Best movies like Three Friends
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Three young men face the university entrance exams upon which their economic and social fates depend.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 63
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Three Friends (1996):
Similar in 88%
When the Whales Came (1989)
Plot Summary:
A pair of children befriend an eccentric old man, who lives isolated on the far shore of their island home. But it turns out that the old man knows a terrible secret about the island and the whales who sometimes come. Meanwhile WWI is making life hard in the village.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 78%
The Taebaek Mountains (1994)
Plot Summary:
The film originates from the great river story Taebaegsanmaek consisting of 10 volumes and is written by Cho Jeongrae. The story tries to describe and reveal a few generations-lasting conflicts between the haves (proprietors) and have-nots (peasants), which develop into right wings and left wings respectively. While revealing why and how the conflicts come about, the story depicts every corner of real life -- romantic, shamanic, and Confucian aspects of the contemporaries.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 168 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
The Last Passport (2009)
Plot Summary:
THE LAST PASSPORT takes place in a passport office...or so you think. George Miller is a 70 year old man who through a variety of encounters, takes us on a journey through his mysterious past to show us we are not all that different.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 86%
Hearts & Minds (2009)
Plot Summary:
Conscription has been introduced in Britain. Across the country, young people are being called upon to serve the nation in another reactionary Middle-Eastern conflict. They face war on a scale not seen in any of their lifetimes. hearts & minds follows ten of these young people in the weeks leading up to the first wave of departures, as they are forced to question their own principles and come to terms with what they stand to lose.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 12
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, bleak
Similar in 88%
Downfall (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story revolves around an orphan girl who became a prostitute to survive and finds love with one of her clients. A young woman is tricked into prostitution, thinking she's going to sell beverages at a village store. She soon learns about the dark world of Korea's red-light districts, where a prostitute is exploited by johns, their pimps and society. She befriends one of her johns, a country bumpkin, who keeps in touch with her over the years. The film is a look at Korea's prostitution from the 1970s to the 1990s told through her story.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 162
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Another Child (2019)
Plot Summary:
17-year-old Joo-ri discovers her father is having an affair with the mother of her hard-headed classmate Yoon-ah.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 435
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
White Night (2012)
Plot Summary:
Flight attendant Won-Gyu (Won Tae-Hee) left Korea 2 years ago with painful memories and now comes back. Won-Gyu meets Tae-Joon (Lee Yi-Kyung), who is a quick service delivery man and has a special night with him.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, disturbing, bleak, contemplative, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 77%
Twice a Man (1963)
Plot Summary:
A reworking of the myth of Hippolytus, in which a chaste youth rejects the incestuous advances of his mother and is saved from death by a caring physician.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 49 min
Plot tags: experimental, avant garde, deviant, independent film
Similar in 77%
Vegetarian (2009)
Plot Summary:
An ordinary housewife, Yeong-hye, who has nightmares every night, finally becomes a vegetarian, throwing away all the meats in her refrigerator. Her husband Kil-soo starts to complain about her actions. Her family also worries about her health. During a family lunch, Yeong-hye tries to kill herself due to her father's abrupt violence. Observing all the happenings, Yeong-hye's brother-in-law, Min-ho, a videoartist, hears from his wife that Yeong-hye has a Mongolian spot on her hips. Min-ho gets inspiration from this and starts to sketch.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 208
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, sexy, disturbing, gloomy, contemplative
Similar in 81%
The Plouffe Family (1981)
Plot Summary:
The lives of the average Quebecois Plouffe family during the final years of the depression and through World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 476
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 227 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Poll Diaries (2010)
Plot Summary:
In 1914 on a family estate, Oda helps a wounded anarchist, and as their illicit friendship deepens, a family turmoil erupts as the war closes in.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, Austria, Estonia
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, tense, captivating, contemplative, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die (1994)
Plot Summary:
The young teenager Otto is entering the summer holidays in 60'ies Oslo, without getting a real holiday, and he is not accepted in the gang or the football team. But then he meets exciting mysterious Frank, which changes everything.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 687
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Night Flight (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three teenage boys who were once close friends grow apart when they reach high school: Yong-ju lives hiding his true gender identity, Gi-woong becomes the leader of the school gang, and Gi-taek an obsessive manga fan. Tired of the constant malicious bullying by Gi-woong’s gang, Gi-taek betrays them by disclosing that Yong-ju has loved Gi-woong for years. Surrounded by an insecure boundary of the school and wounded by betrayals, the boys are driven into catastrophe.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, romantic, lgbt cinema, tense, bleak, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
The Face on the Milk Carton (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book by Caroline B. Cooney, a girl happens to look down at a milk carton one day and she sees herself on the back! Could her parents really have kidnapped her?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Tiger Eyes (2012)
Plot Summary:
After Davey's father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, touching
Similar in 88%
Reviving Ophelia (2010)
Plot Summary:
The difficulties two sisters face raising their teenage daughters.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, sentimental, serious
Similar in 89%
Han Gong-ju (2013)
Plot Summary:
After transferring to a new school, a teenage girl finds her troubled past exposed when she innocently signs up for a singing club.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, sad, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Spirits' Homecoming (2016)
Plot Summary:
Two Korean girls, Jung-Min (14) and Young-hee (15) are kidnapped by the Japanese Imperial Army and taken to a 'Comfort Station' in China. There, they join other kidnapped girls in serving Japanese soldiers as sexual slaves known as 'Comfort Women'. Decades later, an elderly lady attempts to reunite with the spirit of her lost friend. Inspired by the testimony of Kang Il-chul.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 564
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspense
Similar in 86%
Three Sisters (2020)
Plot Summary:
The awkward, distant, and wounded three sisters gather at their hometown for their father’s birthday. However, on the day of the party, there is a big mess because of their little brother Jinseob’s abnormal behavior, and the past of the three sisters slowly reveals.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 143
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
High Society (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story of the journey of married couple up the social latter. The husband is professor at Seoul National University who is running for the National Assembly, and his wife is a painter.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, disturbing, erotic, sexy, awful
Similar in 81%
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 75%
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 77%
One Night Only (2014)
Plot Summary:
NIGHT BUG (dir. by Kim Tae-Yong) Han-Jae meets gay men at a bar in Jongno District, Seoul. He first meets them through an internet site. Once they get drunk, Han-Jae steals their money. He is accompanied by Hoon and pretends he is his boyfriend. Hoon is popular, but Han-Jae ignores Hoon's feelings for him. One day, Hoon suddenly kisses Han-Jae. ONE NIGHT (dir. by Kim Jho Gwang-Soo) Geun-Ho is almost hit by a car. At that time, Joon, who is visiting Jinju from Seoul, saves Geun-Ho. They happen to meet at a bar later that night. Geun-Ho and his friends goes to Seoul with Joon.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 101
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sincere, romantic, unusual plot structure, melancholic, gay cinema
Similar in 85%
The Wonder Years (2007)
Plot Summary:
A 13 year old girl who lives with her widowed mother in a town in Korea. Somewhat withdrawn and living in dreams, her main dream is that her real mother is a famous pop singer. Soo-ah falls in with a delinquent schoolgirl, and after a tense argument with her mother, blurts out that she is not her real mother. She runs away on a train to Seoul to see her "real mother" at a concert and be with her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 68
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, sentimental, emotional, psychological, humorous, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 77%
A Brand New Life (2009)
Plot Summary:
Young Jinhee is taken by her father to an orphanage near Seoul. He leaves her there never to return, and she struggles to come to grips with her fate. Jinhee desperately believes her father will come back for her and take her on a trip. The film is based on the experiences of the director, an ethnic Korean who was adopted by a French couple in the 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, South Korea
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, captivating, emotional, inspirational, sad, poignant
Similar in 75%
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 80%
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 86%
The Way Home (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story begins on a fine summers morning, when San-woo and his mother board a bus to the country. It is soon clear that the unsophisticated rural passengers annoy the seven-year-old urban boy. His mother is taking him to live with his 78-year-old mute, but not deaf, grandmother while she looks for a new job after a business venture failed in Seoul.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, stylized, inspirational, rough, thought provoking, sincere, sad, independent film, warmhearted
Similar in 89%
Samaritan Girl (2004)
Plot Summary:
Yeo-jin and Jae-yeong are two teenage girls who are trying to earn money for a trip to Europe. To reach this end, Jae-yeong is prostituting herself while Yeo-jin acts as her pimp, setting her up with the clients and staying on guard for the police. Things take a turn for the worse when Yeo-jin gets distracted from her duty and the police raid the motel where Jae-yeong is meeting with a client. To avoid getting caught, Jae-yeong jumps out of a window, fatally injuring herself.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, erotic, psychological, sincere, romantic, depressing, spiritual
Similar in 77%
The Best Day of My Life (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Best Day of My Life is the story of a dysfunctional family as seen through the eyes of young Chiara (Maria Luisa De Crescenzo) who is about to receive her first communion. The family includes matriarch Irene (Virna Lisi) and her three grown up children.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, sentimental, captivating, serious, emotional, gloomy, sexual, sexy