Best movies like When I Saw You
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Jordan, 1967: displaced to a refugee camp after the occupation of their West Bank village, an eleven-year old boy and his mother enact the emancipating dream that every refugee has imagined countless times, in Annemarie Jacir's passionate and moving follow-up to her prize-winning debut Salt of This Sea.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 843
Genere: Drama
Country: Jordan, Greece, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, atmospheric, touching, realistic, ambiguous ending, freeze frame
Best tv shows and movies like When I Saw You (2012):
Similar in 83%
Giraffada (2013)
Plot Summary:
Yacine is the veterinarian of the only zoo remaining in the Palestinian West Bank. He lives alone with his 10-year old son, Ziad. The kid has a special bond with the two giraffes in the zoo. He seems to be the only one to communicate with them. After an air raid in the region the male giraffe dies. His mate, Rita, won’t survive unless the veterinarian finds her a new companion. The only zoo that might provide this animal is located in Tel Aviv.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Germany, France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Captain Abu Raed (2007)
Plot Summary:
Abu Raed is an old airport janitor who has always yearned to travel the world but has never been able to afford it. One day, he finds an old discarded pilot's hat, and discovers a calling: a group of children in his poor neighborhood assume he's an airline captain and beg him to share stories of the world outside of Amman, Jordan. Through imaginary tales, a friendship forms, and Abu Raed is soon faced with the grim realities of the children's home life. Thus he takes it upon himself to make a difference in their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Jordan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, serious, touching, captivating, emotional, realistic, independent film, islamic, iconic
Similar in 90%
Ode to My Father (2014)
Plot Summary:
Amid the chaos of refugees fleeing the Korean War in December 1950, a young boy, Duk-soo, sees his fate change in the blink of an eye when he loses track of his younger sister and he leaves his father behind to find her. Settling at Gukje Market in Busan, Duk-soo devotes himself to his remaining family, working all manner of odd jobs to support them in place of his father. His dedication leads him first to the deadly coal mines of Germany, where he meets his first love, Youngja, and then to war-torn Vietnam in this powerful generational epic about one man’s personal sacrifices.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, touching, serious, captivating, social, sad, sentimental, epic, extraordinary
Similar in 84%
Salt of This Sea (2008)
Plot Summary:
Born in Brooklyn to Palestinian refugee parents, Soraya (Suheir Hammad) decides to journey to the country of her ancestry when she discovers that her grandfather's savings have been frozen in a Jaffa bank account since his 1948 exile. She soon finds, however, that her simple plan is a complicated undertaking -- and one that takes her farther from her comfort zone (both geographically and emotionally) than she'd imagined in this romantic drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, sincere, emotional, realistic, political, sad, islamic, contemplative
Similar in 89%
...And Your Name Is Jonah (1979)
Plot Summary:
A couple whose son had been diagnosed as mentally retarded, and was institutionalized, are shocked to discover that the diagnosis was wrong, and that their son is in fact deaf.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 445
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 85%
The Other Bank (2009)
Plot Summary:
Life creates many obstacles for 12 years old boy - Tedo. Tedo belongs to the generation, which was forced to mass displacement because of the civil war in Abkhazia, one of the most beatiful places in Georgia. The civil war took away everything Tedo had, even hope. The film tells about an extraordinary internal drama of a little boy, his thoughts, feelings, pasions, sorrows and efforts to take arms against the difficulties.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia, Kazakhstan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: road movie, emotional, realistic, psychological, touching, serious
Similar in 75%
Clandestine Childhood (2011)
Plot Summary:
Juan lives in clandestinity. Just like his mum, his dad and his adored uncle Beto, outside his home he has another name. At school, Juan is known as Ernesto. And he meets María, who only has one name. Based on true facts, set in the Argentina of 1979, this film is one about love.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain, Brazil
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, realistic
Similar in 82%
The Orheim Company (2012)
Plot Summary:
A strong, human tale about a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, but also an energetic story about teenage lust, pain and passion – about liberation and redemption.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, emotional, captivating, sincere, stylized
Similar in 86%
Brother (2014)
Plot Summary:
Giorgi is 16 years old when he discovers another world through American films forbidden in all Soviet Union until then. Since the post-revolutionary chaos in his home town, Tbilisi, Giorgi has wanted to have succeeded by following the path of his idols: Tony Montana and Vito Corleone. He has almost reached his goal when he is confronted with a dilemma; how can he stop his little brother who is 12 years old to follow his path when he could become a famous pianist? All this in a world that only knows chaos.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Drama
Country: Georgia, France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, serious, captivating, stylized, gloomy, entertaining
Similar in 89%
Sandcastle (2010)
Plot Summary:
En is an 18-year-old who has lost his father to cancer. As his family is drawn together in a sudden tragedy, he has to decide what he believes in. But in a country where ideologies are forged on constantly shifting sands, he struggles to stay true to what he knows to be right. And in a family that prefers to forget, the sandcastles of all he holds dear seem doomed to be washed away by the tides of time.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 144
Genere: Drama
Country: Singapore
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, emotional, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 81%
Becoming Redwood (2012)
Plot Summary:
A quirky coming of age story about an 11-year-old boy named Redwood who dreams that if he can beat Jack Nicklaus at the 1975 Master's of golf he'll reunite his parents.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Devil in the Skin (2011)
Plot Summary:
Coming-of-Age drama telling the story of the strong bond between Xavier and his little brother Jacques and their struggle to remain together despite all odds.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 71
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Nobody Owns Me (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of a lone father's relationship with his daughter, of the destructive power of alcohol, of a child's vulnerability, but also of love, betrayal and socialist politics in 1970s Sweden. A unique and moving story freely based on Åsa Linderborg's best-selling novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, social
Similar in 86%
Son of Babylon (2009)
Plot Summary:
A willful young boy follows his just as obstinate grandmother in a journey across Iraq, determined to discover the fate of her missing son, Ahmed's father, who never returned from war.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iraq, UK, France, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Egypt
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, captivating, emotional, independent film, islamic, tense, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
The Way I Spent the End of the World (2006)
Plot Summary:
Bucharest 1989 - the last year of Ceausecu's dictatorship. Eva lives with her parents and her 7 year old brother, Lalalilu. One day at school, Eva and her boyfriend accidentally break a bust of Ceausescu. They are forced to confess their crime before a disciplinary committee and Eva is expelled from school and transferred to a reformatory establishment. There she meets Andrei, and decides to escape Romania with him. Lalalilu becomes convinced that Ceausescu is the main reason for Eva's decision to leave. So with his friends from school he devises a plan to kill the dictator.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Romania, France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, captivating, serious, realistic, atmospheric
Similar in 86%
1st Love (2013)
Plot Summary:
Antoine, 13, spends the summer vacation with his parents in a rented cottage on an island in the middle of the Saint-Lawrence River. His neighbour, 17-year-old Anna, is an enigmatic and lively young woman. Antoine begins to experience the first stirrings of love-which soon yield a troubling brew of anxiety, desire and obsession. He eventually comes across a terrible secret that will forever change his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 253
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 89%
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)
Plot Summary:
Coming of age story about two inner city youths, who are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, hood, clever, sad, therapeutic
Similar in 90%
Natural Sciences (2014)
Plot Summary:
In a rural school in the middle of the mountains, a girl who is starting to become a woman feels the profound need to discover her true identity. She does not know who her father is and she is determined to find him, but her mother does not approve it. The hostility of winter in such a harsh place turns this desire into a real threat: freezing in the middle of nowhere. Going behind the backs of the school authorities and the girl's mother, her teacher decides to help her. They set off on this quest for truth, but it is not going to be an easy journey... Their only clue is a small, rusty plate.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, France
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, road movie
Similar in 89%
I Wish (2011)
Plot Summary:
Two young brothers at opposite ends of Kyushu devise a magical plan to reunite their separated parents in Hirokazu Koreeda's benign and superbly acted picture of family life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, stylized, realistic, poignant, art film, teen, moody, beautiful
Similar in 88%
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (2010)
Plot Summary:
Tai is 17 years old. Naim is 20. She's Israeli. He's Palestinian. She lives in Jerusalem. He lives in Gaza. They were born in a land of scorched earth, where fathers bury their children. They must endure an explosive situation that is not of their choosing at an age where young people are falling in love and taking their place in adult life. A bottle thrown in the sea and a correspondence by email nurture the slender hope that their relationship might give them the strength to confront this harsh reality to grapple with it, and thereby ever so slightly change it. Only 60 miles separate them but how many bombings, check-points, sleepless nights and bloodstained days stand between them?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Israel, Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, emotional, contemplative
Similar in 87%
The Little Traitor (2007)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel "Panther in the Basement" by the world-renowned author, Amos Oz, the movie takes place in Palestine in 1947, just a few months before Israel becomes a state. Proffy Liebowitz, a militant yet sensitive eleven year old wants nothing more than for the occupying British to get the hell out of his land.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, touching, emotional, realistic, serious, contemplative
Similar in 78%
The Kite (2003)
Plot Summary:
A young 15 year old girl, Lamia, lives in a southern Lebanese village on the border with Israel. She is given in marriage to her cousin on the other side of the border. As Lamia crosses the barbed wire she also passes from childhood into adulthood, as brutal as our countries and the events that are to follow.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 785
Genere: Drama
Country: Lebanon, France
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
Imaginary Crimes (1994)
Plot Summary:
A recently widowed, small-time hustler struggles to raise his two teenage daughters on his own and still make a dishonest living in 1950s Indiana.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sad, sentimental, sincere, realistic, depressing, contemplative, semi serious, sexy
Similar in 82%
Almost a Woman (2002)
Plot Summary:
A young woman named Esmeralda and her family move to New York from a rural area of Puerto Rico. The transition is difficult due to the many challenges she and her family face.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 156
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, hispanic
Similar in 84%
Jack (2014)
Plot Summary:
Although he is only ten years old, Jack is responsible for himself and his little brother Manuel and this fills him with pride. Their single mother works during the day and often goes out at night. There’s no father in sight. One day, Manuel burns himself with boiling hot water while bathing and Jack is blamed for the incident. It's reason enough for social services to put him in a home where he is dreadfully homesick. He soon gets into trouble and bolts, heading for home. He arrives back, only to find his mother is once again absent. Jack and Manuel roam the city in search of her. They sleep in parks and in an underground car park, run away from the police and encounter adults, some of whom help and others who are indifferent.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, serious, social, gloomy
Similar in 88%
A Time in Quchi (2013)
Plot Summary:
Bao stays with his grandfather for the summer and is shocked to see there are no modern appliances.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 130
Genere: Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, atmospheric, captivating, serious
Similar in 78%
Bilal's Stand (2010)
Plot Summary:
Bilal, a Muslim high school senior works at his family's long-owned taxi stand. "The Stand," as they call it, has been the source of all activity and money for the family for the last sixty years. It seems like Bílal is about to carry the torch. He secretly submits a college application and takes up the art of ice carving in order to win a scholarship. However, he is forced to decide whether he will continue working at the Stand - the only life he's ever known - or take a chance at social mobility.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, realistic, independent film, uplifting, serious, captivating, spiritual, educational
Similar in 80%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Along the Ridge (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young father and his two children struggle to find harmony after his wife leaves them for another man.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Absence (2014)
Plot Summary:
A daily, familiar, sexual and emotional drama. Based on the character Serginho, the plot is based around various aspects of this "no longer a boy, not yet a man". We follow his day to day: the recently acquired role of man of the house, taking care of his mother and younger brother; is work at the market; his friendship with Mudinho and Silvinha; and his confusing relationship, between sex and affection, with professor Ney. The film is a tapestry of the life moments of a boy in transition.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 177
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil, Chile, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak