Best movies like The Exploding Girl
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
On a summer break from college, Ivy, a young epileptic woman, struggles to balance her feelings for her fledgling boyfriend while her friend Al crashes with her for the season.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, touching, serious, sincere, realistic, independent film, crying, avant garde, whimsical
Best tv shows and movies like The Exploding Girl (2009):
Similar in 78%
Little Men (2016)
Plot Summary:
Jake is a quiet, sensitive middle schooler with dreams of being an artist. He meets the affably brash Tony at his grandfather's funeral, and the unlikely pair soon hit it off. The budding friendship is put at risk, however, when a rent dispute between Jake's father, Brian, and Tony's mother, Leonor, threatens to become contentious.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Greece, Brazil
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: social, sentimental, sincere, atmospheric, touching, captivating, melancholic, compassionate, dorama, powerful
Similar in 82%
The We and the I (2012)
Plot Summary:
The We and the I is the heartfelt and comical story of the final bus ride home for a group of young high school students and graduates.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA, France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, talky, serious, sad, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 85%
Man Push Cart (2005)
Plot Summary:
Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a former Pakistani rock star turned immigrant, drags his heavy cart along the streets of New York. And every morning, he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. One day, however,the pattern of this harsh existence is broken by a glimmer of hope for a better life.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, informative, absurd, one man show
Similar in 86%
Local Color (2006)
Plot Summary:
A successful artist looks back with loving memories on the summer of his defining year, 1974. A talented but troubled 18-year-old aspiring artist befriends a brilliant elderly alcoholic painter who has turned his back on not only art but life. The two form what appears to be at first a tenuous relationship. The kid wants to learn all the secrets the master has locked away inside his head and heart. Time has not been kind to the old master. His life appears pointless to him until the kid rekindles his interest in his work and ultimately gives him the will to live. Together, they give one another a priceless gift. The kid learns to see the world through the master's eyes. And the master learns to see life through the eyes of innocence again. This story is based on a real life experience.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, emotional, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 78%
Day Zero (2007)
Plot Summary:
The military draft is back. Three best friends are drafted and given 30 days to report for duty. In that time they're forced to confront everything they believe about courage, duty, love, friendship and honor. If called to serve, what would you do?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, sincere, serious, rough, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 84%
First, Last and Deposit (2000)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen-year-old Tessa (Jessica White) faces more than the usual tribulations of adolescence. When bad times hit, she and her mother find themselves living on the streets. The injustice of poverty is emphasized by the fact that Tessa's school chums are the children of very wealthy parents, and the only way to fit in is by lying. Add the gorgeous and expensive trappings of their Santa Barbara community, and you get a portrait of cruel contradictions seen through the eyes of a young girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, bleak, gloomy, crying
Similar in 81%
Along the Way (2007)
Plot Summary:
A funny, gripping and powerful drama about the post graduation summer of four lifelong friends and one night that changed the course of their lives... forever. Like Crash , Saint Elmo s Fire and it s inspiration Stand By Me, Along the WAY is a haunting portrait of American Youth. A profound and poignant story about friendship, the moments that shape us and an unforgettable story that deserves it place among the best and brightest that the independent film world has to offer.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, offbeat, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
Down to the Bone (2004)
Plot Summary:
A woman stuck in a stale marriage struggles to raise her children and manage her secret drug habit. But when winter comes to her small town, her balancing act begins to come crashing down.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, scary, bleak, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 84%
Quiet City (2007)
Plot Summary:
Jamie is 21. She's from Atlanta. She's come to Brooklyn to visit her friend Samantha, but she can't find her. Jamie meets a stranger named Charlie on the subway and spends 24 hours hanging out with him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, realistic, captivating, light, atmospheric, sincere, serious, avant garde
Similar in 76%
3 Nights in the Desert (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three former band mates enter a cave after hearing it has the power to give them what they need. As unsettling desires rise to the surface, they all wonder if the cave has real power.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, talky, serious, realistic, minimal cast, independent film
Similar in 89%
In Between Days (2006)
Plot Summary:
A Korean immigrant falls in love with her best friend while navigating her way through the challenges of living in a new country.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 609
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, South Korea, USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sentimental, contemplative, captivating, depressing, mumblecore, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 80%
Breakfast with Curtis (2012)
Plot Summary:
Syd is an eccentric bookseller with delusions of grandeur fueled by red wine. He caused a rift 5 years ago between his bohemian housemates and the family next door, but now tries to recruit his 14-year-old neighbor as a collaborator.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 257
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, psychological, touching, suspenseful, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 82%
About Alex (2014)
Plot Summary:
A circle of twenty-something friends reunite for a weekend away to console a suicidal member of their group. Yet, despite their best efforts to enjoy themselves, a tinderbox of old jealousies, unrequited love, and widening political differences leads to an explosion of drama that, coupled with the flammable combination of drugs, wine, and risotto, cannot be contained. A Big Chill for our current social media moment, About Alex is a lighthearted look at the struggles of a generation that has it all—and wants more.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, inspirational, atmospheric, surreal, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, talky, romantic
Similar in 89%
Alone (1999)
Plot Summary:
Maria, whose parents live in the country, cannot stand her father's authoritarian ways and moves to the city. She finds a job as a cleaner and tries to survive in a wretched apartment in the shabby part of a big city. She is pregnant, and the fact that her boyfriend has abandoned her does not help matters. When her father goes to the hospital for an operation, her mother comes to stay with her. Her neighbor, an old recluse whose only friend is his dog, begins to come out of his shell and these three lost souls try to give each other the strength to start over.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, serious, erotic, uplifting, feel good, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 89%
The Dynamiter (2011)
Plot Summary:
All fourteen-year-old Robbie Hendrick ever wanted was a family. Yet as another Mississippi summer begins, his wayward mother has run off again fearing a breakdown and he's left to burn the days caring for his half brother, Fess. As the deep days and nights pass without her return and with older brother Lucas dangerously in their lives again, Robbie must face the fact that his dream of a family may only be a dream and he might just lose the only family he's ever had: Fess.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 609
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, feel good, gothic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 88%
Winter Solstice (2004)
Plot Summary:
A widower confronts his older son's decision to leave home and his younger son's self-destructive behavior.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, contemplative
Similar in 86%
The Tic Code (1998)
Plot Summary:
A 10 year old gifted boy wants to be a jazz pianist much to the chagrin of his more classical oriented piano instructor. With his mother's help, he is an underage regular at a local nightspot, where he is teamed up with a sax superstar. Both come to learn that each suffers from Tourette's Syndrome (thus the film title). The older man has developed mannerisms to cover up his own fallibilities and resents the boy and his mother's acceptance of the disease.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 484
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, independent film, offbeat, serious, contemplative, light, inspirational, feel good
Similar in 77%
Hysterical Blindness (2002)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1980's, Debby Miller (Uma Thurman) goes out in New Jersey looking for a man after she is diagnosed with "hysterical blindness".
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, stylized, touching, serious, sincere, emotional, realistic, talky, scary, dark
Similar in 86%
Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993)
Plot Summary:
Rebelling against his dreary life in a small Arizona town, salesman Nick abandons his girlfriend, Beth, and strikes out onto the highway in search of... something else. Encouraged by her best friend, Carol, Beth reluctantly accepts the romantic attentions of Sid, a local housepainter.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, independent film, clever, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, philosophical, thought provoking, intellectual
Similar in 84%
Nine Lives (2005)
Plot Summary:
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: emotional, talky, intense, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, depressing, anthology
Similar in 79%
Swimmers (2005)
Plot Summary:
After an accident in a small Maryland fishing town, 11-year-old Emma begins to question the nature of the adults around her.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 458
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Tully (2000)
Plot Summary:
Tully Jr. and Earl live on their father's Nebraska ranch, proud and independent to a fault. While the shy, reclusive Earl spends his free time watching movies, the cockier Tully works his way through a succession of short-term affairs and an off-again, on-again relationship with April, a stripper in town. When their childhood friend Ella returns to town to start a veterinary practice, however, Tully falls for her -- although the townsfolk have their doubts that he could ever commit to one woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, serious, independent film, realistic, romantic, social, sincere, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
The Substance of Fire (1996)
Plot Summary:
Isaac Geldhart is a Holocaust survivor who, overcome by grief at the recent death of his wife, seems determined to run his publishing firm into the ground by printing books that have no hope of financial success. His son Aaron, who also works at the company, grows frustrated with Isaac's emotional decline and attempts to take over the firm. The resulting crisis involves Isaac's other two children, his daughter Sarah and his dying son Martin.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 667
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: melancholic, talky, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, contemplative, gloomy, sexy
Similar in 88%
James White (2015)
Plot Summary:
James White is a troubled twentysomething trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. As he retreats further into a hedonistic lifestyle, his mother's battle with a serious illness faces a series of setbacks that force him to assume more responsibility. With the pressure on him mounting, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sad, psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing, mumblecore, weird
Similar in 87%
The Keys to the House (2004)
Plot Summary:
Meeting his handicapped son for the first time, a young father attempts to forge a relationship with the teenager.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, touching, emotional, sincere, bleak, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Jack (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jack, in full puberty, not only has to deal with his parents' divorce, but also feels his world is falling apart when his dad tells him he is living with a man. He slowly comes to terms with his own feelings when the girl he has a crush on turn out to have a gay dad as well and his best friend's parents end up not having the perfect marriage Jack thought they had.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 576
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, humorous, realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, semi serious, melancholic, clever, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)
Plot Summary:
Captures a generational moment - young people on the cusp of truly growing up, tiring of their reflexive cynicism, each in their own ways struggling to connect and define what it means to love and be loved. Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who's having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam's life revolves around his friends — Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam's eye.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: melancholic, touching, independent film, emotional, feel good, romantic, semi serious, sweet, romantic comedy, entertaining
Similar in 77%
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, which follows 15-year-old freshman Charlie, an endearing and naive outsider who is taken under the wings of two seniors. A moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope - and the unforgettable friends that help us through life.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 539000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, teen, melancholic, romantic, emotional, realistic, feel good, heartbreaking, independent film
Similar in 87%
The Spitfire Grill (1996)
Plot Summary:
Percy, upon being released from prison, goes to the small town of Gillead, to find a place where she can start over again. She is taken in by Hannah, to help out at her place, the Spitfire Grill. Percy brings change to the small town, stirring resentment and fear in some, and growth in others.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: christian film, sentimental, touching, emotional, serious, realistic, gloomy, crying, tear jerker, inspirational