Best movies like The Night Bus
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The film, which is in sharp monochrome, relates the story of a twenty-four-hour-long journey of two young Iranian soldiers (Issā and Emād) and a civilian driver (Amu Rahim) transporting thirty-eight Iraqi prisoners of war, taken from behind the Iraqi line, to a garrison inside Iran. From the details one is informed that the Iran–Iraq War has entered into its third year. The film masterfully depicts the deep inhumanity of acts of war amongst nations by showing the shared humanity of the combatants on both sides.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 626
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like The Night Bus (2007):
Similar in 82%
Breath (2016)
Plot Summary:
We are taken care of when we are children and we do not know as much as when we are older. There is less to worry about. But it does not mean the things that are important to us as children have less significance. You see, for Scruffy, despite that she is from a poor family of the countryside, it is very important to study well, because she will become an asthma doctor. The doctor said her dad will die but she has decided - she will grow up and cure her father. Equally important is to run away from her grandmother, who almost always is lurking around in the dark corners of the house with a comb to fix her messy hair. Death is too abstract to understand, war is a word one hears on the radio that grownups sometimes listen to. Yet, as Scruffy lives through her days full of happiness and misery at full steam, the most tumultuous years of Iran become unveiled on the background, as we are introduced to the Revolution and the Iran-Iraqi war through the eyes of a child.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: black comedy
Similar in 76%
Heiran (2009)
Plot Summary:
During the rule of Taliban in Afghanistan, about 3 million illegal Afghani immigrants entered Iran and caused numerous problems for the Iranian society to accept them. This film depicts the story of a 17 year old rural girl by the name of Mahi (Fish), who comes from a war-stricken family in southern Iran. Mahi falls in love with Heiran, an Afghan student who has come to their village to work. However, Mahi's family being strictly against her marriage to Heiran, force Mahi to choose one between her family and an Afghan boy.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 387
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: islamic
Similar in 87%
Subdued (2017)
Plot Summary:
After her divorce Mina is in need to financial and emotional supporting. She meets a guy and thinks that this is the man of her dreams. But things are not just as their first seem to be.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Absolutely Tame Is a Horse (2011)
Plot Summary:
A corrupted police officer insists on bribing a broke man, so he has to go to everybody and do everything in order to be able to pay him in the very night.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: islamic
Similar in 83%
Dash Akol (1971)
Plot Summary:
Dash Akol is greatly respected in Shiraz as an honorable man who has lost his family's money through helping his friends. He has an enemy, however, named Kaka Rostam, a mean and spiteful person. Dash Akol, who is in his forties, falls in love with Marjan, daughter of the late Haji Samad, for whose estate he is the executor. But he keeps his love secret. One day a suitor asks for Marjan's hand, and Dash Akol considers it against his code of honor to refuse. On the night of the wedding, Dash Akol hands over responsibility for the family to the bridegroom. As he is leaving the house, however, Kaka Rostam is waiting for him and a fight ensues. Kaka Rostam stabs him in the back, but Dash Akol succeeds in killing him. On his deathbed, Dash Akol sends his parrot to Marjan with the confession of love he has taught it.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Iran
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Bride of Fire (2000)
Plot Summary:
A tragedy in which a young woman from an Arab tribe, prevented from marrying her non-Arab Persian lover is forced against her wishes to marry her cousin.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 573
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
The Cycle (1977)
Plot Summary:
Ali and his father go from their poor neighborhood in the outskirts of the city to a hospital so that Ali's father can be treated for his sickness. However since they have no money, Ali starts to work for Dr. Sameri who deals in blood.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 779
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: banned
Similar in 83%
Mum's Guest (2004)
Plot Summary:
A mother of a poor family, has guests coming over, yet doesn't know how to get the dinner party altogether with limited resources.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: islamic, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 84%
Sara (1993)
Plot Summary:
Sara is the perfect young housewife. When husband Hessam requires an expensive emergency operation abroad, it is she who works for the funds. For the next three years she labors secretly to pay the shady loan shark and save Hessam - until the truth is revealed and with it, the reality of her marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 730
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Iran is My Country (1999)
Plot Summary:
Sohrab, a provincial young writer, is lost in the desert on the way to Tehran to get a publication license for his book on old Persian poetry, but the trip involves some bizarre events.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 171
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, History
Country: Iran
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: avant garde
Similar in 87%
The Peddler (1987)
Plot Summary:
The movie consists of three episodes that explore the lives of poor and desperate in Iran. In episode one, a very poor couple with many crippled children abandon their newly born baby in hopes that it will have a better future. In the second episode, a mentally impaired and isolated young man tries to take care of his senile mother who is almost dead. In the third episode, a cowardly and desperate peddler tries to escape from his boss.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: anthology
Similar in 88%
Here Without Me (2011)
Plot Summary:
The story is about the world of a small family with familiar dreams and not so remarkable problems. The mother is trying to lead everything to save her family, but small events disarrange all her plans.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, melancholic, disturbing, islamic
Similar in 76%
The Brick and the Mirror (1965)
Plot Summary:
Hashem (Zakariya Hashemi) is a cab driver who finds an infant child in the back seat of his cab one night after he gives a ride to a young woman. Hashem and his girlfriend, Taji (Taji Ahmadi), try to cope with this unwanted child. Hashem insists on getting rid of the child, Taji on keeping him.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 863
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Traveler (1974)
Plot Summary:
The Traveler is a 1974 Iranian drama film directed by Abbas Kiarostami that tells the story of Hassan Darabi, a troublesome, amoral 10-year-old boy in a small Iranian town. He wishes to see the Iran national football team play an important match in Tehran. In order to achieve that, he scams his friends and neighbors. After a number of adventures, he finally reaches Tehran stadium at the time of the match. The film addresses the boy's determination in his goal and his indifference to the effects of his actions on other people, particularly those who are closest to him. In its element, the film is an examination of human behavior and the balance of right and wrong.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: spiritual
Similar in 90%
The Tear of the Cold (2004)
Plot Summary:
During the Iran-Iraq war,a soldier and a Kurdish girl come to a new understanding of the notion of animosity despite their supposedly opposite circumstances.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 458
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, islamic
Similar in 83%
Born Under Libra (2000)
Plot Summary:
Divided by student protests and conflicting politics, college lovers Daniel and Mahtab are separated when Daniel flees Tehran. But Mahtab follows, travelling south to his village. As the lovers reunite and head back to Tehran, they find themselves trapped by flood waters in an abandoned battlefield, strewn with landmines and dead soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 339
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
From Karkheh to Rhine (1993)
Plot Summary:
Saeed who is suffering from injuries that he received in the Iran-Iraq War, is sent to Germany for treatments. In Germany, he meets his sister and her German husband. Saeed and his sister who have not had any relations in many years try to re-establish the close relationship that they had long time ago.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Mother (1990)
Plot Summary:
The film progresses along two distinct but interwoven series of events. The first series involves young members of a family who have gathered round their old mother and revive their common childhood memories. the second line focuses on the old woman's preparations for her last journey and her joyous cooperation in arranging for the ceremonies that are to be observed after her death.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: spiritual, islamic, interesting
Similar in 76%
M for Mother (2006)
Plot Summary:
What appears to be a grand love story turns sour when parents-to-be discover that their unborn child will likely be born with serious birth defects, as a result of the mother's exposure to chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war. The father does not want to have a disabled child, but the mother insists on going through with the pregnancy.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, sad, islamic, entertaining
Similar in 85%
The Glass Agency (1998)
Plot Summary:
The Glass Agency is the story of a war veteran living in post war Iran. It depicts veterans who are suffering from social problems after the war. Society does not understand them and the standard social norms are not in harmony with their personalities.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: islamic, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Border Caf? (2005)
Plot Summary:
A young widow takes over her late husband’s truck stop café, keeping hidden in the kitchen so as not to cause a scandal in Iran’s conservative society. But her brother-in-law, out of familial obligation, wants to take her as a wife and also take over the café. Meanwhile a Greek trucker who is a frequent café customer is slowly entranced — at first by her sublime cooking ability, and then by her.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, captivating, islamic
Similar in 77%
The Pear Tree (1998)
Plot Summary:
A man contemplates life and compares it to a pear tree in his yard which stops producing fruit.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: spiritual, islamic, atmospheric, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
Travellers (1992)
Plot Summary:
A young woman's wedding becomes a ritual of mourning when her sister and family die in an auto accident on the way to the wedding. The sisters' mother refuses to accept her daughter's death, and in the midst of wedding guests and mourners, including the drivers of the truck that caused the accident, she orders the wedding to take place. But how can the daughter marry in the midst of a wake and without the family's traditional mirror, which the sister was bringing to the service?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, beautiful
Similar in 83%
Life and a Day (2016)
Plot Summary:
Somaieh, the youngest daughter of an indigent family, is getting married and fear is overwhelming each and every member of the family regarding how to overcome their difficulties after she's gone.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, beautiful
Similar in 89%
Two Women (1999)
Plot Summary:
A sensation when released in 1999 in Iran, Two Women charts the lives of two promising architecture students over the course of the first turbulent years of the Islamic Republic. Tahimine Milani creates this scathing portrait of those traditions - aided by official indifference - which conspire to trap women and stop them from realizing their full potential; the inclusion of frank depictions of domestic violence was hailed by many as a breakthrough in dealing with a long taboo subject.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 90%
The Blue-Veiled (1995)
Plot Summary:
An elderly owner of a tomato farm and sauce factory, after his wife's death, falls in love with one of the workers of the factory endangering his relationship with his daughters and in-laws. While everybody in the big family persuades the old man to abandon the relationship with the poor girl, the old man makes his final choice of love.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 785
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Hamoun (1990)
Plot Summary:
Hamoon's wife is leaving him. He is also unsuccessfully trying to finish his Ph.D. thesis. He is forced to reexamine his life. In a series of flashbacks and dreams, Hamoon tries to figure out what he did wrong.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: existential, spiritual, islamic, cult classic, psychological, sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
Plot Summary:
During the Iran-Iraq War, Bashu, a young boy loses his house and all his family. Scared, he sneaks into a truck that is leaving the area. He gets off the truck in the Northern part of the country, where everything from landscape to language is different. He meets Naii, who is trying to raise her two young children on a farm, while her husband is away. Despite cultural differences, and the fact that they do not speak the same language, Bashu and Naii slowly form a strong bond Written by Sam Tabibnia.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Iran
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: inspirational, islamic, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Boutique (2004)
Plot Summary:
A clothing store worker (Jahan) meets a poor girl named Eti. Jahan tries to help the girl and solve her problems, but….
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, neo noir, islamic, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Under the Skin of the City (2001)
Plot Summary:
Tuba works daily at a grueling textile factory in Iran, returning home every night to deal with the rest of her problematic family, which includes: a pregnant daughter whose husband beats her regularly; a teenage son, who's been getting into trouble due to his burgeoning career in radical politics; and an older son who goes to great lengths--such as attempting to sell the family's meager house--in order to get an engineering job in Japan as a means of getting out of Iran.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, emotional, suspenseful, exciting, suspense, islamic, masterpiece