Best movies like The String
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Malik has a lot on his plate when he returns home to Tunisia after living in France. He's processing his father's death, he can't come out to his mother, and his childhood anxieties have resurfaced. But all of Malik's problems seem to fade away when he falls for Bilal, the dreamy houseboy at his mother's bourgeois estate.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Tunisia, Belgium
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, lgbt cinema, sexual, cute, gloomy, crying
Best tv shows and movies like The String (2009):
Similar in 80%
Time to Spare (2011)
Plot Summary:
When Molly, the 21 year-old sister of Maarten, departs the family home, she leaves her older brother with empty nest syndrome. But it also opens up new opportunities for him, such as the possibility to explore his love for Arthur, a closet gay. Molly and Maarten wrestle with their personal relationships and also their relationship with one another, but fate nevertheless seems determined to strike them both down.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 898
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 76%
An Angel Named Billy (2007)
Plot Summary:
Mark Anderson, a recent stroke victim who is frail and weak. Also, his best friend Thomas, a classic over the hill drag queen desperate for love and happiness. Mark and Thomas have a master plan, to find Mark's son, James Anderson the love of his life once and for all.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 429
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, feel good, crying, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
The Seminarian (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Seminarian is a story about Ryan, a closeted gay student in his final semester of seminary studies. Despite his school's hostile stance towards homosexuality, Ryan has two gay classmates - Gerald and Anthony - in whom he secretly confides. He is also close to his religiously devout mother who, as things stand, is unaware of his sexual orientation. Ryan needs to complete a solid theological thesis in order to continue doctoral work at the university of his dreams. As he works on his thesis 'The Divine Gift of Love,' Ryan begins a relationship with Bradley - a guy he has met on the Internet who seems perpetually unable to commit himself. Ryan confides in Gerald and Anthony, only to learn about their romantic struggles as well. Consequently, Ryan questions his views on God's gift of love.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 594
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: semi serious, psychological, sentimental, captivating, contemplative, sexy, touching, offbeat, humorous, realistic
Similar in 85%
Ander (2009)
Plot Summary:
A love story between a Basque farmer and a Peruvian immigrant.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 968
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, lgbt cinema, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Mixed Kebab (2012)
Plot Summary:
Ibrahim chooses to fall for young and handsome Kevin over marrying his cute but expensive cousin Elif while kid brother Furkan converts to Islamic fundamentalism.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, lgbt cinema, homoerotic, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 75%
Coming Out (1989)
Plot Summary:
Reportedly the first film to come out of East Germany to deal openly with gay issues. Philipp, a closeted teacher is dating a female collegue to keep up appearances. One night, by 'accident' he stumbles into a gay bar, meets and promptly falls in love with a young man. Transformed by this love he is no longer afraid to face up to who he is.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: East Germany
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, crying, sexy
Similar in 78%
Mulligans (2008)
Plot Summary:
Like the American classic, The Graduate - secrecy, betrayal, and a painful coming of age face a family in Mulligans, by first time feature film director Chip Hale.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, captivating, disturbing, sexual, crying, erotic, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Harvest (2011)
Plot Summary:
Breathtaking in its subtle beauty, Harvest is an achingly romantic tale of an innocent but ever increasingly passionate affair that develops between two simple farmhands. Life on a farm is all that sullen teen Marco knows- leading a perfunctory and quiet life of working, going to school and avoiding the advances of girls. However, his self-imposed solitude ends when curly-haired Jakob, rejecting the banking world for farming, arrives to train on the farm. Although initially cautious and tentative with each other, it is soon obvious that the unspoken sexual tension is becoming increasingly hard to resist - something a spontaneous trip to Berlin. Proving that true love can blossom in even the most unlikely of places, Harvest is as rich and rewarding as it is heart-warming.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, lgbt cinema, psychological, captivating, emotional, touching, serious, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
The Last Match (2013)
Plot Summary:
Cuba is not a country for young gays. Teen rent boy Reinier falls in love with a mate in the slum soccer field at their neighbourhood in Havana. Although obsessed with moneymaking to hold up his baby, teen wife and wife's granma, gambler Reinier always fails in getting the stoke of luck he looks for. At the same time he cannot help being infatuated by Yosvani. Handsome Yosvani will give up his wealthy -and elder- girlfriend whom he hooked to pay him a lavish life in the big city, and the works he makes for her father, a loan thug, so much in love he is with Reinier. But the boys would fight hard to keep this love in the reckless Havana streets.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain, Cuba
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, serious, homoerotic, erotic, lgbt cinema, cute, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 89%
While Paris Was Sleeping (2016)
Plot Summary:
Théo and Hugo meet in a club and form an immediate bond. Once the desire and elation of this first moment has passed, the two young men, now sober, wander through the empty streets of nocturnal Paris, having to confront the love they sense blossoming between them. Ducastel and Martineau's most ambitious film to date and a candid insight into 21st century life.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, suspense, thought provoking, touching, sexy, educational, erotic drama, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 80%
Beyond the Walls (2012)
Plot Summary:
Paulo, a young pianist, meets Ilir, a double-bass player originally from Albania. It's love at first sight. Confronted by Anka, Paulo finds himself out on the street. Despite Ilir's misgivings, Paulo moves in with him. One day, when Paulo promises that he will love Ilir for the rest of his life, Ilir leaves the city and doesn't return. A few days later, Paulo finds out that Ilir is in jail, and the two lovers embark on an heart-breaking relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium, Canada, France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sexual, serious, silent, sexy, queer cinema, gay cinema, silent film
Similar in 88%
Like a Brother (2005)
Plot Summary:
Sebastien is a small town boy who moves to Paris and begins to explore the gay night life there. When a friend from back home calls to announce he's coming to Paris, Sebastien confronts some unrequited feelings.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, touching, erotic, lgbt cinema, independent film, sexy
Similar in 86%
Land of Storms (2014)
Plot Summary:
Szabolcs plays in a German football team, as does Bernard. They are roommates, best friends, inseparable. A lost match makes him reconsider his life and he goes back to Hungary in hope for more simplicity. Yet his solitude does not last long. Soon after his arrival he meets Áron and a mutual attraction between the two boys develops when suddenly Szabolcs receives an unexpected phone call from Bernard: he has arrived to Hungary.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Hungary, Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, captivating, lgbt cinema, meditative, cute, tense, atmospheric, touching
Similar in 79%
Boys (2014)
Plot Summary:
BOYS tells the story of Sieger, a sporty, rather quiet 15-year-old boy who discovers love during the summer holidays. Sieger is training in the new athletics team for the national relay championships and meets the intriguing and unpredictable Marc. The friendship that develops seems nothing out of the ordinary, but Sieger secretly harbours stronger feelings for Marc. He engages in a lonely struggle with himself when it emerges that Marc is also in love with him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, sentimental, lgbt cinema, captivating, disturbing, sexy, independent film, sexual, cute
Similar in 75%
The Men Next Door (2012)
Plot Summary:
This is a fast-paced comedy about a 40-year-old gay man who finds himself dating two equally lovable men - a secure 50-year-old who came out later in life, and an adventurous 30-year-old who wasn't looking for a relationship. What he doesn't find out right away is that the two men are, in fact, father and son. And as they say, wackiness ensues.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 841
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, realistic, touching, independent film, offbeat, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Redwoods (2009)
Plot Summary:
Both original and incredibly romantic, Redwoods tells the story of an already-partnered man whose love is tested when a mysterious drifter passes through his small Northern California town.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, emotional, serious, lgbt cinema, sexual, sexy, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
The Man of My Life (2006)
Plot Summary:
A man vacationing in the country with his wife and children finds ideas he has of himself unexpectedly challenged in director Zabou Breitman's intimate drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, romantic, sexy, captivating, serious, sexual, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Second Skin (1999)
Plot Summary:
Diego is a doctor who has fallen in love with a married man with a son. Against the advice of his boss and best friend, he continues his affair with Alberto. The consequences of this affair profoundly alter not only the two men's lives, but also that of Alberto's wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sentimental, psychological, erotic, eros, gloomy, homoerotic, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
House of Boys (2009)
Plot Summary:
A glamorous, colourful coming-of-age story that follows the dramatic journey of Frank, a high school kid in 1984 through an exciting world of sex and music, when his deep new passion is suddenly turned into a struggle for courage, facing a new disease - the "gay cancer" and becomes deep, true love in the expectancy of his friend's horrible death and beyond.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Luxembourg, Germany
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sentimental, sincere, avant garde, realistic, lgbt cinema, sexual, homoerotic, independent film
Similar in 82%
The Falls: Testament of Love (2013)
Plot Summary:
The Falls: Testament of Love is a continuation of the story of RJ Smith and Chris Merrill, two Mormon missionaries that fell in love during their mission in a small town in Oregon. The boys haven't spoken in five years, but when an unexpected tragedy compells them back to the Oregon town where they served, they find themselves, once again, thrust into one another's lives. As old feelings begin to surface they find themselves again facing difficult choices. If they pursue their desire to be together, RJ and Chris risk hurting the ones they care about as they embark on a spiritual journey to discover love, freedom, and happiness.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, spiritual, heartbreaking, lgbt cinema, sexual, crying, independent film
Similar in 75%
A Moment in the Reeds (2017)
Plot Summary:
Having moved to Paris for university, Leevi returns to his native Finland for the summer to help his estranged father renovate the family lake house so it can be sold. Tareq, a recent asylum seeker from Syria, has been hired to help with the work, and when Leevi's father has to return to town on business, the two young men establish a connection and embark on a romance set against the idyllic Finnish summer. However, looming over this chance encounter, is the father's imminent return to the lake house, the continuation of Leevi's studies abroad as well as Tareq's complex relationship with his family in Syria.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Finland
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, captivating, realistic, sincere, serious, erotic, lgbt cinema, queer cinema, gay cinema
Similar in 83%
Queer as Folk (2000)
Plot Summary:
Brash humor and genuine emotion make up this original series revolving around the lives, loves, ambitions, careers and friendships of a group of gay men and women living on Liberty Avenue in contemporary Pittsburgh, PA. The show offers an unapologetic look at modern, urban gay and lesbian lives while addressing the most critical health and political issues affecting the community. Sometimes racy, sometimes sensitive and always straight to the heart.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sincere, realistic, sexual, sexy, erotic, dramatic, controversial, sensual
Similar in 79%
Three Dancing Slaves (2004)
Plot Summary:
Annecy is no tourist destination for three working-class Algerian brothers and their father, in the months after their mother has died. Marc is deeply troubled: he tries to stiff drug dealers and then plots revenge. Christophe is released from jail, lands a job, and must overcome various temptations in order to keep it. Olivier, nearing 18, may be falling in love with Hicham.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, lgbt cinema, realistic, gloomy, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
August (2011)
Plot Summary:
August tells the story of two former lovers, Troy and Jonathan, who reunite after a long ago painful breakup. After spending several years in Spain, Troy returns to Los Angeles and decides to phone Jonathan and meet for coffee. A seemingly innocent rendezvous turns into an attempt to revive passions past. Only this time it's not that simple as Jonathan has a new beau, Raul, and is trying to make the right decision a second time around.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, psychological, captivating, emotional, homoerotic, sexy, touching, serious, non-linear
Similar in 76%
Antarctica (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set in Tel Aviv, focuses on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the center is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn't found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 847
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Israel
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, sexy, gloomy, sexual, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
I Want Your Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
After a decade of living in San Francisco, Jesse is forced to move back to his Midwestern roots because he can no longer afford the city. On his final night in the city, friends and ex-lovers gather for a going away party that promises to heighten Jesse's already bittersweet feelings about leaving.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, controversial, sexual, erotic, independent film, sexy
Similar in 76%
North Sea Texas (2011)
Plot Summary:
Pim lives in a run-down house in a dead-end street somewhere on the Flanders coast, together with his mother Yvette Bulteel. Life here smells of cold French fries, cheap cigarettes, vermouth and stale beer. Mother Yvette uses her friend Etienne, with his lousy grey Fiat, as a driver for the nights she has to “perform”. As a kid Pim dreams of a better life, imagining princesses and beauty queens. But when Pim turns 16 he dreams of Gino, the handsome boy next door, instead. Ever since they were children there has been this tension between them. Now Gino is Pim’s motorcycling hero. Cold mockery, little humiliations and tiny bits of hope make up Pim’s life. No wonder he sometimes flees to his dream world.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, lgbt cinema, romantic, suspenseful, erotic, art house, sexual, cute
Similar in 77%
Rock Haven (2007)
Plot Summary:
The coastal California community of Rock Haven is the perfect place for cute eighteen-year-old Brady and his loving mother to begin a fresh start. Their mission: to spread the word of the Lord. But while roaming the beach one day, Brady meets Clifford, a young man who is the complete opposite of him: outgoing and athletic as well as incredibly handsome. Their initial encounter stirs up feelings of homo desire that Brady has been suppressing. Once Clifford makes it clear that their attraction is mutual, Brady's conflicting feelings of religious obligation and natural impulse go into overdrive, and the two young men must navigate their confusion, lust and beliefs in order to come to a mutual understanding.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, serious, sensual, realistic, contemplative, sexual, crying, sexy
Similar in 90%
Weekend (2011)
Plot Summary:
After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, touching, sexy, meditative, art house, romantic, atmospheric, melancholic, lgbt cinema
Similar in 78%
Just a Question of Love (2000)
Plot Summary:
After his gay cousin dies from hepatitis, young Laurent, who lives with his best friend Carole, falls in love with Cedric, a plant scientist. He's afraid to inform his conservative parents that he is gay.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, emotional, lgbt cinema, disturbing, sexy, cute, powerful, sexual