Best movies like The Motive
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Álvaro is a poor man obsessed with the idea of writing 'high literature'. He starts provoking conflicts to write about them.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Spain, Mexico
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, twist ending, novela, surprise ending, tragicomedy, crying, dark comedy
Best tv shows and movies like The Motive (2017):
Similar in 76%
Terrorist (2019)
Plot Summary:
An elderly woman decides to act on her own with a rifle as she gets fed up with injustice.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Czech Republic
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tragicomedy, psychotronic, allegory, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
Ferpect Crime (2004)
Plot Summary:
A playboy has the tables turned on him when he finds himself being used as a plaything by an undesirable woman in this black comedy from Spain.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: Spain, Italy
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: humorous, dark comedy, surreal, funny, black comedy, cynical, hilarious, sexy, talky, suspense
Similar in 90%
Wave of Crimes (2018)
Plot Summary:
Leyre lives a quiet and comfortable life which ends abruptly when an act of rage of her teenage son leads her to protect him by any means necessary.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: humorous, light, captivating, entertaining, dark comedy, crying, detective, black comedy
Similar in 82%
Under the Tree (2017)
Plot Summary:
When Baldwin and Inga's next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: Iceland, Poland, Denmark, Germany, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, humorous, dark comedy, black comedy, crying, surprise ending, tragic, weird
Similar in 76%
Caged Men (1971)
Plot Summary:
Elliott was a loser who robbed the bank only to land in jail. In prison, he encounters homosexuality as every inmate wants to turn Elliott into a mate!.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 86
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: crying, independent film, poliziottesco, lgbt cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 82%
My Scary Girl (2006)
Plot Summary:
A man with no experience in the art of relationships, is encouraged by his friend to ask Lee Mina out on a date. Unexpectedly successful, he falls in love. When Lee Mina's ex-boyfriend shows up and ruins the new relationship, she takes matters into her own hands. A distraught Dae-Woo begins investigating Lee Mina's murky past and discovers a series of scary secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 707
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, humorous, realistic, touching, exciting, captivating, melancholic, dark comedy, fairy tale, crying
Similar in 76%
A Gorgeous Girl Like Me (1972)
Plot Summary:
Stanislas Previne is a young sociologist, preparing a thesis on criminal women. He chooses Camille Bliss as his subject of study and begins to visit her in prison for interviews. Camille became acquainted with trouble at a young age and justifies her actions by "fate-bets." She is currently in prison for allegedly murdering one of her lovers. As she tells Stanislas of her life and love affairs, his interest in her grows to more than just professional. Can he resist her charm?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: art house, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, ambiguous ending, black comedy
Similar in 85%
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Plot Summary:
Celestine has a new job as a chambermaid for the quirky M. Monteil, his wife and her father. When the father dies, Celestine decides to quit her job and leave, but when a young girl is raped and murdered, Celestine believes that the Monteils' groundskeeper, Joseph, is guilty, and stays on in order to prove it. She uses her sexuality and the promise of marriage to get Joseph to confess -- but things do not go as planned.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: bleak, enigmatic, harsh, cynical, political, art house, biting, social, spiritual, artsy
Similar in 80%
Historias lamentables (2020)
Plot Summary:
This satirical anthology tells the surreal stories of a gift for Don Horacio, a trip to the beach for Bermejo, a life-changing relationship between Tina and the young immigrant Ayoub, and a new client for a company that specializes in excuses.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: Spain
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: surreal, anthology, humorous, ironic, crying, slapstick comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 76%
Rising High (2020)
Plot Summary:
Charting the rise and fall of three corrupt real estate agents who accumulate absurd wealth in no time but fall into a vortex of fraud, greed and drugs.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, humorous, serious, captivating, intellectual, crying, detective, freeze frame
Similar in 81%
Cop or Hood (1979)
Plot Summary:
When the local police inspector was found dead in a prostitute's house, police division commissioner Stan Borowitz is sent to investigate the situation. Posing as the prostitute's long-lost brother "Antonio Cerruti," he discovers a mare's nest of police corruption. In fact, in this comedy thriller the whole town is corrupt. If they were closely examined, Stan's methods for pursuing this investigation might embarrass the police. For instance, he drives into a criminal's house in a fancy, expensive race car. In another incident, he callously blows up a casino owned by Musard , one of the town's crime bosses. On that occasion, he first forces Musard to remove his clothes, and the poor criminal watches his casino explode from across the square while standing naked in a phone booth. Meanwhile, Stan seduces the lovely Edmonde.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, tense, suspenseful, neo noir, freeze frame, french noir
Similar in 83%
A Fine Madness (1966)
Plot Summary:
A womanizing poet falls into the hands of a psychiatrist with a straying wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: retro, psychological, humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious, biting, crying, suspense
Similar in 78%
The Ref (1994)
Plot Summary:
Caroline and Lloyd are a married couple constantly at each other's throats, masters at crafting acid-tongued barbs at the other's expense. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop -- not even at gunpoint. The gunman is Gus, a thief on the run from the police, who kidnaps the couple as an insurance policy, planning to use their home as a hideout. But their incessant bickering proves more than Gus bargained for, forcing him -- for the sake of his own sanity -- into the unenviable role of peacemaker. To make things even worse for Gus, he discovers that he has taken the couple hostage the night of their big Christmas party, and the guests are already on the way. Not wanting to leave Lloyd and Caroline unattended, Gus opts to attend the party, pretending to be the couple's marriage counselor. This naturally leads to a series of comic confusions, as the hostage crisis and marital tensions head towards their inevitable conclusion.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, humorous, witty, talky, funny, hilarious, light, semi serious, black comedy, clever
Similar in 84%
The Cake General (2018)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1984, Hans Pettersson (Hasse P.) decides to create the largest sandwich cake ever made in order to put his home town, Köping, on the map.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, humorous, captivating, crying, exciting
Similar in 82%
What a Man Wants (2018)
Plot Summary:
Two couples' windy comedy movie that is more dangerous than typhoons in Jeju Islands.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 456
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, satirical, disturbing, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 77%
Someone Behind the Door (1971)
Plot Summary:
A brain doctor (Anthony Perkins) with an unfaithful wife (Jill Ireland) brings home an amnesiac (Charles Bronson) and gets him to commit murder.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: slasher, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, neo noir, psychotronic, poliziottesco
Similar in 78%
Loot (1970)
Plot Summary:
Based on the play by 'Joe Orton' this film follows the adventures of two pals who have pulled off a bank robbery and have to hide the loot. Fortunately (?) one of them works in a funeral parlour and they have a coffin to spare.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: lgbt cinema, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, crying, independent film, detective
Similar in 75%
Who Killed Bambi? (2013)
Plot Summary:
It tells the story of two young friends who must find a way for the president of the company in which they work (and father of one of them) safe return home, and that is enclosed strange circumstances naked in the trunk of his car.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: Spain
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: humorous, feel good, captivating, light, dark comedy, exciting, realistic, semi serious, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 86%
The Grissom Gang (1971)
Plot Summary:
The Grissom Gang is a remake of the notorious 1949 British melodrama No Orchids For Miss Blandish. Kim Darby plays a 1920s-era debutante who is kidnapped and held for ransom. Her captors are the Grissoms, a family comprised of sadists and morons, and headed by Ma Barker clone Irene Dailey. One of the Grissoms, played by Scott Wilson, takes a liking to his prisoner, which results in a bloody breakdown of the family unit. Both The Grissom Gang and the original No Orchids For Miss Blandish were inspired by the best-seller by James Hadley Chase, though neither film retains Chase's original ending.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, tense, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cynical, biting, crying
Similar in 79%
Golden Balls (1993)
Plot Summary:
Benito González is a flamboyant engineer in Melilla, with a brash and pushy personality. His dream is to build the tallest building ever in the region. After his girlfriend leaves him, he devotes himself entirely to his ambitions, deciding to let nothing get in his way. He marries the daughter of a billionaire, intending to use her father's money to realise his project. Benito waltzes his way through a career of excess, fetishes and deceptions, but the personal conflicts he unleashes ultimately send his life spiraling down to disaster.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain, Italy, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, light, humorous, captivating, ironic, sexy, manga, sensual, touching, serious
Similar in 89%
The Paramedic (2020)
Plot Summary:
Unable to face his new reality in a wheelchair, Ángel develops a deadly obsession with the woman who left him and unleashes a sinister revenge plot.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, tense, emotional, suspense, intense, suspenseful, disturbing, hispanic, psychosexual thriller, crying
Similar in 88%
Eating Raoul (1982)
Plot Summary:
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discover a bizarre, if not murderous way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, cult classic, funny, dark, surreal, humorous, witty, erotic, psychedelic
Similar in 82%
Something for Everyone (1970)
Plot Summary:
An opportunistic young man working as a servant to a European countess uses his sexual talents to better his station in life.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, black comedy, dark comedy, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, biting, fairy tale
Similar in 75%
The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988)
Plot Summary:
There's nothing wrong with the Marshetta family that a little felony can't cure. Rupert doesn't want to follow in his father's blue-collar footsteps, so he and his quirky friend kidnap his father for ransom, only nobody wants him back.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: retro, independent film, touching, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 80%
The Occupant (2020)
Plot Summary:
An unemployed executive is forced to sell his apartment. When he discovers that he still has the keys, he becomes obsessed with the family that now lives there and decides to recover the life he has lost, at any price.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, twist ending, perverse, twisted
Similar in 86%
10 to Midnight (1983)
Plot Summary:
Based on the real-life Richard Speck murders, amoral, nearly psychotic killer Warren Stacey (Gene Davis) is a serial killer who has murdered a number of women; he stabs them while they are naked to minimize leaving any physical evidence. Police detective Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) is convinced of Stacey’s guilt and, over the objections of his partner, plants evidence to get him behind bars. When Stacey is released on a technicality, he threatens to go after Kessler and his family, leaving Kessler to defend himself against a killer with little help from the police.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: cult classic, grindhouse, slasher, detective, suspenseful, neo noir, suspense, scary, psychological, retro
Similar in 82%
Sleep Tight (2011)
Plot Summary:
Apartment concierge Cesar is a miserable person who believes he was born without the ability to be happy. As a result, he decides his mission is to make life hell for everyone around him. A majority of the tenants are easy to agitate, but Clara proves to be harder than the most. So Cesar goes to creepy extremes to make this young woman mentally break down. Things get even more complicated in this twisted relationship when her boyfriend, Marcos, shows up.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, Mexico
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, psychological thriller, tense, disturbing, serious, suspense, mind twisting, mind blowing, twisted
Similar in 78%
Cheap Thrills (2013)
Plot Summary:
Recently fired and facing eviction, a new dad has his life turned upside down when he meets a wealthy couple who offer a path to financial security... but at a price.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: disturbing, dark comedy, tense, independent film, psychological, stylized, black comedy, humorous, horror comedy, scary
Similar in 88%
The Body (2012)
Plot Summary:
A woman’s body disappears mysteriously from the morgue without a trace. Police inspector Jaime Peña investigates the strange occurrence with the help of Álex Ulloa, the widower of the missing woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, suspenseful, atmospheric, tense, suspense, mind blowing, detective, serious, psychological thriller, mind twisting
Similar in 77%
Knives Out (2019)
Plot Summary:
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 750000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, exciting, captivating, detective, witty, suspense, disturbing, psychological, twisted, intellectual