Best movies like The Things of Life
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Pierre, a successful expert in building highways has a traffic accident. Being seriously wounded, he is lying waiting for death and remembering his past in flashbacks.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Switzerland, France, Italy
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, existential, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like The Things of Life (1970):
Similar in 86%
Vincent, Fran?ois, Paul and the Others (1974)
Plot Summary:
Three friends face mid-life crises. Paul is a writer who's blocked. François has lost his ideals and practices medicine for the money; his wife grows distant, even hostile. The charming Vincent, everyone's favorite, faces bankruptcy, his mistress leaves him, and his wife, from whom he's separated, wants a divorce. The strains on the men begin to show particularly in François and Paul's friendship and in Vincent's health. A younger man, Jack, becomes attractive to Lucie, François's wife. Another young friend, the boxer Jean, who's like a son to Vincent and whose girlfriend is pregnant, has taken a bout with a merciless slugger. Has happiness eluded this circle of friends?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: art house, psychological, touching, emotional, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, feel good
Similar in 82%
Cesar & Rosalie (1972)
Plot Summary:
Claude Sautet's romantic drama stars Romy Schneider as Rosalie, a beautiful young woman involved with successful businessman Cesar (Yves Montand). One day, Rosalie's former flame David (Sami Frey) appears and attempts to win her back. Cesar reacts with a jealous intensity never before seen by Rosalie, and because of that, she returns to David. She remains conflicted regarding her choice of partner, but eventually, one of the men does something which resolves the situation. (Allmovie).
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy, West Germany
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sexy, anthology, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, masterpiece
Similar in 89%
Heartbeat (1968)
Plot Summary:
The mistress (Catherine Deneuve) of a wealthy man misses material comforts when she leaves him for a younger lover.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 830
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 78%
3 Hearts (2014)
Plot Summary:
A twist of fate leaves a hapless accountant romantically torn between two sisters.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Germany, Belgium
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, atmospheric, touching, realistic, psychosexual thriller
Similar in 82%
Bedrooms (2010)
Plot Summary:
Bedrooms tells a story about the walls that separate people, the heartbreak and infidelity that's often the result and the redemption that comes from tearing those walls down. The film is told in 4 stories by 3 filmmakers. Three of the stories deal with married couples of various ages confronting the turning points of their relationships. A fourth story is interwoven throughout, providing bookends and context in the form of a story about ten year old twins, who, tired of sharing their bedroom set out to build a wall between their beds to create their own spaces. In building the wall to separate, they come to fully appreciate all things that connect them. Bedrooms explores human relationships, their myriad complications and the daily choice we face to either make them work or to move on.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 88%
Someone I Loved (2009)
Plot Summary:
One night, Pierre decides to reveal his painful secret to his daughter-in-law, who's just been abandoned by her husband. Pierre's secret is about his secret love to Mathilde, the woman he left to instead follow an easier path in life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy, Belgium, Hong Kong
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, realistic, captivating, melancholic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
Love on a Pillow (1962)
Plot Summary:
A young girl rescues a man from a suicide attempt. He turns out to be a sociopath, who begins to take over her life, abusing her both verbally and emotionally, yet she can't seem to tear herself away from him.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 714
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, touching, serious, emotional, erotic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Goodbye Again (1961)
Plot Summary:
Stranded by her lover, a 40-ish interior decorator in Paris turns to a U.S. client's playboy son.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Voyage (1974)
Plot Summary:
Adriana De Mauro loves Cesar Braggi, but Cesar, honoring his father's dying wish, allows his brother, Antonio, to marry Adriana. As fate wills, Antonio dies in an automobile accident. Adriana's mourning for Antonio ends when Cesar steps in to rekindle her lust of life. Soon, Adriana begins having dizzy spells. Cesar helps her to a specialist, and the diagnosis is not good. She has an incurable disease. For the rest of their time together, Cesar woos Adriana and eventually proposes to her on a gondola. Yet, for some reason or other, Signora De Mauro, Adriana's mother, is not pleased with the relationship and argues bitterly with Cesar.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 664
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
That Most Important Thing: Love (1975)
Plot Summary:
Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from the loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of 'Richard III' and gives Nadine a part.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy, West Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: anthology, art house, cult classic, experimental, avant garde, underground film, atmospheric, serious, realistic, surreal
Similar in 88%
The Soft Skin (1964)
Plot Summary:
Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married with Franca and father of Sabine, around 10. He meets an air hostess, Nicole. They start a love affair, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stand staying away from her.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: depressing, neo noir, anthology, art house, black and white, psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 84%
The Bridge (1999)
Plot Summary:
Actor Gerard Depardieu co-directed this drama about a married woman who falls in love with another man. Mina is a movie buff with a husband, Georges, who's out of work, and a 15-year-old son, Tommy. While Mina works part-time as a domestic for Claire Daboval, the family is terribly short on money, so when Georges is offered construction work on a massive bridge project, he immediately accepts, even though the job site is far enough away that he'll only be able to come home on weekends. One day, while taking in a matinee screening of West Side Story, Mina meets a man named Matthias, an engineer associated with the bridge project. It's love at first sight for the both of them, and while Mina has no desire to hurt Georges, who is a good and decent man, she has found another good and decent man whom she loves even more. Tommy, on the other hand, has to deal with this crisis in his parents' marriage while he's sorting out his own infatuation with Ms. Daboval's daughter, Lisbeth.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 635
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, semi autobiographical
Similar in 81%
Gabrielle (2005)
Plot Summary:
A seemingly ideal marriage is thrown into embarrassing turmoil in Patrice Chéreau's period drama, based on the short story The Return by Joseph Conrad.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, clever, emotional, realistic, contemplative, stylized, gloomy, crying, beautiful
Similar in 86%
Circle of Love (1964)
Plot Summary:
In a chain reaction of romantic adventures, various people play musical beds in a remake of Max Ophul's "La Ronde.".
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 639
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: art house, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, sexual, sexy, confusing
Similar in 89%
Contempt (1963)
Plot Summary:
A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Prokosch has hired Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of "The Odyssey," but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb at the box office, he brings in a screenwriter to energize the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: art house, philosophical, erotic, grindhouse, visual, psychological, clever, witty, talky, cynical
Similar in 81%
La séparation (1994)
Plot Summary:
In Paris, Pierre and Anne have been living together for a couple of years and they have the eighteen months son Loulou, who stays with the nanny Laurence during the day while they work. Their best friends are the couple Victor and Claire, who also is not married but live together. Out of the blue, Pierre feels Anne estranged with him and sooner she discloses that she is in love with another man. Pierre seems to accept her affair but their relationship rapidly deteriorates, and Pierre becomes violent with her.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, light, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic, bleak, unusual plot structure
Similar in 84%
Wild Grass (2009)
Plot Summary:
Marguerite loses her wallet, and it's found by Georges, a seemingly happy head of family. As he looks through the wallet and examines the photos of Marguerite, he finds he's fascinated with her and her life, and soon his curiosity about her becomes an obsession.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, light, captivating, psychedelic, gloomy, experimental
Similar in 87%
A Man and a Woman (1966)
Plot Summary:
A man and a woman meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their childrens' boarding school. Slowly, they reveal themselves to each other, finding that each is a widow.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, romantic, psychological, romantic drama, erotic, captivating, art film, cerebral, serious
Similar in 77%
John and Mary (1969)
Plot Summary:
John and Mary meet in a singles bar, sleep together, and spend the next day getting to know each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, serious, realistic, talky, sincere, touching, romantic drama, independent film, clever
Similar in 80%
Marie-Jo and Her 2 Lovers (2002)
Plot Summary:
Marie-Jo and Her Two Lovers (French: Marie-Jo et ses deux amours) is a 2002 French drama film directed by Robert Guédiguian. It was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 824
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: emotional, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Kiss Me Again (2010)
Plot Summary:
A look at the lives of Carlo, Giulia, and their friends some 10 years after the events of L'Ultimo bacio.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, touching, captivating, melancholic
Similar in 77%
The Woman Next Door (1981)
Plot Summary:
Madame Jouve, the narrator, tells the tragedy of Bernard and Mathilde. Bernard was living happily with his wife Arlette and his son Thomas. One day, a couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, moves into the next house. This is the accidental reunion of Bernard and Mathilde, who had a passionate love affair years ago. The relationship revives... A somber study of human feelings.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, captivating, emotional, thought provoking, manga, anthology, art house, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
An Italian Romance (2004)
Plot Summary:
Giovanni, a married man with a child, meets on a train Maria, a former lover.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 360
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, historical drama, sentimental
Similar in 83%
Alice and Martin (1998)
Plot Summary:
At the age of 20, Martin leaves his home town and comes to Paris, where he fortunately becomes a model by chance. He meets Alice, his brother's friend, and falls in love with her. They start a passionate relationship, although Martin remains very mysterious about his past and the reasons why he left his family. But when Alice tells him she's pregnant, he is suddenly almost driven to madness, as his past comes back to his mind. Alice will now do anything she can to help him.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Spain
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: melancholic, enigmatic, emotional, psychological, romantic, erotic, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Intersection (1994)
Plot Summary:
During a car accident, Vincent Eastman watches his whole life flash before his eyes, and he doesn't like what he sees. While maintaining the semblance of a marriage with his wife, Sally, Vincent has been carrying on with a mistress, Olivia. She's everything Sally isn't -- warm, passionate, carefree. So why can't he choose between the two, especially when his indecision is taking its toll on his daughter?.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: bad ending, sexy, erotic, sad, serious, realistic, talky, stylized, sexual, romantic
Similar in 79%
Don't Move (2004)
Plot Summary:
While waiting for the brain surgery of his daughter Angela, victim of a motorcycle accident, the surgeon Timoteo recalls his torrid affair with and passion for Italia, a simple woman from slums in the periphery of the big city where he lives. The ghost of the beloved and sexual object of desire Italia chases him in his memories.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, Spain, UK
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: sexy, emotional, sincere, romantic, family comedy, sensual, serious, realistic, contemplative, touching
Similar in 75%
Beyond the Clouds (1995)
Plot Summary:
Made of four short tales, linked by a story filmed by Wim Wenders. Taking place in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris, each story, which always a woman as the crux of the story, invites to an inner travel, as Antonioni says "towards the true image of that absolute and mysterious reality that nobody will ever see".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France, Germany
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: erotic, touching, emotional, colorful, atmospheric, psychological, serious, realistic, romantic, anthology
Similar in 81%
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Zhou Yu's Train (2002)
Plot Summary:
Zhou Yu, a ceramic artisan in China's rural Northwest, has a deep rapport with Chen Qing, a shy sensitive poet. Taking a long train ride every weekend just to make mad passionate love with him, her longing seems insatiable. Until one day, she meets the hedonistic vet Zhang Qiang and begins a torrid affair, which takes her to another train station, and another level of lust. Driven by the locomotive of love and desire, she hustles through a dark tunnel of no return.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, touching, serious, contemplative, realistic, surprise ending, non-linear
Similar in 83%
Mademoiselle Chambon (2009)
Plot Summary:
Véronique Chambon (Sandrine Kiberlain), a single schoolteacher and Jean (Vincent Lindon), discover an unexpected bond that causes them to question the direction of their lives. They move in different social circles but their relationship develops and their lives begin gradually to unravel.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, sentimental, captivating, sincere, realistic, sexual, sexy