Best movies like The Short History of the Long Road
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Nola grew up living on a van with her father, Clint; two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past and her new destination.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: road movie, sentimental, touching, realistic, talky
Best tv shows and movies like The Short History of the Long Road (2019):
Similar in 77%
Tennessee (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story of three people who strive to realize their dreams. Brothers Carter and Ellis set out on a road trip to their childhood home in a desperate search for their estranged father, who may hold the key to their future.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 875
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, captivating, humorous, emotional, sincere, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Don't Make Me Go (2022)
Plot Summary:
A terminally ill man and his teenage daughter embark on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion. While there, he secretly hopes she can reunite with the mother who left them long ago.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, road movie, teen
Similar in 80%
Up & Away (2012)
Plot Summary:
This is a story about two homeless brothers (Zana, 7) and (Dana, 10) who live on the edge of survival. In the beginning of the story they catch a glimpse of Superman through a hole in the wall at the local cinema. Zana and Dana decide that they want to go to America and live with Superman. Once they get there he can solve all their problems, make their lives easy and punish everyone that has been mean to them. Zana, the younger brother, starts to make a list of all people he is going to tell Superman to punish. On top of the list is Saddam Hussein. Dana on the other hand makes a concrete plan for what they need to get there; money, passports, transportation and a way to get across the boarder. Unfortunately they have neither of those. But in spite of everything they decide to follow the dream. Written by Karzan Kader.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Sweden, Finland
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: road movie, realistic, sincere, serious, inspirational, thought provoking, sad, tear jerker, independent film, islamic
Similar in 89%
Beautiful Wave (2011)
Plot Summary:
In Santa Cruz for the summer, a young woman discovers the sport of surfing -- and a family secret as well.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 613
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, contemplative, psychological, sincere, captivating, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 85%
The American Dreamless (2020)
Plot Summary:
A young addict is convinced by his best friend to train-hop across the country in hopes of finding the buried treasure that they talked about when they were kids. One is self-destructive and the other is blind, neither of them expected a small-town drifter to lead the way, especially when the only way to go, is within. The American Dreamless is Tanner Matthews' directorial debut and the first film to be shot in all fifty US states.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: road movie, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 76%
Arcadia (2012)
Plot Summary:
Greta's dad Tom is moving the family cross-country in a dented station wagon, promising a California paradise to his kids. All that's missing is Mom.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 692
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, sincere, realistic, independent film, crying
Similar in 90%
All Is Forgiven (2007)
Plot Summary:
Victor lives in Vienna with Annette, his beautiful Austrian wife and their daughter Pamela. It’s spring. Fleeing his work, Victor spends his days outside: he plays with Pamela, pays a visit to Annette’s parents, loiters in the park with the drug dealers. Very much in love, Annette is confident that he’ll get a hold of himself as soon as they return to Paris. But back in France, Victor relapses into his bad habits. After a violent dispute, Victor moves into the room of a junkie he has fallen in love with. Annette leaves Victor and disappears with Pamela. 11 years later: Pamela is 17. She lives in Paris with her mother. One day, she learns that her father lives in the same city. She decides to see him again. –Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 956
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Byways (2004)
Plot Summary:
Victor, a father, travels the roads with his teenage son, Felix. For Felix, the trip is a school of life, as his first romantic encounter helps him better understand his father and get closer to him.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 150
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Spain, Italy
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: road movie, touching, realistic, serious, emotional, contemplative
Similar in 78%
The Lost & Found Family (2009)
Plot Summary:
When her husband dies, Mrs. Ester Hobbes (Ellen Bry, TV's St. Elsewhere) learns that his wealth was just an illusion. Her only real inheritance is a run-down Southern home occupied by a foster family. Slowly, Mrs. Hobbes finds herself making unexpected connections with rebellious teen Justin (Lucas Till, Hannah Montana: The Movie) and the rest of the unwanted kids. Share the journey of discovery in this touching drama of lives transformed.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 329
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: christian film, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, indie film
Similar in 78%
Pope Dreams (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the vein of Good Will Hunting and Garden State, POPE DREAMS is a coming of age tale about a young man at a crossroads in life. Filled with heart, music, life, and loss. And a set of drums. Oh, and the Pope. POPE DREAMS is about a directionless nineteen-year old boy, Andy Venable, who works for his hard-case dad in a store warehouse during the day and plays drums in a loud heavy-metal band at night. His only clear goal at the moment is to get his sick mother, a devout Catholic, to meet the Pope before she dies. While he's busy with that, he falls for a girl who's totally out of his league and gets discovered by two Broadway producers for a musical talent that just might be his true calling. Andy's a dreamer. But dreaming is easy. It's reality that's hard.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 285
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, sentimental, independent film, serious
Similar in 85%
The Giants (2011)
Plot Summary:
Brothers Danny and Zak, 15 and 13 & 3/4 are spending the summer in their deceased grandfather's house, waiting in vain for their mother, who is otherwise busy, and running low on cash. To make some money they decide to rent out the house to a local drug dealer, but things don't go exactly as planned.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, feel good, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 83%
Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012)
Plot Summary:
In this revisionist drama, the film delves into the family lineage of Wyatt Williams, the character made famous by Peter Fonda in the original Easy Rider Movie. Centering around the Williams family, and their internal family struggles throughout the eras of the 40's to present day, as they struggle to connect with one another through the only way they know how. Their love of motorcycles and the freedom of the ride.
IMDB Rating: 2.4
IMDB Votes: 473
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, psychedelic, independent film, avant garde, ridiculous, cult film
Similar in 79%
Twelve Mile Road (2003)
Plot Summary:
A divorced farmer takes in his troubled teenage daughter for the summer, a summer which changes the lives of the two of them, and their friends and family.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 78%
All the Wilderness (2014)
Plot Summary:
Keeping to himself in the wake his father's death, James Charm finds refuge in solitary walks and creating morbid sketches — until a charismatic new friend and a quirky young woman begin to draw him out of his shell.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, teen, stylized, interesting
Similar in 85%
Smile (2005)
Plot Summary:
Introduced to a volunteer opportunity with the Doctor's Gift Program, Katie (Mika Boorem) signs up for a trip to China, where she meets Lin (Yi Ding), a girl with whom she shares a birthday. Lin has a facial deformity that discourages her from ever showing her face, but her friendship with Katie helps her start to see life in a new way.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, China
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sincere, sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, intercultural, inter cultural
Similar in 76%
Wild Iris (2001)
Plot Summary:
A woman and her teenage son move back in with her mother to work together in the family bridal business.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 80%
The Pregnancy Project (2012)
Plot Summary:
The Pregnancy project tells the real story of Gaby Rodriguez, a seventeen-year-old who attended a Washington state high-school and made her senior school project the treatment of pregnant teenagers by pretending to be pregnant.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, thought provoking, independent film
Similar in 88%
Crossroads (2002)
Plot Summary:
Three friends get together and bury a box making a pact to open it at midnight at their high school graduation. In the little town in Georgia that they live in, things soon change. One is little miss perfect, one is an engaged prom queen, and the other is a pregnant outcast. The night of graduation, they open the box and they strike up a conversation. All of a sudden, one brings up the topic of her going to Los Angeles for a record contract audition. They all decide to go together and they leave. With a little money, they set out on the road with a guy named Ben. When one of them tells the other a rumor that he might be a homicidal maniac they are all scared of him. When they reach LA, Lucy falls in love with Ben and against her father's wishes, she stays and she goes to the audition.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: road movie, sentimental, teen, sexy, feel good, romantic, sad, serious, realistic, touching
Similar in 90%
A Birder's Guide to Everything (2013)
Plot Summary:
David Portnoy, a 15-year-old birding fanatic, thinks that he's made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father's remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 90%
Roadside Prophets (1992)
Plot Summary:
Sid and Nancy screenplay author Abbe Wool makes her directorial debut with this tale of a factory worker name Joe (X front man John Doe) who hits the road on his Harley to scatter the ashes of a co-worker. Joined by wannabe biker Sam (Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys), Joe journeys from Los Angeles to Nevada, meeting all sorts of characters (played by the likes of David Carradine, John Cusack, Timothy Leary and Arlo Guthrie) along the way.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: road movie, light, talky, humorous, semi serious, scenic, independent film, offbeat, realistic, witty
Similar in 82%
Bass Ackwards (2010)
Plot Summary:
A man coming off a disastrous affair with a married woman has a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 363
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, sincere, serious, realistic, mumblecore, offbeat, independent film
Similar in 87%
Mud (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive and make a pact to help him escape from an island in the Mississippi.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 187000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, atmospheric, touching, suspenseful, realistic, southern gothic, independent film, tense, enigmatic
Similar in 87%
Get on the Bus (1996)
Plot Summary:
Get On the Bus follows several Black men on a cross country bus trip to the Million Man March. On the bus are an eclectic set of characters including a laid off aircraft worker, a former Gang Banger, a Hollywood actor, a cop who is of mixed racial background, and a White bus driver, all make the trek discussing issues surrounding the march, manhood, religion, politics, and race.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: road movie, uplifting, talky, compassionate, thought provoking, touching, realistic, serious, political, light
Similar in 77%
The Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
Plot Summary:
A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: road movie, uplifting, emotional, realistic, sentimental, atmospheric, touching, serious, independent film, romantic
Similar in 79%
Leave No Trace (2018)
Plot Summary:
A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, motivational, road movie, philosophical, captivating, thought provoking, intellectual, depressing
Similar in 87%
Everybody's Fine (2009)
Plot Summary:
Eight months after the death of his wife, Frank Goode looks forward to a reunion with his four adult children. When all of them cancel their visits at the last minute, Frank, against the advice of his doctor, sets out on a road trip to reconnect with his offspring. As he visits each one in turn, Frank finds that his children's lives are not quite as picture-perfect as they've made them out to be.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, touching, melancholic, sad, road movie, depressing, talky, heartbreaking, realistic
Similar in 76%
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 75%
I Am David (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on Anne Holm's acclaimed young adult novel North to Freedom, I Am David chronicles the struggles of a 12-year-old boy (Ben Tibber) who manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own -- through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark and a compass to help get him there.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, uplifting, tense, sad, serious, epic, realistic, inspirational
Similar in 75%
Road, Movie (2009)
Plot Summary:
VISHNU, a restless young man, itches to escape his father's faltering hair oil business. An old truck beckons, which Vishnu sees as his ticket to freedom. He offers to drive the antique Chevy across the desert to the sea, where it has been sold to a local museum. As he sets off across the harsh terrain, he discovers he's not merely transporting a battered vehicle, but an old touring cinema. Along the way, Vishnu reluctantly picks up a young runaway, a wandering old entertainer, and a striking gypsy woman. Together they roam the barren land, searching for water and an elusive fair. The journey turns dire when they are waylaid by corrupt cops and a notorious warlord. The key to their freedom is the eccentric collection of films and the two forty-year-old film projectors in the back of the truck. As in 1001 Nights, if the films are good, they live and move on.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: India, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: road movie, atmospheric, sentimental, sincere, feel good, offbeat, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 86%
The Bucket List (2007)
Plot Summary:
Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 257000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: feel good, inspirational, thought provoking, sentimental, touching, philosophical, sad, emotional, tear jerker, road movie