Best movies like The Shift
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to The Shift? Share your expertise to lead others to tv shows and films you've seen already that may also spellbind them. Help enlarge the network of people mentioning videos to each other. We welcome your involvement!
Plot Summary:
From the creators of You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie comes a compelling portrait of three modern lives in need of new direction and new meaning. In his first-ever movie, Wayne Dyer explores the spiritual journey in the second half of life when we long to find the purpose that is our unique contribution to the world. The powerful shift from the ego constructs we are taught early in life by parents and society—which promote an emphasis on achievement and accumulation—are shown in contrast to a life of meaning, focused on serving and giving back. Filmed on coastal California’s spectacular Monterey Peninsula, The Shift captures every person’s mid-life longing for a more purposeful, soul-directed life.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, spiritual, inspirational, existential, mystical
Best tv shows and movies like The Shift (2009):
Similar in 81%
Morgen (2010)
Plot Summary:
NELU, a man in his forties, works as a security guard in the local supermarket in Salonta, a small town on the Romanian-Hungarian border. This is the place where many illegal emigrants try to cross, by any means posible, to Hungary and then further to Western Europe. One morning, NELU will “fish” something different out of the river: a Turkish man trying to cross the border. Not able to communicate verballly, the two men will somehow understand each other. NELU takes the stranger to the farmhouse, gives him some dry clothes, food and shelter. He doesn’t really know how to help this stranger. The Turkish man gives NELU all the money he has on him so he will help him cross the border. Eventually, NELU takes the money and promises he will help him cross the border tomorrow, MORGEN….
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Romania, France, Hungary
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, social
Similar in 75%
Mojave Phone Booth (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the middle of the Mojave desert rests an abandoned phone booth, riddled with bullet holes, graffiti, its windows broken, but otherwise functioning. Its identity was born on the Internet and for years, travelers would make the trek down a lonely dirt road and camp next to the booth, in the hopes that it might suddenly ring, and they could connect with a stranger (often from another country) on the other end of the line. This is the story of four disparate people whose lives intersect with this mystical outpost, and the comfort they seek from a stranger's voice: There is Beth, a troubled woman facing dilemmas with her love-life and a recurring, baffling crime; Mary, a young South African, who is contemplating selling her body for the funds to escape her dreadful existence; Alex, a woman who is losing her lover, Glory, to the belief she is plagued by aliens, and Richard, driven into desperation by a separation from his wife, who happens upon the booth after his failed suicide attempt.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 288
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, realistic, sincere, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 80%
Beverly Lewis' The Confession (2013)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Beverly Lewis, "The Confession" is the continuing story of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman who goes on a journey in search of her identity - only to find herself embroiled in a mystery that must be solved before she can be reunited with the "Englisher" mother who gave her up to adoption 20 years earlier. Written by Brian Bird.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 807
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sad, scenic
Similar in 75%
Live Fast, Die Young (2008)
Plot Summary:
When a famous star is found dead at an exclusive Christmas Eve party filled with A-list Hollywood types, the police must hold for questioning a group of powerful entertainment industry players who are eager to leave the scene. As they reflect upon the death of their friend, apparently from a drug overdose, the witnesses begin to reflect upon their own life choices, triggering a profound discussion about life and spirituality.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 862
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, christian film, psychotronic
Similar in 90%
The Sensation of Sight (2006)
Plot Summary:
This off-beat drama about man's search for meaning amidst the ache of despair chronicles Finn, an introspective English teacher entering a mid-life crisis impelled by a recent tragedy, as he sets afoot selling encyclopedias to the town locals.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 636
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, realistic, contemplative, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 75%
The Off Hours (2011)
Plot Summary:
You're awake when everyone else is asleep. You're standing still as traffic is whipping by at 70mph. You see dusk and dawn everyday because they happen on your way to a time clock and then to a bed. Your off hours are spent trying to figure out why you're here, whether you want to stay, and how to leave.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 464
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, realistic, serious, mumblecore, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Refuge (2017)
Plot Summary:
The lives of a Hollywood actress battling drug addiction, a teen with a violent past, a teacher fighting to keep a dream alive, and a cop caught in a love triangle are brought together by fate.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, tense, touching, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 78%
How I Got Lost (2009)
Plot Summary:
HOW I GOT LOST is the heartbreaking yet hopeful story of Andrew and Jake, two friends dealing with loss amidst events bigger than them. Andrew is the friend we all have, the one who convinces you to come along despite your better judgment. Talented but with seemingly nothing to lose, his tailspin is balanced only by his professional drive to succeed as a trader on Wall Street. His best friend Jake, broken-hearted and writing sports instead of fiction, does his best to clean up the mess his friend creates until he runs into his capricious ex, Sarah again. So Andrew convinces him to ditch New York and hit the road, going nowhere. They commandeer a cab to Philadelphia, where they borrow Andrews moms station wagon. But when their car runs out of gas in the middle of Pennsylvania, Andrew reveals the real reason for the trip -- his father has died, and he doesn't think he can make it through the funeral alone.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 76%
I Am (2010)
Plot Summary:
In the City of Angels, despair and heartache are the daily mail -- delivered with painful regularity whether we want them or not. Through I AM, we join an eclectic cast as they try to untangle themselves from the web of sin. All along the way, they are each joined by a mysterious companion -- ever present with a loving guidance without judgment for their actions. The more they attempt to fix their lives, the deeper they sink into chaos, pain, and loss. In addition, we discover that sin is a matrix connecting even the most remote of strangers to one another. It is at this breaking point when we see the presence of this companion was no accident. He was the ever-loving constant who refused to abandon His people -- even when they abandoned Him.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 413
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, spiritual, sincere, independent film
Similar in 84%
A Beautiful Soul (2012)
Plot Summary:
An R&B singer snagged by the trappings of superstardom loses his way and turns his back on his church and faith-filled beginnings. Tragedy strikes, leaving a chance for redemption in its wake. But with rebirth, first comes death.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious
Similar in 88%
Erratum (2010)
Plot Summary:
Michał jedzie do miasta swojego urodzenia, aby załatwić sprawę o którą prosi go szef i od razu wracać. Sprawy przybierają jednak inny obrót. Michał musi pozostać tu parę dni dłużej. Chodząc po mieście spotyka bliskie mu niegdyś osoby, natrafia na znajome miejsca. Powoli odzywa się w nim coś, o czym dawno zapomniał.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 564
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, contemplative, realistic, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 81%
The Last Rites of Joe May (2011)
Plot Summary:
Now in his sixties, Joe is released from the hospital after a long battle with pneumonia and forced to confront the harsh reality of his legacy: everyone he knew had assumed he was dead, and life had gone on around him without missing a beat. Returning to his old neighborhood in Chicago's "Patch" district, he finds his car gone, all his worldly possessions pawned by his landlord, and the apartment he's lived in his entire adult life rented out to a single mother named Jenny and her eight year-old daughter Angelina.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 774
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, contemplative, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, independent film
Similar in 90%
Crossroads (2006)
Plot Summary:
The life of a young Jesuit seminarian is turned upside down when he falls in love with a young woman while working as a volunteer at a soup kitchen.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 300
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, sexual
Similar in 78%
The Wool Cap (2004)
Plot Summary:
This film, originally made for tv, stars William H. Macy as a mute superintendent of a apartment building that is falling apart who becomes the unwilling guardian to a young girl with a bit of an attitude. The film is an updated and Americanized version of the 1962 feature film Gigot starring Jackie Gleason, who also wrote the original story.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, feel good, spiritual
Similar in 78%
Firelight (2012)
Plot Summary:
Incarcerated women join a band of volunteers who battle forest fires and assist during natural disasters.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 631
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, psychological, captivating
Similar in 80%
Flying Lessons (2010)
Plot Summary:
With her life at a crossroads, 25 year old Sophie Conway returns home to the small town she always wanted to forget. Once home, she is faced with the friends and lovers she left behind, a tangled relationship with her Mother, and Harry Pleasant, an Alzheimer's Disease patient who, in an opposing way, shares Sophie's struggle to remember.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 441
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, inspirational
Similar in 89%
A Touch of Fate (2003)
Plot Summary:
One night in a small town in North Carolina, fate brings together three lives: an entertainment lawyer returning home to his dying mother after years in escape of his past, a woman trying to reclaim her supposed love, and a boy with a penchant for the sixth sense who struggles with the death of his father and overbearing love of his single mother. When the past and future suddenly bind these people together on a journey of need, forgiveness and discovery, they realize they've gained something when they least expected it.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 216
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 81%
God's Army (2000)
Plot Summary:
Life as a Mormon missionary isn't what 19-year-old Brandon Allen expected: so many rules and so few successes. Los Angeles is as unrepentant as Sodom and Gomorrah. He's forced to share a small apartment with five young prank-loving missionaries and, to top it off, his first companion, 29-year-old Marcus Dalton, proves to be a harsh mentor. After only one day as a missionary, Allen is ready to hang up his necktie and go home. Allen becomes a part of the drama occurring under the everyday surface of missionary life. After only a few intense days, Allen finds faith he didn't know he had, and courage he didn't know he lacked. He learns that the time has come to put away childish things, and to become more than just a man--to become a man of God.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, realistic, psychological, uplifting, serious, emotional, independent film, contemplative, christian film
Similar in 76%
String (2006)
Plot Summary:
Shankar Singh and his wife, Meera, live in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India along with widowed paternal grandmother, Laxmibai, his mom, Gowri, and dad, Randhir. The family feel that they are blessed after Meera's entry in this family. Shankar must go and abroad in Saudi Arabia and bids farewell to Meera, promising to keep in touch, which he does, and also sends them a large portion of his earnings, which is used to pay off the family's debts. Then when no word is received from him, a worried Meera phones, and is devastated to learn that Shankar has been killed by being thrown off a 10th floor balcony. Her status quickly changes, her jewelery, ornaments, fancy clothes are taken off, and she is told to remain indoors. wear dark clothes, and is only allowed to pray at a Mandir.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, atmospheric, serious, offbeat, social, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Little Buddha (1993)
Plot Summary:
Little Buddha is a movie about the life of Siddhartha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Liechtenstein, UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: unusual plot structure, spiritual, fairy tale, retro, philosophical, existential, cult classic, independent film, sentimental, meditative
Similar in 87%
Taking Back Our Town (2001)
Plot Summary:
A true story about a concerned housewife, Pat Melancon, who tries to block Shintech, a massive Japanese petrochemical conglomerate, from building a plant in her toxic township already known as "cancer alley". Pat and a few newly recruited, fledgling activitsts face the full force of Shintech's wealth and influence peddling, which has bought the cooperation of the government from the local level all the way up to the Governor's office.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
My Name Is Bill W. (1989)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Bill W. (James Woods), a successful stock broker whose life falls apart after the stock crash of the 20's and how he comes to grips with his alcoholism. Along with a fellow alcoholic (James Garner) he forms a support group that would eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, spiritual, contemplative
Similar in 78%
Drunks (1995)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first time in seven months, so he does - and leaves the meeting right after. As Jim wanders the night, searching for some solace in his old stomping grounds, bars and parks where he bought drugs, the meeting goes on, and we hear the stories of survivors and addicts - some, like Louis, who claim to have wandered in looking for choir practice, who don't call themselves alcoholic, and others, like Joseph, whose drinking almost caused the death of his child - as they talk about their lives at the meeting.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, realistic, talky, spiritual, sincere, serious, emotional, thought provoking, clever, depressing
Similar in 78%
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
Plot Summary:
Three people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to seek enlightenment - Hyegok calls him Kibong!; and, an orphan lad Haejin, whom Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as a curious and nearly self-sufficient child.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: spiritual, slow cinema, psychedelic, thinking, aesthetic, psychological, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, captivating
Similar in 78%
Peaceful Warrior (2006)
Plot Summary:
A chance encounter with a stranger changes the life of a college gymnast.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: inspirational, philosophical, spiritual, thought provoking, sincere, psychological, motivational, intellectual, existential, compassionate
Similar in 83%
Life of a King (2013)
Plot Summary:
Life of a King is the true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. This is his inspirational story.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, rough, touching, psychological, thought provoking, captivating, spiritual, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Everything Must Go (2010)
Plot Summary:
When an alcoholic relapses, causing him to lose his wife and his job, he holds a yard sale on his front lawn in an attempt to start over. A new neighbor might be the key to his return to form.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, feel good, humorous, talky, sincere, semi serious, dark comedy, independent film
Similar in 88%
Bilal's Stand (2010)
Plot Summary:
Bilal, a Muslim high school senior works at his family's long-owned taxi stand. "The Stand," as they call it, has been the source of all activity and money for the family for the last sixty years. It seems like Bílal is about to carry the torch. He secretly submits a college application and takes up the art of ice carving in order to win a scholarship. However, he is forced to decide whether he will continue working at the Stand - the only life he's ever known - or take a chance at social mobility.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, realistic, independent film, uplifting, serious, captivating, spiritual, educational
Similar in 89%
Hide Away (2011)
Plot Summary:
A successful businessman attempting to resurrect his life buys and boards a dilapidated sailboat.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, emotional, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, independent film
Similar in 75%
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Plot Summary:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
IMDB Rating: 9.3
IMDB Votes: 28000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: clever, inspirational, touching, twist ending, sentimental, uplifting, emotional, philosophical, suspense, serious