Movies like Norma Rae
If you like "Norma Rae" you are looking for political, touching and inspirational movies about / with labor union, working class, feminist, small town, union, women and labor themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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.
Norma Rae (1979)
14K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.
Style:
political, touching, inspirational, philosophical, feel good, sad, aesthetic, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking ...
Plot:
labor union, working class, feminist, small town, union, women, labor, business, labor movement, courage, single mother, american politics, whistleblower, social change, workplace, american history, friendship, politics, mother, job, radical, greed, worker, alienation, activist ...
Time:
20th century, year 1979, 70s
Place:
north carolina, usa, alabama
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Norma Rae
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, sincere and thought provoking films with plots about society, working class, business, injustice, poverty, labor union and capitalism mostly in Drama, History and Biography genres. Some movies like Norma Rae: Places in the Heart (1984), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), North Country (2005), Won't Back Down (2012), Lulu the Tool (1971). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
In 1930s Southern US, a widow and her family try to run their cotton farm with the help of a disparate group of friends.
Style:
uplifting, gothic, sentimental, touching, emotional ...
Audience:
date night, family outing, girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
great depression, ku klux klan, racism, farm, blindness, small town, lynching, mother, single mother, survival, friendship, blind character ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, year 1935, year 1984, 80s
Place:
texas, southern usa, austin texas, midwest, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Amidst her own personality crisis, southern housewife Evelyn Couch meets Ninny, an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in Whistle Stop, Alabama in the ...
Style:
feel good, sentimental, captivating, touching, sad ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, kids, teen drama
Plot:
small town, friendship, lesbian, feminism, self discovery, feminist, small town life, lgbtq, cannibalism, midlife crisis, female bonding, female protagonist ...
Time:
1920s, 1930s, 90s, year 1991, 20th century ...
Place:
alabama, southern usa, usa, georgia, louisiana ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.
Style:
inspirational, sincere, emotional, factual, disturbing ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
courtroom drama, feminism, sexual harassment, small town, lawsuit, rape, feminist, court, lawyer, labor union, courtroom, sexism ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 70s, 80s
Place:
minnesota, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Two determined mothersĀ, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children
Style:
touching, realistic, serious, emotional, inspirational ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
teacher, fighting the system, school, human spirit, hopes, teachers and students, parents and children, youth, society, changing lives, social relations, family relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
A conscientious factory worker gets his finger cut off by a machine. The accident causes him to become more involved in political and revolutionary groups.
Style:
sincere, realistic, emotional, serious, political ...
Plot:
working class, labor union, factory worker, factory, rebellion, boss and employee, rebelliousness, power relations, social differences, workplace situations, anarchist, worker ...
Time:
20th century, year 1971, 70s
Place:
italy, europe
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, France
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
The film focuses on Angie (Kierston Wareing), a working class woman who, after being fired by the agency that she works for, decides to set up a recruitment agency of her own, running it from her kitchen with her friend Rose (Juliet Ellis). Taking ...
Style:
disturbing, realistic, serious, social, epic ...
Plot:
realism, immigrant, working class, injustice, society, employment agency, politics, fighting the system, workplace, legal, life is a bitch, workplace situations ...
Time:
year 2007
Place:
britain, england, europe
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Cuba
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
The story of the Santa MarĆa School massacre of miners in 1907.
Style:
allegory
Plot:
post colonialism, employer, capital, collapse, capitalist society, innovation, damage, capitalism, materialism, historian, job, union ...
Time:
1900s, 20th century
Place:
south america, chile
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Based on the bestselling book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, 'Too Big to Fail' offers an intimate look at the epochal financial crisis of 2008 and the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world's economy in a matter of a few ...
Style:
factual, tense, political, suspenseful, sincere ...
Plot:
wall street, financial crisis, politics, finance, economic crisis, stock market, greed, business, stock broker, money, society, bankruptcy ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
washington d.c., new york, usa, california, middle east
Similarity:
48%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Italy
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
After the closure of their shipyard in Northern Spain, a few former workers: Santa, JosƩ, Lino, Amador, Sergei and Reina keep in touch. They meet mainly at a bar owned by their former colleague Rico. Santa is the most superficially confident and ...
Style:
sincere, touching, realistic, political, serious ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
working class, unemployment, seaport, friendship, society, redemption, small town, working conditions, job seeking, self esteem, life is a bitch, breaking point ...
Time:
year 2002, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
iberian peninsula, europe, galicia, switzerland, spain ...
Similarity:
47%
196
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: West Germany
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A story about slave hunting, colonialism, revenge and love.
Plot:
slave trade, colonialism, black slave, blaxploitation, civil war, human exploitation, nude black woman, female nudity, drowning, waterfall, nudity, profit ...
Time:
year 1978, 1800s, 19th century
Place:
africa
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: West Germany, Czechoslovakia
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Wronke Prison, 1916. Social democrat Rosa Luxemburg faces a mock execution. Twenty years earlier, Rosa's political gifts are acknowledged by everyone, as she struggles for democratic government in Germany and revolution in Poland. There she ...
Style:
political, political thriller, philosophical, suspense, social ...
Plot:
communist, women, revolution, communism, biopic, capitalism, revolutionary, anarchist, world war one, protest, strike, union ...
Time:
20th century, year 1916
Place:
germany, berlin germany
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 345 min.
Story:
We are in the year 1871. A journalist for Versailles Television broadcasts a soothing and official view of events while a Commune television is set up to provide the perspectives of the Paris rebels. On a stage-like set, more than 200 actors ...
Style:
political, black and white, informative, powerful, inspirational ...
Plot:
army vs civilians, socialism, anarchism, found footage, anarchist, revolution, worker, union, strike, struggle, labor, civil unrest ...
Time:
victorian era, 20th century, 2000s, turn of the century, 1870s ...
Place:
paris france, france, versailles
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France, Germany, Belgium
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
26 year-old Karl Marx embarks with his wife, Jenny, on the road to exile. In 1844 in Paris, he meets Friedrich Engels, an industrialistās son, who has been investigating the sordid birth of the British working class. Engels, the dandy, provides ...
Style:
political, captivating, psychological, thought provoking, social ...
Plot:
capitalism, socialism, communism, communist, philosopher, poverty, biopic, factory, writers, industry, money, working class ...
Time:
ancient times, 19th century, year 2017
Place:
soviet union, paris france, manchester, london, prussia ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A Kentucky woman whose mine-worker husband is nearly killed in a cave-in, and whose father is slowly dying of black lung disease, joins the picket lines for a long, violent strike.
Style:
disturbing, realistic, rough, independent film, captivating ...
Plot:
strike, poverty, labor strike, fighting the system, rebellion, against the odds, price of justice, ambition, legal, society, human nature, life is a bitch ...
Time:
70s, year 1973, year 1974
Place:
kentucky, appalachia, usa, new york
Similarity:
44%
525K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min.
Story:
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's ...
Style:
touching, inspirational, feel good, thought provoking, uplifting ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens, kids, date night ...
Plot:
racism, friendship, civil rights, discrimination, writers, women, master and servant, racial segregation, maid, feminist, racial issues, blacks and whites ...
Time:
60s, year 2011, year 1963, 1900s, 50s ...
Place:
mississippi, usa, america, southern usa, africa
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job ā not an easy task in this economy.
Style:
sincere, independent film, depressing, serious, cerebral ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
depression, injustice, unemployment, working class, female protagonist, solidarity, loss of job, workplace, employer employee relationship, guilt, poverty, moral dilemma ...
Time:
year 2014, 90s, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
france, belgium, ethiopia, europe
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A young, white teacher is assigned to an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina populated mostly by poor black families. He finds that the basically illiterate, neglected children there know so little of the world outside their island.
Style:
deep, realistic, serious, uplifting, thought provoking ...
Plot:
teacher, racism, school teacher, education, youth, racial discrimination, american south, african american, humanist, teaching, black history, blaxploitation ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 60s, year 1969
Place:
south carolina, america, usa, southern usa
Similarity:
40%
10K
Genre: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief ...
Style:
political, independent film, talky, bleak, tense ...
Plot:
labor union, racism, working class, coal mining, small town, shootout, mining, coal mine, strike, revolution, revolutionary, american history ...
Time:
1920s, 20th century, year 1987
Place:
west virginia, appalachia, virginia, usa
Similarity:
40%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
The workers fight for their rights creating independent union. They know that it is the only way to struggle against the owners of the plant.
Style:
realistic, disturbing, serious, sincere, thought provoking ...
Plot:
exploitation, socialism, capitalism, industry, money, worker, labor union, class conflict, crisis, working class, city life, society ...
Place:
soviet union
Similarity:
40%
510
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, Poland
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
In poverty, she found strength. In oppression, she found courage. In solidarity, she found a reason to believe again. Acclaimed German actress Katharina Thalbach (THE TIN DRUM, SOPHIEĀS CHOICE) stars in this hard-hitting historical drama set during ...
Style:
serious, realistic, touching, emotional, captivating ...
Plot:
politics, working class, labor union, rebellion, fighting the system, human spirit, ambition, injustice, life is a bitch, legal, rebelliousness, rivalry ...
Time:
year 2006, 21st century
Place:
poland, europe
Similarity:
40%
13K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Chile, Spain, UK, France
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) ...
Style:
political, touching, sincere, emotional, serious ...
Plot:
childhood, coming of age, sexual initiation, politics, friendship, poverty, youth, dictatorship, boy, communism, trauma, demonstration ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1973
Place:
chile, latin america, south america, santiago chile, spain ...
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Bobby Walker lives the proverbial American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and two co-workers jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands and ...
Style:
depressing, serious, sincere, social, cult classic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
unemployment, corporate world, business, corporation, workplace, money, finance, greed, family problems, starting over, society, life is a bitch ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
boston, usa, massachusetts, new jersey, california
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed ...
Style:
realistic, political, melancholic, disturbing, sincere ...
Plot:
labor union, immigrant, politics, working class, janitor, relationships, deportation, fighting the system, working conditions, attorney, cleaning lady, union ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles, usa, mexico city, tijuana mexico, guatemala ...
Similarity:
38%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, India, USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Thirty years on from the 1984 Union Carbide plant malfunction, the consequences of which are tragically ongoing, A Prayer for Rain is the powerful and moving story of the Bhopal tragedy, one of the great corporate and environmental scandals of the ...
Style:
serious, disturbing, bleak, thought provoking, realistic ...
Plot:
chaos, environmentalism, life is a bitch, dishonesty, workplace, society, human nature, state affairs, danger, workplace situations, political corruption, renaissance ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, year 1984
Place:
india
Similarity:
38%
473
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Charles Burnett directs this movie about John, a man of many talents, including one forbidden skill: he can read. When he teaches a young slave girl named Sarny to read and write, she learns an unforgettable lesson about the power of words and the ...
Style:
contemplative, realistic, serious, uplifting, sentimental ...
Plot:
racism, slave, slave trade, slavery, illiteracy, teaching, plantation, racial discrimination, black slave, american civil war, racial issues, blaxploitation ...
Time:
19th century
Place:
america
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
The story of two small town boys from different sides of the tracks: 1950's childhood and self-redemption. Young "Whitey" Black (so called because of a tuft of blanched hair on the left side of his head) lives in poverty with his ...
Style:
uplifting, touching, feel good, emotional, christmas classics ...
Audience:
family outing, kids
Plot:
youth, christmas, friendship, self discovery, social differences, terminal illness, haunted by the past, parents and children, society, life is a bitch, family life, child illness ...
Time:
50s
Place:
north carolina
Similarity:
38%
184K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor's ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit.
Style:
clever, satirical, political, witty, black comedy ...
Plot:
media, journalism, satire, television, social commentary, media manipulation, adultery, corruption, murder, dark humor, business, assassination ...
Time:
70s, year 1976, 20th century, year 1975
Place:
usa, new york, california, manhattan new york city, middle east ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Anesthesist Doug Peeno hopes to pay for the legal costs of preventing his son Bryan being left in his first wife's bad custody with he proceeds of his present wife Linda's new job. She's the first graduate in her family and eagerly ...
Style:
sincere, emotional, realistic, serious
Plot:
public health, idealism, uncover truth, rebellion, ambition, fighting the system, against the odds, couples, negligence, family problems, injustice, society ...
Similarity:
37%
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, emotional, gloomy ...
Plot:
starving child, starvation, youth, doctor, single parent, unemployment, family problems, family relations, life is a bitch, human nature, human spirit, society ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min.
Story:
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert ...
Style:
sentimental, inspirational, touching, sincere, emotional ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
african american, sexual abuse, incest, lgbtq, domestic violence, life is a bitch, rape, racial discrimination, feminism, incest rape, wife abuse, abusive relationship ...
Time:
edwardian era, 20th century, 1930s, year 1985, 1920s ...
Place:
africa, southern usa, usa, tennessee, georgia
Similarity:
37%
Related movie lists
