Best movies like The Desert Within
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
To redeem himself from a great sin, a man dedicates himself to building a church.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, disturbing, masterpiece
Best tv shows and movies like The Desert Within (2008):
Similar in 76%
Armenia, My Love... (2016)
Plot Summary:
The destiny of a happy Armenian family, whose life will change forever in 1915, Ottoman Empire, (Armenian land), now Turkey and whose beautiful dreams will become memories in the eyes of the most famous Armenian American painter, who lives to paint the story of his shattered childhood.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 631
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Lady Zee (2005)
Plot Summary:
A tragic comedy about an orphan girl who knows nothing better than the animal way but at the end comes to realize her only chance - to be human.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 171
Genere: Drama
Country: Bulgaria
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Pink (2011)
Plot Summary:
Set in a run-down bar named "Pink," movie follows the lives of people surrounding the bar including its owner Ok-Ryun.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 35
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Hounded on a Carnival Monday (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the small town of San Jorge, a 12- year-old girl watches in horror as her father, a local telegraph operator is thrown in prison by the local military dictatorship. Meanwhile, her mother, Florencia, must make tough moral decisions in order for them to survive under the political oppression. Even Carnival, with all its colorfulness and celebration, cant disguise the mounting tension between the villagers and government making the girls coming of age all the more difficult when the two collide. This movie combines attractive visual scenes with a highly sensual atmosphere as Florencia fights and uses all her resources and beauty to survive and find revenge.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 38
Genere: Drama
Country: Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense
Similar in 88%
I Remember (2005)
Plot Summary:
The memories of Guiga, from early childhood to young adulthood: his family, relatives, friends, fears, dreams and reality in a still provincial city of Salvador, Bahia, from the 50s to the 70s.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 229
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
One War (2009)
Plot Summary:
May, 8, 1945. Maxim Prokhorov, major of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, arrives at a small northern island. There live eleven people: five young women, five children from one to three years, and the captain Karp Nichiporuk. The young mothers were exiled to the island from the territories occupied by fascists, and their children are the children of the German occupier. Arrival of the major upsets the casual life on the island. The major has to "clean up" the island and the nearest settlements. The military man authorizes a plan to organize a training camp in the region for saboteurs. The night of May, 9, the women are told about the German capitulation, their hopes for forgiveness and return home become a certainty. They are even allowed to celebrate the Victory.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 77%
The 19th Wife (2010)
Plot Summary:
Fundamentalist sect member BeckyLyn is accused of killing her husband. Queenie, another wife in the polygamist sect, doesn't believe BeckyLyn is capable of such violence and desperate to prove her innocence reaches out to her excommunicated son Jordan for help in freeing his mother.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 729
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, psychological, tense, captivating, rough, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Lightning Bug (2004)
Plot Summary:
In this drama thriller set in the South, a young boy named Green (Bret Harrison) longs to escape his unhappy life but feels trapped in his hometown. A gifted special-effects makeup artist, Green has big dreams of working in Hollywood. But the boy's personal demons -- a drunken, abusive stepfather, a group of religious zealots out to destroy his work and the love of a girl who prefers small-town life -- may stand in the way of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspense, biting
Similar in 90%
The Return (2003)
Plot Summary:
A former alcoholic returns home after ten years in prison for the murder of her husband. As her recollection of the murder returns, things take a different turn.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Deiva Thirumagal (2011)
Plot Summary:
A mentally retarded man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, and in the process teaches his opponent lawyer the value of love and family.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 166 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, sad
Similar in 75%
This Town (2007)
Plot Summary:
This Town is in part a social commentary, giving us some scary insight into todays youth but also reflecting the points of view of different generations. At heart, the movie asks the viewer to decide if these characters are right or wrong in their doings. Every character has a dilemma, and they all come to terms with it in their own way. But morally, are they wrong? Or are the victims of their own surroundings? There is no clear answer, making the viewer the ultimate judge.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
On the Farm (2016)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, a powerful study of the dysfunction and disorder in the police and criminal justice systems that allowed a wily psychopath to murder nearly 50 marginalised women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 60
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Herstory (2018)
Plot Summary:
A true story of a six-year-long legal conflict of 10 comfort women and 13 attorneys against 200 Fukuoka supporters association.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 262
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Koepek (2015)
Plot Summary:
An ordinary day in the megacity of Istanbul: Ten-year-old Cemo sells paper tissues in the streets, Hayat is controlled by her husband and transsexual Ebru sells her body. All three have a secret love and they do everything that satisfies their longing, if only for a moment. An authentic, delicate and unsettling story about love and death and the Turkish society at the beginning of the 21st century.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 296
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland, Turkey
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: anthology, psychological, suspense, disturbing, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
The Grand Mansion Gate (2001)
Plot Summary:
This Chinese period drama series follows the fortunes of a prominent merchant family engaged in Traditional Chinese Medicine during the waning years of the Ching dynasty. The affairs of this family of doctors/pharmacists (which in those days were one and the same) are intimately linked with social upheavals of the time such as the encroachment of Christian missionaries and foreign imperialism as well as conflicts that inevitably emerge in a large upper class family. Comparable in scope and production value to such recent titles as "Downton Abbey", the lives and character of both masters and servants intertwine in plot lines that spans more than a generation.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 541
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Before the Rooster Crows (2016)
Plot Summary:
Teenager Carmín lives in a mountainous village in the center of Puerto Rico with her tough and conservative grandmother. Her mother left for the US without her. The arrival of her father, after long years in prison, eases Carmín’s profound sadness. The relationship with him, however, brings its own ambiguousness and complexities and as Carmín moves into womanhood this causes great confusion, mostly for her.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 214
Genere: Drama
Country: Puerto Rico
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 81%
La Influencia (2007)
Plot Summary:
A disoriented and vulnerable woman, overburdened with daily life problems and more: her belongings are impounded, her cosmetics shop has been closed down, and her children's future is unknown. The children's vitality draws a sharp contrast against the apathy shown by their mother, who slowly plunges into a deep depression.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 275
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, Mexico
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Young Adult Matters (2020)
Plot Summary:
Wandering around the streets, Sejin, a pregnant teen, gets to know Juyeong and reunites with Jaepil and Sinji. The four musketeers go through a series of misfortunes, bumping into masochistic/sadistic characters and experiencing the brutality and cruelty of the world. Nevertheless, their naivety and pureness to endure through the hardships of life will stir complex emotions that will question your judgment.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 529
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 90%
Flesh and Blood (2017)
Plot Summary:
Mixing fiction and reality, filmmaker Mark Webber tells the story of a man who returns home from prison and attempts to rebuild his life in his impoverished Philadelphia neighborhood.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 195
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Dark Was the Night (2018)
Plot Summary:
In the aftermath of tragedy, a woman and her teenage son must forge into uncharted territory in order to move on with their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 685
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
A Way of Life (2004)
Plot Summary:
At 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) across the street becomes target to her growing paranoia that Social Services are going to take her daughter, Rebecca, away from her. Her behavior becoming increasingly desperate as her delusions over her neighbor grow.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, realistic, disturbing, sad, serious, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Listen (2020)
Plot Summary:
In the outskirts of London, Portuguese couple and parents of three, Bela and Jota, struggle to make ends meet. When a misunderstanding arises at school with their deaf daughter, the British social services grow concerned for the safety of their children. The film portrays the tireless battle of these immigrant parents against the law to keep their family together.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Portugal, UK
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, social
Similar in 82%
The Gravedigger's Wife (2021)
Plot Summary:
Guled and Nasra are a loving couple, living in the outskirts of Djibouti city with their teenage son, Mahad. However, they are facing difficult times: Nasra urgently needs an expensive surgery to treat a chronic kidney disease. Guled is already working hard as a gravedigger to make ends meet.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 685
Genere: Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France, Somalia, Qatar
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Our Story (2015)
Plot Summary:
A son tries to restore the honour of his father, who was imprisoned during the 1980 military coup.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, political drama
Similar in 89%
Jin (2013)
Plot Summary:
A bitter conflict has raged between guerrillas and the army in Turkey's Kurdish regions for over 30 years. Large expanses have now become war zones. Countless young people have lost their lives to the conflict. This dangerous but incredibly beautiful mountainous country is home to 17-year-old Jîn. But she is no longer safe since she secretly stole away from a group of rebels with whom she was fighting. Now she wanders the picturesque landscape alone, caught between two fronts. All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire and explosions rend the air above the untouched natural scenery. Attack is threatened from all sides. Desperate to find peace, Jîn decides to escape to another part of the country – an impossible plan, since the military is omnipresent and there are road blocks everywhere. As a Kurd without identity papers she risks arrest at every turn. In addition, as a woman with no family to shield her, many men will see her as fair game. But her courage is unbroken.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, Germany
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Socialphobia (2014)
Plot Summary:
A woman is attacked by Internet users after posting provocative remarks online. Using her personal information, they go to her place but what they find is her body; she took her own life. Who made her kill herself? Or, was she killed by someone else?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 539
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: social, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Virgin 2: Not a Porn Movie (2009)
Plot Summary:
A friendship of two young girls, Tina and Nadya, who have fallen into dark professions. Friendships often come at a heavy price and end in tragic death, just when they want to change the course of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 77
Genere: Drama
Country: Indonesia
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Metamorphosis (2015)
Plot Summary:
A story about a friendship between talented famous musician and eleven years old girl.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 79
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Life and Fate (2012)
Plot Summary:
This Russian series is based on the book of the same name, once considered a serious danger to the future of the Soviet Union. "Life and Fate" is an epic tale of World War II and a reckoning with dark forces emerging. It juxtaposes bedrooms and sniper's nests, science labs and the Gulag, taking us deep into the hearts and minds of citizens and soldiers struggling to cope with the ravages of war.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (2008)
Plot Summary:
In an attempt to spur citizens into taking more productive roles in society, the Japanese government issues death messages, or "ikigami", informing them that they have only 24 hours left to live. The film follows a young man tasked with delivering these messages, as well as the victims.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, disturbing, philosophical