Movies like Manto
If you like "Manto" you are looking for intellectual, bleak and melancholic movies about / with biopic, controversy, social criticism, loneliness, realism, moral ambiguity and courtroom drama themes of Biography and Drama genre shot in Pakistan.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Manto (2015)
1K
Original name: منٹو
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Pakistan
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
The controversial and troubled Indo-Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto finds his artistic choices challenged by censors.
Style:
intellectual, bleak, melancholic, art house, historical drama, intense, independent film, period drama
Plot:
biopic, controversy, social criticism, loneliness, realism, moral ambiguity, courtroom drama, bittersweet, alcoholism, journalism, censorship
Time:
20th century
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Most similar movies to Manto
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out intense, melancholic, period drama and bleak films with plots about biopic, character study, moral ambiguity, isolation, obsession, loneliness and realism mostly in Drama, Biography and Sport genres. Some movies like Manto: The Match (2025), A Season in Hell (1971), Marco: The Invented Truth (2024), Doing Life (1986), Mathias Kneissl (1971). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
When a legendary Go master loses his title to a one-time friend and protégé, he sets out to reclaim it in a high-stakes battle of wits and skill.
Style:
intellectual, intense, atmospheric, art house, melancholic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
biopic, strategy, board game, rivalry, personal growth, tournament, legacy, comeback, slow burn, obsession, coming of age, loneliness ...
Time:
90s, 80s
Place:
seoul
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Biopic about the life of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud.
Style:
melancholic, art house, intense, bleak, period drama
Plot:
biopic, poet, death, flashback, literary, passion, moral ambiguity, exile, tragic love, self destructing, wandering, gay relationship ...
Time:
victorian era
Place:
africa, paris france
Similarity:
82%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Enric Marco, a Spanish trade unionist, claims to be a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.
Style:
thought provoking, historical drama, non fiction, bleak, tense ...
Plot:
holocaust, fraud, biopic, reputation, scandal, moral ambiguity, investigation, shame, ethical dilemma, character study, testimony, betrayal ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
spain, catalonia, barcelona
Similarity:
81%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Tony Danza stars in this prison drama about Jerome "Jerry" Rosenburg, a self-professed "jailhouse lawyer" who defends himself against the homicide charge that has put him on death row. This tense movie, made in Canada, has the ...
Style:
intense, tense, dramatic, thought provoking, emotional ...
Plot:
maximum security prison, death row, wrongful conviction, innocence, death sentence, biopic, execution, survival, courtroom, redemption, character study, isolation ...
Similarity:
79%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Inspired by the real life events of Mathias Kneißl, a marginal man, son of poor farmers from Bavaria, in the late XIX Century. Mathias stole from the riches to give to the poor, becoming a hero for the rural people, and a popular social rebel. He ...
Style:
historical drama, tragic ending, period piece, melancholic, bleak ...
Plot:
biopic, outlaw, manhunt, social commentary, class conflict, folk hero, poverty, social injustice, moral ambiguity, heroism, anti establishment, defiant ...
Time:
19th century, 1900s, 20th century
Place:
bavaria
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
The Government Inspector is a 2005 television drama based on the life of Dr. David Kelly and the lead-up to the Iraq War in the United Kingdom.
Style:
serious, tense, thought provoking, political drama, tragic
Plot:
iraq war, investigation, british politics, moral ambiguity, cover up, journalism, bureaucracy, ethical dilemma, biopic, realism, whistleblower, character study ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
united kingdom, london, iraq, britain
Similarity:
75%
495
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
x
Style:
intense, art house, melancholic, grim, bleak ...
Plot:
poet, biopic, suicide, tragedy, scandal, literary, alcoholism, rebellion, character study, self destructing, tragic hero, bohemian ...
Time:
60s
Place:
poland
Similarity:
73%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Victor and his family moved to the USSR in the mid '30's. When he refused to sign his skydiving accomplishment as a citizen of the USSR, he was not tried but simply sent to prison. His horrific imprisonment, beating and torture culminated ...
Style:
historical drama, brutal, period piece, bleak, intense ...
Plot:
gulag, biopic, prisoner of war camp, torture, survival, totalitarianism, endurance, persecution, resilience, isolation, exile, adaptation ...
Time:
1930s, 1940s
Place:
siberia, eastern europe, soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
72%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
The true story of Robert Elliot Burns, the prisoner who, after being sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, attempted two daring escapes.
Style:
serious, period piece, bleak, historical drama, harsh ...
Plot:
crime and punishment, imprisonment, injustice, escape, escape attempt, biopic, wrongful conviction, forced labor, oppression, realism, survival, brutality ...
Time:
1930s
Similarity:
71%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 306 min.
TV show
Story:
The film depicts Lord Mountbatten's time as Viceroy of India shortly after the Second World War in the days leading up to Indian independence.
Style:
historical drama, dramatic, serious, intense, educational ...
Plot:
british raj, biopic, decolonization, leadership, diplomacy, political intrigue, royalty, bureaucracy, moral ambiguity
Time:
1940s, edwardian era, post world war two
Place:
india, united kingdom, pakistan
Similarity:
67%
140
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Zina, the daughter of Leon Trotsky by his first wife, is undergoing freudian analysis in Berlin in the 'thirties. Meanwhile Trotsky is in exile in Prinkipo having been driven from power by Stalin. The Nazis rise to power in Germany and Austria ...
Style:
bleak, historical drama, thought provoking, melancholic, period piece ...
Plot:
suicide, exile, mental illness, character study, biopic, tragedy, obsession, female protagonist, identity crisis, alienation, political repression, claustrophobia ...
Time:
1930s, year 1985
Place:
berlin germany, soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
66%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
This 90-minute factual drama goes behind the scenes of the hit video game Grand Theft Auto, arguably the greatest British coding success since Bletchley Park. The fastest-selling entertainment product in history comes not from Silicon Valley, but ...
Style:
controversial, tension, thought provoking, intense, satirical
Plot:
video game, courtroom, courtroom drama, ghetto, journalist, biopic, car theft, christian, social commentary, court case, game, legal battle ...
Time:
90s
Place:
usa, britain, florida, san diego california, london
Similarity:
65%
752
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Rome. The 1980s. After the magnum opus The Art of Joy she has been working on for a decade is rejected by the Italian publishing world, writer Goliarda Sapienza commits a desperate theft that costs her her reputation and social position. ...
Style:
reflective, melancholic, period drama
Plot:
character study, writers, feminism, biopic, self discovery, intimate, rejection, hopes, redemption, women's rights, resilience, outcast ...
Time:
80s, year 1980, 20th century
Place:
italy, rome italy
Similarity:
64%
1K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Edvard Munch was one of the most important artists in the period between the 19th and 20th centuries. His motif Skrik (The Scream), repeated in several techniques, became part of the 20th-century world subconsciousness – an image of fear and ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, semi autobiographical, thrilling, emotional ...
Plot:
painter, artist, biopic, grief, mental illness, social problems, life is a bitch, problem, outcast, character study, loss, addiction ...
Time:
19th century, turn of the century, 20th century
Place:
oslo norway, berlin germany, copenhagen
Similarity:
64%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Opening in the seductive style of the sixties, »A Funny Man« uncovers the perennial loneliness that comedian Dirch Passer (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has found himself in after a fast-tracked rise to fame. He struggles between his own desire to gain ...
Style:
captivating, disturbing, comedy drama, period piece, emotional ...
Plot:
comedian, biopic, friendship, showbiz, fame, loneliness, actor's life, lifestyle, social problems, actor, character study, identity crisis ...
Time:
60s
Place:
denmark
Similarity:
62%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
The incredible, untold true story of how a group of prisoners attempt a seemingly impossible escape from the first Nazi death camp in order to provide the first eyewitness account of the Holocaust.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, tense, intense, emotional ...
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, world war two, nazi germany, memories, prison escape, war crime, survival, resistance, biopic, sacrifice, forced labor ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
60%
406
Genre: Drama
Country: Sri Lanka
Story:
The film follows Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu's relentless pursuit of justice after the tragic abduction and murder of her son, Richard de Zoysa, a journalist, writer, and human rights activist, in 1990.
Style:
emotional, bleak, tense, historical drama, political thriller ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
human rights, family tragedy, political violence, biopic, courage, abduction, activism, assassination, journalism, investigation, trauma, social justice ...
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: India
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
A biopic based on the life story of J.C. Daniel, the pioneer of Malayalam cinema. It is a detailed account on Daniel's life, making of his film Vigathakumaran and the tragic story of Vigathakumaran's heroine P. K. Rosie. The film is ...
Style:
historical drama, captivating, psychological, thrilling, serious ...
Plot:
biopic, director, filmmaking, film history, film industry, social issues, filmmaker, problem, social problems, loss, legacy, pioneer ...
Time:
1920s, 20th century
Place:
india
Similarity:
59%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Sweden, Norway
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Renowned journalist Torgny Segerstedt declares war against Hitler as he criticizes Swedish politicians who tried to look away from the tyranny of the Nazis with the good excuse of “neutralism”. His only weapon is his pen and his life is full of ...
Style:
serious, touching, realistic, bleak, gloomy ...
Plot:
world war two, journalism, political unrest, life is a bitch, fascism, idealism, wartime life, rebelliousness, righting the wronged, hopes, media, against the odds ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 1930s
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 60 min.
Story:
The profound depths of Ernõ Szép's life and poetry are revived in a new film adaptation of the poet's novel, 'The Smell of Humans'. This stoic and lyrical narrative of twenty fateful days offers an authentic account of an ...
Style:
reflective, lyrical, melancholic, bleak, emotional ...
Plot:
humanity, poetry, poet, memory, biopic, literary, haunting, survival, loss, resilience, oppression, anti semitism ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
hungary, eastern europe
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The journey of young Jeanne through mountains and faith, from the lonely forests to the plains of Rome.
Style:
historical drama, poetic, emotional, bleak, melancholic ...
Plot:
faith, female protagonist, journey, religious, pilgrimage, spiritual awakening, coming of age, mountain, mysticism, legend, sacrifice, identity ...
Place:
rome italy
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
Among the millions of victims of the Nazi madness during the Second World War, Pierre Seel was charged with homosexuality and imprisoned in the Schirmeck concentration camp. He survived this terrifying experience of torture and humiliation, and ...
Style:
historical drama, bleak, emotional, period piece, political ...
Plot:
holocaust, gay slur, biopic, world war two, survival, trauma, persecution, concentration camp, lgbtq, torture, social commentary, repression ...
Time:
1940s, 80s
Place:
france
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Rome in 65 AD, Emperor Nero's tyrannical regime has reached its zenith, Nero's self-indulgence and excessiveness brings up the opposition against him, conspiracies threaten his power. By all means Nero tries to defend his despotic claim of ...
Style:
historical drama, thrilling, captivating, psychological, bleak ...
Plot:
roman empire, ancient rome, roman emperor, roman, philosopher, palace intrigue, political intrigue, tyranny, betrayal, power struggle, intrigue, historical figure ...
Similarity:
54%
Movie in collections
138
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: Venezuela
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
A tragic love story based in the life of the great latin american boxer Edwin "El Inca" Valero.
Style:
emotional, dark, intense, melancholic, atmospheric
Plot:
boxing, biopic, tragedy, rise and fall, addiction, tragic hero, fame, violent, family drama, domestic violence, mental illness, obsession ...
Similarity:
53%
270
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
The King is the story of Graham Kennedy, Australia's first and greatest home grown TV superstar. It traces his rise from working class Balaclava kid, through radio, TV, film, and back to TV again. It also tracks Kennedy's personal ...
Style:
thrilling, psychological, captivating, game show, period drama
Plot:
biopic, controversy, glory, media industry, showbiz, celebrity culture, lifestyle, celebrity, life, pop culture, loneliness, ambition ...
Time:
60s, 1950s
Place:
australia, melbourne
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Set in 1965, Pep is living in relative obscurity in his hometown of Hartford. Amidst personal troubles, and with the need to earn, Pep, at the age of 42, makes a stunning return to the ring
Style:
thrilling, captivating, realistic, psychological, emotional ...
Plot:
boxing, biopic, boxer, based on real people, comeback, character study, social problems, family relations, life is a bitch, family problems, marital problem, athlete's life ...
Time:
60s, year 1964, 20th century
Place:
connecticut
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Hungary
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Set in 19th century Vienna, Ignac Semmelweis, a short-tempered but passionate doctor, delivers babies and carries out autopsies on a daily basis while looking for the cause of puerperal fever, the mysterious epidemic that decimates patients in the ...
Style:
medical drama, historical drama, serious, period piece, tense ...
Plot:
scientific discovery, epidemic, biopic, maternity ward, hospital, investigation, realism, social criticism, ethical dilemma, character study, obsession, tragic hero ...
Time:
19th century, victorian era
Place:
vienna
Similarity:
47%
103
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Close-up to the man who censored films during the military dictatorship in Argentina, slightly inspired by the infamous Miguel Paulino Tato.
Style:
bleak, melancholic, intense, art house, political thriller ...
Plot:
military dictatorship, repression, authoritarianism, moral ambiguity, moral dilemma, character study, guilt, regret, introspection, redemption, human rights, realism ...
Place:
argentina
Similarity:
46%
659
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Terry Sawchuk biopic.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological, emotional, intense ...
Plot:
hockey, ice hockey, hockey player, professional sports, male protagonist, biopic, lifestyle, sports man, life, legacy, dedication, addiction ...
Time:
60s, 1950s, 20th century
Similarity:
44%
61
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Tom (Tennessee) Williams, an aspiring writer in his 20s, lives with and negligent father. Tom attempts to maintain peace in the family while also dealing with his depressed and anti-social sister. Struggling against the societal pressures and ...
Style:
melancholic, independent film, art house, southern gothic, period drama ...
Plot:
self discovery, aspiring writer, coming of age, identity crisis, biopic, lgbtq, creative process, sexual identity, dysfunctional family, family conflict, character study, isolation ...
Time:
1930s
Similarity:
43%
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