Best movies like To Return
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) works and lives Madrid with her husband Paco and daughter Paula. Her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) lives nearby and they both miss their mother Irene (Carmen Maura), who died several years ago in a house fire along with their father. A former neighbor from their hometown reports that she has seen the ghost of Irene and both daughters do not believe her. After a murder and a family tragedy, Irene's spirit materializes around her daughters to help comfort them.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: black comedy, emotional, dark comedy, touching, hispanic, psychological, humorous, stylized, erotic, visual
Best tv shows and movies like To Return (2006):
Similar in 86%
Dim Sum Funeral (2008)
Plot Summary:
An Irish funeral has a wake. A Jewish funeral has sitting shiva. A traditional Chinese funeral is something else entirely. Thats what the estranged siblings of the Chinese-American Xiao family must undergo upon news of their mothers death. The one brother and three sisters dont get along, however they share one thing: hatred for their domineering and manipulative mother, the Dragon Lady.".
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 734
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, touching, emotional, semi serious, independent film, intercultural, inter cultural
Similar in 83%
The Flower of My Secret (1995)
Plot Summary:
Marisa Paredes is Leocadia ("Leo") Macias, a woman writing “pink” romance novels under the alias of Amanda Gris that are very popular all across Spain. Unlike her romantic novels, her own love life is troubled. Leo has a less than happy relationship with her husband Paco, a military officer stationed in Brussels then later in Bosnia, who is distant both physically and emotionally.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: clever, erotic, art house, hispanic, sensual, psychological, tense, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980)
Plot Summary:
Almodovar's first film of life in Madrid during the punk era and not one for the squeamish. He covers everything from drugs and sexual violence, to female masochism.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy
Country: Spain
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: social, cult classic, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, sexual, underground film, independent film
Similar in 89%
Broken Embraces (2009)
Plot Summary:
Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: neo noir, emotional, stylized, sexy, sentimental, suspenseful, serious, realistic, hispanic, clever
Similar in 80%
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Plot Summary:
Pepa resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, enigmatic, melancholic, talky, feel good, realistic, semi serious, dark comedy, visual, hilarious
Similar in 81%
Toto the Hero (1991)
Plot Summary:
Thomas and Alfred were born around the same time; a fire in the nursery had nurses scrambling to save the newborns. Because he felt that he deserved Alfred's good fortune at being born into a wealthy family, Thomas conceives the idea that he and Alfred were switched at birth, and he can't help seeing that his unhappiness should be Alfred's, from the loss of his sister to his inability to have a relationship with the woman Evelyne. So, as his life is ending, he formulates a plan of revenge against his bitter enemy, his lifetime adversary, the man who stole his existence.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Belgium, France, Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, epic, sad, cult classic, sentimental, offbeat, humorous, semi serious, crying
Similar in 84%
The Vicious Kind (2009)
Plot Summary:
A man tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, black comedy, sentimental, realistic, humorous, semi serious, indie film, sincere, erotic, melancholic
Similar in 88%
Ham Ham (1992)
Plot Summary:
Jose Luis is an executive at his parents underwear factory where his girlfriend Sylvia works on the shop floor. When Sylvia becomes pregnant, Jose Luis promises her that he will marry her, most likely against the wishes of his parents. Jose Luis' mother is determined to break her son's engagement to a girl from a lower-class family, and hires Raul, a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter to seduce Sylvia.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, humorous, dark comedy, sensual, disturbing, talky, touching, sex comedy, sexy, manga
Similar in 88%
The Door in the Floor (2004)
Plot Summary:
Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O'Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, erotic, melancholic, touching, reflective, aesthetic, twisted, tense, clever
Similar in 85%
Margot at the Wedding (2007)
Plot Summary:
Margot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is getting married to less-than-impressive Malcolm. In short order, the storm the sisters create leaves behind a mess of thrashed relationships and exposed family secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: talky, depressing, melancholic, stylized, humorous, tragicomedy, semi serious, cult classic, biting, deep
Similar in 77%
Life During Wartime (2009)
Plot Summary:
Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos. Follows Solondz's film Happiness (1998).
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, dark comedy, psychological, independent film, melancholic, talky, stylized, black comedy, humorous, psychedelic
Similar in 85%
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Plot Summary:
A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: feel good, dark comedy, humorous, emotional, melancholic, black comedy, semi serious, witty, comedy drama, indie film
Similar in 87%
Isn't It Delicious (2013)
Plot Summary:
When Joan Weldon discovers she is dying of lung cancer, she sets out to reconcile her dysfunctional relationships with her three children, her husband, and along the way, her former best friend. The family's destructive ways are offset by messy and somewhat humorous attempts by Joan to set her children on the right course before she dies. In this big dysfunctional mix, they will all learn to connect in their own ways, and realize on their own terms what life is about.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
The Dressmaker (2015)
Plot Summary:
In 1950s Australia, beautiful, talented dressmaker Tilly returns to her tiny hometown to right wrongs from her past. As she tries to reconcile with her mother, she starts to fall in love while transforming the fashion of the town.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Western
Country: Australia
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: romantic, period piece, melancholic, satirical, colorful, enigmatic, feel good, costume drama, social, romantic drama
Similar in 78%
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Plot Summary:
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 309000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, funny, humorous, talky, cult classic, indie film, visual, comedy drama, melancholic, artsy
Similar in 75%
August: Osage County (2013)
Plot Summary:
A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, melancholic, independent film, depressing, stylized, humorous, realistic, semi serious, black comedy
Similar in 90%
The Celebration (1998)
Plot Summary:
A grandiose party to celebrate a sixtieth birthday unleashes a family drama with all the lies that conceal horrendous secrets. The eldest son, Christian, stages a showdown with the popular pater familias; his provocative, moving after-dinner speech dislodges all the masks, which finally fall completely as the father-son conflict intensifies and the bewildered guests look on.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, art house, disturbing, bleak, surreal, independent film, gloomy, psychological, dark
Similar in 90%
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
Plot Summary:
Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sexy, erotic, dark comedy, art house, romantic, talky, black comedy, humorous, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
Plot Summary:
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 88000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, independent film, emotional, melancholic, funny, realistic, hilarious, teen, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged London factory worker is shocked when the mixed-race daughter she gave up at birth decides to track her down. At first she denies she is her mother. All family members become emotional, as everyone's secrets are exposed.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: emotional, independent film, touching, realistic, dark comedy, sincere, spiritual, social, art house, comedy drama
Similar in 78%
Live Flesh (1997)
Plot Summary:
A scorned ex-convict forces himself into the lives of the couple who put him behind bars.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, intense, atmospheric, emotional, erotic, serious, realistic, visual, neo noir
Similar in 86%
What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)
Plot Summary:
Almodóvar has described his fourth film as a homage to Italian Neorealism, although this tribute also involves jokes about paedophilia, prostitution, and a telekenetic child. The film, set in the towerblocks around Madrid, depicts female frustration and family breakdown.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, surreal, stylized, black comedy, mind bending, psychedelic, social, hispanic, offbeat, humorous
Similar in 79%
High Heels (1991)
Plot Summary:
High Heels is a murder mystery comedy centering on flamboyant actress Becky del Paramo and her daughter Rebecca, a television anchorwoman. After being estranged for 15 years, Becky re-enters Rebecca's life when she comes to perform a concert. Rebecca, she finds, is now married to one of Becky's ex-lovers, Manuel. The mother and daughter begin making up for lost time, when suddenly, a murder occurs.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sentimental, art house, enigmatic, serious, sexy, sexual, suspense, social, captivating, black comedy
Similar in 80%
Law of Desire (1987)
Plot Summary:
When porn director Pablo reluctantly breaks up with his boyfriend, Juan, he encourages him to stay in touch. Juan moves away to live in a lighthouse and eventually writes his ex, but in the interim Pablo has taken up a psychotic new lover, Antonio (Antonio Banderas). Antonio intercepts their correspondence and flies into a towering rage, terrifying Pablo but inspiring him creatively as he works on a play about his transsexual sister.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: surreal, sexy, stylized, atmospheric, talky, humorous, semi serious, erotic, art house, social
Similar in 78%
Talk to Her (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, surreal, sexy, sincere, erotic, disturbing, hispanic, captivating, postmodern
Similar in 88%
Parallel Mothers (2021)
Plot Summary:
Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, middle-aged, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: dramatic, sincere, psychological, suspenseful, tear jerker, hispanic, postmodern, queer cinema, weird
Similar in 90%
The Savages (2007)
Plot Summary:
A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, independent film, emotional, compassionate, touching, depressing, melancholic, sincere, humorous
Similar in 85%
All About My Mother (1999)
Plot Summary:
A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his birthday as he runs to seek an actress' autograph. Beside herself with grief, she returns to Barcelona to tell the boy's father about the death of the son he never knew he had.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 102000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sad, hispanic, art house, sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, controversial, stylized, sensual
Similar in 89%
The Descendants (2011)
Plot Summary:
With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron, Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 248000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, depressing, emotional, sad, tragicomedy, thought provoking, sentimental, heartbreaking, suspense, talky
Similar in 89%
The Skin I Live In (2011)
Plot Summary:
A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 163000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, suspenseful, sexy, clever, surreal, breathtaking, dark, non-linear, twist ending