Best movies like Waves
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The epic emotional journey of a suburban African-American family — led by a well-intentioned but domineering father — as they navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, social, psychological, sad, touching, suspense, christian film, sentimental, heartbreaking, serious
Best tv shows and movies like Waves (2019):
Similar in 89%
Stephanie Daley (2006)
Plot Summary:
Stephanie collapses in a pool of blood while on a school skiing trip. A doctor discovers that the blood is the after-effects of giving birth. Soon afterward, the body of a newborn baby is found in a toilet, its mouth blocked with toilet paper. Despite Stephanie's insistence that her child was stillborn and that she had no idea that she was pregnant, she is arrested for the murder of the child.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, psychological, serious, rough, suspense, cult classic, tense, sincere, clever, bleak
Similar in 84%
Touching Home (2008)
Plot Summary:
The true story about a father struggling to make amends with his twin sons as they pursue their dreams of professional baseball.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 788
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, captivating, anamorphic, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, gloomy
Similar in 87%
A Better Life (2011)
Plot Summary:
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, thought provoking, inspirational, hood, independent film, romantic, captivating
Similar in 90%
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002)
Plot Summary:
Sam and Silvy are best friends. One night, as they are watching a falling star while floating on their backs in a lake, Sylvy disappears from his side. Despite his best efforts, he cannot find her under water. Many years later, Sam, now a psychologist, returns to bury his father. Back in his hometown, he meets a woman called Ruby who reminds him in so many ways of his lost love.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, sexy, gloomy, mystic, mindfuck, contemplative, crying
Similar in 75%
Go Now (1995)
Plot Summary:
Nick, is a young Scottish soccer player living in the big city. He meets Karen, and the two fall in love and move in together. Soon after, Nick exhibits signs of serious illness. As his body slowly succumbs to multiple sclerosis, he experiences a wide sweep of jagged emotions, and in the process gives himself and those who love him the strength to carry on.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: UK
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film, romantic, sexy
Similar in 90%
Vernie (2004)
Plot Summary:
Drama - Sean, a young thirty-something coffee shop owner, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He desperately wants to have a baby before he dies, and asks his best friend Kristy to bear his child. - John Riedlinger, Amy Colon, Patrick Coyle.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 46
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, uplifting, emotional, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 76%
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Plot Summary:
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: inspirational, captivating, social, realistic, tense, touching, serious, poignant, hood, art film
Similar in 88%
Rust and Bone (2012)
Plot Summary:
Put in charge of his young son, Ali leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Ali's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium, Singapore
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, emotional, sad, sentimental, touching, independent film, realistic, sexy, depressing, compassionate
Similar in 78%
Our Friend (2019)
Plot Summary:
After learning that his terminally ill wife has six months to live, a man welcomes the support of his best friend who moves into their home to help out.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sad, captivating, touching, family comedy, cult classic, entertaining
Similar in 77%
Dandelion (2004)
Plot Summary:
In a small town of rolling fields and endless skies, isolated 16 year old Mason lives in a world where families exist in fragmented silence and love seems to have gone missing. Then Mason meets Danny, a sensitive and troubled girl, and their tender bond is soon tested after a fatal accident and a series of complications takes Mason away for something he didn't do.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, touching, sentimental, independent film, teen, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Queen & Slim (2019)
Plot Summary:
An exploration of America’s social and political climate through the lens of a genre-defying love story. The film centers on a black man and black woman who go on a first date that goes awry after the two are pulled over by a police officer at a traffic stop. They kill the police officer in self-defense and rather than turn themselves in, they go on the run.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: road movie, thought provoking, exciting, sad, captivating, disturbing, romantic, sexy, neo noir, political
Similar in 88%
Love & Basketball (2000)
Plot Summary:
A young African-American couple navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics in this drama. Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. They've followed the game all their lives and have no small amount of talent on the court. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: touching, sexy, uplifting, romantic, intense, sentimental, hood, tear jerker, cute, teen
Similar in 76%
He Got Game (1998)
Plot Summary:
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: inspirational, hood, thought provoking, captivating, rough, touching, stylized, scary, cult classic, serious
Similar in 79%
Jack Goes Boating (2010)
Plot Summary:
A limo driver's blind date sparks a tale of love, betrayal, friendship, and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: emotional, romantic, melancholic, talky, touching, semi serious, humorous, sexy, depressing, thought provoking
Similar in 77%
Yi Yi: A One and a Two... (2000)
Plot Summary:
Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan, Japan
Duration: 173 min
Plot tags: touching, art house, philosophical, depressing, emotional, harsh, lyrical, sentimental, realistic, poignant
Similar in 84%
Remember Me (2010)
Plot Summary:
Still reeling from a heartbreaking family event and his parents' subsequent divorce, Tyler Hawkins discovers a fresh lease on life when he meets Ally Craig, a gregarious beauty who witnessed her mother's death. But as the couple draws closer, the fallout from their separate tragedies jeopardizes their love.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 154000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, romantic, sentimental, emotional, serious, tear jerker, heartbreaking, surprise ending, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
12 and Holding (2005)
Plot Summary:
Three pre-adolescents with virginal and eager-of-signals naivety, hit headlong against monstrous and inhospitable loneliness, in the incandescent fire among the ashes of their own inocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental, serious, depressing, harsh, art house
Similar in 88%
Bones and All (2022)
Plot Summary:
Abandoned by her father, a young woman embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Romance
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: road movie, dark, atmospheric, splatter, existential, mindfuck, romantic drama, aesthetic, retro, crying
Similar in 85%
The Greatest (2009)
Plot Summary:
Teenagers Rose and Bennett were in love, and then a car crash claimed Bennett's life. He left behind a grieving mother, father and younger brother, and Rose was left all alone. She has no family to turn to for support, so when she finds out she's pregnant, she winds up at the Brewer's door. She needs their help, and although they can't quite admit it, they each need her so they can begin to heal.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, captivating, realistic, serious, emotional, breathtaking, cult classic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 87%
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Plot Summary:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 396000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, romantic, sentimental, tear jerker, sad, sincere, teen, serious, melancholic
Similar in 88%
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Plot Summary:
The coming of age of a youth named Sonny in a small Texas town in the 1950s.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: black and white, sentimental, realistic, thought provoking, captivating, crying, controversial, bleak, cynical, cult classic
Similar in 84%
Blue Valentine (2010)
Plot Summary:
Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 208000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, romantic, psychological, sad, sexy, depressing, heartbreaking, independent film, melancholic
Similar in 75%
Princess Cyd (2017)
Plot Summary:
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, captivating, disturbing, erotic, social, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
Somersault (2004)
Plot Summary:
Australian teenager Heidi is left with little choice but to leave home after she's caught red-handed with her mother's boyfriend. With few options, Heidi ends up in Jindabyne, a tourist community. Upon meeting Joe at a bar, she pursues a relationship with him and tries to find something resembling a normal home life. Heidi makes small strides by getting a job and finding a place to stay, but her relationship with Joe must overcome more than its share of hurdles.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sexy, psychological, depressing, melancholic, lyrical, art house, erotic
Similar in 89%
Very Good Girls (2013)
Plot Summary:
Two New York City girls make a pact to lose their virginity during their first summer out of high school. When they both fall for the same street artist, the friends find their connection tested for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, teen, exciting, captivating, touching, sad, independent film, happy
Similar in 84%
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
Plot Summary:
Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 137000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, independent film, emotional, teen, depressing, black comedy, sad, aesthetic, semi serious, funny
Similar in 85%
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Plot Summary:
A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl.".
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, teen, sincere, melancholic, emotional, independent film, romantic, feel good, sweet, heartbreaking
Similar in 80%
The Choice (2016)
Plot Summary:
Travis and Gabby first meet as neighbors in a small coastal town and wind up in a relationship that is tested by life's most defining events.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, emotional, sweet, scenic, sentimental, serious, realistic, tear jerker, romantic comedy
Similar in 83%
Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a student navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia and battling wild hallucinations. An experimental drug trial promises to help hide his illness from his peers and, most importantly, from the girl of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, romantic, touching, independent film, offbeat, romantic comedy, teen, aesthetic
Similar in 90%
American Honey (2016)
Plot Summary:
A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: road movie, disturbing, talky, enigmatic, melancholic, stylized, intense, sensual, psychological, independent film