Movies like The Promise 1996

If you like "The Promise" you are looking for sincere, slow cinema and inspirational movies about / with coming of age, immigrant, father son relationship, youth, existentialism, melancholy and refugee themes of Drama genre shot in Belgium or France.
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.
The Promise (1996)
 7.7
 9K
The Promise (1996)
Original name: La Promesse
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Tunisia
Duration: 90 min.
Story: In this acclaimed and gripping social portrait of immoral lives in need of rescue, Igor (Jérémie Renier), aged 15, and his father Roger (Olivier Gourmet) deal in housing and peddling illicit labor in the outlying districts of Liege, Belgium. Scams, lies and swindling rule their lives. When one of his father’s illegal workers gets injured on the job and asks Igor to promise to take care of his wife and baby, Igor finds himself at a crossroad. He wants to keep the promise, but the price would be to betray his father.
Style: sincere, slow cinema, inspirational, thought provoking, art house, aesthetic, mesmerizing, tense, touching, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: coming of age, immigrant, father son relationship, youth, existentialism, melancholy, refugee, dysfunctional family, immigration, past, racism, misfit, boy, father, exile, human trafficking, labor, child protagonist, migration, traumatic childhood, social injustice, troubled youth, empathy, ethnicity, european ...
Time: year 1996, 90s
Place: antwerp, france, belgium, los angeles, usa, europe, tokyo
Keyword: gangsters, dreams

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Most similar movies to The Promise

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, sincere and emotional films with plots about youth, coming of age, parents and children, family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family and society mostly in Drama, Mystery and Crime genres. Some movies like The Promise: Rosetta (1999), Ratcatcher (1999), Fish Tank (2009), The Son (2002), Lorna's Silence (2008). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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 7.4
 15K
Rosetta (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Young and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
Style: serious, bleak, art house, contemplative, realistic ...
Audience: teens
Plot: unemployment, fishing, poverty, alcoholic mother, snitch, realism, loneliness, mother daughter relationship, alcoholic, life is a bitch, coming of age, family problems ...
Time: year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place: belgium, france, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
 7.5
 12K
Ratcatcher (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 94 min.
Story: James Gillespie is 12 years old. The world he knew is changing. Haunted by a secret, he has become a stranger in his own family. He is drawn to the canal where he creates a world of his own. He finds an awkward tenderness with Margaret Anne, a ...
Style: disturbing, bleak, crying, depressing, art house ...
Audience: teens
Plot: children, poverty, boy, friendship, coming of age, neighbor, bully, strike, teenage boy, grief, rat, urban decay ...
Time: 70s, year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place: glasgow scotland, britain, nebraska, scotland
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.3
 65K
Fish Tank (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Netherlands
Duration: 123 min.
Story: Everything changes for 15 year old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
Style: bleak, emotional, gloomy, sincere, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: age difference, mother's boyfriend, adolescence, older man younger woman relationship, teenage girl, rebelliousness, coming of age, dancing, youth, life is a bitch, sex with a minor, dysfunctional family ...
Time: year 2009, near future, 2000s, 21st century
Place: europe, england
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.5
 10K
The Son (2002)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 99 min.
Story: A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
Style: psychological, bleak, compassionate, meditative, atmospheric ...
Plot: youth, obsession, redemption, forgiveness, apprentice, going straight, teenage life, family problems, working class, parents and children, teachers and students, death in the family ...
Time: year 2002, 90s, 2000s, future, 21st century
Place: france, usa, belgium, europe, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
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Lorna's Silence (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 105 min.
Story: In order to become the owner of a snack bar with her boyfriend, Lorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, becomes an accomplice to a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio.
Style: serious, atmospheric, harsh, psychological, touching ...
Audience: adult
Plot: immigrant, marriage, society, divorce, brutality, manipulation, loneliness, life is a bitch, danger, attempted murder, moral dilemma, plan gone awry ...
Time: year 2008, 2000s, 21st century
Place: belgium, europe, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
64%
 7.4
 19K
The Child (2005)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Bruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
Style: sincere, emotional, harsh, rough, independent film ...
Audience: teens
Plot: homeless, poverty, dysfunctional family, youth, baby, black market, social decay, going straight, life is a bitch, human nature, society, petty criminal ...
Time: year 2005, 2000s, 90s, 21st century
Place: belgium, france, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
59%
 6.6
 312
Macondo (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Austria
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A drama centered on an 11-year-old Chechnyan refugee living in Vienna whose life is thrown into disarray when a friend of his deceased father materializes.
Style: sincere, serious, touching, realistic, gloomy
Plot: coming of age, youth, interracial relations, immigrant, society, life is a bitch, misfit, boy, father, migration, refugee, exile ...
Time: 21st century
Place: austria
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
The Cement Garden (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 105 min.
Story: After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially ...
Style: disturbing, erotic, sexy, art house, talky ...
Audience: teen drama, adult
Plot: incest, coming of age, brother sister incest, teenage life, parents and children, male nudity, children, family relations, forbidden sex, male masturbation, brother sister sex, youth ...
Time: 90s, near future, year 1993
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
The Orheim Company (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A strong, human tale about a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, but also an energetic story about teenage lust, pain and passion – about liberation and redemption.
Style: realistic, serious, touching, emotional, captivating ...
Audience: teens
Plot: family relations, childhood, parenthood, parents and children, teenage life, haunted by the past, coming of age, youth, coping, orphan, criminality, mountain ...
Time: 20th century, 80s
⇓ similarity ⇓
46%
Fifteen and Pregnant (1998)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Based on a true story, 15 year old Tina Spangler discovers she is pregnant. Her choices are abortion, adoption, or a lonely, exhausting life as a single parent. Abandoned by her boyfriend, she turns to her mother. Tina discovers although it has torn ...
Style: realistic, serious, touching, emotional, psychological ...
Audience: teens
Plot: pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, family problems, lifestyle, teenage life, family in crisis, hopes, parent child relationship, sister sister relationship, youth, family relations, husband wife relationship ...
Time: 20th century, 90s
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
46%
 6.2
 177
Absence (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil, Chile, France
Duration: 87 min.
Story: A daily, familiar, sexual and emotional drama. Based on the character Serginho, the plot is based around various aspects of this "no longer a boy, not yet a man". We follow his day to day: the recently acquired role of man of the house, ...
Style: serious, realistic, touching, emotional, bleak
Plot: dysfunctional family, teenage life, family problems, child as adult, parents and children, family relations, youth, teachers and students, coming of age, lgbt, gay, boy ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
Private Property (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Since Luc granted a divorce to Pascale ten years ago, he paid generous alimony and left a fine country house as long as their twin sons remain at home. Pascale always acted as if she was the provider and head of the household, even now the ...
Style: serious, touching, sincere, realistic, emotional ...
Plot: single parent, fondling, love triangle, couples, family life, impossible love, breakup, sex in car, love and romance, starting over, family problems, family relations ...
Time: year 2006, 21st century
Place: belgium, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
 7.5
 8K
Welcome (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Bilal is 17 years old, a Kurdish boy from Iraq. He sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe. He wants to get to England to see his love who lives there. Bilal finally reaches Calais, but how do you cover 32 kilometers of the English ...
Style: thought provoking, sincere, touching, serious, uplifting ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: refugee, coming of age, kurd, swimming, self discovery, obsessive quest, friendship, adolescence vs adulthood, family disapproval, misfit, human spirit, hopes ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, 21st century
Place: france, england, english channel, london, iraq
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
Along the Ridge (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 108 min.
Story: A young father and his two children struggle to find harmony after his wife leaves them for another man.
Style: serious, realistic, emotional, touching
Plot: coming of age, boy, family relations, friendship, dysfunctional family, lifestyle, siblings relations, parents and children, single parent, youth, family problems, unfaithful wife ...
Time: year 2006, 21st century
Place: italy, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 91 min.
Story: This finely acted, delicate and provocative new film by one of France’s most impressive filmmakers—working here with his son, Nathan—depicts the troubled life of an adopted boy who, as a taciturn adult, visits his birth mother and strikes up a ...
Style: sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic ...
Audience: teens, toddlers
Plot: mother son reunion, youth, foster child, disorder, haunted by the past, parents and children, adoption, family relations, family problems, mischievous children, dysfunctional family, siblings relations ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: france, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
 6.0
 159
Almost a Woman (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: A young woman named Esmeralda and her family move to New York from a rural area of Puerto Rico. The transition is difficult due to the many challenges she and her family face.
Style: realistic, serious, sincere, touching, hispanic
Plot: immigrant, lifestyle, rise to the top, human spirit, family life, teenage life, parents and children, family problems, single parent, youth, hopes, teachers and students ...
Time: 60s
Place: new york, puerto rico, latin america, usa, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
The Last Hammer Blow (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min.
Story: When he first enters the Montpellier Opera House, Victor knows nothing about music. Nor does he know his father, Samuel Rovinski, who is there to conduct Mahler’s 6th symphony. To change the course of his suddenly uncertain future, for Nadia his ...
Style: realistic, touching, sentimental, emotional, captivating ...
Plot: coming of age, parents and children, family relations, bittersweet, single parent, teenage boy, father son relationship, orchestra conductor, father son reunion, boyhood, father, boy ...
Time: 21st century
Place: france
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
The Third Side of the River (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Tensions rise when a doctor (Daniel Veronese) pressures his teenage son to follow in his footsteps.
Style: realistic, emotional, psychological, tense, serious
Plot: coming of age, family problems, parents and children, family relations, small town, under the surface, teenage life, dysfunctional family, father son relationship, double life, father, youth ...
Time: 21st century
Place: argentina, latin america
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
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 7.1
 2K
Kauwboy (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 81 min.
Story: Ten-year-old Jojo lives with his father, a security guard with a volatile personality who drinks to manage the unspoken despair he feels about his wife's absence, which he refuses to discuss with his son. In the midst of so much uncertainty, ...
Style: touching, sincere, serious, melancholic, realistic
Audience: family outing
Plot: parents and children, coming of age, family problems, dysfunctional family, friendship, father son relationship, youth, pets, escape from reality, dishonesty, bird, life & death ...
Time: year 2012, 21st century
Place: holland
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
 7.5
 2K
Boy (1969)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A family of four lives off of scams in which they pretend to be injured by automobiles. After suffering an injury during the war, the father believes he is an invalid. He and his wife have a 10-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. The adults pretend ...
Style: experimental, serious, realistic, thought provoking, atmospheric ...
Audience: teens
Plot: youth, family relations, child abuse, dysfunctional family, train, boy, treasure hunt, traumatic childhood, bad father, abusive father, father son relationship, stepmother ...
Time: year 1969, 60s, 20th century
Place: japan, hokkaido
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
The End of Love (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Mark is a struggling actor stuck between the life he once knew and the one waiting for him. When the mother of his two-year-old son suddenly passes away, Mark is forced to confront his shortcomings. Their fates, now intertwined, hang in the balance ...
Style: serious, sincere, touching, realistic, emotional ...
Audience: toddlers
Plot: single father, babies and infants, family relations, single parent, family problems, family in crisis, parents and children, life turned upside down, parent child relationship, death in the family, father son relationship, car accident ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
...And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him (1994)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: Twelve-year-old Mexican-American Marcos (Jose Alcala) recalls the hardships of the previous year, reflecting on the arduous trek his migrant-worker family made from Texas to the Midwest during harvest season. Along the way, Marcos learns plenty ...
Style: independent film, realistic, serious, emotional, sincere ...
Plot: youth, labor, korean war, migration, quarantine, strike, union, immigrant, coming of age, family relations, bittersweet, innocence lost ...
Time: 50s, 20th century, 1950s
Place: minnesota, texas
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Summer 1966. It's time to enjoy the summer holiday, total freedom. Teenage Élise discovers that the sudden departure of her mother completely disrupts the family. Her brother Coco seeks solace in the garage, building a super racing car. Her ...
Style: emotional, realistic, serious, touching, disturbing ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: family relations, coming of age, elderly lovers, youth, family life, family problems, couples, estrangement, lifestyle, love and romance, dysfunctional family, bittersweet ...
Time: 60s
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
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 6.5
 448
Waterproof (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Single mother Tyree Battle struggles to keep her young son Thaniel away from the gang-plagued city streets that he is mixed up in. Under severe gang pressure, Thaniel accidentally shoots Jewish shopkeeper Eli Zeal in a botched robbery attempt. ...
Style: realistic, touching, serious, emotional, independent film ...
Plot: family relations, gang, homecoming, family problems, self discovery, aging, redemption, youth, single parent, going straight, heist, family life ...
Time: 90s
Place: usa, louisiana
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Young Girls in Black (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Noémie and Priscilla, two teenage girls from working class backgrounds, cultivate the same violence, the same contempt of the world. They are a source of serious concern for family and friends, who sense them capable of going to extremes. Noémie ...
Style: contemplative, realistic, tense, emotional, psychological ...
Plot: human nature, teenage life, family problems, society, youth, dysfunctional family, death, suicidal thoughts, friendship, rebelliousness, coming of age, rebellion ...
Time: 21st century
Place: france, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
 7.1
 48
Red Leaves (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 82 min.
Story: An Ethiopian immigrant, sets out on a journey through his children's homes after losing his wife. Coming to know some of life's harsh new realities, he tries to survive in his own way.
Style: realistic, touching, serious, emotional, tense
Plot: family relations, elderly, parents and children, dysfunctional family, family problems, society, immigrant
Time: 21st century
Place: palestine, israel
⇓ similarity ⇓
41%
 6.9
 2K
Small Faces (1995)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Three teenage brothers, gang-member Bobby, troubled mama's boy Alan and self-assured prankster Lex, reside in a downtrodden section of Glasgow, Scotland, circa 1968. But while Bobby and Alan are beginning to experience the power of raging ...
Style: realistic, bleak, independent film, tense, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: working class, dysfunctional family, coming of age, gang, youth, subculture, artist, violence, children, british gangster, angry, boy ...
Time: year 1996, 20th century, 90s
Place: scotland, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
Two Days, One Night (2014)
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 — not an easy task in this economy.
Style: depressing, independent film, sincere, serious, compassionate ...
Audience: teens
Plot: depression, unemployment, injustice, working class, female protagonist, solidarity, workplace, loss of job, employer employee relationship, moral dilemma, guilt, poverty ...
Time: year 2014, 90s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: belgium, france, ethiopia, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
The Secret of the Grain (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 151 min.
Story: At the port of Sète, Mr. Slimani, a tired 60-year-old, drags himself toward a shipyard job that has become more and more difficult to cope with as the years go by. He is a divorced father who forces himself to stay close to his family despite the ...
Style: sincere, serious, touching, realistic, culinary ...
Plot: working class, immigrant, father in law daughter in law relationship, cooking, food, ex husband ex wife relationship, restaurant, business venture, family problems, follow your dream, hopes, family life ...
Time: year 2007, 2000s, 21st century
Place: france, africa, middle east, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
Eternity and a Day (1998)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Italy, Greece, Germany
Duration: 137 min.
Story: Alexander, a famous writer, is very ill and has only a few days to live. He meets a little boy on the street, who is an illegal immigrant from Albania. Alexander then takes the boy home.
Style: slow cinema, road movie, philosophical, art house, psychological ...
Plot: terminal illness, immigrant, coming of age, art, dialogue, storytelling, writers, destiny, hospital, greek, refugee, journey ...
Time: 90s, year 1998, 1910s
Place: greece
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
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