Movies like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
If you like "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" you are looking for thought provoking, emotional and harsh movies about / with childhood, coming of age, friendship, gangsters, urban ghetto life, street kid and loss of friend themes of Crime and Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
26K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
Style:
thought provoking, emotional, harsh, rough, intense, realistic, sentimental, feel good, bleak, unusual plot structure ...
Audience:
teens, kids
Plot:
childhood, coming of age, friendship, gangsters, urban ghetto life, street kid, loss of friend, depression, foul language, anger, life is a bitch, teenager, writers, juvenile delinquent, father son relationship, flashback, violence, catastrophe, mafia, drugs, relationships, loneliness, gang, italian mafia, hunting ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, 2000s, year 1986, year 2005, 70s
Place:
new york, los angeles, california, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city
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Most similar movies to A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, bleak and harsh films with plots about brutality, mentor, redemption, violence, storytelling, friendship and unlikely friendships mostly in Drama, Crime and Romance genres. Some movies like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints: Belly (1998), Less Than Zero (1987), This Is England (2006), A Bronx Tale (1993), The Outsiders (1983). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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12K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Tommy Brown and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign ...
Style:
stylized, satirical, talky, light, reflective ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
gangsters, urban ghetto life, hip hop, gang, violence, african american, african american gangster, organized crime, car, drugs, gunfight, betrayal ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new york, new jersey, jamaica, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
Style:
stylized, sexy, light, melancholic, intense ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
drug addiction, friendship, drug addict, drugs, addiction, drug abuse, christmas, teenager, high school, love triangle, male prostitution, drug dealer ...
Time:
80s, year 1987
Place:
los angeles, california, beverly hills, usa, palm springs california ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.
Style:
rough, emotional, political, stylized, harsh ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens
Plot:
skinhead, racism, childhood, neo nazi, coming of age, friendship, xenophobia, youth, children, prejudice, adolescence, social problems ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, year 1983
Place:
england, northern england, europe, britain, woodstock
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
146K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his ...
Style:
sentimental, intense, realistic, touching, reflective ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, mafia, coming of age, organized crime, mentor, loyalty, gang leader, father son relationship, friendship, african american, gang, brutality ...
Time:
60s, year 1960, 20th century, year 1968
Place:
new york, bronx new york city, usa, new york state, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
When two poor greasers, Johnny, and Ponyboy are assaulted by a vicious gang, the socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events.
Style:
intense, melancholic, sentimental, stylized, sexy ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, kids, family outing, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, gang, teenager, juvenile delinquent, street gang, friendship, dysfunctional family, runaway, rivalry, brother brother relationship, small town, class differences ...
Time:
60s, future, 80s, 50s, 20th century
Place:
oklahoma, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Movies like Blood In, Blood Out
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Boyz n the Hood is the popular and successful film and social criticism from John Singleton about the conditions in South Central Los Angeles where teenagers are involved in gun fights and drug dealing on a daily basis.
Style:
thought provoking, disturbing, tense, brutal, bleak ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
hip hop, african american, ghetto, poverty, gang, urban ghetto life, juvenile delinquency, street gang, coming of age, gangsters, rapper, rap ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, 90s, year 1991, year 1984
Place:
los angeles, california, cuba, usa, south central los angeles ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 180 min.
Story:
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", ...
Style:
intense, bad ending, entertaining, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
gang, gangsters, street gang, prison, prison gang, drug abuse, drug addiction, violence spree, destiny, jail, police shootout, corruption ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, 80s
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, ecuador, guatemala ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A destitute 14 year old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother. Petty thefts for food grow into more major ...
Style:
emotional, harsh, tense, rough, realistic ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
children, dysfunctional family, child abuse, coming of age, corporal punishment, working class, youth, abusive father, redemption, alcohol abuse, poverty, childhood ...
Time:
70s, 90s
Place:
new york, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions ...
Style:
disturbing, dark, controversial, psychological, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, kids, teen drama
Plot:
high school, coming of age, teenager, murder, gang, serial killer, small town, nude, death, drug abuse, violence, police ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
california, oregon, usa, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute ...
Style:
realistic, talky, serious, bleak, educational ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, gangsters, juvenile delinquency, gang, teenager, unlikely friendships, urban ghetto, drug dealing, gang member, youth, teenage life ...
Time:
90s
Place:
los angeles, tokyo, new jersey, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
Also search:
Films like City of God
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Bob and his friends Dianne, Rick and Nadine have been drug addicts for years and live from one high to the next. Gus Van Sant attempts to show an intimate look into the lives of heroin addicts with his film Drugstore Cowboy.
Style:
road movie, dark, thought provoking, realistic, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
drug abuse, drugs, heroin, addiction, drug addiction, junkie, dark humor, friendship, criminal, coming of age, drug addict, redemption ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1971
Place:
usa, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Menace II Society is a coming of age tale detailing the summer after its protagonist Caine (Tyrin Turner) graduates from high school. This is Caine's story, which details real life in today's tough inner city.
Style:
tense, bleak, realistic, stylized, serious ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
african american, ghetto, urban ghetto life, gangsters, hip hop, murder, police brutality, friendship, coming of age, street gang, organized crime, drugs ...
Time:
90s, year 1993, 20th century, 70s
Place:
california, los angeles, usa, north america
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
The film follows the personal relationship between a father and his two sons, one of whom is a hit-man for the Russian mafia in Brooklyn.
Style:
dark, disturbing, bleak, gloomy, affectionate ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, gang, russian mafia, winter, redemption, hitman, jewish, snow, assassin, killer, coming of age, immigrants ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new york, tokyo, california, usa, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Lilya lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working ...
Style:
bleak, depressing, sad, bad ending, brutal ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
prostitution, human trafficking, poverty, suicide, sexual abuse, prostitute, life is a bitch, friendship, russian, teenage prostitution, youth, rape ...
Place:
sweden, europe, denmark, russia, eastern europe ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, Spain
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
Style:
disturbing, realistic, sentimental, bleak, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
heroin, coming of age, innocence lost, juvenile delinquency, prison, teenager, drug dealing, drug dealer, downfall, dysfunctional family, family relations, life is a bitch ...
Time:
2000s, 80s, 21st century
Place:
scotland, glasgow scotland, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
Also search:
Movies like Sleepers
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.
Style:
tense, bleak, harsh, disturbing, serious ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
slum, friendship, street gang, coming of age, betrayal, gangsters, relationships, best friends, brutality, character study, adaptation, suspense ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
rio de janeiro, brazil, latin america
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Grand Canyon revolved around six residents from different backgrounds whose lives intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center of the film is the unlikely friendship of two men from different races and classes brought together when one finds ...
Style:
feel good, realistic, thought provoking, clever, touching ...
Plot:
adoption, midlife crisis, friendship, father son relationship, compassion, class differences, interracial friendship, helicopter, rescue, dysfunctional family, gang, urban setting ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
los angeles, new jersey, usa, arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
Style:
emotional, rough, realistic, serious, harsh ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
addiction, heroin, drug abuse, basketball, downfall, life is a bitch, teenage life, drug overdose, drug addiction, drugs, teenager, sport ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 60s, 70s
Place:
new york, new jersey, california, usa, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the paroled man attempts to find ...
Style:
touching, emotional, melancholic, philosophical, psychological ...
Plot:
criminal, murder, prison, friendship, robbery, justice, gang, going straight, haunted by the past, human nature, rehabilitation, ex convict ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Jack is now out of jail and he meets Nick, his adolescent son. Their relationship will be complicated, because Jack has a problem with alcohol. But his love for Nick will help him to get over the past and reach his dreams.
Style:
realistic, serious, rough, emotional, touching ...
Audience:
manly
Plot:
father son relationship, adaptation, complex characters, starting over, prison, going straight, estrangement, family relations, prisoner, human nature, society, hopes ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 70s
Place:
seattle, usa, alaska, washington state, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Also search:
Movies similar to The Outsiders
29K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
The South African multi-award winning film about a young South African boy from the ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster. Tsotsi, who left home as a child to get away from helpless parents, finds a baby in the back seat of a car that he has just ...
Style:
sincere, bleak, emotional, harsh, captivating ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
baby, poverty, gangsters, urban ghetto life, society, criminal, slum, friendship, childhood, coming of age, murder, street life ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south africa, africa, boston, johannesburg south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
764K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil, France, Germany
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Cidade de Deus is a shantytown that started during the 1960s and became one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous places in the beginning of the 1980s. To tell the story of this place, the movie describes the life of various characters, all seen by ...
Style:
disturbing, rough, bleak, stylized, dark ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
gang, society, coming of age, organized crime, journalism, gang war, juvenile delinquency, life is a bitch, photographer, police corruption, gangsters, drug dealing ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 80s, 60s
Place:
rio de janeiro, latin america, brazil, south america, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
Marcus is a kid on Manhattan's mean streets. He's turning 15, his father is dead, his mother is in prison for smuggling undocumented aliens. His grandmother is raising him. He has four close buddies who have a basement clubhouse; they ...
Style:
realistic, harsh, bad ending, visually appealing, allegory ...
Audience:
kids, teens
Plot:
coming of age, gang, friendship, dysfunctional family, boy, runaway, violence, teenager, children, character study, adolescence, bullying ...
Time:
70s, 90s
Place:
new york, new mexico, new jersey, lower east side manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Colombia, Ecuador, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.
Style:
realistic, disturbing, tense, thought provoking, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
drug dealing, drugs, friendship, coming of age, life is a bitch, illegal immigration, depression, loneliness, women, character study, financial problem, juvenile delinquency ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
colombia, new york, new jersey, latin america, south america ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Colombia
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
World-weary arthur Fernando has returned to his native Colombia to live out his days in peace. But Fernando's once-quiet hometown has become a hotbed of violence, drugs and corruption. On the brink of despair, Fernando meets Alexis, a ...
Style:
disturbing, meditative, thought provoking, rough, sexy ...
Plot:
gay, murder, vengeance, poverty, lgbt, drug dealing, teenage life, love affair, fall in love, writers, youth, life is a bitch ...
Time:
90s
Place:
colombia, los angeles, latin america, tokyo, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Also search:
Films like A Bronx Tale
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a ...
Style:
depressing, talky, emotional, serious, melancholic ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
teacher, drugs, teachers and students, student, friendship, addiction, drug addiction, ghetto, loneliness, school, mentor, existentialism ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
new york, california, usa, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about black youths in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial "car theft capital of the world". Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts ...
Style:
realistic, brutal, melancholic, serious, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gang, brutality, police, police investigation, vengeance, gangsters, hip hop, murder, lone hero, teenage life, youth, on the run ...
Time:
90s, 70s
Place:
new jersey, new york, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence ...
Style:
uplifting, emotional, serious, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
prison, gangsters, death row, violence, brutality, justice, adaptation, hopes, human spirit, redemption, journalism, life is a bitch ...
Time:
future, 80s, 20th century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
Style:
realistic, bleak, touching, emotional, intense ...
Plot:
hip hop, midlife crisis, music, rapper, hip hop culture, musician, rap, career, gangsters, friendship, drug abuse, drug dealing ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
memphis, los angeles, tennessee, usa, mount everest ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Teenagers living in small-town Oregon take a boat trip for a birthday celebration. When they get an idea to play a mean trick on the town bully, it suddenly goes too far. Soon they're forced to deal with the unexpected consequences of their ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, suspenseful, dark, intense ...
Audience:
teens, kids, teen drama
Plot:
prank, kids in trouble, small town, friendship, coming of age, bullying, vengeance, teenager, revenge, bully, guilt, childhood ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
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