Best movies like To the Lighthouse
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to To the Lighthouse? Share your expertise to guide others find suitable films and tv shows you've viewed already. Assist in growing the community that suggests videos to each other. We appreciate your contribution!
Plot Summary:
A faithful dramatization of Virginia Woolf's novel. A lecturer, his family, the spinster Aunt Lily, an old friend, and a student, Charles Tansley, spend a summer in an isolated house in Cornwall just before World War I. The stern Mr. Ramsay scolds everybody, while Mrs. Ramsay is the linchpin in keeping the family together. Aunt Lily paints, and the family talk about sailing to the lighthouse, but the trip is always postponed.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like To the Lighthouse (1983):
Similar in 77%
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 81%
The Escape (2017)
Plot Summary:
An ordinary woman makes an extraordinary decision which will change her life forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sad
Similar in 82%
The Sacred Mound (1993)
Plot Summary:
A seven-year-old boy is sent to a farm on a remote island, when his mother goes abroad. On the island the boy gets to know a twenty-year-old woman who seems willing to take on a mother's role. But the boy is reaching an age of sexual awareness and instead of regarding her as a mother figure; he falls obsessively in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 173
Genere: Drama
Country: Iceland, Sweden
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
North Star (2023)
Plot Summary:
Three sisters return to their home for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. But the mother and daughters are forced to revisit the past and confront the future, with help from a colorful group of unexpected wedding guests.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
Ulysses (1967)
Plot Summary:
Dublin; June 16, 1904. Stephen Dedalus, who fancies himself as a poet, embarks on a day of wandering about the city during which he finds friendship and a father figure in Leopold Bloom, a middle-aged Jew. Meanwhile, Bloom's day, illuminated by a funeral and an evening of drinking and revelry that stirs paternal feelings toward Stephen, ends with a rapprochement with Molly, his earthy wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 967
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: surreal, mythical, independent film, sincere, epic, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, scatology
Similar in 76%
Mum's List (2016)
Plot Summary:
A dying mother's life lessons to the husband and sons she left behind. Based on the best-selling novel by St John (Singe) Greene, the film is the story of Singe and Kate, a couple from North Somerset, whose lives were turned upside down when Kate was diagnosed with an incurable breast cancer. Over her last few days, she created her list: writing her thoughts and memories down, to help the man she loved create the best life possible for their two sons, after she was gone.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 909
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sincere, sentimental, thought provoking, tear jerker, visually appealing, tearjerker
Similar in 84%
The Blackwater Lightship (2004)
Plot Summary:
A man in the final stages of AIDS is cared for by his sister and mother and grandmother.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 384
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
Family Portrait (1962)
Plot Summary:
Marcello Mastroianni gives a sensitive, finely judged performance as Enrico, a struggling journalist in the Rome of 1945. He receives a phone call informing him that his younger brother Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin) has died. Enrico recalls their long and difficult relationship; he was brought up by their poor but warm-hearted grandmother (Sylvie), Lorenzo was raised as a gentleman by a wealthy local aristocrat. Reunited in the Florence of the 1930s, Enrico becomes his spoilt brother's keeper, forever haunted by a sense of guilty responsibility towards a man he both hates and loves. Beautifully photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno, this austere, deeply-felt masterwork has been acclaimed as one of Zurlini's greatest achievements.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, non-linear
Similar in 80%
Under the Lighthouse Dancing (1997)
Plot Summary:
Harry and his much-younger girlfriend surprise their friends one vacation weekend by announcing their desire to marry immediately. As they are visiting a small island village off the coast of west Australia, that is easier said than done.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 519
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
The Child in Time (2017)
Plot Summary:
Set two years after his daughter went missing, The Child In Time follows Stephen Lewis, a children's author, as he struggles to find purpose in his life without her. His wife Julie has left him, and his best friends Charles and Thelma have retired to the countryside, battling demons of their own. With tenderness and insight, the movie explores the dark territory of a marriage devastated, the loss of childhood, the fluidity of time, grief, hope, and acceptance. The Child In Time is a lyrical and heart-breaking exploration of love, loss, and the power of things unseen.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 87%
Love (1971)
Plot Summary:
Luca regularly visits her bedridden mother-in-law. Luca's husband, János, has been arrested on a trumped up political charge, and Luca does not know if he is still alive. Luca hides this from his mother by making up letters purporting to be from János who is directing a big film in New York. Luca discovers that János is alive, and is dismissed from her teaching job because of her husband. The dying mother anxiously awaits the return of her son from New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 78%
Sunset Song (2015)
Plot Summary:
The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Luxembourg
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, tense, realistic, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 90%
Diary of a Chambermaid (2015)
Plot Summary:
France, around 1900. Coming from the vibrancy of Paris, pert Célestine is procured as a chambermaid in Normandy. In the Lanlaire's villa she encounters the lecherous man of the house and his asexual, tyrannical and jealous wife. Célestine is determined to avoid the fate suffered by the cook Marianne who has already secretly killed one child born out of wedlock and now despairingly realises she is pregnant again. The lively maid is intrigued by what the mysterious manservant Joseph is up to: he distributes anti-Semitic leaflets and suggests that she could work for him as a prostitute in Cherbourg….
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, stylized, period piece, sexual, sexy, period drama
Similar in 78%
A Rather English Marriage (1998)
Plot Summary:
A squadron leader and a retired milkman decide to bury their differences and move in together after they are both widowed on the very same night. They become a companionable if odd couple, until their unlikely friendship is threatened by the arrival of an alluring woman with a hidden agenda.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 608
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 87%
What If God Were the Sun? (2007)
Plot Summary:
A grieving nurse finds comfort and inspiration in her new assignment, where she meets a terminally ill woman with a quick with and strong faith.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 435
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, atmospheric, emotional, serious
Similar in 84%
Queen to Play (2009)
Plot Summary:
In a small Corsican village, the life of Hélène, ordinary and single, She works as a maid in a hotel and is married happily with her Husband Ange and her fifteen year-old daughter. Her modest and monotonous life seems to be predetermined... One day while cleaning a hotel room, she meets a young, seductive, American couple which is playing a game of chess. First fascinated and then passionate about the game, Hélène learns with great tenacity she studies the rule of the game to perfection. She can count on Dr. Kröger, who is a mysterious inhabitant, to help her to achieve her goals. But this positive transition towards a liberty for Hélène does not go about without deeply changing her relationship with family, friends and inhabitants of the village.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, profound, feel good
Similar in 89%
A Room with a View (2007)
Plot Summary:
Lucy Honeychurch (Elaine Cassidy, Ghost Squad) and her nervous chaperone embark on a grand tour of Italy. Alongside sweeping landscapes, Lucy encounters a suspect group of characters — socialist Mr. Emerson and his working-class son George, in particular — who both surprise and intrigue her. When piqued interest turns to potential romance, Lucy is whisked home to England, where her attention turns to Cecil Vyse (Laurence Fox, Inspector Lewis). But now, with a well-developed appetite for adventure, will Lucy make the daring choice when it comes to love? Andrew Davies offers a new adaptation of the E.M. Forster classic.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, period piece, witty, stylized, costume drama, period drama, masterpiece
Similar in 77%
Hawaii (1966)
Plot Summary:
Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 189 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, inspirational, retro, epic, religious drama, historical drama, atmospheric
Similar in 90%
On the Black Hill (1988)
Plot Summary:
The story covers eighty years in the lives of a pair of Welsh identical twins with an unusual bond, as they go through war, love affairs, and land disputes.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 180
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, serious, realistic, family saga
Similar in 82%
Two for Joy (2018)
Plot Summary:
Coming of age drama following a daughter, her mother and her wayward younger brother as their relationship reaches critical mass.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 417
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Kim Ji-young: Born 1982 (2019)
Plot Summary:
Kim Ji-young, an ordinary woman in her 30s, suddenly shows signs of being inhabited by others such as her late mother and older sister, and the stories of the people connected to her.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, heartbreaking, compassionate
Similar in 88%
The Boys Are Back (2009)
Plot Summary:
When the wife of sports-writer Joe Warr dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. As Joe rejects the counsel of his mother-in-law and other parents, he develops his own philosophies on parenting.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, melancholic, sentimental, romantic, intense, sad, cult classic, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Island (2011)
Plot Summary:
Based on 'Jane Rogers' acclaimed novel, "Island" is a tale of yearning and retribution. Abandoned at birth, Nikki Black has spent most of her life in care sustained only by fairy-stories. Incapable of love, fearful and desperate for revenge, she decides to find her birth mother, confront her, and bitter enough to consider murder. She travels incognito to a remote Hebridean island where Phyllis now lives as a recluse with Calum, her son.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 553
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, tense, atmospheric, realistic, gloomy, art house
Similar in 76%
The Sea (2013)
Plot Summary:
A man returns to the sea where he spent his childhood summers in search of peace following the death of his wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 449
Genere: Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, contemplative, non-linear, psychological, captivating, teen, serious, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Plot Summary:
A woman's seaside vacation takes a dark turn when her obsession with a young mother forces her to confront secrets from her past.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, Israel, Greece
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, captivating, tense, art house, existential, grim, independent film, weird
Similar in 78%
Belonging (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jess (Brenda Blethyn) and town handyman Jacob (Kevin Whately) have been happily married 20 years, recently taking in a trio of Jacob's elderly relatives, including his mother (Rosemary Harris). Though the relations are demanding, kindhearted Jess -- who selflessly quit her job -- enjoys looking after them. But when Jacob disappears one day, Jess' life falls apart, and she must learn to cope with things on her own in this touching drama.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 299
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, touching
Similar in 82%
Surrender, Dorothy (2005)
Plot Summary:
When her daughter Sara unexpectedly passes away, Natalie retreats to the summer home where she and Sara used to visit. Time with her best friends and some of Sara's friends help her deal with her loss.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 897
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Enchanted April (1991)
Plot Summary:
Based on Elizabeth Von Arnim's novel, four Englishwomen rent an Italian villa on holiday.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: period piece, sentimental, touching, humorous, talky, uplifting, stylized, historical drama, aesthetic, feel good
Similar in 76%
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the later years of the nineteenth century Latin master Mr. Chipping is the mainstay of Brookfields boys boarding school, a good teacher and a kindly person but he is considered to be married to the job so that it is a surprise when, on a walking holiday, he meets and marries the vivacious Kathie,who becomes his helpmate at the school but sadly pre-deceases him. Just before World War One insensitive new headmaster Ralston tries to edge Chipping out but the boys rally and Sir John Rivers, an old pupil of Chipping's and now head of the board of governors, invites him to stay and,when the war breaks out and Ralston joins up, Chipping becomes the new head.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 898
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 83%
To Dance with the White Dog (1993)
Plot Summary:
This is the touching story of an elderly widower trying to work through his grief. When Sam Peek's beloved wife, Cora, dies, a white dog suddenly materializes as his new companion and confidant. Sam takes the dog on a nostalgic journey which dramatizes the fulfillment he shared with his departed wife. Though overwhelmed with grief, Sam stubbornly insists that he continue to tend to his orchards, refusing to entertain his family's suggestions that he slow down. But when Sam cautiously reveals that he believes Cora has returned in the form of an elusive white dog, his adult children and grandson Bobby (Harley Cross) grow concerned about his sanity.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 653
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tear jerker, sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, tearjerker