Best movies like The Edge of Heaven
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Turkey, Italy
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, lyrical, psychological, contemplative, breathtaking, political, independent film, realistic, social
Best tv shows and movies like The Edge of Heaven (2007):
Similar in 77%
Sacred Heart (2005)
Plot Summary:
Irene discovers that she must eat hearts in order to survive the alien invasion in Sicily.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, touching, captivating, sincere, serious
Similar in 86%
The Yacoubian Building (2006)
Plot Summary:
Cairo: a 70-year-old building of once-luxury flats with tenements on the roof. Zika, an aging libertine, feuds with his sister. Pius Haj Azzam takes a second wife, in secret, to satisfy sexual drive within religious bounds. Bothayna, poor and beautiful, supports her family, wanting to do so with dignity intact. Her former fiancé, Taha, the janitor's son, humiliated by the police, turns to fundamentalism. Hatem, a gay editor, seduces and corrupts a young man from the sticks. Two brothers, Copts, one a tailor and one Zika's factotum, connive for property. Allah is on most everyone's lips, and corruption is in their hearts.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Egypt, France
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, serious, realistic, sad, multicultural, islamic, iconic
Similar in 79%
Distant Lights (2003)
Plot Summary:
Lichter is an episodic tale from Hans-Christian Schmid about the life on the boarder between Germany and Poland. The film sheds light on the everyday stories of escape and desperateness.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: contemplative, serious, captivating, sincere, atmospheric, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Illegal (2010)
Plot Summary:
Tania, a young Russian woman who lives illegally in Belgium with her 13-year-old son Ivan. Constantly on her guard, she dreads police checks until the day she is arrested.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 936
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, Luxembourg, France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, captivating, emotional, political, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
I Saw the Sun (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the southeast region of Turkey, the Altun family lives in a small mountainside village plagued by a 25-year war, making their daily life a hellish struggle. As the war continues to intensify, the family is forced to migrate west to the city of Istanbul. While Haydar and Isa Altun decide to stay in Turkey with their young children, Davut Altun and his family migrate north to Norway, enlisting the help of smugglers. They eventually reach their destination and find work in a supermarket, but life as refugees proves relentless. Back in Istanbul, Haydar watches over the family as his wife undergoes an operation due to pregnancy complications. Their son makes friends with a group of transvestites, helping him to understand why he has felt different all of his life. While liberating, his newfound identity is seen as a disgrace to the rest of his family, leading him to flee from the abuse it produces.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, clever, touching, serious, gloomy, crying
Similar in 79%
I Carry You with Me (2020)
Plot Summary:
An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sentimental, melancholic, contemplative, lgbt cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010)
Plot Summary:
A teenager prisoner awaits his release when two weeks before that happens he's told that his mother is returned home. Meanwhile, he finds himself in love with a Sociology student, Ana, working in the penitentiary as an intern.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Romania, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, psychological, sincere, emotional, realistic, social, iconic
Similar in 75%
Autumn (2008)
Plot Summary:
A man struggles after his release from ten years as a political prisoner.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, Germany
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, art house, political, sad, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
A Few Days of Respite (2010)
Plot Summary:
Mohsen teaches French at the University of Tehran, and Hassan is a photographer. Mohsen and Hassan are also lovers, and in Iran they live in fear, as homosexuality is punishable by death. Tired of denying their love, Mohsen and Hassan flee Iran to head to Paris, where they'll be illegal aliens but can at least live openly as a couple. To avoid arousing suspicion until they arrive in Paris, Mohsen and Hassan keep their distance while traveling, and during a train stop, Mohsen helps a sixty-ish women, Yolande, with her luggage. The two strike up a conversation and she clearly enjoys his company; over dinner, she offers to help him find work in town and let him stay at her apartment. It's clear to Yolande that Mohsen is an illegal immigrant, but she doesn't realize that he's gay, and he finds himself wondering if he should stay with Hassan or live with Yolande, where he would not have love but would enjoy safety, security and could easily become a French citizen through marriage.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Algeria
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Unveiled (2005)
Plot Summary:
Survival is not enough. Fariba Tabrizi has made it. Under peril of death she has fled from Iran. In Germany she has no alternative way of avoiding the threat of deportation other than to assume the identity of a deceased co-detainee. So what happens after a few month in which she has tried to come to terms with a situation which is actually an insufferable one for her? How does Fariba live not only in this external state of exile but also in an inner state of exile? The term "in orbit" is officially used by the UN to refer to asylum-seekers who find themselves orbiting around planet Earth because they can actually find legal domicile nowhere at all.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, suspenseful, rough, bleak, realistic, sensual, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
In This Tricky Life (2001)
Plot Summary:
Montevideo, Uruguay. In this comedic drama, Elisa, 27, dreams of opening her own hairdressing salon in one of the rich districts of the Uruguayan capital. A bit of a rebel, one day Elisa moves out of her mother's house with her two children and breaks up with Garcia, her boss and lover who has infuriated her by not wanting to get married. So, in the space of twenty-four hours, Elisa finds herself without a roof over her head, without a man, without a job and without money. Her best friend Loulou finds her a job - in the brothel run by Dona Jacqueline. And without really being aware of it, Elisa slides into prostitution, which leads her to Barcelona. She falls in love, she is exploited, she gets involved in transvestite gang wars, and meanwhile just dreams of earning enough money for her little beauty salon back home.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 539
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, Spain, Belgium
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, tense, romantic, captivating, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 81%
When We Leave (2010)
Plot Summary:
Umay is a young woman of Turkish descent, fighting for an independent and self-determined life in Germany against the resistance of her family. Her struggle initiates a dynamic, which results in a life-threatening situation.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, sincere, serious, psychological, captivating, cute, atmospheric, realistic
Similar in 80%
Faith (2010)
Plot Summary:
The fates of three German-born Muslims in Berlin collide as they struggle to find their place between faith and modern life in contemporary western society, caught at a crossroads where alluring liberated lifestyles conflict with deeply-rooted traditions.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 413
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, thinking, realistic
Similar in 80%
After the Wedding (2006)
Plot Summary:
A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, UK, Norway
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, melancholic, light, serious, contemplative, thought provoking, existential
Similar in 81%
Lola and Billy the Kid (1999)
Plot Summary:
When young Turkish talent Kutlug Ataman wanted to make a film about transvestites, the first location he had in mind was Istanbul. As he developed the script, his thought was to place these marginal characters, who are subject to societal prejudices in an environment where there is already discrimination, would add dramatic effect. Supported by funding from German sources, Ataman set his story in Berlin, inside the community of "guest workers" where Turkish transvestites are shunned not only by Germans, but by their own kind as well. The result is a strong film with moments of tenderness, emotion and laughter juxtaposed with the harsh realities of life for those who dare to be different. 16 year old Murat (Baki Davrak) is a Turk who is curious about gay life and eventually submerges himself in the gay hustler and transvestite subculture.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, Turkey
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, psychological, sexual, crying, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Phantom Pain (2009)
Plot Summary:
Marc is a passionate cyclist and urban slacker who avoids work and responsibility. Marc's life changes from one moment to the next when he suffers a life-changing accident. He can either wallow in self-pity or tackle the beast called life with the help of love and willpower.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, psychological, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Paths (2017)
Plot Summary:
Andreas and Martin share all the ups and downs of everyday life, and their son is maturing. A cautious approach to the traces of a long relationship. The love story of two people. Not about how they come together, not a phase they go through, but all of their shared experiences: all the years between the first kiss and today.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 508
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
Label Me (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema
Similar in 85%
The God of Wood (2010)
Plot Summary:
Yao (Madi Diocou) and Moroccan Rachid (Soufiane Ouaarab) arrive illegally in Valencia, Spain, and separate. Yao sells pirated DVDs in the street and wanders disconsolately around the barrio until he glimpses divorcee Maria Luisa (Marisa Paredes) working in her boutique. High-strung and irritable, Maria lives with her gay son, Rober (Nao Albet), who, like many other things in life, is a disappointment to her. Rachid, meanwhile, is doing just fine working as a hairstylist in a beauty salon; Rober is hopelessly in love with him. When Yao starts sleeping in Rober's flat, a confrontation between him and Maria suddenly becomes inevitable, and when it comes, what could have been an embarrassment is actually handled with grace.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, sentimental, psychological, captivating, touching, serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 85%
The Dust of Time (2008)
Plot Summary:
A, an American film director of Greek ancestry, is making a film that tells his story and the story of his parents. It is a tale that unfolds in Italy, Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada and the USA. The main character is Eleni, who is claimed and claims the absoluteness of love. At the same time the film is a long journey into the vast history and the events of the last fifty years that left their mark on the 20th century. The characters in the film move as though in a dream. The dust of time confuses memories. A searches for them and experiences them in the present.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, Italy, Germany, Russia, France
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, postmodern, slow cinema, aesthetic, epic, realistic
Similar in 83%
Buddenbrooks (2008)
Plot Summary:
Mid-19th-century, Baltic Sea port city of Lubeck, Germany. Follows the fourth generation of the Buddenbrook mercantile family as Tony and Thomas reach the age of marriage. Fatefully impeded every step of the way, the Buddenbrooks struggle as economic hardship and personal defeats weigh down family relations.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 151 min
Plot tags: saga, realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, political, family saga, sad, costume drama, sentimental
Similar in 88%
Loggerheads (2005)
Plot Summary:
A troubled woman seeks out the child she gave up for adoption; a gay motel owner takes in a handsome drifter; and the wife of a preacher frets that a gay couple has moved in across the street. All of their lives will intersect as Loggerheads subtly draws out their secret losses and desires.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, sincere, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
I Travel Alone (2011)
Plot Summary:
Jarle Klepp is a 25-year-old student of literature with a passion for Adorno, Proust and grown-up women - and definitely not Tamagochi's, Lady Di and small kids. The news that he is the father of a seven year old girl - and that she will come visiting next week - enters his life like a nuclear bomb. Jarle Klepp has to become an adult.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, contemplative, captivating, psychological, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 86%
The Visitor (2007)
Plot Summary:
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, depressing, touching, emotional, independent film, philosophical, psychological, sad, offbeat, social
Similar in 81%
Takva: A Man's Fear of God (2006)
Plot Summary:
Humble and introvert Muharrem lives in a solitary and meager existence of a prayer and sexual abstinence adhering strictly to the most severe Islamic doctrines.His extraordinary devotion attracts the attention of the leader of a rich and powerful Istanbul religious group and he offers him an administrative post as a rent collector for their numerous properties. Muharrem's new job throws him into the modern outside world he has successfully avoided for so long. He soon witnesses conflict attitude toward alcohol consumption and goodwill.He notices that he himself has become proud, domineering and even dishonest.To make matters worse, Muharrem's inner peace is unnerved by the tormenting image of seductive woman who tempts him in his dreams,both night and day.With the balance of his devotion now upset,his fear of God begins to eat away at his senses.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Turkey
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, emotional, psychological, spiritual, art house, thinking, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Distant (2002)
Plot Summary:
Uzak/Distant chronicles the numbing loneliness, longing, and isolation in the lives of two men who are consumed by their own problems. Istanbul photographer Mahmut reluctantly receives his relative Yusuf, but the mingling of their lives does little to alleviate their detachment.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, bleak, art house, stylized, lyrical, psychological, touching, slow cinema, atmospheric, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Babel (2006)
Plot Summary:
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 314000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico, France
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: emotional, atmospheric, non-linear, sincere, bleak, depressing, art house, touching, breathtaking, melancholic
Similar in 90%
Normal (2003)
Plot Summary:
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, emotional, serious, sexy, sincere, sentimental, thought provoking, touching, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Head-On (2004)
Plot Summary:
Head On is German director Fatih Akin’s story of the alcoholic Cahit and Turkish Sibel. Akin tells the story of a love that can never be between two people who are too alike to not be together.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, Turkey
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: psychological, depressing, bleak, emotional, breathtaking, serious, disturbing, touching, melancholic, independent film
Similar in 81%
Philadelphia (1993)
Plot Summary:
No one would take his case until one man was willing to take on the system. Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 254000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, tear jerker, sincere, emotional, thought provoking, compassionate, inspirational, lgbt cinema, crying