Movies like Fabula
If you like "Fabula" you are looking for tense, atmospheric and noir movies about / with small town, male protagonist, drug deal, midlife crisis, family drama, punishment and guilt themes of Comedy, Crime and Fantasy genre shot in Netherlands or Belgium.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Fabula (2025)
435
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Fantasy
Country: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Small-town criminal Jos (55) has, to his great frustration, been completely sidelined. His daughter disrespects him, his wife doesn't trust him, and his friends laugh at him openly. As he scrambles to fix a drug deal that went catastrophically wrong, he desperately searches for an answer to the question: Who or what is punishing me!?
Style:
tense, atmospheric, noir, bleak, suspense, existential, dark comedy, satirical, tragic
Plot:
small town, male protagonist, drug deal, midlife crisis, family drama, punishment, guilt, moral ambiguity, betrayal, isolation, humiliation, redemption, reputation, revenge, claustrophobia, loyalty, criminal, folklore, drug, corruption, wife, daughter, drug crime, friend, town
Time:
contemporary
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Fabula
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out tense, suspense, noir and dark films with plots about moral ambiguity, revenge, corruption, betrayal, small town, violence and murder mostly in Crime, Comedy and Drama genres. Some movies like Fabula: The Murderer (2023), Treasure (2022), Powder (2019), Taking Care of Business (2015), Valathu Vashathe Kallan (2026). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Thailand
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
After a series of deaths in a small provincial town, a determined detective attempts to uncover the killer — and British expat Earl is the prime suspect.
Style:
detective, crime thriller, suspense, tense, dark ...
Plot:
murder mystery, whodunit, small town, investigation, accusation, secrets, justice, police procedural, evidence, betrayal, family conflict, family drama ...
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: Turkey
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Mesut, a civil servant who returns his hometown to bury his mother, is dragged into by his younger brother Musa to a treasure hunt and finds himself tangled up with a murder.
Style:
tension, suspenseful, crime thriller, tense, dark ...
Plot:
treasure hunt, brothers, family drama, murder mystery, suspicion, investigation, crime investigation, small town, motive, grief, betrayal, moral ambiguity ...
Similarity:
94%
654
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: Mexico
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
After a ten year absence, El Chato returns to San Ignacio, his hometown, in order to retrieve a shipment of cocaine that was dropped there by a cartel pilot.
Style:
absurd, not serious, humorous, parody, crime thriller ...
Plot:
cocaine, drug cartel, drug smuggling, chases and races, farce, top secret, satire, deception, sibling relationship, conspiracy, runaway, rivalry ...
Place:
mexico, latin america
Similarity:
84%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
Two hedonistic drug dealers have a very long day, when one of them accidentally kills a local gangster and customer. The dead body starts a domino effect of accidents, suicides, overdoses and murder that are dealt with through a haze of drugs, ...
Style:
intense, dark comedy, crime drama, tense, black comedy ...
Plot:
drug use, violence, hallucination, gangster, street life, moral ambiguity, chaos, guilt, corruption, betrayal, urban, tragedy ...
Similarity:
83%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min.
Story:
A feature independent film by Brent Kado. Neonoir comedy about the idyllic heartland, confronting truths and folly of the American Dream gone bad. The Boss has a job for 3 of the Valley's top goons. Can they finish without f'ing up or will ...
Style:
independent film, dark comedy, neo noir, satirical, tense ...
Plot:
moral ambiguity, satire, small town, cautionary tale, anti hero, crime and punishment, corruption, violence, deadpan, heist, revenge, small town life ...
Similarity:
83%
Genre: Crime
Country: India
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
A police officer being investigated for his role in a woman’s death rushes to save his son from her vengeful father.
Style:
crime thriller, suspense, noir, tense, crime drama
Plot:
revenge, police investigation, moral ambiguity, family drama, guilt, cover up, fatherhood, corruption, investigation, cat and mouse, small town, whodunit ...
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Egypt
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
After spending 30 years in prison, a man comes out to find out he has a son. Together with his son and a newly-acquired friend he resumes his criminal life.
Style:
dark, tense, suspenseful, realistic, emotional ...
Plot:
prison, ex convict, father son relationship, criminal underworld, organized crime, gangster, moral ambiguity, male protagonist, anti hero, violence, legacy, corruption ...
Place:
middle east, egypt
Similarity:
73%
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: India
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Two different gangs, one with Chaitanya, an aspiring filmmaker and his friend Harsha and another gang with Bar Seenu and his partner Parvathy, try to kidnap the same person which unfolds a big conspiracy.
Style:
crime thriller, suspense, tense, twisted, crime drama ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
kidnapping, conspiracy, criminal underworld, ambition, investigation, morality, power struggle, cat and mouse, moral ambiguity, betrayal, urban, friendship ...
Similarity:
70%
Movie in collections
1K
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: India
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
When fate turns out chaotic for a bunch of connected lives in their pursuit of pleasure, survival and greed-peace becomes the absolute necessity of life and karma boomerangs.
Style:
tense, suspense, intense, crime thriller, psychological ...
Plot:
fate, karma, moral ambiguity, greed, urban, mature, city life, character study, survival, betrayal, realism, revenge ...
Time:
2020s
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: Mexico
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A group of beings permeated by the lack of love, guilt, pain and a desire for revenge, meet on the day of a storm at a cantina in the mythical town of Parián, a place where all roads and all destinies converge. There they find consolation for their ...
Style:
melancholic, atmospheric, bleak, art house, psychological ...
Plot:
guilt, desperation, suffering, loneliness, moral ambiguity, character study, small town, fate, destiny, isolation, revenge, magic realism ...
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: India
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A studious teen who wants a simple life is conned by his violent older brothers into joining their grandiose plan to avenge their murdered father.
Style:
black comedy, suspense, grim, tense, dark comedy ...
Plot:
revenge, violence, family drama, brothers, survival, vengeance, absurdism, dark humor, cat and mouse, coming of age, isolation, heist gone wrong ...
Similarity:
65%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Police commissioner Thomas Stark, released from jail after three years after the trial for the murder of his former partner was quashed, is picked up and housed not by his wife, who disowned him and hesitates whether to reestablish contact with ...
Style:
suspense, tense, dark, atmospheric, noir
Audience:
adult
Plot:
investigation, murder mystery, police procedural, danger, family drama, suspicion, whodunit, corruption, small town, false accusation, betrayal, reputation ...
Place:
bavaria
Similarity:
65%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Romania, Bulgaria
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Ilie, a small-town police chief, wants to build a modest comfortable life for himself, but ends up making the wrong choices. Middle-aged and alienated, he feels the need to be a part of something - to build an orchard, even a home. Although dubious ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, dark, tense ...
Plot:
murder, village, law enforcement, village life, character study, midlife crisis, guilt, accomplice, police, small town, moral ambiguity, killing ...
Similarity:
63%
718
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Canada, Luxembourg, Belgium
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
On the night of the strangest wedding in cinema history, a grotesque gang boss hires a stonecold killer to bring him the finger of a fading, drug-addicted jazz legend.
Style:
neo noir, captivating, disturbing, suspense, semi serious ...
Plot:
hitman, jazz singer, drug addiction, killer, criminal, murder, wedding, gang, farce, murderer, bandit, contract killing ...
Similarity:
63%
Genre: Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
After a job goes sideways, four thieves bounded by honour meet back at the place it all began, the local boozer. Drink, drugs, jokes, reminiscing about old times and even politics, you would think this was a standard night in any South London ...
Style:
crime drama, suspenseful, tense, captivating, bleak ...
Plot:
thief, heist, gang of thieves, true crime, masked robber, burglar, armed robbery, bandit, criminal, criminal gang, gang, character study ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
62%
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Country: UK, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A small-time drug-dealer gets into big trouble when a corrupt East London cop tries to steal a consignment meant for Welsh-Jamaican Yardies.
Style:
suspense, tense, exciting, crime thriller, dark comedy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
drug dealing, corruption, police corruption, violence, corrupt cop, fight, drug dealer, death, murder, friendship, drug, gang ...
Place:
london
Similarity:
60%
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: Russia, Ukraine
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A man goes to see his former schoolmate working at a boiler house and persuades him to burn in the furnace the corpse of his communal flat neighbor whom he has just murdered after a quarrel. An orphaned girl gets a job in the archives of the ...
Style:
dark comedy, bleak, grim, psychological, anthology ...
Plot:
murder, death, violence, desperation, guilt, isolation, orphan, poisoning, hopelessness, abandonment, revenge, cold ...
Time:
90s
Place:
soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Story:
While law enforcement works overtime to cure Illville’s drug problem, Officer Jimmy Lynch kills a teenage boy. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, the boy is the nephew of the notorious drug lord, Slim.
Style:
tense, suspense, suspenseful, dark, noir ...
Plot:
drug trade, gang violence, violent, retribution, moral ambiguity, revenge, corrupt system, corruption, urban decay, male protagonist, crime family, power struggle ...
Time:
2020s
Similarity:
52%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: Russia
Duration: 25 min.
TV show
Story:
Viktor Gromov, once a legend of criminal Moscow, nicknamed the Butcher, has long retired and while away his days on a country farm. But one fine day, his former colleagues in a dangerous business appear on the farm and confront the fact that Vitya ...
Style:
humorous, buddy comedy, tense, suspense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
small town, cold weather, arctic circle, small town life, mafia, male protagonist, urban setting, ex convict, isolation, memory loss, amnesia, man on the run ...
Time:
2010s
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
On the streets of Antwerp, Badia, Junes and Volt are trying to tear themselves away from their past, but the underworld is inexorably pulling them back in. Adamo has worked his way up to become one of the most influential figures in the Antwerp drug ...
Style:
crime thriller, dark, suspenseful, tense, bleak ...
Plot:
drug trade, gangster, underworld, violence, betrayal, gang violence, power struggle, street life, danger, loyalty, organized crime, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
2020s
Place:
antwerp, belgium
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Action, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Loser drug addict Jack winds up in hell after he gets killed by Steve, who's the abusive husband of the sweet Martha. Jack strikes up a deal with the head demon known as The Principal to get out of hell and return to life: He has 72 hours to ...
Style:
bleak, grim, existential, suspense, noir ...
Plot:
hell, supernatural, moral ambiguity, drug addict, afterlife, demon, deal with the devil, sin, purgatory, soul selling, anti hero, guilt ...
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Crime
Country: Austria
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
When a body is found floating inside a pond deep in the forest, Detective Paul Werner is faced with a mystery.
Style:
detective, serious, tense, sinister, suspense ...
Plot:
investigation, murder, forest, evidence, police procedural, whodunit, isolation, moral ambiguity, suspect, forensics, obsession, betrayal ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Newly released from prison, a white-collar criminal, used to dealing with numbers, is tasked with one last job by his boss: kill the boss’ girlfriend before she talks.
Style:
neo noir, dark comedy, crime drama, dark, suspense ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
conscience, redemption, betrayal, crime boss, moral ambiguity, road trip, assassination, criminal underworld, bittersweet, mistrust, misfit, odd couple ...
Similarity:
48%
Movie in collections
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
This French-Canadian crime/action drama, which satirizes U.S. crime films, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972 and was well received. In the picture, perfectly ordinary people murder, steal, and torture one another with casual abandon in ...
Style:
suspense, dark, grim, tense, noir ...
Plot:
murder, robbery, betrayal, greed, violent, home invasion, cold blooded killer, revenge, arson, mistrust, working class, country house ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
quebec, montreal
Similarity:
47%
15K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Before he built a drug empire, Ferry Bouman returns to his hometown on a revenge mission that finds his loyalty tested — and a love that alters his life.
Style:
tense, crime drama, captivating, suspense, intense ...
Plot:
revenge, undercover, crime boss, homecoming, drug, vengeance, criminal, corruption, gangster, organized crime, lifestyle change, changing lives ...
Place:
amsterdam
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Germany
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Detective Chief Inspector Sörensen is anxious. More precisely, he suffers from a chronic anxiety disorder that makes life difficult for him. That is why he is moving from Hamburg to the Frisian village of Katenbüll, where he hopes for a more ...
Style:
detective, tense, psychological, atmospheric, bleak ...
Plot:
murder, investigation, anxiety, police procedural, small town, mental health, secrets, paranoia, rain, isolation, moral ambiguity, suspicion ...
Place:
germany
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Kuam is a shabby port town in the shadow of stunning port city of Busan. Hee-su is a third-rate gangster who has been acting like a hotel manager under Don Son for 20 years. Seemingly out of nowhere, Yong-kang, who fled the country as a murder ...
Style:
tense, dark, crime drama, disturbing, suspense ...
Plot:
gang, gangster, organized crime, underworld, violence, drug, criminal gang, gang war, criminal, bandit, life is a bitch, urban setting ...
Place:
busan, korea
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
After a heist gone wrong Tom, a low rent criminal is forced by the local crime boss to kill his partner and best friend. Setting off into the Mojave desert under the guise of moving a body they buried two years ago, Tom delays the deed just long ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, crime drama, tension, tense ...
Plot:
betrayal, murder, crime boss, criminal, heist, desert, friendship, murderer, gangster, gang, criminal gang, problem ...
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: South Africa
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
When his mistress threatens to expose the secret of their affair, a respected insurance broker seeks the help of his underworld brother to save his reputation.
Style:
tension, crime drama, suspenseful, noir, intense ...
Plot:
blackmail, secrets, reputation, infidelity, underworld, moral ambiguity, moral dilemma, cover up, double life, betrayal, siblings, urban ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
No overview yet.
Style:
tense, crime drama, disturbing, suspense, captivating ...
Plot:
organized crime, drug lord, drug, fbi investigation, criminal gang, crime boss, criminal, drug smuggling, drug dealer, bandit, gang, betrayal ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
latin america
Similarity:
42%
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