Best movies like Variety
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A repressed young woman develops a fascination for pornography and voyeurism while selling tickets to adult movies.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, West Germany, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, erotic, psychological, mind bending, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, neo noir
Best tv shows and movies like Variety (1983):
Similar in 90%
A Cold Wind in August (1961)
Plot Summary:
An older woman gets involved with her young neighbor.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 404
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 85%
Sue (1997)
Plot Summary:
An unemployed ex-office worker (Anna Thomson) searching for work floats a fragile line of sanity as she struggles to find friendship and companionship. Her tenuous grasp on reality further fluctuates when a man (Matthew Powers) whom she met in a restaurant and started an affair is called to go to India for an assignment. The final straw occurs when she is evicted and moves into a sleazy hotel. She then starts seeking casual sex in unorthodox locations just to have human contact.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, independent film, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
From the Head (2011)
Plot Summary:
Underneath Times Square, there's a strip club filled with beautiful women. Behind the club's bathroom door is Shoes, a bathroom attendant. For three years, Shoes gives advice, compliments or a sympathetic ear to his visitors, getting occasional tips. But on the night of his three-year anniversary at the club, Shoes' customers and coworkers start to make him look into his own life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, captivating, psychological, clever, humorous, serious, contemplative, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 81%
Cleopatra's Second Husband (1998)
Plot Summary:
Robert is an art photographer who is totally controlled by his wife Hallie. When they go on vacation in New York, they leave their house to their friends, Zack and Sophie. When they return, they find their house a total mess, but Zack and Sophie ask to stay a little longer, and they agree.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 614
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, sexual, sexy
Similar in 87%
All God's Children Can Dance (2008)
Plot Summary:
In Korea Town Los Angeles, a young man, Kengo, believes he's the son of God - that's what his mother told him since he was a young boy. He spends his days working his dead-end job and figuring out his complex feelings for his girlfriend until, one day, he sees a one-eared man who could be his father and decides to follow him around Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, atmospheric, realistic, stylized, contemplative, independent film, art house
Similar in 84%
Working Girls (1986)
Plot Summary:
A day in the life of several prostitutes in an upscale Manhattan whore house. The film is a stark portrayal of the women prostitutes, the male customers and the motivations of both. Watch as the madam manipulates her "girls". Watch as she answers the phone by saying "Hello John, what's new and different?" Watch as the "johns" try to manipulate the "girls". Part nudie exploitation, part sociological thesis.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, sexual, sexy
Similar in 82%
Seduction: The Cruel Woman (1985)
Plot Summary:
Wanda is a dominatrix who runs a gallery in a building on the Hamburg waterfront, where audiences pay for the privilege of watching her humiliate her slaves. She is a business woman who smashes sexual stereotypes and social taboos with icy self-possession and an enigmatic smile. As artist she specializes in the staging of elaborate BDSM fantasies and her affairs transgress the usual boundaries of personal and professional life. Along the way she leaves her German lesbian lover, a shoe fetishist, for an American "trainee," and does more than step on the toes of the male performer who has broken the rules of the master-slave relationship by falling in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 216
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, serious, realistic, disturbing, controversial, sexual, weird
Similar in 75%
It Felt Like Love (2013)
Plot Summary:
Fourteen-year-old Lila is experiencing an ennui-filled Brooklyn summer. She awkwardly wears a Kabuki-esque mask of sunscreen at the beach and plays third wheel to Chiara, her more experienced friend, and Chiara’s boyfriend, Patrick. Determined to have a love interest of her own, a bravado-filled Lila pursues Sammy, a tough but handsome older boy.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, erotic, sexy, captivating, underground film, psychological, social, sincere
Similar in 79%
Man at Bath (2010)
Plot Summary:
Omar and Emmanuel go to great lengths to prove they are not in love.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, erotic, sincere, serious, sexual, independent film
Similar in 75%
Violent Blue (2011)
Plot Summary:
Katarina is a music teacher obsessed with an unfinished symphony. She worries about her brother, Ondrej an introverted inventor whose financiers are reputedly shady and dangerous. Then one day, her ex-husband Pietro shows up in her house and locks her in a cage.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 434
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, surreal, cynical, psychological, tense, captivating, gloomy, independent film, psychological thriller
Similar in 87%
Choking Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, serious, gloomy
Similar in 88%
She's Lost Control (2014)
Plot Summary:
Ronah's life unravels when she starts working with a new client, Johnny.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, tense, realistic, sexy, captivating, independent film, sexual
Similar in 76%
Devil in the Flesh (1969)
Plot Summary:
Based on the infamous novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch this fine film follows the perverted passions of a young couple as Severin watches the beautiful Wanda writhing naked amongst furs. His disturbing peeping tomism triggers off a whirlpool of emotions due to a childhood episode which punishes voyeurism with pain.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 647
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany, Switzerland, Italy
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, sexy, serious, realistic, sexual
Similar in 76%
Lap Dancing (1995)
Plot Summary:
Angie is having no luck auditioning for movies. She thinks about going back home, but her roommate Claudia convinces her to try working at the "gentleman's club" with her in order to gain more life experience. Angie hopes to be able to turn the experience toward more effective acting but is having difficulty overcoming her inhibitions. She meets a burned out movie director at the club who helps her with her dilemma.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, erotic, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 85%
The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
Plot Summary:
Chelsea is an in-demand call girl whose $2,000 an hour price tag allows her to live in New York's lap of luxury. Besides her beauty and sexual skill, Chelsea offers her clients companionship and conversation, or, as she dubs it, "the girlfriend experience." With her successful business and a devoted, live-in boyfriend, Chelsea thinks she has it made... until a new client rocks her world.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: sexy, independent film, melancholic, meditative, erotic, sexual, intellectual, serious, realistic, experimental
Similar in 77%
The Pornographer (1999)
Plot Summary:
A socially inept man's amateur porn film wins him a contract with a small-time pornography distribution company, where he faces a series of moral crises and is forced to face his own porn addiction.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 845
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: erotic, sensual, psychological, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, sexual, independent film
Similar in 87%
Allyson Is Watching (1997)
Plot Summary:
Innocent, sexy Allyson leaves her boyfriend Peter to go to acting classes in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles she rents a room in an apartment building from the grumpy Mr. Merry next to the resident working girl, Bridget. During the day Allyson struggles with her acting lessons at arrogant Eric Constantine's acting school whilst at night she plays with herself as she watches beautiful, confident Bridget through the keyhole servicing her clients. In class she meets professional photographer Jerry who offers to shoot her a portfolio.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sexy, erotic, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual, sexploitation film
Similar in 85%
Emoticon ;) (2014)
Plot Summary:
Elena Gallenti is an anthropology graduate student struggling to complete her thesis on 'modern means of communication.' All that changes when she meets her new boyfriend's teenage kids, who are going through their own journeys of self-discovery. All of them learn to navigate love and intimacy in the digital age.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 125
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, psychological, contemplative, independent film, serious
Similar in 85%
On_Line (2002)
Plot Summary:
John, a computer whiz on the rebound from a disastrous break-up, starts an adult Internet site with his roommate, Moe. They are soon caught up in the erotic nature of the chat sessions they host, changing both their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 633
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: erotic, serious, realistic, sexy, touching, tense, captivating, suspenseful, sexual, hot
Similar in 85%
Twelve Thirty (2010)
Plot Summary:
TWELVE THIRTY is drama about a family with adult children that is broken, and a self-centered young man who, in the span of a week, becomes entangled in each of their lives, wreaking havoc in the process.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 267
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, erotic, realistic, independent film, sexual, sexy
Similar in 84%
Young Lady Chatterley (1977)
Plot Summary:
Cynthia inherits a large estate and moves in. She reads her aunt's diary and finds out how she was taught in the ways of love by her gardener in 1901 at the age of 21. She decides to continue the fruitful relationship and gets it on with the handsome young gardener herself.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy, independent film, serious, realistic, sexual
Similar in 87%
Nuit #1 (2011)
Plot Summary:
Clara and Nikolai meet at a sweat-soaked rave and end their night at his apartment. The first part of the film is an erotic and candid portrait of their lovemaking. When Clara tries to sneak out without saying goodbye, this typical hookup takes an unexpected turn.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 886
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, talky, emotional, realistic, erotic, sexy, contemplative, gloomy, sexual
Similar in 82%
Full Body Massage (1995)
Plot Summary:
Nina, an art dealer, has her weekly massage appointment and is surprised to find out her usual masseur, Douglas, has sent a replacement named Fitch. The pair develop an easy rapport during the session, with talk about past relationships. As Nina lies topless on the massage table, Fitch also takes time to explain various massage techniques, including those used by Hopi medicine men.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, realistic, talky, sincere, erotic, mystic, clever, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Rambling Rose (1991)
Plot Summary:
Rose, is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Rose's appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and Rose knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: erotic, touching, emotional, sexy, sentimental, serious, realistic, romantic, independent film, sexual
Similar in 79%
Another Woman (1988)
Plot Summary:
Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, meditative, talky, depressing, serious, independent film, controversial, thinking, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Slovenian Girl (2009)
Plot Summary:
Aleksandra is a student from Krško, a small town in Slovenia. She has a plan to conquer the world. Working as a prostitute, her life is heading to where she wants it, but an accidental death has her wrestling with new feelings of fear, loneliness, confusion and responsibility.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Slovenia, Germany, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, captivating, realistic, sentimental, sexual, transgressive, sincere, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 78%
Destricted (2006)
Plot Summary:
A compilation of erotic films intended to illuminate the points where art meets sexuality.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: erotic, anthology, thought provoking, serious, avant garde, controversial, underground film, realistic, experimental, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Shame (2011)
Plot Summary:
Brandon is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's insular life spirals out of control.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 204000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sexual, erotic, sexy, thought provoking, sensual, psychological, emotional, disturbing, controversial, art house
Similar in 77%
I Like to Play Games (1995)
Plot Summary:
Michael is looking for a woman who likes to play games, but when he finds Suzanne, she might just be more than he bargained for.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, sensual, sexy, serious, realistic, sexual, romantic, independent film, crying
Similar in 77%
The Brown Bunny (2003)
Plot Summary:
Bud Clay races motorcycles in the 250cc Formula II class of road racing. After a race in New Hampshire, he has five days to get to his next race in California. During his road trip, he is haunted by memories of the last time he saw Daisy, his true love.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: road movie, independent film, controversial, sexy, serious, stylized, intense, psychological, experimental, disturbing