Best movies like The Chosen Ones
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In the late 70s, young Petra Grust begins teaching at the progressive Odenwald School. She is flattered by the trust placed in her by its widely respected headmaster Simon Pistorius. But gradually certain incidents at the boarding school begin to unsettle her. Petra then realizes that Pistorius is abusing Frank, a 13-year-old. When Frank is told that he has to spend school holidays with Pistorius, he tries to commit suicide. Petra tells Frank's father (the chairman of the school's governing body) but he believes Pistorius instead of his own son. Petra fails to convince people of the man's true nature. 30 years later, Frank goes to Petra, who has long since left the school and has stopped teaching altogether. He has never been able to speak about what happened but now, after the suicide of another pupil, he is no longer willing to remain silent. He wants Petra to bear witness at the school's forthcoming anniversary celebrations.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 202
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like The Chosen Ones (2014):
Similar in 85%
Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977)
Plot Summary:
A disturbed young mother with some serious psychological problems begins to take them out on her infant daughter.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 228
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: grindhouse
Similar in 77%
Fallen (2005)
Plot Summary:
One night, Matiss Zelcs, an employee of the Latvian national archive in Riga, notices a woman on a bridge. After passing by her without preventing her suicidal fall into the depths, a sensation of failure and guilt changes his life. He cannot forget her. Driven by a feeling of remorse and the fever of illusion, he roams through the city night and day looking for traces of her existence. This journey through the tumult of his conscience leads him deeper into his own loneliness and the depths of his soul, as he gets more and more entangled in the destinies of the woman and of the people who were attached to her. He finds himself confronted with the pain of yearning and guilt, the cruelty of love and desire, and the search for forgiveness, release and salvation.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 276
Genere: Drama
Country: Latvia, Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: slow cinema, aesthetic
Similar in 89%
Booking (2009)
Plot Summary:
Feature film.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
The First Day of Winter (2008)
Plot Summary:
Valerio is a lonely young boy who can't get on with the others of the same age. He just observes without been seen and tries to compare himself to them, especially with two tough guys from his swimming course. One day Valerio sees something that will change him forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 196
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema
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Mein eigen Fleisch und Blut (2011)
Plot Summary:
Franziska had to release her newborn son for adoption on pressure from her parents as she was a teenager. Now 25 years later she has a successful career as a businesswoman. When her friends Bogdan and Mimi adopt a Ukrainian child, she remembers her own child. As the relationship with her partner Robert breaks up, she decides to search for him. She finally finds Oliver, her son in Munich. He grew up in various homes and foster care. He is a drug addict and now has a child himself with his girlfriend Sandy. She persuades him to withdraw and supports him.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 39
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
The Men Who My Father Loved (2018)
Plot Summary:
A man returned to his home in Kyoto after being away for a year. As he works his way into film industry as a part-timer, his sister decides to sell their childhood home since both of their parents have passed away. One night, his recalls his father's favorite watch and looks for it, and he stumbles across a notebook titled "My Memories." He starts to read it and sees the words written on the first page saying "The men I loved who passed me by..." and is followed by a record of his father's love life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 61 min
Plot tags:
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The Austrian Method (2006)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 141
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Linked (2017)
Plot Summary:
A troubled young man battles his inner demons as he seeks redemption and a second chance in his life.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
New Year's Day (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two 17-year-old boys mark the new year by doing twelve dangerous but exciting tasks set for them by their friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 444
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film
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The Fishing Trip (1998)
Plot Summary:
In this moving drama, three young Canadian women embark upon a journey to face and lay to rest their painful pasts. Though Kirsti (Jhene Erwin) is twenty-one and living independently as a college student, she remains haunted by horrible memories of being raped by her stepfather Harold (Jim Kinney). He also performed this vile act on her little sister Jessie (Melissa Hood). Unable to bear the psychological anguish, Kirsti decides to confront her abuser and so visits her mother (Diana Tabak) only to find that Harold and his son Jacob (T.J. Grist) are at their fishing cabin up north, the very place where the attacks first occurred.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 54
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film
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Breaking the Silence (1992)
Plot Summary:
Defending a teen charged with patricide drudges up dark memories for a lawyer.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 97
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Sanctuary (2015)
Plot Summary:
Summer 1968. 14-year-old Wolfgang is deported from his family in the secluded Church Welfare Institution sanctuary. One thing is clear for Wolfgang: His yearning for freedom, he will not soon buried in the bog.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sad
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The Tree with Pink Leaves (1974)
Plot Summary:
Little Marco suffers from his parents' divorce. He runs away from home and is hit by a car. He drags on but eventually dies under a tree with pink leaves, remembering a story his grandmother told him.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 31
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Roula (1995)
Plot Summary:
Troubled Roula finds herself drawn to Leon, an author of children's books who has suffered an enormous emotional and creative blockage ever since his wife died in a motorcycle accident two years before. Leon has only his 12-year-old daughter Tanja to keep him company. As romance blooms between Leon and Roula, his daughter approves. Unfortunately, Roula is carrying heavy emotional baggage stemming from the incest she suffered at the hands of her father.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy, sexual
Similar in 79%
To Each His Own (2017)
Plot Summary:
Takashi Aoyama has way too much work to do and pushes himself mentally too hard. He blacks out and collapses at a railroad station. When he is about to be hit by a train, he is saved by Yamamoto. After his encounter with Yamamoto, Takashi recovers his bright personality and gets better results at work. One day, Takashi sees Yamamoto boarding a bus to the cemetery with a serious expression.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 713
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, twisted, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
The Fire That Burns (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two boys in their early teens in a strictly-run pre-WWII Catholic School form a firm friendship which is troubled by an abbot who is obsessed with the younger of the students.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Karadima Forest (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on true events, involving powerful Catholic priest Fernando Karadima, who committed crimes of child abuse and pedophile between 1980's-2000's. The struggle of his victims, to be able to reveal the truth and look for justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 996
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile, Argentina
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspense, suspenseful, art house, cult film
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Perfect Obedience (2014)
Plot Summary:
The fictional Father Ángel de la Cruz is based on Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, whose long history of child abuse was not addressed until 2006 and only publicly acknowledged in 2009. But director Luis Urquiza chooses to structure his film through the largely uncomprehending, wondering eyes of 13-year-old Julián, who travels from the arms of his loving pastoral family into the austere, hallowed halls of the seminary. Singling out the boy as his intimate disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and redubbing him “Sacramento Santos,” Father Ángel begins Julian’s instruction into the mysteries of “perfect obedience,” whose cardinal rule is: Never question a superior’s actions.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Liar, Liar: Between Father and Daughter (1993)
Plot Summary:
An 11 year old girl accuses her father of incest.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 465
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: historical drama, crying, independent film
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King of Thieves (2003)
Plot Summary:
Two amateur circus kids from a poor Ukrainian village, ten-year-old Barbu and his older sister Mimma, are sold to a circus artist called Caruso who promises them a career in the West.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 416
Genere: Drama
Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, serious, realistic, bleak
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10 1/2 (2010)
Plot Summary:
Tommy, 10 years old, is well known by Social Services. He is considered a danger to society. Gilles, his guardian at this halfway house, sees potential for redemption in this kid driven by violence.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 88%
This Special Friendship (1964)
Plot Summary:
A tale of the tender relationship between a twelve-year-old boy and the upperclassman who is the object of his desire. All set in the rigid atmosphere of a Jesuit-run school.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
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Aclà's Decent Into Floristella (1992)
Plot Summary:
Set in Sicily in the 1930's, Aurelio Grimaldi's feature debut chronicles the harsh story of twelve-year-old boy, Aclà, sold into slavery by his destitute parents to work in the underground Floristella sulfur mines. Overworked and underfed, Aclà toils from Monday to Saturday in the steamy, candle-lit labyrinths. Repeatedly beaten and abused by his "owner" and with constant threats of being raped, Aclà plots his escape to the sea... but this leads to dire consequences for the boy and his family.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 411
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: political, gay cinema
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Where the Spirit Lives (1989)
Plot Summary:
In 1937, a young First Nations (Canadian native) girl named Ashtecome is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a deliberate Canadian policy to force First Nations children to abandon their culture in order to be assimilated into white Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school where she is forced to adopt Western Euro-centric ways and learn English, often under brutal treatment. Only one sympathetic white teacher who is more and more repelled by this bigotry offers her any help from among the staff. That, with her force of will, Ashtecome (forced to take the name Amelia) is determined to hold on to her identity and that of her siblings, who were also abducted.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 290
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Accused (2005)
Plot Summary:
On the surface Henrik and Nina Christofferson are an ordinary family living happily. But they have a problem. Their daughter, Stine, a difficult 14 year old, has a habit of telling lies in class. When Stine accuses her father of sexual abuse, and is believed by seemingly eager social workers, their family is thrust into crisis. Could Henrik have done it? And when Stine prepares to return home, the ugly side of family life is exposed.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, bleak, serious, gloomy, depressing, sexual, realistic, sexy
Similar in 87%
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Plot Summary:
The dysfunctional twenty-three years old Sarah takes her six year old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and lowlife style and is introduced to booze and drugs and mentally, physically and sexually abused by Sarah, her lovers and her religiously fanatic family.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France, Japan
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, rough, serious, depressing, realistic, art house, controversial, stylized, intense
Similar in 85%
For My Brother (2014)
Plot Summary:
The two brothers Aske (17 years old) and Bastian (12 years old) live with their father, Lasse. Their mother died seven years earlier. Every day they live in a world where fear, violence and alcohol are huge factors, but where the brothers' strong and close relationship means everything. Aske's fight for survival means that he has to serve his father's sexual needs, which include abuse from the father, but also from paying customers and the father's friend Hans (who has a lot of contacts in the pedophile environment). Aske tries everything to keep his little brother out of it all so that he won't experience the same as himself. But one day Bastian is abused by their father and Aske's entire world is about to fall apart. The brothers choose to move to Norway, far away in the beautiful mountains. Their friendship outshines everything! They are together and far away from their evil father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 715
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: rough, disturbing, touching, suspense, independent film
Similar in 86%
Genesis (2018)
Plot Summary:
Three teenagers are shaken up by their first loves in the turmoil of their youth. At a time when others are conforming, they stand their ground and assert their right to love and be free.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious, suspenseful, aesthetic
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Shed My Skin (2015)
Plot Summary:
The adolescent Milan discovers his own suspected homosexuality at the age of 17 and the consequences for him and his family but also the liberation as he understands why he has been so down and rebellious.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 822
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, rough, thought provoking, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
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Camp (2013)
Plot Summary:
12-year-old Eli finds himself at summer CAMP.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 790
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic, christian film, biting, independent film, suspense