Best movies like The Devil's Playground
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A powerful drama relating the intimate aspect of teenage boys and their priest/educators behind the walls of a religious institution where rigid discipline backfires natural feelings are deemed unnatural acts and human lives are controlled in the names of good intentions.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, crying, independent film, queer cinema
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Best tv shows and movies like The Devil's Playground (1976):
Similar in 79%
The Flavor of Corn (1986)
Plot Summary:
Lorenzo, a handsome first-year professor in an isolated Italian village, falls under the spell of his most beguiling pupil, a dark-haired, starry-eyed 12-year-old named Duilio. As Lorenzo's relationship with his heartless girlfriend deteriorates, he finds himself walking the fields with his loving student. When their idyllic friendship is questioned by Duilio's suspicious stepmother, Lorenzo is brought to a crisis of conscience. Written by.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 476
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: erotic, homoerotic, crying, independent film, gay cinema, queer cinema
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Similar in 87%
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:
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Similar in 83%
The Everlasting Secret Family (1988)
Plot Summary:
A beautiful, if ambitious and amoral, youth is tapped to become the lover of a powerful senator. The young man quickly realizes that he can hold this place, with all its perks, only as long as he is young. He has no other function than being young. With the help of an aged judge, the young man, referred to only as The Lover, contrives a plan to make a change in the way of the world, a plan that will take him years to realize. To succeed, he must manipulate, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, the senator, his wife, the family chauffeur (who was, when young, a lover), and, by implication, the entire well-planned and controlling everlasting secret family.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 369
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: satanic, psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
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Similar in 88%
In Your Absence (2008)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Pablo is a quiet, lonely boy with a troubled past. His only friend is Julia, a shameless 15-year-old girl who is more than willing to help Pablo with his transition from childhood to adolescence, and give him some advice on sex, love and life in general. On a quiet country road just outside of the village, Pablo meets Paco, an oddly calm, well dressed stranger whose car just broke down. Nevertheless, he seems more interested in the boy than fixing his problem.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 949
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, Spain
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, surprise ending, captivating, disturbing, art house, tense, atmospheric, rough, realistic
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Similar in 89%
The Chocolate War (1988)
Plot Summary:
A surreal portrait of a Catholic Private School and its hierarchy. A new student must submit to the bizarre rituals of his peers and the expectations of the school's administration by selling chocolates.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surreal, allegory, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 76%
Lamb (1985)
Plot Summary:
Michael Lamb is a Father questioning his calling, in a Reform School in Ireland. When young epileptic runaway Eoin is sent to the school, the two recognise kindred spirits and escape to London together. With the police on their tail and the money running out however, Lamb is forced to make some terrible decisions.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 655
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, eighties
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Similar in 90%
52 Tuesdays (2013)
Plot Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition, and their time together becomes limited to Tuesdays. This emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility, and transformation was filmed over the course of a year—once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, captivating, rough, lgbt cinema, social, emotional, realistic, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Pals (1982)
Plot Summary:
The plot follows the misadventures of two young friends who are forced into street hustling and ever-expanding life of crime when one impregnates the sister of the other and they need to get the money to pay for her to have an abortion.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, gay cinema
Similar in 89%
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous (2005)
Plot Summary:
Shot in and around the central Otago communities of Omakau, Ophir and Alexandra, A coming-of-age film that centers on overweight 12-year old Billy who is not interested in being a farmer and doesn't care for Rugby. His escape is the fantasy world of the TV show, Adventures in Space where he dreams about playing the heroine Lana. Of course all this doesn't make him the most popular with his school mates, but his tomboy cousin Lou buffers those problems. Into his life comes two new boys, Roy and Jamie that are destined to provide the catalyses in changing Billy's life.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 527
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, semi serious, offbeat, humorous, realistic, sexual, crying, independent film
Similar in 88%
In the Name Of (2013)
Plot Summary:
The contemporary story of a priest who launches a centre for troubled youth in a small parish. He is a good priest and is well-liked by his congregation, which remains unaware of his complicated past.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, atmospheric, psychological, sincere, captivating, social, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 75%
Teenage Kicks (2016)
Plot Summary:
Miklós is at the age when everything feels high-stakes. He is coming to terms with his own sexuality, and when his best friend Dan reveals that he has a new girlfriend, this puts an end to their plans to run away together.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema, homoerotic, captivating, suspenseful, psychological, unusual plot structure, suspense, contemplative, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Tree of Knowledge (1981)
Plot Summary:
As a group of Danish children pass into adolescence, gradually the most popular girl becomes an outcast, for trivial reasons that she never understands.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: cult classic, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, crying, sexy
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Similar in 75%
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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Similar in 81%
My Brother Tom (2001)
Plot Summary:
A teenage girl, Jessica, befriends a teenage boy called Tom, who is bullied by a local gang. She is abused by Jack, who is both her neighbour and school teacher, and Tom is sexually abused by his father. Together they bond in the woods, creating a private reality that no-one else can enter.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 983
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, rough, emotional, captivating, disturbing, tense, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
The Cement Garden (1993)
Plot Summary:
After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie's new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, erotic, sexy, talky, art house, compassionate, psychological, serious, realistic, controversial
Similar in 87%
Respiro (2002)
Plot Summary:
Grazia is a free-spirited mother-of-three married to shy fisherman Pietro and living on the idyllic but isolated island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. She shows signs of manic depressive behavior — one moment she's laughing wildly and swimming half-naked in the sea, while the next she's curled in a ball on her bed. Out of her earshot, the adult members of her extended family vaguely discuss sending her to a facility of some sort in Northern Italy.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, talky, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, atmospheric, art house, erotic
Similar in 89%
Cold Showers (2005)
Plot Summary:
Mickael's family is struggling (they don't have enough money to pay for hot water) however his life is full with Judo and his girlfriend Venessa. Then Mickael makes a decision to open up his relationship to include Clement his rich-kid Judo partner, starting a chain of events.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: realistic, erotic, serious, emotional, melancholic, captivating, sexual, art house, eros, sensual
Similar in 89%
Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006)
Plot Summary:
A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his new found sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: surreal, serious, sentimental, sincere, touching, realistic, erotic, art house, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Spa Night (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young Korean-American man works to reconcile his obligations to his struggling immigrant family with his burgeoning sexual desires in the underground world of gay hookups at Korean spas in Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, captivating, suspenseful, sexy, sensual, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Last Orders (2001)
Plot Summary:
Jack Dodd was a London butcher who enjoyed a pint with his mates for over 50 years. When he died, he died as he lived, with a smile on his face watching a horse race on which he had bet, with borrowed money. But before he died he had a final request, 'Last Orders', that his ashes be scattered in the sea at Margate. The movie follows his mates, Ray, Lenny and Vic and his foster son Vince as they journey to the sea with the ashes. Along the way, the threads of their lives, their loves and their disappointments are woven together in their memories of Jack and his wife Amy.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, talky, atmospheric, sincere, serious, emotional, contemplative, road movie
Similar in 88%
Liam (2000)
Plot Summary:
A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8, making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany, France, Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, emotional, sincere, depressing, intense, tense, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 80%
Secrets of the Heart (1997)
Plot Summary:
Javi and his friend Carlos visit an old house on the outskirts of a small Spanish village. According to his brother Juan this is a haunted house and one can hear the voices of the dead. Later he is intrigued with a room which is always closed (the room where his father was found dead). He is so interested in these mysteries that he starts to investigate all the secrets of these dead people and their stories.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, France, Portugal
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 83%
12 and Holding (2005)
Plot Summary:
Three pre-adolescents with virginal and eager-of-signals naivety, hit headlong against monstrous and inhospitable loneliness, in the incandescent fire among the ashes of their own inocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental, serious, depressing, harsh, art house
Similar in 85%
Sexual Dependency (2003)
Plot Summary:
A poor girl, a rich stud, a university student and a model -- nothing in common, except the desire to experience true intimacy. Their stories unfold and overlap as each becomes victim to their own sexual dependencies, self-perceptions and illusions. Thematically structured around issues of femininity, masculinity, virginity, rape and sexuality, each teen struggles to make sense of their own identity, reaching for ideals that represent everything they feel they are supposed to be, but are not.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 810
Genere: Drama
Country: Bolivia, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, sexual, crying, sexy
Similar in 83%
Wild Reeds (1994)
Plot Summary:
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, lgbt cinema, sad, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
You Are Not Alone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Young teenager Bo (Anders Agensø) is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth (an uncharacteristically grim Ove Sprogøe). Lonely and scared, he finds a soul mate in the headmaster's son (Peter Bjerg) and the two boys form a bond that slowly grows into a sexual relationship. Frank and unadorned, this Danish film concluded director Lasse Nielsen's youth-oriented trilogy that began with La' Os Være (1975) and continued with Måske Ku' Vi (1976). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, erotic, serious, realistic, sexy, art house, grindhouse, romantic drama, sexual
Similar in 80%
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Plot Summary:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic, controversial, heartbreaking, serious, gloomy, emotional
Similar in 85%
Our Father (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. Their mother (Achta) eventually despairs and sends them to Koranic school. Unhappy, they plan their escape until the eldest boy falls in love with a deaf girl (Khalil).
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 734
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Chad, Netherlands
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, captivating, contemplative, crying, entertaining
Similar in 83%
And Your Mother Too! (2001)
Plot Summary:
In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 128000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sexy, road movie, erotic, realistic, art house, sensual, sex comedy, hispanic, eros, humorous
Similar in 89%
Ken Park (2002)
Plot Summary:
Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands, France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: disturbing, art house, sexual, rough, explicit, sexy, realistic, serious, independent film, erotic