 87%
Machuca (2004)
Plot Summary:
Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Chile, Spain, UK, France
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, touching, emotional, thought provoking, serious, realistic, social, hispanic, sentimental
Similar in 76%
Angela's Ashes (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK, Ireland
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, depressing, sad, compassionate, serious, melancholic, sincere, gothic, epic
Similar in 79%
Chappaquiddick (2017)
Plot Summary:
Ted Kennedy's life and political career become derailed in the aftermath of a fatal car accident in 1969 that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, Sweden
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, captivating, political, sad, anamorphic, cult classic, historical drama, crying, political drama
Similar in 75%
Burden (2018)
Plot Summary:
Burden, an orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan, attempts to break away when the girl he falls in love with urges him to leave for a better life together. When the Klan seeks Mike out for vengeance, a black congregation led by the benevolent, Reverend Kennedy, takes Mike, his girlfriend and her son in, protects them and accepts them into their community.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, emotional, political
Similar in 88%
Harriet (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of Harriet Tubman, who helped free hundreds of slaves from the South after escaping from slavery herself in 1849.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History
Country: China, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, costume drama, tense, enigmatic, psychological, political, historical drama, exciting, inspirational, road movie
Similar in 84%
Amazing Grace (2006)
Plot Summary:
The true story of William Wilberforce's courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Although meeting intense opposition, his minister, John Newton, urges him to see the cause through.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, period piece, political, talky, factual, compassionate, realistic, christian film, sincere
Similar in 81%
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Plot Summary:
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Malawi
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: motivational, rough, inspirational, disturbing, touching, bleak, factual, psychological, uplifting
Similar in 88%
Warm Springs (2005)
Plot Summary:
Franklin Roosevelt, left a paraplegic from polio at 39 years of age, seeks out a miracle cure in the backwoods of Georgia.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, realistic, political, captivating, historical drama, historically accurate, touching, serious
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Similar in 88%
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Plot Summary:
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 731000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: motivational, heartbreaking, disturbing, harsh, bleak, atmospheric, emotional, factual, brutal, rough
Similar in 75%
The Current War (2017)
Plot Summary:
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, Russia, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: inspirational, intellectual, clever, realistic, serious, suspense, stylized, intense, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
First Man (2018)
Plot Summary:
A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 199000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, Japan, China
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: factual, inspirational, disturbing, exciting, motivational, dorama, educational, cult classic, historical drama, twisted