Best tv shows like Olive Kitteridge
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The story focuses on a middle-school math teacher Olive and her relationship with Henry which spans 25 years over the four parts. It is based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 239 min
Plot tags: meditative, realistic, atmospheric, sincere, serious, heartbreaking, psychological, depressing, intense, funny
Best tv shows and movies like Olive Kitteridge (2014):
Similar in 83%
The Street (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Street is a British television drama series created by Jimmy McGovern and produced by Granada Television for the BBC. The series follows the lives of various residents of an unnamed street in Manchester and features an all-star cast including Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Bob Hoskins and David Thewlis. The Street won both the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and RTS Television Award for Drama Series twice, in 2007 and 2008. It also won two International Emmy Awards in November 2007 for Best Drama and Best Actor. The second series was nominated for the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony. Though it did not win, it received Special Mention from the jury. In November 2010, the third series won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama and Best Actor. The third series began airing on 13 July 2009 and concluded on 17 August 2009. This was the final series to be made due to cutbacks at ITV Studios in Manchester.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: anthology, sincere, realistic, emotional, serious, powerful, gloomy, vintage
Similar in 88%
All the Small Things (2009)
Plot Summary:
Uplifting drama series from the writer of Cutting It about family and community, played out with rousing choruses, joyous harmonies and booming basslines.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
Plot Summary:
Ten years of Marianne and Johan's relationship are presented. We first meet them ten years into their marriage. He is a college professor, she a divorce lawyer. They say that they are happily married - unlike their friends Katarina and Peter who openly fight, especially when under the influence of alcohol - but there is a certain detached aloofness in the way they treat each other. In the next ten years, as they contemplate or embark upon divorce and/or known extramarital affairs, they come to differing understandings at each phase of their relationship of what they truly mean to each other. Regardless of if it's love or hate - between which there is a fine line - they also come to certain understandings of how they can best relate to each other, whether that be as husband and wife, friends, lovers or none of the above.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 283 min
Plot tags: psychological, dramatic, cerebral, tense, thought provoking, realistic, talky, erotic, philosophical, depressing
Similar in 81%
Moving On (2009)
Plot Summary:
Moving On is a British television series set in contemporary Britain consisting of standalone dramas all sharing the theme of someone going through some kind of change in their life and moving on.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 497
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Providence (1999)
Plot Summary:
Providence is an American television drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, medical drama, atmospheric
Similar in 79%
In the Club (2014)
Plot Summary:
In The Club follows six pregnant women and their partners as they get ready for the arrival of their babies at the local parenting class. Housewife Diane, schoolgirl Rosie, newlywed Jasmin, businesswoman Roanna, midwife Vicky and writer and teaching assistant Kim all have their own issues to deal with.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 550
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Slap (2011)
Plot Summary:
The Slap is a bold, provocative television drama series that forensically examines the mores and morality of contemporary middleclass life. Based on Christos Tsiolkas’ bestselling novel, this 8–part drama serial traces the shattering repercussions of a single event upon a group of family and friends.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 354 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, captivating, emotional, tense, serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 80%
Blue (2012)
Plot Summary:
Blue is a mother with a secret life. She'll do anything to keep it from her son. But her past has other plans.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, psychological, tense, sexual, sexy
Similar in 86%
Mythomaniac (2019)
Plot Summary:
Burned out and taken for granted, a working mom suspects her partner is cheating, so to win back his attentions, she feigns a medical diagnosis.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, captivating
Similar in 86%
On Valentine's Day (1986)
Plot Summary:
Elizabeth defies her wealthy parents by running off and marrying a young man of humble prospects, and her parents have not spoken to her since - even though the couple lives in a rooming house nearby, they are struggling financially, and she is pregnant. The story of unselfish love between a man and a woman and the abiding love within a family, this American classic explores the enduring themes of human existence.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 191
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Slap (2015)
Plot Summary:
A family drama that explodes from one small incident where a man slaps another couple's misbehaving child. This seemingly minor domestic dispute pulls the family apart, exposes long-held secrets, and ignites a lawsuit that challenges the core values of all who are pulled into it.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, psychological, captivating
Similar in 88%
Prisoners Wives (2012)
Plot Summary:
Behind every prisoner, there's a wife, girlfriend or mother doing time on the outside. For some it's a nightmare, for others a liberation. Prisoners' Wives - it's time to tell their stories.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, touching, serious, psychological, captivating, tense, detective
Similar in 81%
No One Writes to the Colonel (1999)
Plot Summary:
Every Friday, the Colonel puts on his only suit and goes to the dock to await a letter announcing the arrival of his pension. But the townsfolk all know that this pension will never come. His wife also knows it, and even he knows it. But he is still waiting, living with the pain of the death of his son.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico, France, Spain
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, atmospheric, realistic, psychological, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
One Child (2014)
Plot Summary:
A first-born Chinese girl adopted by English parents gets called back to Guangzhou when her birth mother desperately seeks her assistance in her son. How far will Mei go to help the woman who gave her away and the brother she’s never met?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 345
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, sincere, touching, realistic
Similar in 78%
The Third Side of the River (2014)
Plot Summary:
Tensions rise when a doctor (Daniel Veronese) pressures his teenage son to follow in his footsteps.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 250
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, tense, serious
Similar in 88%
The Other Woman (2009)
Plot Summary:
Emilia, a law-school graduate, falls in love with her married boss, Jack. After Emilia marries Jack, her happiness turns unexpectedly to grief following the death of her infant daughter. Devastated, Emilia nonetheless carries on, attempting to forge a connection with her stepson William and to resist the interference of Jack's jealous ex-wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic, erotic, sexy, heartbreaking, social, sad, art film
Similar in 75%
Rectify (2013)
Plot Summary:
After 19 years on Death Row for the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, Daniel Holden is going home. His conviction has been vacated due to new DNA evidence. Now he has to return to a world he no longer knows and his reentry into the outside world may be as unforgiving as prison. Daniel is haunted by the past, dogged by the present, and uncertain of the future. As he struggles to adapt to his new life, his homecoming reignites the fears of a small town and threatens to shatter his family’s fragile peace. Daniel’s alleged crime divided a community. Will his freedom tear it in half?.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, spiritual, southern gothic, philosophical, atmospheric, bleak, dramatic
Similar in 80%
A Quiet Little Marriage (2008)
Plot Summary:
A Quiet Little Marriage is the love story of Dax and Olive, who manage to find harmony even as they juggle family, romance and intimacy, but that all changes the night she asks him for a baby. Writer/director Mo Perkins’ intense and profound, raw feature debut is laced with sly humor, exquisitely rendered characters, and a pitch-perfect emotional honesty.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 361
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, realistic, captivating, sincere, serious, talky, independent film
Similar in 90%
Islander (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a tragic accident at sea, Eben Cole loses his family, friends and stature in his island fishing community. He returns to the island an outcast but determined to win back the way of life he fought so hard to protect. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Maine coast, Islander captures the grit and integrity of this hard working community and celebrates man's unerring need for redemption.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 88%
Jerusalem Brew (2003)
Plot Summary:
The series opens as widow Shimon Sadeh, a successful general contractor, is finishing the year of mourning for his deceased wife. He marries Leah, his daughter's piano teacher. Shimon's eldest son, Ephraim, has become ultra-Orthodox, identifying with his grandfather, Eliahu, who lives with the family and has close bonds and a strong influence. The middle child, Itzik, rejects both going into his father's business to be a musician; and Orthodoxy. Strong-willed, feisty Ariella is finishing high school and considering her options. Many scenes take place in the small Tunisian synagogue headed by Eliahu, and involve the power struggles among the regulars there. The gut-punching drama is largely the work of Oscar-winning director Yankul Goldwasser, who previously directed the popular series Reaching for Heaven; and young director Nir Bergman, who won the Israeli Academy Award for his first film, Broken Wings.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 22
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Lucky 7 (2013)
Plot Summary:
What would you do if you won the lottery? How would it change your life? Follow a group of seven gas station employees in Queens, New York, who have been chipping into a lottery pool for years, never thinking they'd actually win. They need to be careful what they wish for, because while the money could solve problems for each of them, it will forever change the close-knit bonds these friends have formed.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 84%
Brothers and Sisters (2006)
Plot Summary:
Brothers & Sisters is an American television drama series that centers on the Walker family and their lives in Pasadena, California. The series premiered on ABC on September 24, 2006, and aired its final episode on May 8, 2011. It aired, for its entire run, in a Sunday night timeslot after Desperate Housewives. The cast included a collection of award-winning actors, including Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, and Patricia Wettig. Sally Field received both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance throughout the series. Rachel Griffiths was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her work on the show. In May 2011, the show completed its fifth and final season on ABC. On May 13, 2011, it was announced that ABC had decided to end the show.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, emotional, realistic, captivating, entertaining, stylized, telenovela, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
The Affair (2014)
Plot Summary:
The Affair explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between Noah Solloway and Alison Lockhart after the two meet in the resort town of Montauk in Long Island. Noah is a New York City schoolteacher with one novel published (book entitled A Person who Visits a Place) and he is struggling to write a second book. He is happily married with four children, but resents his dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison is a young waitress trying to piece her life and marriage back together in the wake of the tragic death of her child. The story of the affair is told separately, complete with distinct memory biases, from the male and female perspectives.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, captivating, realistic, erotic, gloomy, philosophical, bleak, grindhouse
Similar in 90%
The Astronaut Wives Club (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book by Lily Koppel, this 10 episode limited series tells the story of the women who were key players behind some of the biggest events in American history. As America’s astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, Life Magazine documented the astronauts’ families, capturing the behind-the-scenes lives of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. As their celebrity rose and tragedy began to touch their lives, they rallied together.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, psychological, period drama
Similar in 83%
A Day Late and a Dollar Short (2014)
Plot Summary:
When irascible matriarch Viola Price learns that her next asthma attack will likely kill her, she is determined to fix her fractured family before she leaves this world.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sentimental, captivating, uplifting, touching, serious
Similar in 87%
Charms for the Easy Life (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story of three women who live in a North Carolina town and defy the traditional roles set forth for them by society.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, thought provoking, captivating, atmospheric, realistic, sexual
Similar in 83%
Mildred Pierce (2011)
Plot Summary:
A newly divorced, uniquely independent woman struggles to carve out a new life for herself and her family in Depression-era California.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 336 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, costume drama, atmospheric, period piece, thought provoking, romantic, social, cute, clever
Similar in 80%
Normal (2003)
Plot Summary:
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, emotional, serious, sexy, sincere, sentimental, thought provoking, touching, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Canvas (2006)
Plot Summary:
A woman's schizophrenia affects her relationships with her husband and son.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, rough, melancholic, psychological
Similar in 81%
Little Children (2006)
Plot Summary:
The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: sexual, disturbing, sexy, psychological, melancholic, emotional, serious, erotic, realistic, depressing