Movies like The Penitent
If you like "The Penitent" you are looking for religious drama, intense and suspenseful movies about / with catholicism, love triangle, jealousy, sin, tradition, jealous husband and small town themes of Drama genre shot in Mexico or USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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The Penitent (1988)
187
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Tension between a jealous husband, his wife who's attracted to his friend and the friend is rising as their small, deeply catholic, Mexican village is deciding who will be Christ during the possibly dangerous reenactment of the Crucifixion.
Style:
religious drama, intense, suspenseful, independent film, christian film
Plot:
catholicism, love triangle, jealousy, sin, tradition, jealous husband, small town, sexual repression, obsession, ritual, redemption, guilt, sexual tension, moral ambiguity, forgiveness, rite of passage, crucifix, christian propaganda, christian faith, village, easter, bare chested male, psychological drama, procession
Time:
year 1988
Place:
mexico
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Most similar movies to The Penitent
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out intense, suspenseful, tense and art house films with plots about psychological drama, moral ambiguity, jealousy, obsession, guilt, love triangle and small town mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like The Penitent: The Runner Stumbles (1979), Sammohanam (1994), Against the Wind (1990), Conquering the Rose (2012), Agnus Dei (1997). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Dick Van Dyke stars as a priest accused of murdering a nun. Directed by Stanley Kramer, this 1979 drama also features Kathleen Quinlan, Maureen Stapleton, Ray Bolger, Beau Bridges and Tammy Grimes.
Style:
religious drama, emotional, atmospheric, intense, period piece ...
Plot:
nun, convent, priest, small town, character study, moral ambiguity, false accusation, scandal, investigation, working class, poverty, isolation ...
Time:
year 1970, 70s, year 1979
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Sammohanam tells the story of a mysteriously seductive girl, Pennu (Archana) in a quiet village to which she has temporarily relocated, in search of her missing grandfather, Karuvan Valyachan. She creates a strange chasm among male folks, breaking ...
Style:
suspense, intense, tense, sinister, art house
Plot:
village, sexual tension, unsettling, jealousy, character study, moral ambiguity, isolated community, love triangle, social commentary, mystery woman, rural setting, puzzle ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
79%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Juan flees Madrid and an incestuous relationship with his sister, Ana, working at a mine on the Andalucian coast. When his friendship with Rosario, a local shop girl, becomes romance, Ana shows up wanting to rekindle their affair. He resists at ...
Style:
dramatic, atmospheric, tense, intense, gloomy ...
Plot:
brother sister incest, brother sister sex, incest, sex with brother, brother sister relationship, sex with sister, incestuous relationship, guilt, small town, obsession, forbidden sex, forbidden love ...
Place:
andalusia
Similarity:
79%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
When the coffin of Etta Rose Callahan, a charismatic dance student, is uprooted from the earth after days of rain, the small college town of Remington is haunted with questions involving the young girl's sudden suicide. Jeremiah Mouthy, a ...
Style:
suspense, gothic
Plot:
obsession, suicide, small town, tragedy, character study, jealousy, haunting, loss of innocence, mourning, scandal, grief, funeral ...
Similarity:
77%
Movie in collections
113
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
The young girl Johanne is left by her mother at a solemn convent school. The school is a strange world to her, and when she feels unable to comply with the demands of faith she faces a difficult decision.
Style:
religious drama, bleak, art house, intense, period drama
Plot:
nun, convent, catholicism, religion, children, female protagonist, moral dilemma, young girl, catholic church, identity crisis, coming of age, sacrifice ...
Place:
denmark
Similarity:
67%
226
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Since they met the first time in boarding school as little kids, it was obvious that the orphans Kay and Dave would become a couple. But at sixteen, Dave foolishly attempted to rob a bank with a water pistol, and ended up in jail for eight years. ...
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, intense, neo noir, independent film
Plot:
adultery, boarding school, love triangle, infidelity, family drama, ex convict, temptation, betrayal, moral dilemma, family conflict, second chance, jealous husband ...
Time:
year 1988, 80s
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min.
Story:
Drama - Vic's days are filled with selling sci-fi collectibles, harassing his fellow antique dealers, and trying to communicate with extraterrestrials. - Charles Brin, Alex Cole, Paul Cram
Style:
suspenseful, exciting, serious, independent film, dark ...
Plot:
obsession, small town, danger, alien encounter, death, tragedy, delusion, manipulation, emotional manipulation, exploitation, character study, female victim ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
65%
175
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A horror-movie actor falls in love with the unhappily married young wife of an attorney.
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, detective, independent film
Plot:
love triangle, character study, midlife crisis, forbidden romance, jealousy, infidelity, adultery, unrequited love, bittersweet, loneliness, mature, obsession ...
Time:
year 1970
Place:
san francisco
Similarity:
65%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 72 min.
Story:
Caught Between the Two A very successful black woman named Taliyah finds out that she is in control of everything in her life except one thing. Just when Taliyah thinks her life is in the perfect place she happens to get an unexpected surprise that ...
Style:
romantic drama, independent film, amateur film
Plot:
love triangle, obsession, infidelity, female protagonist, fatal attraction, lust, betrayal, temptation, best friend, self discovery, identity, girlfriend ...
Similarity:
62%
Genre: Drama
Country: China, France
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Wu Hongyan is a female bailiff in a regional court in West China dealing with women awaiting execution—more often than not, sentenced for crimes of passion. Every weekend, without much luck, she looks for love at the Good Luck Matchmaking dance, ...
Style:
neo noir, suspenseful, thrilling, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
affair, social realism, female protagonist, revenge, loneliness, love affair, life is a bitch, social problems, relationship problems, secret, male female relationship, death sentence ...
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Hedda Gabler has just come back from her honeymoon, married to boring but reliable academic George Tesman. Refusing to tie herself down in life and name, Hedda is banking on George being appointed a professorship to secure a better life for the ...
Style:
tragic ending, period drama
Audience:
adult
Plot:
female protagonist, jealousy, manipulation, gender roles, betrayal, love triangle, literary, power struggle, obsession, social satire, moral ambiguity, small town ...
Time:
19th century, victorian era, 1890s
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Carmilla falls for her stepfather and seduces him. When he is killed in a car accident, she decides to take revenge against the driver, but this only leads to a deeper tragedy.
Style:
erotic drama, intense, dark, art house, period piece
Plot:
revenge, stepfather, seduction, car accident, tragedy, forbidden love, female protagonist, obsession, jealousy, love triangle, moral ambiguity, sexual awakening ...
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
60%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
The Night of the brother ("La Noche del Hermano") is a chiaroscuro tale in which the characters' not always explicit feelings cover the gamut from darkness to light through the thin line between love and fear. Because the events of ...
Style:
intense, grim, art house, melancholic, tense ...
Plot:
family drama, trauma, family secret, fear, guilt, slow burn, realism, symbolism, regret, small town, isolation, male protagonist ...
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The gritty lives of Portuguese villagers are shown in this action drama which shows the interaction between a married couple who have taken an unusual vow of celibacy and a gang of gypsies who are terrorizing their village. The film highlights many ...
Style:
intense, tension, period piece
Plot:
village life, forbidden love, small town, violence, jealousy, abduction, catholicism, tragic romance, guilt, poverty, mistrust, sexual assault ...
Time:
year 1970
Similarity:
59%
2K
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Ram, a convict, steps out of jail to fall in love with the do-gooder Paavani.
Style:
intense, tense, emotional, suspense, dark ...
Plot:
convict, redemption, moral ambiguity, love triangle, social issues, prostitution, female antagonist, injustice, obsession, law and order, violence, anti hero ...
Time:
2020s
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Reshma is a patient of psychiatrist Dr Sunny. She gets romantically obsessed with him even though this is not reciprocated by the doctor. The arrival of the doctor's fiancee Annie causes a lot of conflict in the mind of Reshma.
Style:
intense, atmospheric, psychological thriller, suspenseful
Plot:
obsession, mental illness, trauma, character study, psychiatry, jealousy, unrequited love, tragic romance, repression, mature, isolation, psychologist ...
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Rosario and Carlos, husbands, are part of a theater company. In a scene of jealousy, she should shoot and kill him. Carlos has had an affair with Zulma, another acriz of the company. On opening day, in the final scene, Rosario accidentally kills her ...
Style:
bleak, intense, suspense, period piece, dark
Plot:
affair, accident, accidental killing, murder, female protagonist, jealousy, guilt, betrayal, love triangle, infidelity, moral ambiguity, behind the scenes ...
Similarity:
56%
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Gabino, a very dedicated and hardworking young high school student, he is infatuated with Maty and tries to make her fall in love with him. After an incident in the school, where Gabino and his two friends are suspended for harassing Maty, she ...
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, captivating, intense ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, small town, unrequited love, teenage life, love and romance, youth, sexual harassment, high school, relationship problems, tragic love, neglect, love affair ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
latin america, mexico
Similarity:
55%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 67 min.
Story:
Nunsploitation from Japan. Part of the Shûdôjo series.
Style:
controversial, dark, intense, erotic drama, sensual ...
Plot:
sexploitation, convent, nun, female protagonist, hypocrisy, religion, sin, sexual repression, moral ambiguity, repression, temptation, female sexuality ...
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
A newlywed couple gets into trouble when the husband discovers that his wife still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend. What will the consequences of this love triangle be? To what extent will he go to win his wife's love forever?
Style:
romantic drama, serious, tense, melancholic
Plot:
domestic drama, jealousy, newlyweds, love triangle, jealous husband, confrontation, passion, heartbreak, loyalty, ex lover, intimate, moral dilemma ...
Similarity:
52%
394
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A little known episode from the life of Stalinist security police office Julia Brystiger. Her nickname Bloody Luna was a reference to her incredibly brutal methods of interrogation. In the early 1960s, she appears in a centre for the blind on the ...
Style:
psychological, political, thrilling, captivating, suspenseful ...
Plot:
stalinism, torture, catholic, character study, biopic, faith, physical torture, problem, male female relationship, abuse of power, interrogation, totalitarianism ...
Time:
60s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
50%
593
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A young woman living in the South Korean town of Paju recalls the last 8 years of her life, since a young man on the lam escaped to it from Seoul and married her older sister.
Style:
touching, serious, atmospheric, realistic, art house ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
forbidden love, small town, introspection, true love, haunted by the past, starting over, couples, couple relations, love and romance, leaving home, hopes, ethical dilemma ...
Place:
south korea, asia
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Franck, a former young hopeful at the Nantes soccer club, has stayed on to help the team for ten years after an injury,but becomes especially frustrated when he meets a seductive young woman.
Style:
melancholic, art house
Plot:
soccer, infidelity, love triangle, character study, jealousy, small town, seduction, midlife crisis, sexual tension, slice of life, bittersweet, unrequited love ...
Time:
2010s
Similarity:
47%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
The Mitchell family deal with the devastating aftermath of an act of sexual abuse committed by a member of their own family who, after two years, is about to leave prison.
Style:
emotional, tense, intense
Plot:
sexual abuse, family drama, family secret, anger, shame, grief, betrayal, confrontation, guilt, protective parent, moral ambiguity, released from prison ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Alma lives a humble and secluded life behind the walls of a contemporary Catholic convent in Denmark. As she prepares for her perpetual vows as a nun, her older brother Erik unexpectedly shows up. He is a recovering alcoholic and clearly depressed, ...
Style:
religious drama, disturbing, suspenseful, dramatic, serious ...
Plot:
family secret, family tragedy, brother sister relationship, convent, alcoholic, catholic, siblings, catholicism, nun, undercover, monastery, brother ...
Place:
denmark
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
A woman hires a specialist to use rope torture on a woman she blames for her husbands death.
Style:
erotic drama, controversial, art house, dark, intense ...
Plot:
bondage, sexual abuse, sadomasochism, fetish, punishment, manipulation, jealousy, obsession, guilt, trauma, moral ambiguity, revenge ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
japan
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Jane Seymour makes a six-course meal of her starring role as a magazine editor in Obsessed With a Married Woman--indeed, her performance is the only tangible reason for sitting through this artistically bankrupt TV movie. The story contrives to have ...
Style:
romantic drama, realistic, intense
Plot:
adultery, obsession, mistress, infidelity, affair, magazine editor, writers, male female relationship, husband wife relationship, marriage, love triangle, divorce ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Antônio Martins, respected theatrical critic, is a very rational man. But a chance meeting with young Inês, a nude painting model, is going to rock him. Inês keeps a relationship with painter José Torres Campana, an older man with a deep ...
Style:
intense, suspenseful, independent film
Plot:
amputee, painting, desire, jealousy, love triangle, romantic triangle, obsession, seduction, danger, character study, moral ambiguity, adultery ...
Place:
portugal
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Egypt
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A few days before she travels to Mecca to perform Hajj, Ghada faces an emergency which forces her to reach out to people from her tainted past with whom she had cut off contact in order to collect a large sum of money. So, as she collects the money, ...
Style:
emotional, realistic, suspenseful, tense
Plot:
female protagonist, moral dilemma, forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, moral ambiguity, family drama, guilt, identity, urban
Place:
middle east
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A priest visits a small seaside town. Miling a former nun who now teaches catechism on the island thinks that father Emman is the priest she sent for. She believes that a priest would help revive the townspeople's faith in God by putting up ...
Style:
captivating, psychological, thrilling, religious drama
Plot:
priest, clergy, celibacy, catholicism, relationships, relationship problems, problem, secret, faith, nun, sexual repression, ethical dilemma ...
Place:
the philippines
Similarity:
43%
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