Best movies like Zinat
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The conflict felt by a modern Iranian woman as she is forced to choose between her career and the traditional obligations of a housewife are examined in this drama. Until she married Hamed, Zinat worked in a public health clinic in a small Iranian town. She loved her job and was deeply committed to helping the community. After the wedding, her in-laws and family force her to quit and become a full-time housewife. She does try, but her former patients keep returning for help. Zinat cannot, in good conscience, turn them away so she helps them. She then suffers the wrath of her mother-in-law, but even after the irate in-law locks Zinat in the house, the plucky young woman still continues to help people.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 44
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Zinat (1994):
Similar in 76%
The Lady from Yesterday (1985)
Plot Summary:
A man (Rogers) with a wife (Bedelia) and two daughters and a flourishing career is visited by a woman (Chen) whom he had an affair with when he was in Vietnam. Who reveals to him that they have a son and that she wants him to take him (their son).
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976)
Plot Summary:
The story of conflicts, power plays and secrets in a wealthy Mississippi family.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 345
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: southern gothic
Similar in 81%
Neria (1991)
Plot Summary:
A classic African film that has struck a nerve that runs across the continent, with an original soundtrack and supporting performance by Zimbabwe's legendary World Music sensation, Oliver Mtukudzi.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 93
Genere: Drama
Country: Zimbabwe
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspense
Similar in 81%
The Last Passport (2009)
Plot Summary:
THE LAST PASSPORT takes place in a passport office...or so you think. George Miller is a 70 year old man who through a variety of encounters, takes us on a journey through his mysterious past to show us we are not all that different.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 85%
The Revolving Doors (1988)
Plot Summary:
Set in a small Quebec town in the late '20s, this moving drama follows the life and exploits of Celeste Beaumont, a talented young pianist, who gains local celebrity at the town movie theater for her gifts as a silent film accompanist. As an added attraction, Celeste dons ornate gowns for each performance. Audiences are just as interested in her ever-changing apparel as they are in the film. Awkward Pierre Blaudell is her biggest fan and eventually convinces Celeste to be his wife. Shortly after she bears his son, Pierre joins the army. She insists on joining him at the base and his meddlesome, snooty parents insist she give them her son. After Pierre is killed in battle, Celeste flees to New York where she finds steady employment as a jazz pianist. She finds a life-long companion with a black musician and chronicles her experiences in a diary that she passes on to her son after he grows up.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 194
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Nargess (1992)
Plot Summary:
A sharp-edged look at people who live outside the constraints of Islamic law.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 347
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
The Shadow Box (1980)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of a day in a California hospice, three terminally ill patients are observed with their families reflecting on life and death. Adapted for television from the award-winning play by Michael Cristofer.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 232
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Left Out (2008)
Plot Summary:
Giulio, a young man from Sicily, arrives in Rome to trace back Aurora, his ex-girlfriend whom he cannot forget. He stays with a couple of family friends, Rosalia and Eugenio, who have lost their only son, Nello, of the same age as Giulio. The presence of Giulio in their house forces Rosalia and Eugenio to come out of their long period of mourning, but at the same time Giulio, realizing that he will probably never find Aurora, starts sinking into a depressive state fueled by drinks and drugs. Rosalia and Eugenio's efforts to get Giulio out of it are in vain and when Giulio finally meets Aurora by accident, things can only get worse.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Umbrella (2016)
Plot Summary:
Alexander Way, a secondary school teacher with a fractured personal life, finds himself attempting to rescue a woman from a violent sexual attack. Alexander finds himself overpowered, beaten & taken to hospital. Jesiah Jarvus, a famous British musician who is frequently touring, has lost his goal in life. Having not spoken with his father in over 20 years, troubling news offers them the chance to reconcile & move forward in both their lives. Theodore Smith attempts to bury the sadness that threatens to engulf his childhood upon hearing the news that his parents will be separating. Elethea Conall, a newly qualified nurse, continues to look after her patients whilst attempting to escape from her past. What do they all have in common?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, captivating, independent film
Similar in 83%
Boycott (1986)
Plot Summary:
Valeh, a member of a leftist organization, is arrested by the SAVAK and sentenced to death. In prison, he reconsiders his relationships with members of his political cell, and begins to doubt the validity of the ideas for which he is condemned. At the same time, his comrades pressure him to make a sacrifice for their cause, and his beloved wife experiences personal problems and economic hardships.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 378
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
The Cycle (1977)
Plot Summary:
Ali and his father go from their poor neighborhood in the outskirts of the city to a hospital so that Ali's father can be treated for his sickness. However since they have no money, Ali starts to work for Dr. Sameri who deals in blood.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 779
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: banned
Similar in 79%
Sara (1993)
Plot Summary:
Sara is the perfect young housewife. When husband Hessam requires an expensive emergency operation abroad, it is she who works for the funds. For the next three years she labors secretly to pay the shady loan shark and save Hessam - until the truth is revealed and with it, the reality of her marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 730
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
The Peddler (1987)
Plot Summary:
The movie consists of three episodes that explore the lives of poor and desperate in Iran. In episode one, a very poor couple with many crippled children abandon their newly born baby in hopes that it will have a better future. In the second episode, a mentally impaired and isolated young man tries to take care of his senile mother who is almost dead. In the third episode, a cowardly and desperate peddler tries to escape from his boss.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: anthology
Similar in 89%
The Brick and the Mirror (1965)
Plot Summary:
Hashem (Zakariya Hashemi) is a cab driver who finds an infant child in the back seat of his cab one night after he gives a ride to a young woman. Hashem and his girlfriend, Taji (Taji Ahmadi), try to cope with this unwanted child. Hashem insists on getting rid of the child, Taji on keeping him.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 863
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Mother (1990)
Plot Summary:
The film progresses along two distinct but interwoven series of events. The first series involves young members of a family who have gathered round their old mother and revive their common childhood memories. the second line focuses on the old woman's preparations for her last journey and her joyous cooperation in arranging for the ceremonies that are to be observed after her death.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: spiritual, islamic, interesting
Similar in 75%
Life of Josutty (2015)
Plot Summary:
Life of Josutty narrates the story of the struggles and life lessons learned by Josutty(Dileep), a simple farmer living in a village in Kerala who migrates to New Zeland after marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 910
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 166 min
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 83%
The Game of Love (2016)
Plot Summary:
The family of a basketball club's president conspires to force him to sell it.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 149
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining
Similar in 84%
Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine (2000)
Plot Summary:
Death surrounds Bahman, a director who hasn't made a film in 24 years (he can't get past the censors). He's working on a documentary, for Japanese TV, on Iranian burial practices. On the anniversary of his wife's death, a hitchhiker tells him a story of spousal abuse and infant mortality, he discovers that someone has been buried in his plot next to his wife, and he needs the help of his attorney, a well-connected fixer. He dreams of death, even as he investigates it for his film. His niece's husband, a well-known writer, fails to return home; he searches hospitals for an unclaimed body. His heart disease is flaring up. Is he prepared for death? Is that all that's left?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 723
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, tense, realistic, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 78%
Travellers (1992)
Plot Summary:
A young woman's wedding becomes a ritual of mourning when her sister and family die in an auto accident on the way to the wedding. The sisters' mother refuses to accept her daughter's death, and in the midst of wedding guests and mourners, including the drivers of the truck that caused the accident, she orders the wedding to take place. But how can the daughter marry in the midst of a wake and without the family's traditional mirror, which the sister was bringing to the service?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, beautiful
Similar in 88%
Life and a Day (2016)
Plot Summary:
Somaieh, the youngest daughter of an indigent family, is getting married and fear is overwhelming each and every member of the family regarding how to overcome their difficulties after she's gone.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, beautiful
Similar in 81%
The Cyclist (1989)
Plot Summary:
The wife of Nasim, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, is gravely ill. He needs money to pay for her care, but his day labor digging wells does not pay enough. A friend connects Nasim to a two-bit promoter who sells tickets to watch Nasim ride a bicycle continuously for a week. The promoter brings in sick and aged spectators, haranguing them to find hope in Nasim's strength. Aided by his son, who feeds him as he rides, Nasim grinds out the days and shivering nights. Local officials believe this may be a plot and Nasim may be a spy; they try to sabotage him as do those who bet he won't finish the week. Will desperation alone get Nasim the money? Is any triumph an illusion?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: islamic, psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
The Hidden Half (2001)
Plot Summary:
An official is sent from his home in Tehran to hear the final appeal of a woman sentenced to death, a political prisoner. The official's wife of nearly 20 years, Fereshteh Samimi, writes him a letter to read when he reaches the hotel - the story of her student days during the revolution of 1978. We see the story in flashbacks as he reads: she leaves her province on scholarship, joins a Communist youth group, avoids arrest, and comes under the sway of a suave older man, Roozbeh Javid, a literary-magazine editor. As she tells her husband about the hidden half of her life, Fereshteh asks that he listen to the woman facing execution, a woman and therefore one of Iran's hidden half.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 866
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, captivating, islamic, realistic, contemplative, intellectual
Similar in 80%
Shirin (2008)
Plot Summary:
A hundred and fourteen famous Iranian theater and cinema actresses and a French star: mute spectators at a theatrical representation of Khosrow and Shirin, a Persian poem from the twelfth century, put on stage by Kiarostami. The development of the text -- long a favorite in Persia and the Middle East -- remains invisible to the viewer of the film, the whole story is told by the faces of the women watching the show.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: experimental, atmospheric, contemplative, stylized, emotional, art house, islamic, slow cinema, aesthetic, offbeat
Similar in 83%
Shiba (1993)
Plot Summary:
A multi-lingual tour guide who owns multiple passports one day drives his wife and daughter to a desolate seashore town and checks in a secluded, spacious, ruins-like hotel. From that moment on, he throws himself into gambling, tossing the dice with local residents all day. Sometimes he wins big, but sometimes he loses all. Feeling neglected and uncomfortable, his wife and daughter soon leave him and return home. He stays and wanders in this fishing village and gradually immerses himself in the surroundings—a place rife with immoral vagabonds, outlaws and weirdoes.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 21
Genere: Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Sex My Life (2008)
Plot Summary:
Tells the story of seven Iranian transgender individuals living in Tehran who live pieces of their own lives on the screen.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 82
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 76 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, sincere, touching, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Nie mehr wie es war (2016)
Plot Summary:
Tomas is happy as family father, raising teen son Milan (as his knavish buddy) and running-especially gastronomically- a club with his mother Nike, whose absences to take course aiming for career progress causes tension. Covering for Milan's systematic class dodging to pursue a musical ambition, Tomas discovers going trough Nike's stuff the knave isn't biologically his son, feels utterly cheated by wife Nike, and feels like wrecking their relationship, family and livelihood musical bar. Former common study friend Clemens, a divorced MD, confides he wasn't interested in Nike, being gay, and advises 'getting laid' without commitment, but finding that out hurts utterly confused Milan even more. The spouses must pull together when son Milan (16) decides to seek his genetic father, a former GDR literature professor Dr. Karoly Gaál, who is now in a home for demented seniors.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 35
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 81%
The Circle (2000)
Plot Summary:
Various women struggle to function in the oppressively sexist society of contemporary Iran.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, Italy, Switzerland
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: bleak, disturbing, harsh, atmospheric, sincere, contemplative, thought provoking, spiritual, avant garde, art house
Similar in 80%
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Plot Summary:
Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: philosophical, melancholic, thought provoking, touching, serious, contemplative, art house, cerebral, compassionate, slow cinema
Similar in 89%
The Apple (1998)
Plot Summary:
After twelve years of imprisonment by their own parents, two sisters are finally released by social workers to face the outside world for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran, France, Netherlands
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: compassionate, sincere, thought provoking, serious, art house, sentimental, touching, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 83%
20 Fingers (2004)
Plot Summary:
A film in several episodes with Bijan Daneshmand and Mania Akbari, exposing some of the issues of men and women within the confines of tradition and family life in Iran. Each episode displays a different form of male/female interaction. The placing of the actors in a moving vehicle or against a moving back drop signifies the movement of life despite all the obstacles in its way. The film deals with the roots of dependencies, limitations, power struggles and conflict that are the familiar stuff of life of couples in the Middle East.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 485
Genere: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, clever, contemplative, talky, sexual, islamic, sexy