Best tv shows like Empire Falls
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A decaying New England town is the backdrop for its unique citizens, lead by unassuming restaurant manager Miles Roby.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 197 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, sincere, captivating, realistic, witty, contemplative, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Empire Falls (2005):
Similar in 79%
Dogtown (1997)
Plot Summary:
Philip Van Horn, who left his small town a long time ago to become a Hollywood actor and hasn't had any success at that, returns to the town for a visit. There he is uniformally met like some kind of celebrity and movie star. He uses it to impress his (and everybody's) school love Dorothy, her life now a grey boring experience.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 84%
Sunshine State (2002)
Plot Summary:
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: witty, sincere, touching, independent film, realistic, cult classic, serious, contemplative, philosophical, thought provoking
Similar in 80%
Thirtysomething (1987)
Plot Summary:
Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for MGM/UA Television Group and The Bedford Falls Company, and aired on ABC. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. The title of the show was designed as thirtysomething by Kathie Broyles, who combined the words of the original title, Thirty Something. In 1997, "The Go Between" and "Samurai Ad Man" were ranked #22 on TV Guide′s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, Thirtysomething was ranked #19 on TV Guide′s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #10 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, clever, touching, serious, realistic, talky, stylized, telenovela
Similar in 82%
The Young and the Restless (1973)
Plot Summary:
The rivalries, romances, hopes and fears of the residents of the fictional Midwestern metropolis, Genoa City. The lives and loves of a wide variety of characters mingle through the generations, dominated by the Newman, Abbott, Baldwin and Winters families.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 37 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, realistic, serious, emotional, saga
Similar in 80%
Home and Away (1988)
Plot Summary:
Home and Away is set in the fictional town of Summer Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales, and follows the personal and professional lives of the people living in the area. The show initially focused on the Fletcher family, Pippa and Tom Fletcher and their five foster children Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport and Sally Keating, who would go on to become one of the show's longest-running characters. The show also originally and currently focuses on the Stewart family. During the early 2000s, the central storylines focused on the Sutherlands and later, the Hunters. Home and Away had proved popular when it premiered in 1988 and had risen to become a hit in Australia, and after only a few weeks, the show tackled its first major and disturbing storyline, the rape of Carly Morris; it was one of the first shows to feature such storylines during the early timeslot. H&A has tackled many adult-themed and controversial storylines; something rarely found in its restricted timeslot.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic, saga, telenovela
Similar in 84%
Cedar Cove (2013)
Plot Summary:
Judge Olivia Lockhart is considered the community's guiding light in the picturesque, coastal town of Cedar Cove, Washington. But like everyone else, Olivia fights the uphill battle of balancing career with family and finding love, all the while doing her best to care for the township she calls home. Based on best-selling author Debbie Macomber’s beloved book series.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, touching, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 80%
Forbidden Apple (2018)
Plot Summary:
Three things in life can not be hidden "love, smoke and lack of money". The social society and the events behind the business world are told.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Turkey
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, captivating, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Sweet Magnolias (2020)
Plot Summary:
Lifelong friends Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue lift each other as they juggle relationships, family and careers in the small, Southern town of Serenity.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, light, sincere, semi serious, funny, touching, romantic drama, romantic
Similar in 84%
Emmerdale (1972)
Plot Summary:
The lives of several families in the Yorkshire Dales revolve around a farm and the nearby village. With murders, affairs, lies, deceit, laughter and tears, it's all there in the village.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: soap opera, captivating, serious, realistic, melancholic, controversial
Similar in 82%
Monarch of the Glen (2000)
Plot Summary:
Archie MacDonald, a young restaurateur is called back to his childhood home of Glenbogle where he is told he is the new Laird of Glenbogle.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, witty, semi serious, satirical, humorous, gloomy
Similar in 86%
The Face of Love (2013)
Plot Summary:
A widow falls for a guy who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, psychological, realistic, sad, sensual, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 90%
His Brother (2003)
Plot Summary:
Thomas has been estranged from his brother Luc for several years, due in part to his difficulties in dealing with Luc's homosexuality. But when Thomas is diagnosed with a rare blood disease, which is difficult to treat and impossible to cure, he decides he wants to bring Luc back into his life. The brothers soon become inseparable, with Luc constantly at Thomas' side as he vainly struggles against the disease and confronts the indignity of treatment. As Thomas and Luc become closer, their new relationship begins to alienate their significant others, and Thomas' father cannot understand why his son doesn't fight against his illness with great vehemence.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, serious, realistic, romantic, captivating, contemplative, gloomy, crying, entertaining
Similar in 90%
Texasville (1990)
Plot Summary:
Summer, 1984: 30 years after Duane captained the high school football team and Jacy was homecoming queen, this Texas town near Wichita Falls prepares for its centennial. Oil prices are down, banks are failing, and Duane's $12 million in debt. His wife Karla drinks too much, his children are always in trouble, and he tom-cats around with the wives of friends. Jacy's back in town, after a mildly successful acting career, life in Italy, and the death of her son. Folks assume Duane and Jacy will resume their high school romance. And Sonny is "tired in his mind," causing worries for his safety. Can these friends find equilibrium in middle age?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: independent film, crying, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, light, road movie, feel good, unusual plot structure
Similar in 82%
The River (2001)
Plot Summary:
Episodic study of feelings where six stories intertwine over one Saturday in a small town. Two boys save a young woman, Anni, and her baby from suicide by drowning. Esa, a down-on-his-luck musician in need of a loan, arrives to his father's 60th birthday party. Waitress Leena tries to stir up a romance between her co-workers at a pizza parlor. Middle-aged Ilpo comes home early from the paper mill and finds a strange man in their bedroom. Old Milja waits for her daughter Merja at the hospital where she is visiting her terminally ill husband Henri. Teenage Santeri tries to cope with his homosexuality.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 845
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, anthology, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 80%
The Only Thrill (1997)
Plot Summary:
A small-town store owner with a comatose wife shares a long-term relationship with his seamstress.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 780
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Finding Home (2003)
Plot Summary:
Inheriting her grandmother's remote island Inn causes Amanda to re-evaluate her life and decisions.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 594
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, independent film, gloomy, crying
Similar in 75%
Four Sheets to the Wind (2007)
Plot Summary:
After his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 633
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, romantic, romantic comedy, gloomy, crying
Similar in 79%
The Good Mother (1988)
Plot Summary:
After finding a sexually liberated boyfriend, a divorced woman gets sued over daughter's custody, by her ex, who claims that her lover has a bad influence on the kid.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, gloomy, erotic, sentimental, light
Similar in 79%
Ruby in Paradise (1993)
Plot Summary:
Reeling from her mother's recent death, Ruby Lee Gissing relocates to Florida to start anew. After finding a job at a souvenir store, Ruby becomes friends with the shop's owner, Mildred Chambers, and slowly acclimates to her new surroundings. Before long, she's juggling the affections of Mildred's Lothario son, Ricky, and the good-natured Mike. As she wavers between Ricky and Mike, Ruby also tries to come to terms with her past.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, realistic, road movie, mumblecore, romantic drama, psychological, tense, sentimental, sincere
Similar in 80%
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 80%
Moonlight Mile (2002)
Plot Summary:
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, realistic, clever, romantic, art film, romantic drama, serious, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
Personal Velocity (2002)
Plot Summary:
Three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: talky, stylized, intense, touching, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, anthology, erotic
Similar in 77%
The Human Stain (2003)
Plot Summary:
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, erotic, sexy, melancholic, talky, intellectual, sincere, serious, clever
Similar in 86%
Chinese Box (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Japan, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, independent film, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, philosophical, sexy, thought provoking
Similar in 85%
The Thorn Birds (1983)
Plot Summary:
This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson's ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family's priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O'Neill, but she and Ralph are soon reunited, with tragic consequences for them both.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 460 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, family saga, emotional, captivating, serious, heartbreaking, romantic drama, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 76%
Circle of Friends (1995)
Plot Summary:
'Circle Of Friends' is set in 1950's Ireland. The movie focuses on Benny Hogan and her best friend, Eve Malone. The story centers around Benny and Eve as they enter student life at University College, Dublin. Here Benny and Eve reunite with their childhood friend, the ice-cool Nan Mahon, the 'college belle'. They also encounter the handsome and charming Jack Foley, whom Benny quickly falls for.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland, USA, UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: emotional, period piece, sentimental, realistic, sweet, captivating, sincere, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Plot Summary:
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, feel good, serious, retro, soap opera, juvenile, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 75%
Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
Plot Summary:
A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, uplifting, serious, realistic, gothic, breathtaking, heartbreaking, black cinema
Similar in 76%
The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
Plot Summary:
When a New England dysfunctional family gathers for Thanksgiving, past demons reveal themselves as one son returns for the first time in three years.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, melancholic, talky, intense, sincere, independent film, compassionate, comedy drama
Similar in 81%
Heavy (1995)
Plot Summary:
Victor is a cook who works in a greasy bar/restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heavy drinking regular, Leo. But things change when Callie, a beautiful college drop-out, shows up as a new waitress and steals Victor's heart. But Victor is too shy to do anything about it, and too self-consciously overweight to dream of winning Callie away.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, realistic, slang, psychological, sincere, serious, contemplative, gloomy, crying