Movies like Escape Artist 2017
If you like "Escape Artist" you are looking for tense, controversial and intense movies about / with social media, social commentary, revolution, frustration, activism, civil unrest and internet culture themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Escape Artist (2017)
1K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A socially and politically frustrated young man with a troubled past vents his frustrations through a social networking website and unwittingly sparks a revolutionary social movement.
Style:
tense, controversial, intense, political drama
Plot:
social media, social commentary, revolution, frustration, activism, civil unrest, internet culture, anger, alienation, urban, identity crisis, media manipulation, moral ambiguity, manipulation, surveillance, underground movement, propaganda, hopelessness, psychological drama, censorship
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Escape Artist
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out tense, intense, independent film and psychological thriller films with plots about urban, moral ambiguity, psychological drama, identity crisis, social commentary, alienation and character study mostly in Drama and Comedy genres. Some movies like Escape Artist: The Collectress (2008), Motherland (2025), Time to Run (1973), Den Fremmede (2025), Heads on Fire (1989). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: Lithuania
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Following a traumatic experience, Gaile, a speech therapist, is incapable of feeling any emotion. However, while preparing a video presentation for a scientific conference, she sees herself on screen and is surprised to find suppressed sensations ...
Style:
art house, tense, psychological thriller, dark, noir ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
character study, obsession, female protagonist, alienation, manipulation, experimental narrative, identity crisis, self discovery, moral ambiguity, voyeurism, performance art, urban ...
Place:
lithuania
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
In an alternate present society where the state frees parents from the burden of raising children, a rule enforcer learns a shocking truth that sparks her rebellion.
Style:
tense, dark, bleak, political drama, tragic
Plot:
dystopia, rebellion, female protagonist, waking up, power struggle, ethical dilemma, conspiracy, identity crisis, claustrophobia, moral ambiguity, slow burn, intimate ...
Time:
near future
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
The protagonist is young runaway Barbara Sigel (a Golden Globe nominee for her performance in this film), who has a mad-on against the world. Refusing help from anyone over 30, the runaway likewise rejects the solace of the church. This generation ...
Style:
road movie, tense, suspense, period piece, independent film ...
Plot:
escape, identity crisis, frustration, character study, alienation, family conflict, christian, anger, confrontation, domestic drama, anti establishment, desperation ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
87%
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
It's a movie about a subject that captivates me. And I can see that it also captivates the world and people and has done it at all times. It is the meeting with the stranger. Why is it so difficult to relate to those who's not like ...
Style:
thought provoking, art house, contemplative, tense, intercultural ...
Plot:
prejudice, xenophobia, social commentary, alienation, immigration, empathy, identity, moral ambiguity, slow burn, urban, psychological drama
Similarity:
85%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Film by Erwin Michelberger.
Style:
psychological thriller, neo noir, suspenseful, tense, ambiguous ending ...
Plot:
alienation, obsession, moral ambiguity, slow burn, urban, haunting, identity crisis, minimalism, dark humor, turk, urban setting, vandalism ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
84%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
A minor argument between two strangers escalates into a life-altering conflict, exploring how a seemingly insignificant event can drastically alter a person's perception and circumstances.
Style:
emotional, tense, intense, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
conflict, escalation, chance meeting, realism, character study, social commentary, misunderstanding, slice of life, city life, urban, suspicion, morality ...
Similarity:
81%
Genre: Drama
Country: Austria, Germany, Romania
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Requiem for Dominic powerfully portrayed the upheaval in that liminal space between revolution and order. This drama is captured partly on film, partly on video adding to the gritty reality of the time, place and events as they were unfolding in ...
Style:
bleak, serious, tense, political drama
Plot:
revolution, social realism, uncertainty, grief, iron curtain, civil unrest, political violence, identity crisis, repression, protest, alienation, family conflict ...
Place:
eastern europe, romania
Similarity:
76%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Booger Red is a hybrid documentary/narrative about a veteran reporter who searches for the truth behind the largest purported child sex ring in Texas history. On his journey through the bowels of East Texas, he's forced to confront his own ...
Style:
tense, moody
Plot:
investigative journalism, journalism, investigation, ambiguity, sexual abuse, social commentary, true crime, haunting, moral ambiguity, conspiracy, identity crisis, corruption ...
Place:
texas
Similarity:
71%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A revolutionary, fighting against dictatorship in Brazil, is wounded in a gun-fight with the police, and is isolated in another man's apartment, where he meets a young woman who will change his life.
Style:
tension, art house, melancholic, suspense, noir ...
Plot:
dictatorship, revolutionary, resistance, civil unrest, brazilian military dictatorship, moral ambiguity, fear, isolation, gunfight, underground movement, intimacy, love interest ...
Time:
70s
Place:
brazil, sao paulo brazil
Similarity:
68%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
A fearless activist claims she was raped in her dreams with physical marks. A masked figure traps her, a YouTuber, and a cop in a suspenseful game testing their wits and bonds, blending thriller with comedy.
Style:
tense, psychological thriller, intense, suspense, twist ending ...
Plot:
trauma, female protagonist, social commentary, moral ambiguity, investigation, cat and mouse, moral dilemma, activism, interrogation, repression, urban, identity ...
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 56 min.
Story:
Two symbiotic sociopaths play obscurely deviant mind games with each other while engaging in perversely brutal acts of violence against victims apparently chosen at random
Style:
disturbing, intense, tense, bleak, atmospheric ...
Plot:
violence, working class, class conflict, moral ambiguity, character study, cruelty, celebrity, social commentary, humiliation, obsession, machismo, alienation ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
An actor in search of fame finds on his Instagram the way to gain likes and boost his career. To maintain his fake life online, he does crazy things in real life and risks losing track of who he really is.
Style:
satirical, dark comedy, mockumentary
Plot:
social media, instagram, actor, fame, identity crisis, obsession, social commentary, deception, identity, self delusion, media satire, reputation ...
Similarity:
63%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
The publisher of a celebrity gossip tabloid sets out to destroy an aging actor, whose career is foundering and who is also facing a battle with alcoholism.
Style:
intense, eighties
Plot:
scandal, alcoholism, defamation, celebrity culture, manipulation, ambition, revenge, betrayal, moral ambiguity, urban, media satire, husband wife relationship ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Saudi Arabia
Duration: 195 min.
Story:
A retired football star, notorious and oppressed by the media, cooperates with his daughter in an opportunity to take revenge on the social media portal. The more they dive into the dream of fame and stardom, the greater their involvement.
Style:
tense, dark comedy
Plot:
celebrity culture, social media, media manipulation, fame, revenge, ambition, father daughter relationship, scandal, betrayal, obsession, public humiliation, retribution ...
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
The story of the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst by members of a radical guerrilla organisation, as seen by the FBI agent in charge of her case.
Style:
crime drama, tense, serious, dark, period piece ...
Plot:
kidnapping, hostage, biopic, investigation, stockholm syndrome, trauma, domestic terrorism, psychological manipulation, identity crisis, moral ambiguity, social commentary, surveillance ...
Time:
70s, 60s
Similarity:
60%
Genre: Drama
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia
Duration: 78 min.
Story:
A wealthy middle-aged man at the airport witnesses a tiny incident involving an unknown, perhaps Arab, young man and airport staff. After the young man is confronted directly at the airport toilets, he feels himself subject to an indefinable but ...
Style:
tense, psychological thriller
Plot:
paranoia, obsession, suspicion, surveillance, cat and mouse, stalking, airport, confrontation, alienation, isolation, moral ambiguity, slow burn ...
Time:
2020s, 21st century
Place:
europe, central europe
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
A 15-year-old girl forced into police protection to escape from the journalistic hordes after her brother is arrested for murder.
Style:
suspense, tense, captivating, psychological thriller, disturbing ...
Plot:
media manipulation, social problems, brother sister relationship, criminal, family problems, teenage girl, family relations, teenager, murderer, murder, runaway, ethical dilemma ...
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
A young man named Carlos with a sexual trauma kidnaps a girl that works with him. During the kidnapping the sexual tension and the violence will make the two of them change their point views on life and politics.
Style:
psychological thriller, tense, intense, dark, art house ...
Plot:
kidnapping, sexual tension, manipulation, obsession, moral ambiguity, psychological abuse, abuse, mind game, claustrophobia, violent, confrontation, coercion ...
Similarity:
56%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
Darren Prager is an aspiring writer who finds himself completely unable to comprehend the intricacies of human behavior. Obsessed with finding the key to understanding the nature of character, he turns a co-worker's family into the unwitting ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, independent film, tense, experimental ...
Plot:
obsession, voyeurism, ethical dilemma, character study, moral ambiguity, social experiment, manipulation, isolation, male protagonist, identity crisis, experimental narrative, alienation ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, France, Egypt
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Two sisters are abruptly separated, the eldest, Hasna, struggles to find her identity and place in the world.
Style:
suspenseful, thrilling, captivating, psychological, melancholic ...
Plot:
female protagonist, resistance, identity crisis, personality change, sisters, sister, secret, losing-it hero, sister sister relationship, changing lives, lifestyle change, trauma ...
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
In a near-future Belgrade, a DJ stirs up trouble with his rocking anti-establishment broadcasts. After his station is shut down, he takes to the street and starts transmitting revolution with the police hot on his trail.
Style:
independent film, political thriller, tense, noir, political drama
Plot:
anti establishment, authoritarianism, rebellion, counterculture, propaganda, police chase, youth culture, urban, surveillance, activism, civil unrest, dystopia ...
Time:
near future, 90s
Place:
eastern europe, belgrade, serbia, former yugoslavia
Similarity:
50%
233
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Jordi is going to make it big, cost what it may, juggling a stock exchange portfolio; Cristina combines booze, drugs and sex in the celebration of her birthday; and Pau, in search of strong emotions, turns to violence, xenophobic attitude. Three ...
Style:
melancholic, intense, existential, independent film, erotic
Plot:
coming of age, frustration, youth, violence, xenophobia, drug use, alienation, youth culture, realism, urban, alcohol abuse, recklessness ...
Place:
barcelona
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
The story of three women whose worlds collide - a social commentary about the 'sound bite' society we are becoming, where perception becomes reality and judgments based on limited facts quickly spread, without regard for the truth or the ...
Style:
realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, thought provoking ...
Plot:
life turned upside down, society, intern, media, media satire, computers and web, urban, social media, cyberbullying, privacy invasion, social commentary, human nature ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
china, asia
Similarity:
47%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
The main character is a man named Takashi Morioka, who has lost his job and his home due to a recession. He ends up falling into a trap set by the diabolical Yuki Michio, who happened to survive by chance an incident on an island 16 years ago where ...
Style:
tense, suspense, psychological thriller, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
delivery man, breaking the law, financial problem, delivery, choice, money problems, deal, family in danger, ethical dilemma, coercion, moral ambiguity, manipulation ...
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Guillaume, a computer scientist in his thirties, has never managed to overcome his pathological shyness with girls. In desperation, he consults a seduction coach, but the course turns out to be a scam. Humiliated one too many times, Guillaume goes ...
Style:
romantic, captivating, romantic comedy, dark comedy
Plot:
love affair, love and romance, technology, love story, social anxiety, loneliness, dating, fraud, humiliation, manipulation, internet culture, scam ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Anthology film made as an act of protest against Hungarian government of Viktor Orban.
Style:
anthology, controversial, independent film, art film, experimental ...
Plot:
political protest, activism, social commentary, political satire, authoritarianism, human rights, corruption, satire, nationalism, civil unrest, realism, sketch ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
hungary, budapest, eastern europe
Similarity:
42%
1K
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A moviemaker hands in a script for an arty production in order to receive film funds. Due to political reasons beyond his reach, his film is not provided with a certificate of accreditation. But a true moviemaker never gives up.
Style:
art house, independent film, underground film, tense, political drama
Plot:
filmmaking, determination, resilience, perseverance, bureaucracy, behind the scenes, ambitious, frustration, realism, satire, moral dilemma, character study ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
-After five years of graduate studies, Red is always in search of a job and fight every day against the exclusion. Slowly, he is moving away from Anna, the love of his life. As a result of a letter to him meaning its cancellation, he makes it to the ...
Style:
realistic, intense, tense, indie film
Plot:
unemployment, desperation, employment agency, social commentary, social injustice, alienation, dignity, social realism, isolation, hostage situation, bureaucracy, angst ...
Place:
france
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Twelve-year-old Simone feels painfully disconnected from the world after witnessing the brutal death of her mother. Simone, a solitary multimedia artist in her twenties, is struggling to control her crushing panic attacks and keep her day job in an ...
Style:
psychological, mindfuck, atmospheric, art house, experimental ...
Plot:
trauma, grief, female protagonist, manipulation, memory, alienation, identity crisis, mental illness, haunting, violent death, rehearsal, coming of age ...
Similarity:
40%
176
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Set in a modern-day London of economic and political uncertainty, the story follows the intersecting themes of familial honor, moral duty and dynastic corruption.
Style:
tense, melancholic
Audience:
adult
Plot:
shakespeare, hamlet, revenge, political intrigue, urban, betrayal, moral ambiguity, power struggle, corruption, existentialism, family honor, moral dilemma ...
Similarity:
40%
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