Movies like The Messenger
If you like "The Messenger" you are looking for touching, depressing and sincere movies about / with war, military, soldier, loneliness, redemption, honest and character study themes of Drama, Romance and War genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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The Messenger (2009)
36K

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death.
Style:
touching, depressing, sincere, bleak, sad, psychological, realistic, gloomy, tense, enigmatic ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
war, military, soldier, loneliness, redemption, honest, character study, bereavement, human nature, officer, relationships, wartime, friendship, anti war, terrorism, death, guilt, cathartic, ethical dilemma, love, survival, psychology, depression, politics, beautiful scenery ...
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
usa, iraq, bosnia, california, united states of america
Most similar movies to The Messenger
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, dramatic and emotional films with plots about brutality, death, catastrophe, culture clash, storytelling, mentor and dialogue mostly in Drama, War and Romance genres. Some movies like The Messenger: Taking Chance (2009), Coming Home (1978), Monster's Ball (2001), Atonement (2007), Gardens of Stone (1987). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.
Style:
realistic, emotional, touching, sincere, sentimental ...
Plot:
war, military, iraq war, soldier, self discovery, marines, ethnic conflict, unlikely friendships, father son relationship, military life, patriotism, ritual ...
Time:
year 2004, 21st century
Place:
wyoming, iraq, canada, middle east, baghdad iraq ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
The wife of a Marine serving in Vietnam, Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda) decides to volunteer at a local veterans hospital to occupy her time. There she meets Luke Martin (Jon Voight), a frustrated wheelchair-bound vet who has become disillusioned with the ...
Style:
political, realistic, emotional, poignant, sexy ...
Plot:
vietnam war, paraplegic, disability, love, homecoming, soldier, military, hospital, love triangle, love story, surveillance, dysfunctional marriage ...
Time:
60s, 70s, 20th century
Place:
california, usa, los angeles, vietnam
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Set in the southern USA, a racist white man, Hank, falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. Ironically, Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. Hank and Leticia's inter-racial affair leads to ...
Style:
sexy, depressing, psychological, emotional, realistic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
racism, prison, interracial relations, electric chair, interracial romance, death row, father son relationship, dysfunctional family, interracial sex, redemption, eviction, suicide ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
georgia, usa, louisiana, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
285K

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, War
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
As a 13-year-old, fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Style:
touching, emotional, sad, heartbreaking, dramatic ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens, adult
Plot:
world war two, wartime, redemption, injustice, love story, tragic love, unfulfilled love, war, love and romance, forbidden love, love, false accusation ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, post world war two, victorian era, 50s ...
Place:
england, dunkirk, london, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
A sergeant must deal with his desires to save the lives of young soldiers being sent to Vietnam. Continuously denied the chance to teach the soldiers about his experiences, he settles for trying to help the son of an old army buddy.
Style:
realistic, intense, harsh, bleak, serious ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
vietnam war, military, war, soldier, politics, justice, military life, civil war, wartime, casualty of war, life is a bitch, wartime life ...
Time:
20th century, 60s, year 1968
Place:
washington d.c., vietnam, iraq, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
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Movies similar to Brothers
21K

Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
Style:
emotional, sad, harsh, sexy, serious ...
Plot:
soldier, u.s. military, iraq war, friendship, death, war, homecoming, redemption, small town, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, wartime life ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
usa, canada, vietnam, middle east, iraq ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
42K

Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971
Style:
realistic, tense, thought provoking, psychological, talky ...
Plot:
military, vietnam war, boot camp, anti war, recruit, insubordination, military base, basic training, buddies, war, army, suspense ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1971
Place:
vietnam, louisiana, usa, kansas
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%

Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Follow a group of international journalists into the heart of the once cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo—now a danger zone of sniper and mortar attacks where residents still live. While reporting on an American aid worker who’s trying to get ...
Style:
disturbing, realistic, harsh, heartbreaking, brutal ...
Plot:
journalism, adoption, bosnian war, civil war, anti war, war, orphan, family relations, morality, military, rescue, politics ...
Time:
90s
Place:
vietnam, england, sarajevo, former yugoslavia, europe ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Movie in collections

Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Upon hearing his wife was killed in the Iraq war, a father takes his two daughters on a road trip.
Style:
psychological, emotional, touching, realistic, intense ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
iraq war, father daughter relationship, family relations, support group, insomnia, parents and children, truth, patriotism, couple relations, anti war, on the road, death in the family ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
minnesota, florida, iraq, middle east, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%

Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A young woman joins the military to be part of something bigger than herself and her small-town roots. Instead, she ends up as a new guard at Guantanamo Bay, where her mission is far from black and white. Surrounded by hostile jihadists and ...
Style:
sincere, intense, captivating, serious, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
female soldier, american abroad, military police, female protagonist, military, friendship, prison escape, prison, prison life, relationships, brutality, stereotypes ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
iraq, california, cuba
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
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The Lucky One related movies
133K

Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic ...
Style:
touching, psychological, emotional, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
war, family problems, adultery, military, marital infidelity, presumed dead, american soldier, brothers, dysfunctional family, soldier, suspicion, twists and turns ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
afghanistan, iraq, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Samantha Hughes, a teenaged Kentucky girl, never knew her father, who died in Vietnam before her birth. Samantha lives with her uncle Emmett, who also served in Vietnam. Emmett hangs around with Tom, Earl, and Pete, three other Vietnam vets who, ...
Style:
emotional, touching, realistic, sexy, visually appealing ...
Plot:
vietnam war, obsession, friendship, vietnam veteran, crime gone awry, courage, sacrifice, brutality, adaptation, small town, wartime, war ...
Place:
vietnam, kentucky, california, usa, washington d.c. ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
Come See The Paradise is a deeply touching love story set against the backdrop of a dramatic and controversial period in American history, It follows the romance and eventual marriage of Jack McGurn (Dennis Quad), a hot blooded Irish American, and a ...
Style:
emotional, dramatic, romantic, heartbreaking, sad ...
Plot:
world war two, interracial romance, forbidden love, love, racism, family relations, war, culture clash, holocaust, marriage, bomb, death ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, 20th century, year 1941, year 1936 ...
Place:
hiroshima japan, ireland, japan, asia, tokyo ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
151K

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, Italy, Romania, UK
Duration: 154 min.
Story:
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind ...
Style:
romantic, epic, sincere, serious, touching ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
american civil war, survival, love story, civil war, tragic love, war, loss of family member, wartime, getting home, slavery, loss of loved one, military ...
Time:
19th century, 1860s, victorian era, 50s
Place:
south carolina, north carolina, usa, ancient greece, atlantic ocean ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
11K

Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A hardened mercenary in the Foreign Legion begins to find his own humanity when confronted with atrocities during the fighting in Bosnia
Style:
disturbing, bleak, rough, tense, suspenseful ...
Plot:
atrocity, terrorism, rape, redemption, mercenary, war crime, breast feeding, soldier, hopes, pregnancy, life is a bitch, woman in danger ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
bosnia, europe, former yugoslavia, serbia, bosnia herzegovina ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
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Movies similar to Manchester by the Sea

Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
An intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War II, in its twilight. Pete and Big Boy are masters of the prairie, but ultimately face trickier ...
Style:
realistic, stylized, sexy, serious, suspenseful ...
Plot:
friendship, infidelity, cattle ranch, cowboy, desert, gunfight, love triangle, introspection, human nature, homecoming, world war two, coming of age ...
Time:
post world war two
Place:
new mexico, pearl harbor, california, new jersey, texas ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%

Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.
Style:
emotional, touching, sincere, depressing, inspirational ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
grief, friendship, dealing with death, mental illness, tragic event, friends, loss of loved one, alone, buddies, psychology, mental disorder, loss ...
Time:
september 11 2001, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
5K

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Victor is a cook who works in a greasy bar/restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heavy drinking regular, Leo. But things change when Callie, a beautiful college drop-out, shows up as a ...
Style:
realistic, touching, feel good, visually appealing, unusual plot structure ...
Plot:
small town, food, loneliness, restaurant, workplace, self discovery, bittersweet, hospital, nude, waitress, seduction, unlikely friendships ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
new jersey, usa, new york state
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Movie in collections

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
A nurse and her surgeon-lover are part of a resistance movement in 1940s Czechoslovakia. When they are discovered, her lover flees and she must find a place to hide. A patient whose life she saved, a man from a remote mountain village where time ...
Style:
touching, realistic, emotional, sincere, sexy ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
world war two, redemption, small town, marriage, betrayal, self discovery, older man younger woman relationship, couple relations, life is a bitch, hopes, society, resistance ...
Time:
1940s, post world war two, 20th century
Place:
germany, central europe, czechoslovakia, prague
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.
Style:
tense, melancholic, bleak, emotional, atmospheric ...
Plot:
police officer, fugitives, prison, criminal, love triangle, chase, criminal heroes, escapades, on the road, relationships, love, bittersweet ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
texas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Also search:
Atonement similar movies
25K

Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Follows veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, as he struggles to take care of his family, and fights for his own survival.
Style:
bleak, intense, neo noir, thought provoking, rough ...
Plot:
police corruption, brutality, police, police brutality, bigotry, dysfunctional family, scandal, dishonesty, drugs, law enforcement, sister sister relationship, suspense ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1999
Place:
california, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Style:
emotional, sentimental, realistic, clever, bad ending ...
Plot:
murder, guilt, friendship, family relations, starting over, haunted by the past, fall in love, death in the family, family problems, dysfunctional family, grief, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
massachusetts, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
11K

Genre: Drama, War
Country: Denmark, UK, Sweden, Norway
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A Danish officer, Michael (Thomsen), is sent away to the International Security Assistance Force operation in Afghanistan for three months. His first mission there is to find a young radar technician who had been separated from his squad some ...
Style:
emotional, tense, disturbing, serious, melancholic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
courage, brutality, depression, politics, relationships, brothers, war, family problems, brother brother relationship, prisoner, family relations, military ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
afghanistan, california, tokyo, europe, denmark
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
Style:
thought provoking, gloomy, touching, emotional, bleak ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
bully, bullying, father son relationship, friendship, revenge, divorce, loneliness, bomb, childhood, parenthood, youth, society ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
africa, sudan, denmark, europe, london ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Spain
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
The lives of three women have a commonality: adoption. Karen is a physical therapist who regrets that, as a teenager, she gave up her daughter for adoption. Elizabeth was an adopted child and is now a successful lawyer, but her personal life lacks ...
Style:
sincere, realistic, emotional, talky, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
adoption, women, pregnancy, lawyer, family relations, mother daughter relationship, existentialism, manipulation, parents and children, estrangement, hopes, extramarital affair ...
Time:
year 1973, 21st century
Place:
los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
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Movies similar to Legends of the Fall

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in ...
Style:
emotional, touching, romantic, psychological, sexy ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
marriage, dysfunctional family, depression, couple relations, lust, crumbling marriage, husband wife relationship, love story, marital problem, relationships, strong sexual content, melancholy ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, pennsylvania, usa, florida, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
A young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.
Style:
emotional, serious, talky, feminist film, philosophical ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, wedding, drug addiction, favoritism among siblings, sister sister relationship, addiction, marriage, wedding preparations and rituals, character study, family problems, psychology, estrangement ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
connecticut, canada, usa, hawaii, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Joe, a young American soldier, is hit by a mortar shell on the last day of World War I. He lies in a hospital bed in a fate worse than death - a quadruple amputee who has lost his arms, legs, eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Unbeknown to his doctors, he ...
Style:
thought provoking, disturbing, depressing, surreal, political ...
Plot:
anti war, war, hospital, disability, haunted by the past, mute, dreams, amputation, freak, isolation, patient, soldier ...
Time:
1920s, 1910s, 20th century
Place:
israel, iraq, vietnam, colorado, france ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%

Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Married couple Jack and Terry Linden are experiencing a difficult period in their relationship. When Jack decides to step outside the marriage, he becomes involved with Edith, who happens to be the wife of his best friend and colleague, Hank Evans. ...
Style:
emotional, stylized, psychological, touching, sincere ...
Plot:
infidelity, extramarital affair, marriage, friendship, adultery, love affair, cheating wife, betrayal, lust, cheating, forbidden love, character study ...
Place:
england, europe, oregon, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
34%

Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
Style:
realistic, emotional, tense, intense, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
iraq war, military, terrorism, soldier, war, army, sniper, suspense, bomb, bomb squad, marines, gulf war ...
Time:
2000s, year 2004, 21st century
Place:
middle east, iraq, baghdad iraq, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
34%
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