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).
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The Promise (1996)
9K
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, teenage boy, illegal immigration, past, racism, misfit, racial discrimination, boy, father, exile, human trafficking, trafficking, labor, child protagonist, migration, sex trafficking, traumatic childhood ...
Time:
90s, year 1996
Place:
antwerp, france, belgium, los angeles, usa, europe, tokyo
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Promise
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, touching and sincere films with plots about coming of age, youth, family relations, parents and children, life is a bitch, society and family problems mostly in Drama, Crime and Romance genres. Some movies like The Promise: Rosetta (1999), Suddenly (2006), Ratcatcher (1999), Fish Tank (2009), The Child (2005). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
17K
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:
bleak, serious, art house, contemplative, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
unemployment, fishing, mother daughter conflict, snitch, realism, loneliness, pride, mother daughter relationship, coming of age, family problems, down on your luck, loser ...
Time:
year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place:
belgium, france, europe, california
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
The mother and the younger son in a happy family dies in a car-accident. The father and the teenage-son Jonas survives the accident. Now they have to move on with their lives together.
Style:
touching, sincere, serious, emotional, gloomy ...
Plot:
family relations, starting over, single parent, teenage life, family problems, death in the family, youth, introspection, hopes, parents and children, family in crisis, single father ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe
Similarity:
100%
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, bully, neighbor, urban decay, rat, strike, british, death of child ...
Time:
70s, year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place:
glasgow scotland, scotland, britain, nebraska
Similarity:
100%
68K
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:
sexy, emotional, sincere, bleak, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
adolescence, age difference, coming of age, teenage girl, rebelliousness, mother's boyfriend, hopes, dancing, youth, sexual content, older man younger woman relationship, fall in love ...
Time:
year 2009, near future, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
europe, england, california
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
20K
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, art house ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
homeless, redemption, poverty, youth, dysfunctional family, baby, black market, going straight, social decay, society, life is a bitch, human nature ...
Time:
2000s, year 2005, 90s, 21st century
Place:
belgium, france, europe, tokyo
Similarity:
50%
320
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:
serious, touching, realistic, sincere, emotional ...
Plot:
coming of age, youth, refugee, interracial relations, immigrant, life is a bitch, society, misfit, family drama, grief, single mother, father son relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
austria, vienna
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 101 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, sexy, talky, compassionate, art house ...
Audience:
teen drama, adult
Plot:
incest, coming of age, brother sister incest, brother sister sex, forbidden sex, sex with sister, sex, sex with brother, teenage life, sister sister relationship, siblings relations, incestuous relationship ...
Time:
90s, near future, year 1993
Place:
england
Similarity:
100%
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:
sincere, touching, serious, melancholic, realistic
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
parents and children, coming of age, dysfunctional family, friendship, bird, father son relationship, youth, pets, escape from reality, dishonesty, life & death, children ...
Time:
year 2012, 21st century
Place:
holland
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
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, talky ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, parent child relationship, husband wife relationship, family problems, pregnant teenager, lifestyle, teenage life, family in crisis, hopes, high school, sister sister relationship ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa
Similarity:
42%
2K
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 97 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, realistic, serious, thought provoking, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
dysfunctional family, child abuse, family relations, youth, cons and scams, train, boy, abusive father, father son relationship, stepmother, abortion, treasure hunt ...
Time:
year 1969, 20th century, 60s
Place:
japan, hokkaido
Similarity:
42%
372
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Joy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits and earning a little extra by playing the accordion in the ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, atmospheric, emotional, tense ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
obsession, parents and children, life is a bitch, teenage life, redemption, shoplifting, mistaken identity, society, family relations, hopes, dysfunctional family, youth ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
42%
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:
captivating, serious, sincere, tense, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, toddlers, pre-teens
Plot:
mother son reunion, youth, foster child, disorder, adoption, parents and children, haunted by the past, mother son relationship, family problems, family relations, mischievous children, siblings relations ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
france, europe
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
A love story about the encounter of two drifting souls. Escaping her abusive past, a woman stays the night with an illegal immigrant friend of a friend. The two get closer and fall in love, but face turmoil.
Style:
captivating, realistic, atmospheric, emotional, touching ...
Plot:
city life, couples, society, immigrant, redemption, friendship, youth, love, love story, family relations, age difference, life is a bitch ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles
Similarity:
41%
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, touching, sincere, emotional, realistic ...
Plot:
youth, korean war, labor, migration, union, strike, immigrant, family relations, coming of age, bittersweet, innocence lost, human nature ...
Time:
20th century, 50s, 1950s
Place:
minnesota, texas
Similarity:
41%
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, single parent, youth, going straight, parents and children, family life ...
Time:
90s
Place:
usa, louisiana
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, Ireland
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A dying 15-year-old boy draws stories of an invincible superhero as he struggles with his mortality.
Style:
touching, sincere, emotional, serious, cult classic ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
youth, life is a bitch, hopes, coming of age, human spirit, family problems, family in crisis, terminal illness, dealing with death, child illness, sick child, first love ...
Place:
ireland, usa
Similarity:
40%
1K
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 79 min.
Story:
Duct tape, electrical cables, trigger, explosives. Sebbe never planned to build a bomb. It just happened. Sebbe is 15 years old and lives with his mother in an apartment that is too narrow. He does his best. He never strikes back. Sebbe loves his ...
Style:
realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, contemplative ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens
Plot:
losing-it hero, single parent, coming of age, teenage boy, introspection, teenage life, bullying, youth, society, life is a bitch, juvenile delinquency, parents and children ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe, eastern europe
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
One summer morning, 12-year-old Arnold Hillerman and his 17-year-old brother Eugene wake at dawn to pick peas and perhaps shoot a wild duck on their family's Montana farm. In a nearby pasture, Arnold's gun fires accidentally. His brother ...
Style:
contemplative, serious, realistic, psychological, touching ...
Plot:
farm, coming of age, boy, youth, little boy, grief, hunting, depression, death of brother, guilt, family relations, death in the family ...
Time:
80s
Place:
montana, usa
Similarity:
40%
Movie in collections
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, serious, tense ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
working class, dysfunctional family, coming of age, youth, gang, subculture, violence, artist, boy, angry, little boy, children ...
Time:
year 1996, 20th century, 90s, 60s
Place:
scotland, europe, new jersey, california
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 72 min.
Story:
"My Father My Lord" is an intimate and deeply disturbing story of the conflict between a father's love and his deep devotion to religion. A respected Orthodox Rabbi dotes on his only son but his religious strictures leave an emotional ...
Style:
emotional, touching, sincere, sentimental, captivating ...
Plot:
coming of age, self discovery, family problems, rabbi, religions or cults, life is a bitch, introspection, clergy, hopes, society, parents and children, death in the family ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
middle east, israel
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary, Germany, France
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Drawing inspiration from the death-squad murders of several Gypsy families in Hungary in 2008, director Bence Fliegauf's chilling and unforgettable real-life horror story follows a family whose dreams of emigration and escape are suddenly, ...
Style:
serious, bleak, realistic, sincere, slow cinema ...
Plot:
gypsy, racism, family in danger, social decay, life is a bitch, realism, society, social misfits, danger, murder, family life, secret place ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe, hungary
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A young women unsure of her cultural heritage, arrives in rural Quebec, Canada.
Style:
semi serious, realistic, humorous, touching
Plot:
farm, coming of age, immigrant, family problems, family relations, parents and children, family in crisis, down on your luck, racism, homecoming, teenage life, culture clash ...
Time:
90s
Place:
canada, toronto ontario canada
Similarity:
39%
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:
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:
39%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa, UK, USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
This movie is of Hally, an adolescent white South African. He is stuck between his intolerant father's outlook of him and those of his caretaker, Sam. Sam is a black waiter and Hally's friend and teacher. Hally is required to laugh at his ...
Style:
touching, serious, emotional, captivating, gloomy ...
Plot:
youth, hopes, friendship, racism, interracial relations, human spirit, redemption, family problems, dysfunctional family, social decay, life is a bitch, teaching the ways of the world ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south africa, africa
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Every child who has lost a parent early in life (whether due to death or the separations of divorce or for any other reason) longs to see that parent again. Many have kept up a running dialogue in their heads of things they would say to them if they ...
Style:
thought provoking, serious, realistic, sincere, touching ...
Plot:
transsexual, lgbtq, family relations, lgbt, parents and children, transvestism, estrangement, unfulfillment, coming of age, human nature, society, youth ...
Time:
90s
Place:
quebec, europe, france
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Life as a Mormon missionary isn't what 19-year-old Brandon Allen expected: so many rules and so few successes. Los Angeles is as unrepentant as Sodom and Gomorrah. He's forced to share a small apartment with five young prank-loving ...
Style:
realistic, sincere, touching, serious, psychological ...
Plot:
missionary, couples, redemption, self discovery, life is a bitch, youth, working class, terminal illness, disorder, family relations, tragic hero, couple relations ...
Time:
90s
Place:
california, los angeles, usa
Similarity:
39%
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, realistic, touching, culinary ...
Plot:
working class, immigrant, food, cooking, fish, fishing boat, shipyard, ex husband ex wife relationship, restaurant, business venture, family problems, hopes ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
france, africa, middle east, europe
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A mother searches for five years to find her kidnapped son in this fact-based drama. Unexpectedly the boy is found, but the reunion is not as she hoped. She now has to deal with five years of abuse that the boy suffered at the hands of his ...
Style:
touching, serious, realistic, emotional, sad
Plot:
kids in trouble, kidnapping, coming of age, dysfunctional family, parents and children, captivity, family in crisis, estrangement, family problems, danger, single parent, confined ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Zion, aged 14 and his brother Meir, 17, are facing a crisis in their relationship after a terrible accident. They keep the secret to themselves and it haunts them until, finally, Zion re-examines his loyalty towards his older brother and decides ...
Style:
realistic, serious, bleak
Plot:
family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, youth, society, introspection, teenage life, haunted by the past, working class, family in crisis, siblings relations, profanity ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
israel
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
Max and Lenny is the story of a friendship between two girls fighting for survival in a northern area of Marseille.
Style:
realistic, sincere, touching, serious, multicultural ...
Plot:
friendship, youth, ambition, hopes, teenage life, follow your dream, society, hip hop, family relations, music, urban, female friendship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france, marseille, europe
Similarity:
38%
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