Movies like I Believe in Life (2023)

Lockdown (2000)

Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Bimmer (2003)

A black BMW, a symbol of luxury, is racing along the night streets of Moscow in the 90s. Bad luck turns four friends into criminals and they have no way back. Only the black “bimmer” is reliable in this life without rules, taking the friends farther and farther from Moscow, into the crazy and ruthless wilderness of Russian roads… None of them wanted to kill. None of them wanted to die. But they will have to face their destiny in the end.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Stoker (2010)

A shell-shocked Afghanistan war hero named Ivan Skryabin (Mikhail Skryabin) spends his days stoking the fire in a giant coal furnace. When he isn’t tending the flames, he keeps busy with other activities. He works on a historical novel. His adult daughter Sasha (Aida Tumutova) comes to visit. Local kids come to gaze at the flames. Gangsters, including a former Army sergeant (Aleksandr Mosin) and a sniper known as Bison (Yuri Matveyev), drop by to add special kindling to the fire.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Jawbone (2017)

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Mexicali (2026)

A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Convict (2014)

Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Wasp (2003)

Zoë is a single mother who lives with her four children in Dartford. She is poor and can't afford to buy food. One day her old flame drives by and asks her to go on a date with him. Scared that he doesn't want to go out with her, she lies and tells him that she is just babysitting the kids. This will be her first date in years.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)

Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Pimp (2018)

An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

I Smile Back (2015)

Laney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Don't Make Me Go (2022)

A terminally ill man and his teenage daughter embark on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion. While there, he secretly hopes she can reunite with the mother who left them long ago.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Men in War (1957)

In Korea, on 6 September 1950, Lieutenant Benson's platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held territory after a retreat. Soon they are joined by Sergeant Montana, whose overriding concern is caring for his catatonic colonel. Benson and Montana can't stand each other, but together they must get the survivors to Hill 465, where they hope the division is waiting. It's a long, harrowing march, fraught with all the dangers the elusive enemy can summon.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Walking Tall: Lone Justice (2007)

In Dallas, witnesses against a drug-lord are murdered in a safe-house.The testimony of FBI agents becomes the only chance to keep him in prison. They are lodged in another safe-house, but the place is invaded and the agents are executed. However, Kate is only wounded, and her boyfriend Nick believes there is a traitor in the agency and takes her to his ranch to protect her life.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Major (2013)

On a cold winter’s day Sergey Sobolev, a major at the local police office, is driving to the hospital where his wife is about to give birth to their child. High from happiness, he’s driving too fast and runs down a boy on a passage walk, who dies. Now the major has only two options: go to prison or conceal the crime. Sobolev decides to compromise with his conscience and calls on a colleague to help him out. But the case turns out to be messy and when Sobolev finally changes his mind and tries to make up for his deed, it’s already too late…

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Bummer 2 (2006)

The film takes place a few years after the events shown in Bummer. Kostyan "Kot", who lost all his friends, the woman he loved and was nearly killed in the first installment of the film tries to begin a new, peaceful life. But is it possible to do? Has Russia changed and do "bratki" on black "bummers" no longer control business? Can he escape his past?

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Partisan (2015)

On the edge of a crumbling city, 11-year-old Alexander lives in a sequestered commune alongside other children, their mothers, and charismatic leader, Gregori. Gregori teaches the children how to raise livestock, grow vegetables, work as a community - and how to kill. With the birth of a new baby brother weighing on his mind, Alexander begins to question Gregori’s overpowering influence on the children and their training to become assassins. Threatened by his increasing unwillingness to fall in line, Gregori’s behavior turns erratic and adversarial toward the child he once considered a son. With the two set dangerously at odds and the commune’s way of life disintegrating, the residents fear a violent resolution is at hand.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Walking with the Enemy (2014)

Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Trafficking (2023)

Fresh out of prison, a former debt collector working for a gangland boss is told he has a terminal brain tumour. In an attempt to atone for his past he rescues a young girl from trafficking, forcing him into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with his boss.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

A Gentle Creature (2017)

A woman lives in a small village in Russia. One day she receives the parcel she sent to her husband, serving a sentence in prison. Confused and angered, she sets out to find why her package was returned to sender.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

55 Degrees Below Zero (1986)

On New Year’s Eve, all the members of the large family of I.P. Kuznetsov—a distinguished steelworker and now a member of parliament—gather under the roof of his parents’ home. Shortly before this, a serious accident occurs at his home factory, and the head of the transportation department, an old friend of the family, is believed to be responsible…

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Awakening (2008)

Carsten is dating Melissa, who introduces him to her parents. On a camping trip with Melissa's family, Carsten finds that he shares a secret with Melissa's father.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Club (1980)

The club buys a talented young player, Geoff, for a record sum of money. The team members do not like their new star and friction develops immediately. Game after game is lost until Geoff begins to realize that there is more at stake than just his own career.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Fatso (1980)

Dominick DiNapoli is a man who loves food and is overweight as a result. After an obese cousin dies due to health problems, Dominick's sister Antoinette sets out to help him lose weight. Although he has a hard time trying to slim down, Dominick finds inspiration when he meets and falls for shop owner Lydia. Can he get up the courage to ask her out, or will he go back to the comfort of overeating?

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Lords of Flatbush (1974)

Set in 1958, the coming of age story follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, shoot pool, get into street fights, and hang out at a local malt shop.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Cosh Boy (1953)

Roy Walsh is a brash and enterprising thug who bullies his friends into subservience. He and his gang assault and rob people on the street, but things get increasingly dangerous when their behavior escalates to larger crimes.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Men of War (1994)

Nick Gunar is a burnt-out, jaded and hard-up former mercenary who is having a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. At the end of his rope, he is hired by the Nitro Mine Corporation to strong-arm the natives of a South China Sea island into giving up their rights to its valuable mineral resources. Nick loathes the thought of another mission, but this seemingly easy job will earn him enough money to get back with his estranged family. He recruits some of his former mercenary buddies to help him with the job. The island people refuse to give up their land and Nick decides to help them fight the greedy corporation that hired him. As greed and treachery begin to unravel, Nick's band of mercenaries choose sides.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Leaning Tower (2006)

A middle-aged mental patient suffering from a split personality travels to Italy where his two personalities set off all kinds of confusing developments.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Zhao (2009)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Perfect Share House (2025)

Four strangers live-stream a staged “perfect” share-house romance until a sexual-assault scandal exposes manipulation, trauma, and the collapse of their performed identities.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama