Movies like City of Joy

If you like "City of Joy" you are looking for sincere, touching and philosophical movies about / with friendship, hopes, hospital, poverty, social commentary, medicine and philosophy themes of Drama genre shot in France or UK.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
City of Joy (1992)
 6.5
 6K
City of Joy (1992)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, UK
Duration: 132 min.
Story: In this drama, a wealthy American doctor learns some important lessons about life in one of the poorest cities on Earth. Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) is a Houston surgeon who has grown weary of the bureaucracy of American medicine. When he loses a patient on the operating table, Max impulsively decides to leave America and travel to India in the hope of "finding himself." Not long after he arrives in Calcutta, Max is attacked by a group of thugs and left without money or a passport.
Style: sincere, touching, philosophical, social, uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, light, inspirational ...
Audience: manly
Plot: friendship, hopes, hospital, poverty, social commentary, medicine, philosophy, geography, hinduism, international relations, abroad, indian woman, humanist, aid worker, wedding, leprosy, friends, misfit, rich and poor, rescue, family relations, human spirit, parents and children, best friend, self discovery ...
Time: year 1992, 90s
Place: india, kolkata, houston texas, asia, middle east, san francisco
Keyword: gangsters, american, doctors, movie theatre, buddy movie

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friendship movies
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touching movies
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hopes movies
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7275
poverty movies
1911

Most similar movies to City of Joy

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, touching and emotional films with plots about hopes, society, family relations, friendship, friends, human spirit and life is a bitch mostly in Drama, Romance and Crime genres. Some movies like City of Joy: Slumdog Millionaire (2008), A Passage to India (1984), The Razor's Edge (1984), The Doctor (1991), Let the Wind Blow (2004). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: Jamal Malik is an impoverished Indian teen who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ but, after he wins, he is suspected of cheating.
Style: touching, uplifting, realistic, motivational, feel good ...
Audience: date night, teens, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot: poverty, childhood, rags to riches, destiny, orphan, society, against the odds, life is a bitch, love, street life, cheating, ambition ...
Time: year 2008, 2000s, 20th century, 90s, year 2005 ...
Place: india, mumbai india, asia, britain, taj mahal
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
A Passage to India (1984)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 164 min.
Story: The film is set during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement in the British Raj. It begins with the arrival in India of a British woman, Miss Adela Quested (Judy Davis), who is joining her fiancé, a city magistrate ...
Style: epic, scenic, talky, suspense, captivating ...
Plot: british empire, politics, british raj, lawyer, small town, racism, tourist, colonialism, culture clash, investigation, false accusation, legal ...
Time: 1920s, 20th century, year 1984
Place: india, asia, bombay india, himalaya, kashmir ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Razor's Edge (1984)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 128 min.
Story: He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge.
Style: philosophical, touching, epic, spiritual, contemplative ...
Plot: philosophy, world war one, destiny, existentialism, redemption, self discovery, friendship, buddhism, buddhist, hospital, female nudity, travel ...
Place: paris france, india, france, europe, himalaya ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.9
 6K
The Doctor (1991)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Jack McKee is a doctor with it all: he's successful, he's rich, and he has no problems.... until he is diagnosed with throat cancer. Now that he has seen medicine, hospitals, and doctors from a patient's perspective, he realises that ...
Style: psychological, sentimental, touching, emotional, uplifting ...
Plot: hospital, medical, cancer, medicine, doctor, redemption, health, doctors and patients, coldhearted, nurse, tumor, brain tumor ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
Movie in collections
Let the Wind Blow (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A collegian in turbulent Mumbai attempts to improve his lifestyle.
Style: serious, realistic, captivating, sincere, contemplative ...
Plot: coming of age, working class, rich and poor, follow your dream, social differences, political unrest, parents and children, society, youth, state affairs, hopes, family relations ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: asia, india, bombay india
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
...First Do No Harm (1997)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 94 min.
Story: When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and ...
Style: edutainment, controversial, uplifting, serious, realistic ...
Plot: medical, youth, blaster, slice of life, health, medicine, child hero, hospital, family relations, bittersweet, small town life, terminal illness ...
Time: 90s
Place: usa, baltimore
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
 6.1
 1K
Green Dragon (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: A tale about Vietnamese refugees sent to an orientation camp on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in California, 'Green Dragon' focuses on a young boy and his sister. Set in 1975, the film chronicles the stories told to the two children by ...
Style: psychological, sincere, emotional, touching, independent film ...
Plot: military, vietnam war, interracial relations, military life, friendship, self discovery, coming of age, homecoming, culture clash, translator, human nature, immigrant ...
Time: year 2001, 70s
Place: vietnam, usa, asia, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
 6.7
 127
Shirley Adams (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa, USA, UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Shirley Adams spends her days caring for her disabled son, Donovan - he was shot in the back of the neck on his way home from school one afternoon over a year ago. Since then the Adams family has lost all their worldly possessions to medical bills. ...
Style: serious, realistic, uplifting, emotional, sincere ...
Plot: disability, hopes, human spirit, life is a bitch, single parent, introspection, family relations, family problems, parents and children, misfit, society, small town ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south africa, africa, cape town south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
Movie in collections
Under the Starry Sky (2013)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Senegal
Duration: 87 min.
Story: The debut feature from Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Dyana Gaye charts the interconnected destinies of three far-flung sojourners across three continents. A quiet drama, about the anxieties of negotiating journeying to foreign countries and making a ...
Style: realistic, sincere, serious, touching
Plot: on the road, fish out of water, parents and children, starting over, immigrant, family relations, hopes, culture clash, society, friendship, dishonesty, migration ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new york, italy, africa, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
34%
 6.7
 362
My Own Country (1998)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: After obtaining his medical degree from Madras Medical College, Dr. Abraham Verghese decides to re-locate to Johnson City, Tennessee. He eventually gets married to Rajani, who is an accomplished dancer, and has a boy, Steven. Since Abraham ...
Style: realistic, serious, uplifting, sincere, touching ...
Plot: aids, medical, gay, lgbtq, hiv, lgbt, hospital, terminal illness, pregnancy, family relations, gay subtext, gays and lesbians ...
Time: 90s
Place: tennessee, usa, india
⇓ similarity ⇓
33%
 7.5
 535
The C Word (2015)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
Story: The C Word is an adaptation of Lisa Lynch's inspiring and candid book, based on her blog, about her battle with cancer.
Style: uplifting, sincere, touching, sentimental, serious ...
Plot: family relations, optimism, human spirit, life turned upside down, couple relations, life is a bitch, couples, terminal illness, journalism, hopes, cancer, blogger ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: spain
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
The Untouchable (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min.
Story: After learning from her mother that her father lives in India, a young woman goes there to meet him for the first time.
Style: realistic, touching, emotional, psychological, sentimental ...
Plot: family relations, culture clash, parents and children, self discovery, single parent, estrangement, search for father, absent father, long lost relative, against the odds, family bonds, obsession ...
Time: 21st century
Place: india, canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Profoundly Normal (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Based on a true story. Donna Lee Shelby (Kirstie Alley), a mentally retarded girl who lives in Forest Haven, an institution for the developmentally disabled, meets Ricardo Thornton (Delroy Lindo), a fellow resident. When Forest Haven is closed by a ...
Style: serious, emotional, uplifting, realistic, sentimental ...
Plot: couples, interracial relations, friendship, fighting the system, idealism, society, human spirit, hopes, family in crisis, coping, family life, misfit ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Hidden in America (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Story of a man Bill Januson whose pride in being the head of his family won't let him accept help from his sick daughters doctor. He has to prove to his kids that even with the death of his wife and the loss of his job that they can and will ...
Style: crying, serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy ...
Plot: starving child, starvation, youth, doctor, single parent, unemployment, family problems, family relations, human nature, society, life is a bitch, friendship ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 7.9
 6K
String (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 147 min.
Story: Shankar Singh and his wife, Meera, live in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India along with widowed paternal grandmother, Laxmibai, his mom, Gowri, and dad, Randhir. The family feel that they are blessed after Meera's entry in this family. Shankar must go ...
Style: realistic, emotional, sincere, serious, atmospheric ...
Plot: friendship, hopes, power of love, redemption, dishonesty, gender, friends, muslim, loss of spouse, social differences, women, female empowerment ...
Time: 21st century
Place: india, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 4.7
 1K
Tiger Warsaw (1988)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Chuck brought sorrow to his family when he shot his father who is now a semi-invalid. After 15 years of self destruction, he returns home to seek forgiveness.
Style: independent film, contemplative, serious, realistic, emotional ...
Audience: manly
Plot: redemption, family relations, profanity, drug abuse, teenage life, homecoming, parents and children, addiction, cons and scams, family gatherings, high school, family life ...
Time: year 1988, 20th century, 80s
Place: vietnam
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 6.4
 52
Max & Lenny (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Max and Lenny is the story of a friendship between two girls fighting for survival in a northern area of Marseille.
Style: sincere, realistic, touching, serious
Plot: friendship, teenage life, ambition, follow your dream, youth, hip hop, family relations, society, hopes, music, lesbian, strong female presence ...
Time: 21st century
Place: europe, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Traces of Sandalwood (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain, India, France
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Despite her fame and fortune, Mina, a successful Indian actress in Mumbai, can't forget her little sister Sita, from whom she was forced to separate after their mother's death in a village. Thirty years later she will finally find out that ...
Style: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, sentimental, touching ...
Plot: self discovery, haunted by the past, family relations, forceful separation, sibling relationship, actor's life, hopes, love, society, foster child, siblings relations, reunion
Time: 21st century
Place: barcelona, spain, india
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Movie in collections
 7.1
 693
Wild Field (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 108 min.
Story: A young doctor relocates to a remote region of central Asia, thinking his fiancee soon will join him ...
Style: realistic, captivating, serious, psychological, touching ...
Plot: doctors and patients, boss and employee, village life, self discovery, workplace, hopes, countryside, workplace situations, fish out of water, doctor, loneliness, power relations ...
Time: 21st century
Place: russia, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 6.5
 634
Firelight (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Incarcerated women join a band of volunteers who battle forest fires and assist during natural disasters.
Style: emotional, realistic, touching, serious, sincere ...
Plot: youth, redemption, power relations, human spirit, juvenile delinquency, hopes, society, friendship, fire brigade, rivalry, homeless, friends ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Angus Buchan's Ordinary People (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 115 min.
Story: The plot follows the individual journeys of three ordinary South African men in the build up to their attendance of the 2010 Mighty Men Conference, where their lives are forever changed by God's message for them.
Style: uplifting, serious, realistic, emotional, art house ...
Plot: self discovery, human spirit, family problems, hopes, society, redemption, friendship, christian, biopic, faith, religions or cults, life is a bitch ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, UK, USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: A troubled teen is given the chance to redeem his criminal debt to society
Style: touching, sentimental, emotional, serious, realistic
Audience: teen drama
Plot: youth, family relations, friendship, teenage life, juvenile delinquency, self discovery, parents and children, adolescence vs adulthood, misfit, life is a bitch, society, coming of age ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
 6.3
 716
Girlfriend (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: A young man with Down's Syndrome romantically pursues a small town single mom who is still mixed up with her volatile ex-boyfriend.
Style: serious, sincere, touching, melancholic, independent film ...
Plot: friendship, life is a bitch, love and romance, single parent, impossible love, hopes, society, misfit, human spirit, social relations, mother son relationship, psychopath ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
Movie in collections
manly movies
461
wedding movies
3873
Master Harold ... and the Boys (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 87 min.
Story: This movie is of Hally, an adolescent white South African. He is stuck between his intolerant father's outlook of him and those of his caretaker, Sam. Sam is a black waiter and Hally's friend and teacher. Hally is required to laugh at his ...
Style: touching, serious, emotional, captivating, realistic ...
Plot: youth, interracial relations, racism, friendship, dysfunctional family, redemption, life is a bitch, social decay, family problems, human spirit, hopes, parents and children ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
Matching Jack (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 99 min.
Story: A woman struggles with her son's illness and her husband's infidelity, but, after a chance encounter with an Irish sailor and his son, her life is turned upside down in a love story that defies explanation and breaks all the rules.
Style: sincere, uplifting, realistic, emotional, serious ...
Plot: infidelity, coming of age, hopes, dishonesty, friendship, parents and children, bittersweet, terminal illness, unfulfillment, life turned upside down, child illness, couples ...
Time: 21st century
Place: australia, ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
Life, Above All (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa, Germany
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A touching mother-daughter relationship that reflects the modern South Africa.
Style: touching, serious, emotional, sincere, psychological ...
Plot: child prostitution, poverty, little girl, human spirit, family relations, estrangement, social relations, family problems, hopes, social misfits, society, youth ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
My Friend Victoria (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Aged eight, Victoria spends a night in the home of a wealthy white family; years later, she encounters them again and her life is changed forever.
Style: realistic, serious, touching, emotional
Plot: interracial couple, adoption, family life, family relations, hopes, youth, society, rich and poor, parents and children, class differences, family reunited, orphan ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: paris france, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 7.0
 676
The Locket (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A bereaved man takes a job at a health care center, where he befriends an elderly and embittered woman - and as time passes, he becomes obsessed with reuniting her with her long-lost true love.
Style: sentimental, uplifting, sincere, touching, serious ...
Plot: retirement home, hopes, friendship, investigation, family relations, love affair, betrayal, nursing, elderly, human spirit, love and romance, haunted by the past ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 6.5
 344
A Simple Heart (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min.
Story: Unable to forget her first love, Félicité, a simple and kind maid, devotes herself completely to her new master, Mathilde Aubain. As the passing of time doesn't heal her wounds, she gives love to all those who surround her: Mathilde's ...
Style: serious, sentimental, realistic, emotional, touching
Audience: girls' night
Plot: servant, social differences, family relations, friendship, hopes, unfulfilled love, family life, power relations, friends, master and servant, introspection, women ...
Time: 19th century
Place: europe, france, normandy
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
 6.4
 242
To Life (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Helen, Rose and Lili have survived the Holocaust and have never seen each other since the war has ended. In 1960, they meet again in Berck, France. They learn to enjoy together simple pleasures in life: nice meals, ballads on the beach, playing in ...
Style: realistic, serious, emotional, touching, sincere ...
Plot: starting over, haunted by the past, friendship, auschwitz, human spirit, hopes, girlfriend, girlfriend girlfriend relationship, reunited friends, post war, lifestyle, age-gap relationship ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, 50s, 60s
Place: europe, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
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