Movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
If you like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" you are looking for psychological, thought provoking and serious movies about / with mental institution, mental illness, fighting the system, freedom, human spirit, insanity and society themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
1.1M
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser, Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse, Mildred Ratched.
Style:
psychological, thought provoking, serious, dramatic, emotional, spiritual, retro, surprise ending, sincere, tragicomedy ...
Audience:
date night, family friendly, teen drama, adult
Plot:
mental institution, mental illness, fighting the system, freedom, human spirit, insanity, society, mental patient, mental disorder, nurse, psychiatrist, schizophrenia, escape, crazy, suicide, self control, friendship, unlikely friendships, life changing, doctors and patients, fishing, schizophrenic, sadist, human rights, small town ...
Time:
60s, 20th century, year 1975, year 1963, 1960s
Place:
oregon, america, persia, eastern europe
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, psychological, intense and depressing films with plots about storytelling, psychology, depression, mentor, mental illness, loneliness and psychological drama mostly in Drama, Biography and Mystery genres. Some movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Sling Blade (1996), Awakenings (1990), Forrest Gump (1994). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style:
clever, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place:
usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Similarity:
74%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line ...
Style:
psychological, crying, gothic, serious, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
mental illness, suicide, coming of age, psychiatric ward, suicide attempt, mental institution, teenage girl, psychiatrist, borderline personality disorder, insanity, female protagonist, mentally unstable ...
Time:
20th century, year 1999, 90s, year 1967, 60s
Place:
usa
Similarity:
78%
104K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Karl Childers is a mentally disabled man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside ...
Style:
independent film, neo noir, sincere, serious, sad ...
Audience:
manly, date night, teen drama, adult
Plot:
friendship, small town, dysfunctional family, closeted homosexual, murder, mental illness, homosexual, psychiatric hospital, mental retardation, death threat, domestic violence, father figure ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1996
Place:
arkansas, southern usa, usa
Similarity:
80%
175K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, ...
Style:
inspirational, sentimental, cerebral, psychological, touching ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
hospital, mental illness, mental institution, illness, doctors and patients, medical, fighting illness, doctor, medicine, catatonia, disability, patient ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 1930s, 60s, year 1969
Place:
bronx new york city, new york, america, usa
Similarity:
67%
Movie in collections
2.5M
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, feel good, sentimental, uplifting ...
Audience:
girls' night, date night, chick flick, kids, teens ...
Plot:
life philosophy, philosophy, life, mentally challenged, destiny, storytelling, love, rise to the top, human spirit, selflessness, vietnam war, life & death ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 50s, 60s, 1950s ...
Place:
china, alabama, vietnam, america, savannah georgia ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
Style:
depressing, sad, heartbreaking, touching, independent film ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, adult
Plot:
sadness, family drama, loneliness, suicide attempt, depression, loss, death, uncle nephew relationship, dysfunctional family, guardian, nephew, grief ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016
Place:
massachusetts, boston, nebraska, new england
Similarity:
80%
905K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Style:
psychological, surreal, mind bending, atmospheric, philosophical ...
Audience:
teens, date night, adult, teen drama
Plot:
mental illness, imaginary friend, schizophrenia, psychology, time travel, insanity, parallel universe, suburbs, surrealism, time loop, trippy, schizophrenic ...
Time:
80s, year 2001, 2000s, future, 20th century ...
Place:
los angeles, america, usa, virginia, harvard university
Similarity:
100%
580K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.
Style:
road movie, inspirational, sincere, uplifting, touching ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
autism, road trip, redemption, disability, mentally challenged, brother brother relationship, siblings relations, runaway, self discovery, mathematics, psychiatry, life changing ...
Time:
20th century, year 1988, 80s
Place:
las vegas, california, ohio, cincinnati ohio, columbus ohio ...
Similarity:
70%
Movie in collections
2.6M
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style:
psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, cerebral, thought provoking ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot:
twists and turns, self destructing, psychology, split personality, plot twist, nihilism, insanity, obsession, dissociative identity disorder, insomnia, identity crisis, mental illness ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1999, year 2013
Place:
delaware, seattle, iran, america, los angeles ...
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. ...
Style:
psychological, philosophical, emotional, sentimental, intellectual ...
Audience:
girls' night, teens, chick flick, family friendly, date night ...
Plot:
mathematics, genius, professor, prodigy, life, life philosophy, psychology, philosophy, mentor, psychotherapy, university, life lesson ...
Time:
year 1997, 20th century, 90s, 2010s
Place:
boston, harvard university, america, persia, massachusetts ...
Similarity:
64%
1.4M
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby ...
Style:
psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, neo noir, confusing ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
memory, vengeance, memory loss, plot twist, revenge, murder, amnesia, whodunit, twists and turns, paranoia, murder mystery, manipulation ...
Time:
year 2000, year 2001, future, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
los angeles, california, iran, america, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable ...
Style:
atmospheric, serious, rough, depressing, intense ...
Audience:
manly, adult
Plot:
prison, escape, prisoner, prison break, death, prison life, runaway, convict, prison escape, egg, freedom, fugitive ...
Time:
20th century, 1950s, year 1967, 60s, 50s
Place:
florida, southern usa
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Style:
philosophical, inspirational, sentimental, uplifting, touching ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, kids, family outing, girls' night ...
Plot:
teacher, suicide, poetry, coming of age, poet, mentor, teenager, literature, teachers and students, friendship, philosophy, dedicated educator ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, 20th century, year 1989, year 1959
Place:
vermont, new england, usa, harvard university
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
Style:
melancholic, depressing, touching, sad, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
dysfunctional family, disability, small town, mentally challenged, mental illness, self discovery, responsibility, brothers, character study, coming of age, life philosophy, life & death ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1993, 70s, 60s
Place:
iowa, texas, southern usa, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
On April 9, 1948, a Jewish militia entered the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin and killed over 100 villagers. Soon after, a mental hospital was built on the ruins. The first patients to be committed were Holocaust survivors. A legend says that to ...
Style:
uplifting, psychological, emotional, rough, bleak ...
Plot:
mental institution, haunted by the past, uncover truth, human spirit, culture clash, memory loss, life is a bitch, hopes, mentally unstable, conflict, israeli, israeli palestinian conflict ...
Place:
israel, palestine, usa, middle east
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show", a 24-hour-a-day "reality" TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life -- live and in color -- without his knowledge. His entire life has been an unending soap opera for ...
Style:
philosophical, thought provoking, psychological, surreal, touching ...
Audience:
teens, family outing, teen drama
Plot:
self discovery, simulated reality, video surveillance, alternate reality, fictional reality show, dystopia, freedom, hidden camera, utopia, paranoia, consciousness, loneliness ...
Time:
year 1998, 20th century, 90s, future
Place:
florida, persia, america, usa, los angeles
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.
Style:
controversial, disgusting, erotic, extreme horror, psychological ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult, teen drama
Plot:
torture, atrocity, sexual perversion, sex, fascism, sexual abuse, sexual torture, sadism, brutality, rape, libertine, captivity ...
Time:
1940s, year 1975, 20th century, year 1943, year 1944 ...
Place:
italy, europe, latin america
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
At Princeton University, John Nash struggles to make a worthwhile contribution to serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He finally makes a revolutionary breakthrough that will eventually earn him the Nobel Prize. After graduate school he ...
Style:
psychological, touching, cerebral, dramatic, intellectual ...
Audience:
teens, date night, chick flick, family friendly
Plot:
mathematics, mental illness, schizophrenia, genius, paranoia, insanity, imagination, scientist, prodigy, nobel prize, imaginary friend, mathematician ...
Time:
year 2001, 60s, 1940s, 20th century, 2000s ...
Place:
harvard university, boston, new jersey, detroit, persia ...
Similarity:
50%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.
Style:
cerebral, inspirational, psychological, heartbreaking, clever ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, adult
Plot:
aids, transsexual, fighting the system, hiv, transgender, human spirit, casual sex, treatment, hiv positive, life is a bitch, gay slur, drug ...
Time:
80s, year 2013, 2000s, 20th century, 90s ...
Place:
texas, usa, idaho, midwest, nebraska ...
Similarity:
57%
348K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 188 min.
Story:
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Style:
cerebral, clever, depressing, sincere, sexy ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult
Plot:
multiple storylines, social problems, human nature, child prodigy, coincidence, depression, sex, cancer, fictional game show, father son relationship, dysfunctional family, terminal illness ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1999, 60s, 1950s ...
Place:
los angeles, california, reno nevada
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having ...
Style:
depressing, realistic, crying, sentimental, compassionate ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
dysfunctional family, therapy, suicide attempt, suicide, grief, coming of age, depression, psychiatrist, alienation, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, loner ...
Time:
20th century, year 1980, 70s, 80s
Place:
chicago, usa, illinois, houston texas, middle east ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Four women are given into the custody of the Magdalene sisterhood asylum to correct their sinful behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a premarital child, Margaret got raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly ...
Style:
bleak, harsh, brutal, controversial, depressing ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
nun, convent, catholic church, life is a bitch, corporal punishment, evil nun, human spirit, punishment, religion, catholic orphanage, sexual harassment, violence against women ...
Time:
60s, 20th century, year 1964, year 2002
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland, europe, latin america
Similarity:
50%
11K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Lyle is filled with rage. After badly beating a classmate during a schoolyard fight, Lyle is committed to a juvenile mental institution in lieu of criminal prosecution. Inside the hospital, Lyle encounters a group of adolescents struggling with a ...
Style:
psychological, disturbing, independent film, depressing, compassionate ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
mental institution, mental illness, coming of age, juvenile delinquency, depression, self harm, addiction, mental health, manic, psychology, therapy, dysfunctional family ...
Time:
year 2001
Place:
new jersey, california
Similarity:
67%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
The emotional story of a young man in a mental institution for teens who begins to understand his psychosis in the environment of others with mental and emotional problems. He finds intimacy with Lisa, a young woman suffering from schizophrenia.
Style:
psychological, mind bending, surreal, psychedelic, spiritual ...
Plot:
mental illness, multiple personality disorder, angst, mental disorder, insanity, schizophrenia, mental institution, teenage love, coming of age, young lovers, psychiatric hospital, homosexual subtext ...
Time:
60s, 50s, 1950s
Place:
philadelphia
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 183 min.
Story:
A group of working-class friends decides to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in ...
Style:
depressing, epic, psychological, emotional, harsh ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
vietnam war, russian roulette, hunting, anti war, suicide, friendship, small town, wedding, u.s. army, gambling, drunkenness, war crime ...
Time:
20th century, year 1978, post world war two, 60s
Place:
vietnam, pennsylvania, pittsburgh, asia, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
765K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
Style:
disturbing, psychedelic, captivating, dark comedy, black comedy ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
addiction, heroin, drug addiction, drug abuse, existentialism, dark humor, counterculture, junkie, life is a bitch, subculture, dialogue, social misfits ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1996
Place:
scotland, edinburgh scotland, london, england, britain ...
Similarity:
71%
150K
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.
Style:
touching, heartbreaking, sad, depressing, tear jerker ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
alzheimer's disease, memory loss, illness, supportive spouse, mother daughter relationship, columbia university, family bonds, terminal illness, family drama, relationships, psychology, memory lapse ...
Time:
year 2014, 2010s, year 2015, future, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
100%
120K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, ...
Style:
depressing, emotional, inspirational, bleak, rough ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
rape, dysfunctional family, coming of age, poverty, teacher, sexual abuse, illiteracy, african american, domestic violence, aids, child abuse, parents and children ...
Time:
2000s, 20th century, year 1987, 80s
Place:
new york, america, harlem, new york city, usa, harlem ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
When an acclaimed music producer goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his friends chase him though the LA music scene to help commit him to a psychiatric hospital, revealing the troubling inadequacies of the mental health care system.
Style:
realistic, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, touching ...
Plot:
songwriter, schizophrenia, record producer, medication, mental disorder, music industry, mental illness, friendship, help, music, musician's life, schizophrenic ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Based on the play of the same name by Pulitzer Prize Winner Cormac McCarthy, this searing two-character drama mixes humor and pathos while examining the relationship between strangers who are brought together by desperate circumstances. Set in a New ...
Style:
philosophical, talky, psychological, thought provoking, sexy ...
Plot:
atheism, atheist, religion, psychology, dialogue, suicide attempt, faith, bible, suffering, debate, suicide, multiple storylines ...
Time:
year 2011, 21st century
Place:
usa, new york
Similarity:
100%
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