Best movies like The Match Factory Girl
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Iris (Kati Outinen) has a soul-deadening job as a quality-control worker watching boxes of matches go by on an assembly line all day. At night, she eats silently with her dour mother (Elina Salo) and stepfather (Esko Nikkari). One weekend, wearing her new red dress at a local dance, she ends up going home with Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), whom she mistakenly believes is her new boyfriend. When she discovers that she's pregnant, years of pent-up rage explode in a shocking outburst.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Finland, Sweden
Duration: 69 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, art house, disturbing, atmospheric, harsh, psychological, depressing, dark comedy, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like The Match Factory Girl (1990):
Similar in 90%
Hamlet Goes Business (1987)
Plot Summary:
A bizarre black-and-white film noir reworking of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, neo noir, black and white, surprise ending, avant garde
Similar in 90%
Shadows in Paradise (1986)
Plot Summary:
An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a co-worker, an affair and much more.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: art house, dark comedy, contemplative, sentimental, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 76%
Juha (1999)
Plot Summary:
A farmer's wife is seduced into running away from her stolid older husband by a city slicker, who enslaves her in a brothel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: silent, black and white, contemplative, sentimental, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, modern day adaptation, silent film
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Similar in 82%
Ariel (1988)
Plot Summary:
Taisto Kasurinen is a Finnish coal miner whose father has just committed suicide and who is framed for a crime he did not commit. In jail, he starts to dream about leaving the country and starting a new life. He escapes from prison but things don't go as planned.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, art house, road movie, humorous, witty, stylized, black comedy, clever, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 86%
The House of Branching Love (2009)
Plot Summary:
A sort of "Divorce Finnish Style," Mika Kaurismäki's rambunctious comedy, The House of Branching Love , recounts the breakup of a thirty-something professional couple - Juhani, a family therapist, and his wife, Tuula, a successful business trainer.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious, dark comedy
Similar in 90%
Il capitano: A Swedish Requiem (1991)
Plot Summary:
The film is based on a true occurrence in Sweden in 1988. A Finish couple murdered a young boy and his parents when they prevented the theft of the son's bicycle. The film tries to describe the relationship between the dominant Jari, who calls himself "Il Capitano", and his more mature "soldier" Minna, that develops into mutual dependence.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 892
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Finland, Germany
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
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Similar in 84%
The Man Without a Past (2002)
Plot Summary:
The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy, the film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: bleak, satirical, black comedy, touching, humorous, semi serious, dark comedy, clever, contemplative, art house
Similar in 83%
Calamari Union (1985)
Plot Summary:
Calamari Union is an allegorical movie that tells the story of sixteen men all of whom are called Frank (inspired by Frank Armoton) apart from a single confrere, Pekka. Collectively the Franks and Pekka are unhappy with the perceived oppression they face in their district of Helsinki, Kallio, and decide to move to another, Eira, imagining it to be an unspoiled place where people can live lives of dignity. The journey is an ironic one given that both districts are not so far apart. In this spirit, their journey across the city takes on epic proportions with each of the travellers gradually falling by the wayside due to such travails as marriage, work, and death. In its entirety the film is a wry discussion of humanity within a system that regards humans as subservient components.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Finland
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: black and white, visual, cult classic, atmospheric, humorous, surreal, dark comedy, sincere, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 76%
The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Plot Summary:
A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: humorous, serious, captivating, realistic, comedy drama, political, social, absurd, art house, intercultural
Similar in 75%
Drifting Clouds (1996)
Plot Summary:
Tram driver Lauri looses his job. Shortly later, the restaurant where his wife Ilona works as a headwaitress is closed. Too proud, to receive money from the social welfare system, they hardly try to find new jobs. But they are completely unlucky and clumsy, one disaster is followed by the next. Finally, their courage, confidence, and their unbreakable love triumph over the fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, touching, realistic, inspirational, uplifting, clever, humorous, semi serious, sexy, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
Fallen Leaves (2023)
Plot Summary:
The film tells the story of Ansa, a supermarket shelf-stocker on a zero-hour contract, later a recyclable plastic sorter, and Holappa, a sandblaster, an alcoholic, later an ex-alcoholic, whose paths have accidentally crossed and who, despite adversity and misunderstandings, try to build some kind of relationship on the harsher side of the welfare state.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: independent film, tragicomedy
Similar in 82%
Panic (2000)
Plot Summary:
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, psychological, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, captivating, neo noir, dark, stylized, black comedy
Similar in 78%
I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
Plot Summary:
After fifteen years' service, Henri Boulanger is made redundant from his job. Shocked, he attempts suicide, but can't go through with it, so he hires a contract killer in a seedy bar to murder him at some unspecified time in the future. But almost immediately he meets and falls in love with Margaret, a flower-seller, which makes Henri realise that his life has some meaning after all. But when he goes back to the bar to cancel the contract, he finds it has been demolished - and there's no way he can get in touch with the killer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, UK
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, neo noir, surreal, humorous, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, independent film, cult film
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Similar in 78%
Lights in the Dusk (2006)
Plot Summary:
Koistenin is a sad sack, a man without affect or friends. He's a night-watchman in Helsinki with ideas of starting his own business, but nothing to go with those intentions. He sometimes talks a bit with a woman who runs a snack trailer near his work. Out of the blue, a young sophisticated blonde woman attaches herself to Koistenin. He thinks of her as his girlfriend, he takes her on her rounds.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: bleak, melancholic, enigmatic, sincere, psychological, atmospheric, dark comedy, touching, neo noir, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Bleeder (1999)
Plot Summary:
Leo and Louise are a young couple living together in Copenhagen. Leo often goes out with his friends while Louise usually stays home. But when Louise tells Leo she's pregnant, a spark is ignited and Leo begins to become cold and distant. His anger and self-hatred finally erupt into violence against Louise.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, psychological, realistic, disturbing, ironic, mumblecore, witty, controversial, art house
Similar in 77%
Crime and Punishment (1983)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel, updated to present-day Helsinki. Slaughterhouse worker Rahikainen murders a man, and is forced to live with the consequences of his actions.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, neo noir, intercultural, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
The Free Will (2006)
Plot Summary:
After nine years in psychiatric detention Theo, who has brutally assaulted and raped three women, is released. Living in a supervised community, he connects well with his social worker Sascha, finds a job at a print shop and even a girlfriend, Nettie, his principal's brittle and estranged daughter. But even though superficially everything seems to work out Theo's seething rage remains ready to erupt.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: bleak, psychological, sincere, rough, serious, realistic, depressing, disturbing, controversial, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Vera Drake (2004)
Plot Summary:
Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: sincere, depressing, bleak, compassionate, thought provoking, contemplative, period piece, grim, realistic, social
Similar in 85%
The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1995)
Plot Summary:
A sinister tale of genius gone wrong, The Young Poisoner's Handbook chronicles a young man's descent into madness against the absurd backdrop of suburban English life. Hugh O'Conor plays Graham Young, a schoolboy from the London suburbs whose deadly obsession with toxic substances causes him to dabble in experimental murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, disturbing, offbeat, humorous, witty, black comedy, depressing, horror comedy, clever, realistic
Similar in 81%
Bad Boy Bubby (1993)
Plot Summary:
Bad Boy Bubby is just that: a bad boy. So bad, in fact, that his mother has kept him locked in their house for his entire thirty years, convincing him that the air outside is poisonous. After a visit from his estranged father, circumstances force Bubby into the waiting world, a place which is just as unusual to him as he is to the world.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Australia, Italy
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: disturbing, surreal, psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, art house, dark, cerebral, cult classic, mindfuck
Similar in 76%
Trust (1990)
Plot Summary:
After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: independent film, dark comedy, surreal, cult classic, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, retro
Similar in 79%
Le Havre (2011)
Plot Summary:
Marcel Marx, a former bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife Arletty, his favourite bar and his not too profitable profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcel's path crosses with an underage illegal immigrant from Africa, who needs Marcel's help to hide from the police.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, France, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, romantic, atmospheric, surreal, uplifting, touching, dark comedy, thought provoking, inspirational, philosophical
Similar in 79%
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Plot Summary:
The activities of rampaging, indiscriminate serial killer Ben are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, dark comedy, black comedy, disturbing, black and white, humorous, controversial, stylized, cult classic, atmospheric
Similar in 84%
I Stand Alone (1998)
Plot Summary:
The Butcher (known from Noe's short film Carne) has done some time in jail after beating up the guy who tried to seduce his teenage mentally-handicapped daughter. Now he wants to start a new life. He leaves his daughter in an institution and moves to Lille suburbs with his mistress. She promised him a new butcher shop. She lied. The butcher decides to go back to Paris and find his daughter.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: depressing, disturbing, psychological, bleak, controversial, art house, psychological thriller, rough, realistic, philosophical
Similar in 88%
Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
Plot Summary:
Lilya lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei. He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilya arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, sad, harsh, brutal, serious, sincere, dramatic, disturbing, touching
Similar in 81%
Dogville (2003)
Plot Summary:
A barren soundstage is stylishly utilized to create a minimalist small-town setting in which a mysterious woman named Grace hides from the criminals who pursue her. The town is two-faced and offers to harbor Grace as long as she can make it worth their effort, so Grace works hard under the employ of various townspeople to win their favor. Tensions flare, however, and Grace's status as a helpless outsider provokes vicious contempt and abuse from the citizens of Dogville.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 156000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, UK, France, Finland, Norway, Italy
Duration: 178 min
Plot tags: art house, psychological, bleak, philosophical, cerebral, depressing, thought provoking, controversial, atmospheric, psychological thriller
Similar in 80%
Naked (1993)
Plot Summary:
Johnny flees Manchester for London, to avoid a beating from the family of a girl he has raped. There he finds an old girlfriend, and spends some time homeless, spending much of his time ranting at strangers, and meeting characters in plights very much like his own.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: disturbing, talky, compassionate, realistic, philosophical, art house, serious, dark comedy, black comedy, existential
Similar in 76%
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Plot Summary:
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with un-attentive parents and bullies at school.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, disturbing, realistic, depressing, black comedy, brutal, controversial, cult classic, teen, talky
Similar in 86%
Taxi Driver (1976)
Plot Summary:
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 898000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, neo noir, bleak, cult classic, disturbing, controversial, psychological thriller, depressing, rough, atmospheric
Similar in 77%
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Plot Summary:
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles - even if just for a moment - by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Musical
Country: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, USA, UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, surreal, depressing, heartbreaking, touching, sad, art house, emotional, harsh