Movies like Letters to Elena

If you like "Letters to Elena" you are looking for touching, serious and captivating movies about / with youth, friendship, optimism, protecting from truth, human spirit, love and romance and fall in love themes of Drama genre shot in USA or Mexico.
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.
Letters to Elena (2011)
 6.1
 130
Letters to Elena (2011)
Original name: Cartas a Elena
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 97 min.
Story: In the beautiful hills of the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico, a young boy (Emilio) is adopted by the mailman (Teo). As part of their daily tasks, they not only deliver the mail but read letters to the villagers, as well as take dictation, since most are illiterate. Young Emilio quickly learns to read and write but feels saddened by the mostly difficult stories sent by relatives, that moved north to Denver, Colorado in pursuit of a better future. One day Teo becomes disabled and Emilio takes over the mail route and with great imagination, he changes the letters to happy and optimistic stories. Within days, the village is transformed. The elders, once hopeless, lonely and sad, are now happy and enthusiastic, enjoying the "supposed" success their loved ones write from the United States. But the enjoyment is short lived, as they realize that all the wonderful stories are the same...
Style: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Audience: family outing
Plot: youth, friendship, optimism, protecting from truth, human spirit, love and romance, fall in love, hopes, teaching the ways of the world, village, dream, letter, writers, village life, coming of age, social relations, chihuahua, girl, immigration, young, hill
Time: 21st century, contemporary
Place: mexico

Movie in categories

Most similar movies to Letters to Elena

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, touching, serious and captivating films with plots about friendship, youth, friends, coming of age, hopes, society and love and romance mostly in Drama, Family and Romance genres. Some movies like Letters to Elena: Master Harold ... and the Boys (2010), Firelight (2012), Oxygen (2010), A Beautiful Secret (2002), Bulgarian Rhapsody (2014). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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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 ⇓
95%
 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 ⇓
94%
 7.2
 1K
Oxygen (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Two young man share an incurable illness. Is their love for the women in their lives strong enough to conquer their fear of dying?
Style: touching, emotional, serious, realistic, contemplative ...
Plot: transplant, human spirit, friendship, terminal illness, hopes, optimism, life is a bitch, coming of age, buddies, fall in love, unfulfillment, love and romance ...
Time: 21st century
Place: belgium, germany, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
A Beautiful Secret (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 130 min.
Story: The beloved screen legend Katy Jurado, the lights one last time in the history of a special friendship that develops between a lonely old woman and Jorge, a rebellious teenager in Mexico City in 1984. Through the use flashbacks, Jorge, now an adult, ...
Style: serious, sentimental, emotional, touching, contemplative ...
Plot: friendship, human nature, rebellion, rebelliousness, hopes, youth, teenage life, teaching the ways of the world, elderly, boyhood, bittersweet, coming of age ...
Time: 80s, 20th century, 21st century
Place: latin america, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
79%
Movie in collections
Bulgarian Rhapsody (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Bulgaria, Israel
Duration: 108 min.
Story: the story of two adolescents, Moni and Zhozho, who meet 17-year-old Zheni in 1943 and with whom both fell in love. The events that follow unfold while Bulgaria has to decide on the deportation of 11 343 Jewish citizens in Macedonia and Thrace.
Style: touching, emotional, captivating, suspenseful, serious ...
Plot: friendship, wartime life, fall in love, on the run, teenage love, holocaust, youth, love and romance, society, teenage life, anti semitism, coming of age ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century
Place: bulgaria
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
 5.3
 398
A Fine Step (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story: A Fine Step is an uplifting family drama centering on Cal Masterson (Luke Perry, Beverly Hills 90210) an award winning horseman whose relationship with his beloved horse Fandango allows him to achieve multiple championship wins. However tragedy ...
Style: sentimental, sincere, emotional, captivating, serious ...
Audience: pre-teens, teens
Plot: horse, contests and competitions, friendship, starting over, athlete's life, parents and children, youth, ambition, rivalry, family relations, farm, fall in love ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
The Diary of Preston Plummer (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story: On the day of his college graduation, Preston Plummer cannot think of a single thing he really loves. Adrift, Preston follows a beautiful but troubled young woman to a small island town where he begins to fall for her, but it all threatens to fall ...
Style: emotional, captivating, realistic, touching, romantic ...
Plot: love affair, haunted by the past, family relations, young lovers, college graduate, social relations, family problems, fall in love, island, small town, love, happy ending ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
Just Like the Son (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story: A petty thief's mentoring of an apparent orphan takes a profound turn when he kidnaps the boy from a foster home and drives him cross-country to his sister's house in Texas.
Style: emotional, realistic, touching, captivating, independent film ...
Plot: adoption, friendship, family relations, custody, on the road, introspection, petty criminal, redemption, hopes, road trip, foster home, boy ...
Place: new york, usa, texas
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
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Face (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
Style: sincere, emotional, touching, serious, realistic ...
Plot: family relations, parents and children, teenage life, immigrant, opposites attract, friends, introspection, culture clash, single parent, youth, coming of age, friendship ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
 6.1
 326
Snow in August (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: In a world filled with hatred, their only hope was magic. Believe and anything can happen.
Style: touching, atmospheric, sentimental, emotional, captivating ...
Plot: youth, culture clash, friendship, racism, bittersweet, human spirit, life is a bitch, injustice, haunted by the past, gang, rabbi, anti semitism ...
Place: new york, czech republic
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Tony Luke, Jr. stars as Joey Nardone, an out-of-shape boxer, who after 8 years in prison for an unfortunate accident leaves prison and gets a shot at redemption by fighting for one young boy's future - 14 year old Jesus.
Style: serious, touching, realistic, captivating
Plot: teenage life, redemption, friendship, hopes, starting over, youth, rivalry, coming of age, profanity, boxing, violent content, friends ...
Place: philadelphia, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
When I Find the Ocean (2006)
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A little girl leaves home with her pet dog and rabbit to escape abuse and find the ocean in the hopes of feeling closer to her father who has passed away.
Style: realistic, serious, touching, sincere, captivating
Audience: family outing
Plot: civil rights, dog, friendship, youth, hopes, pets, estrangement, family life, wilderness, child's point of view, mother, family relations ...
Time: 60s
Place: alabama, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
The Derby Stallion (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: An alcoholic former horse-trainer perceives in a fifteen-year-old boy a unique gift of horsemanship and makes it possible for the boy to conceive his dream and pursue it.
Style: realistic, serious, feel good, touching
Audience: family outing
Plot: jockey, horse trainer, self discovery, friendship, human spirit, against the odds, teenage life, rivalry, follow your dream, youth, contests and competitions, underdog ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
47%
The Fat Boy Chronicles (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min.
Story: The Fat Boy Chronicles is a motion picture about Jimmy Winterpock, an obese high-school student who deals with bullying and trying to lose weight. The film is inspired by a true story and was released in 2010 as a major motion picture.
Style: sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, inspirational ...
Audience: teens
Plot: fat boy, human spirit, teenage love, win over, high school, follow your dream, teenage life, love and romance, social misfits, misfit, society, youth ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
46%
Vicious Circle (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Story: Shot on digital , HD and 8 mm. Filmed through both sides of North America. 'Vicious Circle' pushes the limits of what can be accomplished on a bike. Featuring the first ever 65 foot 'Double Road Gap' , some of the gnarliest ...
Style: realistic, serious, touching, captivating
Plot: fall in love, lifestyle, false accusation, teenage life, family relations, youth, love and romance, destructive relationship, society, chess, skateboard, teenager ...
Time: 21st century
Place: california
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
 7.3
 3K
The Rocket (2013)
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia, Thailand, Laos
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Set against the lush backdrop of rural Laos, this spirited drama tells the story of scrappy ten-year-old Ahlo, who yearns to break free from his ill-fated destiny. After his village is displaced to make way for a massive dam, Ahlo escapes with his ...
Style: realistic, captivating, sincere, touching, serious
Audience: family outing
Plot: youth, down on your luck, contests and competitions, parents and children, friendship, society, human spirit, post war, change of luck, family relations, boy, children ...
Place: asia, thailand
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
Year of the Nail (2007)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Mexico
Duration: 79 min.
Story: A love story between a Mexican teenager and an American woman who meet one summer in Mexico.
Style: emotional, realistic, atmospheric, captivating, experimental ...
Plot: coming of age, older woman younger man relationship, love affair, couples, hopes, unfulfilled love, teenage life, friendship, society, loss of virginity, looking for sex, love and romance ...
Time: 21st century
Place: mexico, latin america
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
 6.6
 908
A Trip (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: Slovenia
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Three friends embark on a road trip like in high school, but things have changed - Gregor is going to war mission, Ziva is going to study abroad, while Andrej is still the same. There are secrets left unsaid. Can their friendship survive?
Style: emotional, realistic, road movie, captivating, atmospheric ...
Plot: adolescence vs adulthood, friendship, love triangle, on the road, journey, coming of age, youth, lgbt, lesbian, nomad, picnic, love and romance ...
Time: 21st century
Place: slovenia
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
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The Outlander (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 138 min.
Story: It is the early 20th century. A stranger arrives in the small, rural community and disrupts the lives of its inhabitants. The man, who refuses to give his name, is dubbed The Outlander. A traveller who disdains conventional behaviour and ...
Style: atmospheric, realistic, touching, sentimental, serious
Plot: friendship, friends, love affair, social relations, village life, village, fall in love, family relations, stranger, rivalry, love and romance, alcoholism ...
Time: 20th century, 1910s
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
 6.4
 452
Love That Boy (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Love That Boy is the story of Phoebe, a socially inept overachiever, unrecognized in a world run by C students. Phoebe’s life is totally dominated by her “To Do Before Graduation” list. When Phoebe’s best friend Robyn dumps Phoebe two weeks ...
Style: humorous, captivating, atmospheric, light, touching ...
Plot: fall in love, couples, friendship, friends, youth, college, coming of age, age difference, looking for love, teenager, obsession, love and romance ...
Place: nova scotia
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
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 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 ⇓
38%
A Year in My Life (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 94 min.
Story: In 1950s France, a young boy is taken in by a couple after spending a few months in the care of social service.
Style: uplifting, sentimental, touching, sincere, captivating ...
Plot: friendship, adoption, orphan, youth, family relations, foster parent, foster child, father son relationship, mother son relationship, parents and children, family life, foster home ...
Time: 21st century
Place: france
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story: A 91 years old carpenter, who is still in completely good health, has to fight developers who are trying to force him to sell his land.
Style: realistic, serious
Audience: family outing
Plot: farm, aging, african american, best friend, fighting the system, hopes, rivalry, underdog, ambition, human spirit, society, friends ...
Time: 90s
Place: georgia
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
Movie in collections
 6.4
 992
Jess + Moss (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min.
Story: Jess, age 18, and Moss, age 12 are second cousins in the dark-fire tobacco fields of rural Western Kentucky. Without immediate families that they can relate to, and lacking friends their own age, they only have each other. Over the course of a ...
Style: atmospheric, realistic, contemplative, stylized, captivating ...
Plot: coming of age, youth, farm, self discovery, teenage life, friendship, love and romance, society, smoking, teenager, childhood, woman with a gun ...
Time: 21st century
Place: kentucky, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
 6.3
 461
Swimmers (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: After an accident in a small Maryland fishing town, 11-year-old Emma begins to question the nature of the adults around her.
Style: sincere, touching, emotional, serious, gloomy ...
Plot: youth, small town, introspection, family problems, human nature, family relations, friendship, family in crisis, swimming, dysfunctional family, sex crime, solace ...
Time: 21st century
Place: maryland, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
In Between Days (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, South Korea, USA
Duration: 83 min.
Story: A Korean immigrant falls in love with her best friend while navigating her way through the challenges of living in a new country.
Style: emotional, realistic, contemplative, sentimental, captivating ...
Plot: immigrant, coming of age, friendship, teenage life, society, unfulfilled love, youth, unfulfillment, women of color, love, couples, refugee ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada, toronto ontario canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
The Sound of the Spirit (2012)
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story: Beautiful and precocious Rivka is a twelve-year-old Jewish girl who believes in Jesus. She and her father attend a Messianic Jewish congregation in their community. But when her father suddenly dies, Rivka's life changes forever. She ends up ...
Style: serious, touching, realistic, emotional, christian film ...
Plot: society, love and romance, family relations, youth, culture clash, coming of age, fall in love, social relations, religions or cults, death of father, religion, christian ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
 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 ⇓
36%
 5.9
 185
2nd Take (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Reclusive writer takes aspiring actress under his wing.
Style: realistic, psychological, captivating, atmospheric, serious ...
Plot: hollywood, artists and showbiz, desire for fame, love and romance, unfulfillment, hopes, writers, aspiring actress, rivalry, society, showbiz, fall in love ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
 5.3
 217
Steam (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: Three women — a young coed, a forty-something single mother, and one a senior-aged widow — meet in the sauna of the local gym, where they gradually get to know one another and bond over their respective trials and tribulations.
Style: serious, talky, touching, emotional, erotic ...
Plot: sauna, widow, introspection, female friendship, life is a bitch, human spirit, self discovery, love and romance, elderly, hopes, family relations, family problems ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new jersey, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
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