Best movies like The Stranger in Us
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In this verité-style drama, Anthony, a newcomer to San Francisco, attempts to come to terms with his abusive ex-lover when he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a street hustler.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 530
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, emotional, captivating, independent film, touching, serious, crying, queer cinema
Best tv shows and movies like The Stranger in Us (2010):
Similar in 80%
East Palace West Palace (1996)
Plot Summary:
In China, homosexuality isn't illegal, but homosexuals are routinely persecuted by police and arrested for "hooliganism". The film focuses on a young gay writer A-Lan who, being attracted to a young policeman, manages to have himself interrogated for a whole night. His life-story which he tells during the interrogation reflects the general repression of the Chinese society. The policeman's attitude shifts from the initial revulsion to fascination and, finally, to attraction.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic, talky, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Off Beat (2011)
Plot Summary:
Lukas (Hans Jakob Mühlethaler) is a successful hip hop star on a drug fuelled fade, much to the annoyance of his producer/lover, Mischa (Domenico Pecoraio). When Mischa opts to include Lukas' brother Sämi (Manuel Neuburger) on his latest album, jealousy and rivalry tear the three apart.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 59
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, serious, captivating, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Phantom Images (2011)
Plot Summary:
A filmmaker continues shooting his film after his funding is pulled.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 48
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Urbania (2000)
Plot Summary:
Charlie takes an odyssey through grief during a fall weekend in New York City. His encounters are planned and chance: with a homeless man who sleeps by his building, with a friend who's dying, with the couple who lives (and noisily loves) in the flat above him, with a bartender and a one-night-stand he follows home, and with a tattooed stranger whom he seeks out and befriends. Along the way, Charlie inhabits a city full of moments of violence and of stories and legends: a kidney thief, a microwaved poodle, a rat in a hot dog bun, a baby left on a car top, a tourist's toothbrush, needles in public-phone change slots. Charlie lives and tells his own stories. What caused his melancholy?.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, surreal, talky, sexy, heartbreaking, melancholic, disturbing, stylized, tense
Similar in 81%
The Lost Coast (2008)
Plot Summary:
Director/screenwriter Gabriel Fleming (One Thousand Years) explores the subtleties of loneliness, friendship, and sexuality with this tale of two high school friends who are forced to face their unspoken sexual history while wandering the streets of San Francisco on Halloween night.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 553
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
On the Downlow (2004)
Plot Summary:
Isaac and Angel are two young Latinos involved in a south side Chicago gang. They have a secret in a world where secrets are forbidden.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Venice the Series (2009)
Plot Summary:
Venice: The Series is a web series co-produced by and starring American actress Crystal Chappell, and is inspired in part by the "Otalia" storyline on the daytime drama Guiding Light. The series has been broadcast since 2009, and is currently in its fourth season. Venice is described by Chappell as "a show about families, and life, and all the simplicity of it, and the turmoil of it. We're going to be following a character named Gina who is a designer, and she is a gay woman.".
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 862
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 65 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, touching, sentimental, sincere, serious, soap opera
Similar in 84%
Man at Bath (2010)
Plot Summary:
Omar and Emmanuel go to great lengths to prove they are not in love.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, erotic, sincere, serious, sexual, independent film
Similar in 85%
The Houseboy (2007)
Plot Summary:
Distraught after he overhears his two 30-something lovers talking about finding a new "toy" to replace him, young Ricky looks for love through a series of random sexual encounters while house-sitting for the couple over the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, he contemplates suicide. But when Ricky meets a compassionate new friend, he may be experiencing the sparks of real love in this compelling and sexy gay drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 736
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, sentimental, emotional, sensual, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, surprise ending
Similar in 76%
Role/Play (2010)
Plot Summary:
A recently outed soap opera actor crosses paths with a recently divorced gay marriage activist, forcing them to confront the price of fame and the fickle nature of celebrity within the gay community.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, soap opera, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
Just Say Love (2009)
Plot Summary:
Physical attractions appear to be the obvious explanation for two people to become a pair. But are they really the reflection of something sublime, everlasting or dare we say, spiritual? Do relationships start in the bedroom or in the heart? In this male love story, the bliss described by Joseph Campbell and sages throughout the millennia is a practical option for finding happiness. As the camera delves into the character’s minds and actions we find fulfillment on both a physical and spiritual level.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 579
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: touching, contemplative, serious, realistic, crying, double entendre, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
A Few Days of Respite (2010)
Plot Summary:
Mohsen teaches French at the University of Tehran, and Hassan is a photographer. Mohsen and Hassan are also lovers, and in Iran they live in fear, as homosexuality is punishable by death. Tired of denying their love, Mohsen and Hassan flee Iran to head to Paris, where they'll be illegal aliens but can at least live openly as a couple. To avoid arousing suspicion until they arrive in Paris, Mohsen and Hassan keep their distance while traveling, and during a train stop, Mohsen helps a sixty-ish women, Yolande, with her luggage. The two strike up a conversation and she clearly enjoys his company; over dinner, she offers to help him find work in town and let him stay at her apartment. It's clear to Yolande that Mohsen is an illegal immigrant, but she doesn't realize that he's gay, and he finds himself wondering if he should stay with Hassan or live with Yolande, where he would not have love but would enjoy safety, security and could easily become a French citizen through marriage.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Algeria
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Between Love & Goodbye (2008)
Plot Summary:
A modern gay drama about falling in and out of love, and the rocky road in between.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sexy, independent film, sincere, sexual, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Nasty Baby (2015)
Plot Summary:
Nasty Baby centers around a Brooklyn couple, Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, who are trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. Freddy is an artist, and his latest work is all about babies – it’s clear he’s dying to be a father. Polly is a family practitioner who is more interested in having a baby than having a man. Mo is hesitant about the entire idea, especially when Polly isn’t having success with Freddyʼs sperm and the donor responsibility shifts to him. Set almost entirely in the multicultural vibrancy of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the trio navigates the idea of creating life, when they are confronted by unexpected harassment from particularly aggressive neighborhood man, nicknamed The Bishop. The Bishop is bothersome in small, yet persistent ways, with a hint of danger. As their clashes become increasingly aggressive, someone is bound to get hurt.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, semi serious, captivating, psychological, emotional, mumblecore, cult classic, indie film, queer cinema
Similar in 88%
Label Me (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, gay cinema
Similar in 77%
Between Something & Nothing (2008)
Plot Summary:
BETWEEN SOMETHING & NOTHING is based on filmmaker Todd Verow’s experiences at Rhode Island School of Design. After being accepted into a prestigious New England art school, sexy small-town JOE and townie mastermind JENNIFER quickly join forces. They are determined to succeed on a campus over-populated with jaded mega-rich kids awash in trust funds, abortions and drugs galore.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 351
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, independent film, captivating, suspenseful, erotic, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Doubt (2003)
Plot Summary:
A gaggle of friends and observers ponder the fate of a relationship as they watch it collapse in this independent drama from the Philippines. Cris (Andoy Ranay) is a documentary filmmaker with a well-regarded body of work and a large community of friends and admirers. Cris is also gay, and possesses a voracious sexual appetite, claiming to have had sex with over 4,000 men during his years of frequent cruising. But Cris has fallen for Eric (Paolo Gabriel), and has sworn off meaningless sex for the pleasures of monogamy. However, while Cris wants Eric and Eric alone, Eric himself isn't so sure he feels exactly the same way, and is both puzzled and annoyed with Cris' rather ironic jealousy. The tensions between the two take a heavy toll on Cris, leading to a suicide attempt, and as his friends watch from a distance, any number of them speculate on what's going on between Cris and Eric. Duda was screened at part of the 2004 New York Asian-American Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, sentimental, captivating, serious, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Twelve Thirty (2010)
Plot Summary:
TWELVE THIRTY is drama about a family with adult children that is broken, and a self-centered young man who, in the span of a week, becomes entangled in each of their lives, wreaking havoc in the process.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 267
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, erotic, realistic, independent film, sexual, sexy
Similar in 77%
Boys Life 2 (1997)
Plot Summary:
Compilation of four short films about homoerotic situations involving young men. In "Trevor", by Peggy Rajski, a teenager faces homophobia and falls in love for the first time. Tom DeCerchio directed "Nunzio's Second Cousin", telling the story of a gay cop who forces a gay-basher to come to his house and have dinner with his family. In "Alkali, Iowa", by Mark Christopher, a young gay man finds out some of his father's past secrets. And "Must Be the Music", by Nickolas Perry, follows four teenagers looking for love in nightclubs.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: independent film, anthology, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sketch comedy, sexy, unusual plot structure, sweet
Similar in 89%
Boys Life: Three Stories of Love, Lust, and Liberation (1994)
Plot Summary:
Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the summer, he realizes and embraces that he's gay. In "A Friend of Dorothy," Winston arrives from upstate for his freshman year at NYU. He has to figure out, with some help from Anne, a hometown friend, how to build a social life as a young gay man in the city. In "The Disco Years," Tom looks back on 1978, the year in high school that he came out of the closet after one joyful and several painful encounters.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 531
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: anthology, independent film, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sexy, feel good, sweet
Similar in 77%
Happy Endings Sleepover (2019)
Plot Summary:
American CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American spy highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's job to get him safely to Antwerp where the agent will board a freighter. Johnnie, who is a young gay man, meets and falls in love with a Danish lad named Sander, who is apparently straight. Wanting to keep his friend close to him, he makes the mistake of bringing him on the mission. What will become of their friendship if Johnnie confesses his love to Sander? And is the Russian agent all he seems to be? Set against a backdrop of European espionage, Happy Endings Sleepover is a celebration of gay youth in a world where love should never be Top-Secret.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 424
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, contemplative
Similar in 77%
FAQs (2005)
Plot Summary:
After living on the tough streets of LA for a while, India hopes that every gay basher will meet his destiny. In this case Destiny is a black, 6 foot, high heel wearing, gun toting, drag queen with an attitude and a soft place in her heart for homeless gay boys.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 528
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, talky, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
Tattoo (2013)
Plot Summary:
Brazil, 1978. The military dictatorship that resulted from a coup in 1964 begins to stumble. In a cabaret-like theater located on the periphery between two cities in the northeast of Brazil, a group of artists challenges power and conventional morality with theater plays and public interferences. Led by Clécio Wanderley, the troupe Chão de Estrelas, strongly supported by its homosexual audience, along with intellectuals and other artists, practices political resistance through anarchy and mockery.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, disturbing, captivating, realistic, period piece, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 79%
Cal (2013)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-year-old Cal returns from France to Britain after receiving news that his mother is ill. His finds his home city of Bristol facing hard economic times brought on by the global economic crisis, with poverty and crime on the rise and rioting and looting almost a nightly occurrence. It is not a warm homecoming as his sick mother remains stubbornly homophobic and wants nothing to do with the now openingly gay Cal while his battered Auntie Jane, now living in a run down council house, dulls her stagnation with welfare funded booze and disturbing attempts to sexually seduce her nephew. Navigating his way across this new landscape he meets a young student who needs his help. However his act of kindness brings him into contact with a lawless drug dealing pimp and a race against time to make peace with his mother and get out of town as quickly as possible. An intense tale of a family mired in poverty, angry and lost but still searching for love, respect and acceptance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, erotic, tense, gloomy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
La Mission (2009)
Plot Summary:
Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, independent film, queer cinema, bilingual
Similar in 85%
Brother to Brother (2004)
Plot Summary:
A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, thought provoking, touching, realistic, captivating, social, contemplative, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Tiger Orange (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the small Central California town where they grew up, two estranged gay brothers struggle to reconnect after the recent death of their father.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, lgbt cinema, homoerotic, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Marathon (2010)
Plot Summary:
Drama by Biju Viswanath, Marathon was adapted from Harteis's memoir of the same name. Explores the relation ship between two poets Richard Harteis and William Meredith former US poet laureate and winner of every major American award for poetry including the 1988 Pulitzer prize.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, sentimental, gloomy, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
The Last Year (2002)
Plot Summary:
Paul's homosexual affair at Bible College with a new student named Alex sets tongues wagging, mostly with un-Christian reactions. The dean, himself a closet case, threatens to expel Paul, and the football jocks have their eye on Alex. The church confessional is sure to be busy as spirituality and sexuality clash in this movie based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 399
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, independent film, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Ciao (2008)
Plot Summary:
Two men meet and fall in love under the least joyous of circumstances in this low-key drama from writer and director Yen Tan.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, romantic, sensual, crying, independent film, queer cinema, gay cinema