Best tv shows like Awl
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows like Awl? Share your expertise to direct others find films and tv shows you've viewed already that might suit them too. Aid in growing the cohort of people putting forward videos to one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
The drama tells the story of average workers, who silently work hard on each one’s own task. They finally pull together as a team to fight through a difficult and unfair situation. Lee Soo-In has the kind of temperament where he has to do the right thing no matter what. After his discharge from the military, he finds work at a large retail market. One day, his boss orders him to fire temporary employees at the store. Lee Soo-In refuses to do so and decides to join the labor union. He and the temporary employees struggle against unfair dismissals. The drama is based on a webtoon of the same name, which is in turn inspired by real-life events that transpired in 2002 when union workers were unfairly fired from large supermarket chain Carrefour, and fought back.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 32
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Awl (2015):
Similar in 76%
Real Clothes (2009)
Plot Summary:
Kinue is a saleswoman in the futon section of a department store. One day, she suddenly gets transferred to the women's clothing department, even though she herself is lacking in fashion sense. Her new boss Miki, soon introduces Kinue to the tough reality of the fashion world. Through this job, Kinue learns about the meaning of life, love, and work.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 37
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: dorama
Similar in 78%
Second chance (2016)
Plot Summary:
The main character is Monika Borecka, TV producer and manager. She is a modern woman of success - strong, attractive, hard-working and self-confident. Seemingly, she's leading a perfect life: she's on the peak of her career, makes money, and has a handsome partner. She loves living in a big city, she is always updated with news. Monika is ambitious and creative. In the world of show-business, she feels like a duck in water. She's going to celebrate her 40th birthday with beloved ones. Suddenly...she loses everything. Without job, friends, rejected by the world of show-biz which was her entire world. Arrested and convicted to social services in hospital. Monika, for the first time in her life is left on the own. Betrayed, humiliated, disillusioned and without hope. Monika faces many problems to find the answer for a question: what is the most important thing in life? Is she able to struggle with hardships of life? How to use a second chance, which is given us by lock to find our true destiny? The series also shows scenes of show business and reveals to the audience the mechanisms governing the world.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Midnight Caller (1988)
Plot Summary:
Midnight Caller is a dramatic NBC television series created by Richard DiLello, which ran from 1988 to 1991. It was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio. Except for a brief stint on Lifetime in the 1990s, the series has not been rerun or issued on DVD.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 78%
Smoke (1971)
Plot Summary:
A group of Americans who live together in an old mansion somewhere in Sweden spend their time between working at the local airplane plant and hanging out with their revolutionary friends. Smoke has something going with his boss's daughter, but when the boss finds out, he has some dudes beat up Smoke. This leads to a strike among the workers, and a break between the boss and his daughter who goes to live with Smoke and his friends. In order to save his job from angry stockholders, the boss offers Smoke a sizable amount of money to end the strike; but when Smoke and the guys spend the money on guns things get out of hand.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 52
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Sister Stella L. (1984)
Plot Summary:
A nun who acts as a counselor in a home for unwed mother undergoes political awakening when her friend and namesake belonging to the same congregation as hers inspires her to get involved in the struggle for justice and freedom of striking workers in a cooking oil company.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 130
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: political
Similar in 81%
Eight Hours are Not a Day (1972)
Plot Summary:
A sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic look at domestic relationships and labour relationships, with particular focus on skilled worker Jochen and his new girlfriend, Marion.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 625
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 476 min
Plot tags: art house
Similar in 89%
Giant (2009)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of a supermarket security guard's obsession with a late-shift janitor.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Uruguay, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Netherlands
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, slow cinema, aesthetic
Similar in 75%
The Calm (1980)
Plot Summary:
A young man in his twenties leaves prison after a three-year sentence. He wants to start a new life in a place where he is not known and dreams only of a job, a wife and a family. He succeeds partially in fulfilling these dreams, but then runs into a conflict on a construction job between the corrupt boss and fellow workers secretly planning a strike. He becomes a pawn in one camp while remaining true to his ideals in the other. Filmed in 1976 and shelved for five years.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Cart (2014)
Plot Summary:
In response to a sudden dismissal of staff, workers at a big retail store begin a protest against their employer's oppressive labor policies.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative, twisted, freeze frame
Similar in 80%
Strikebound (1984)
Plot Summary:
Via the New York Times: "...reconstructs the true story of a coal miners' strike in the small town of Korumburra in the mid-30's... based on the real-life story of two remarkable characters, Wattie Doig, a miner who became a militant Communist activist, and his wife, Agnes, who progressed from staunch Presbyterianism to membership in the Salvation Army and, finally, to labor organization.".
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 68
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 77%
Signorina Effe (2007)
Plot Summary:
Emma was born and raised in a working-class family, but she's long had bourgeois ambitions and has risen through the ranks to become a white-collar employee with the Fiat automobile company.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Capital (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set on a single street in South London, Capital is a portrait of a road transformed by soaring property prices: what was once the home of modest lower-middle class families, Pepys Road has been continuously gentrified into a street of multimillion pound houses. On one day, the people of this South London street all receive an anonymous postcard with the simple message 'we want what you have'. Its unsettling ripples affect every corner of the community. Based on John Lanchester's bestseller and adapted by Peter Bowker.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 177 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Incomplete Life (2014)
Plot Summary:
Jang Geu Rae played the board game “baduk” (a strategy game somewhat like chess) since he was a child. Playing the game was everything to him, but he failed to become a professional baduk player. Now he is thrown out into the real world. By an acquaintance’s recommendation, He is able to begin to work at Wonin International as an intern and struggles to adapt working at a company. Meanwhile, Ahn Young Yi is a competent and intelligent new intern and Jang Baek Ki is another co-worker. Oh Sang Sik will play their boss.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: dorama, light, inspirational, feel good, captivating
Similar in 85%
Money Flower (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story of people driven by greed. Kang Pil-Joo grew up at an orphanage, but he now works as a managing director of a legal team at a corporation. He is acknowledged for his intelligence and his exemplary job performance. Some of those that work around him are jealous of him. Na Mo-Hyun is an environmental activist and a science teacher at a middle school. She is a good listener and laughs a lot. She dreams of a love driven by fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 356
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration:
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, intense
Similar in 87%
The Bronx Zoo (1987)
Plot Summary:
The Bronx Zoo is a 1987 NBC drama series directed by Allan Arkush and Paul Lynch. It lasted two seasons before cancellation.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 115
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Heart of Steel (1983)
Plot Summary:
A steel factory that employs most of the town shuts down, leaving a man desperate to keep his family and friends together while alcohol consumes him in this depressing drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
The Migrants (1974)
Plot Summary:
A look at the lives of migratory farm workers, focusing on one family.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 112
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
The Citadel (1983)
Plot Summary:
The Citadel is a 1983 BBC television adaptation written by Don Shaw from A. J. Cronin's novel The Citadel, which was originally published in 1937. It was produced by Ken Riddington. Other television versions include a British and two Italian adaptations. The BBC dramatisation stars Ben Cross as Dr. Andrew Manson and Clare Higgins as Christine Manson. It was broadcast in the US from November 1983 until January 1984 by PBS television as part of Masterpiece Theatre.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 233
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 500 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Midnight Diner (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, melancholic, contemplative, anthology
Similar in 86%
At War (2018)
Plot Summary:
After promising 1100 employees that they would protect their jobs, the managers of a factory decide to suddenly close up shop. Laurent takes the lead in a fight against this decision.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, psychological, thought provoking, political
Similar in 78%
La mano invisible (2016)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the novel by Isaac Rosa, mordant parable on labor precariousness.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
I Will Not Work Overtime, Period! (2019)
Plot Summary:
Yui is an office worker and single. She works nine to five and leaves the office on time. Her ex and father, however, are workaholics who burn the midnight oil at the office. Moreover, she completes her work efficiently so there is no need to stay back or even take work home. She likes to either go home or have a beer after work on her own time. Enter a new department head.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Woman with a Suitcase (2016)
Plot Summary:
A successful career woman gets framed for a crime and works her way back up after serving her time. She was once an office manager with a thriving career, but that takes a major hit when she is penalized for violating the Attorneys-at-Law Act and sent to prison for it. The drama follows the success story as she comes back as an ex-con, and follows her dream to become an outstanding lawyer.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
Plot Summary:
Alan Bleasdale's hugely acclaimed mini-series echoes the misery and despair of long-term unemployment. Set in Liverpool, these profoundly moving human dramas follow in turn the attempts of five working-class heroes to survive.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Miss Lee (2019)
Plot Summary:
The president has disappeared one day. His body hasn’t been found but he’s not returning. Cheongil Electronics is now buried in debt, and all the employees are desperate to survive. Sun Shim is a bookkeeper whom everyone belittles. She’s sick of her life and dreams to be a shareholder of Cheongil. With Mr. Oh’s disappearance, Sun Shim, who knows nothing, becomes the next president.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 34
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration:
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing, romantic drama
Similar in 85%
Brief Encounters (2016)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1980s the lives of four ordinary women, their husbands, mothers, families and community are turned around when they become Ann Summers party plan saleswomen.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 855
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 276 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, thrilling
Similar in 78%
The Ordinary Glory (2020)
Plot Summary:
A workplace drama that follows a manager who has been repeatedly passed over for a promotion and his new intern. They work hard to make it in the financial sector in Shanghai.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 34
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration:
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Ordinary Lies (2015)
Plot Summary:
Exploring what happens when a bunch of white lies spiral out of control and the effect it has on an ordinary group of colleagues and friends.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, witty, serious, captivating
Similar in 84%
Norma Rae (1979)
Plot Summary:
Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: inspirational, political, touching, philosophical, feel good, sad, aesthetic, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking
Similar in 81%
Harlan County War (2000)
Plot Summary:
A Kentucky woman whose mine-worker husband is nearly killed in a cave-in, and whose father is slowly dying of black lung disease, joins the picket lines for a long, violent strike.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 604
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, disturbing, rough, realistic, independent film, captivating, political, sincere, bleak, serious