Movies like Song for a Raggy Boy

If you like "Song for a Raggy Boy" you are looking for thought provoking, disturbing and bleak movies about / with child abuse, juvenile delinquency, orphan, dedicated educator, boarding school life, reformatory and gay rape themes of Drama and History genre shot in Ireland or Denmark.
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.
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)
 7.5
 5K
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Ireland, Denmark, UK, Spain
Duration: 94 min.
Story: William Franklin is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United States only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric instructor at St. Jude's, a school for wayward boys run by Brother John, who is a firm believer in strong discipline.
Style: thought provoking, disturbing, bleak, serious, sincere, depressing, realistic
Plot: child abuse, juvenile delinquency, orphan, dedicated educator, boarding school life, reformatory, gay rape, child rape, corporal punishment, sexual abuse, teachers and students, abuse, children, discipline, fighting the system, gay, coming of age, human spirit, life is a bitch, society, punishment, power relations, rivalry, rebelliousness, reform school ...
Time: 1930s, year 1939, 30s
Place: ireland, europe, spain
Keyword: irish, superior

Most similar movies to Song for a Raggy Boy

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, touching and emotional films with plots about society, youth, coming of age, life is a bitch, children, boy and family relations mostly in Drama, History and Biography genres. Some movies like Song for a Raggy Boy: The Boys of St. Vincent (1992), Abandoned (2001), Evil (2003), The Magdalene Sisters (2002), Little Red Flowers (2006). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
The Boys of St. Vincent (1992)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min.
Story: The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage ran by a religious community in Newfoundland.
Style: realistic, disturbing, bleak, sad, art house ...
Audience: teens
Plot: pedophilia, child abuse, catholic priest, child molestation, man boy relationship, catholic orphanage, pedophile priest, homosexual rape, orphanage, child molester, childhood, underage sex ...
Time: 70s, year 1975
Place: canada, newfoundland
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.2
 612
Abandoned (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Áron is a happy child in his family. But at some point things take a different turn, and his mother starts to lose her health rapidly. As this happens, the man in charge decides what's best for Áron without consulting the young boy's ...
Style: uplifting, serious, touching, sincere, art house ...
Plot: corporal punishment, orphan, coming of age, children, male bonding, kids in trouble, life is a bitch, juvenile delinquency, human spirit, friendship, teenage life, boarding school life ...
Time: 60s, year 1960
Place: europe, hungary
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.7
 42K
Evil (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Stockholm, the fifties. Though academically bright, violent pupil Erik Ponti is expelled from his state school with the headmaster’s words “there’s only one word for people like you – evil… what you need is a good thrashing, and more”. ...
Style: psychological, rough, disturbing, touching, emotional ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: rebellion, coming of age, private school, rebelliousness, humiliation, corporal punishment, friendship, life is a bitch, high school, bully, bullying, boarding school ...
Time: 1950s, year 2003, 20th century, 50s
Place: europe, scandinavia, stockholm sweden, eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Magdalene Sisters (2002)
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, disturbing, brutal, controversial, harsh ...
Audience: teens
Plot: nun, convent, life is a bitch, human spirit, corporal punishment, mistreatment, catholic church, evil nun, religion, sexual harassment, humiliation, catholic ...
Time: 60s, 20th century, year 1964, year 2002
Place: ireland, europe, dublin ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
78%
Movie in collections
Little Red Flowers (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: China, Italy
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Liang is a four-year-old little rebel, possessed of a pair of luminous eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing, since his parents are often away. Life at the ...
Style: realistic, serious, humorous, touching
Plot: children, boarding school, rebelliousness, kindergarten, boarding school life, lifestyle, social relations, teachers and students, road not taken, dedicated educator, orphan, society ...
Time: 21st century
Place: asia, china
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
King of Devil's Island (2010)
Genre: Action, Drama
Country: Norway, France, Sweden, Poland
Duration: 116 min.
Story: Based on a true story: Norwegian winter, 1915. On the island Bastøy, outside Oslo, a group of young boys aged 11 to 18, are held in an institution for delinquent youth, notorious for its sadistic regime. One day a new boy, Erling, arrives, ...
Style: bleak, tense, visually appealing, serious, thought provoking ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: punishment, sexual abuse, prison life, island, juvenile detention, prison, rebellion, child abuse, protest, isolation, survival, coming of age ...
Time: 1910s, 1920s, 20th century, year 1915
Place: scandinavia, eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.0
 21K
Silenced (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 125 min.
Story: Based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.
Style: disturbing, emotional, serious, realistic, bleak ...
Audience: teens, date night
Plot: sex crime, child abuse, rape, deaf mute, disability, mute or deaf, sign language, punishment, school, life is a bitch, deaf, youth ...
Time: year 2011, 21st century
Place: korea, south korea, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.7
 2K
The 13 Roses (2007)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain, Italy
Duration: 129 min.
Story: True story of thirteen totally normal young women that suffered harsh questioning and were put in prison under made up charges of helping the rebellion against Franco back in the 1940s. Despite of their innocence, the thirteen were soon executed ...
Style: disturbing, thought provoking, emotional, touching, political ...
Plot: spanish civil war, spanish history, injustice, woman in danger, false accusation, social decay, life is a bitch, betrayal, idealism, society, dishonesty, danger ...
Time: 1930s, 20th century, 1940s
Place: spain
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Young Torless (1966)
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 87 min.
Story: At a boarding school in the pre-war Austro-Hungarian Empire, a pair of students torture one of their fellow classmates, Basini, who has been caught stealing money from one of the two. The two decide that rather than turn Basini in to the school ...
Style: disturbing, black and white, controversial, contemplative, thought provoking ...
Plot: bullying, coming of age, lgbt, mathematics, boarding school, torture, gay, philosophy, thief, politics, sex, boy ...
Time: year 1966, 20th century, 1910s, turn of the century, pre world war one
Place: germany, europe, vienna
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
 7.0
 7K
Evelyn (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Germany, Ireland, UK, Netherlands
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children, Evelyn, Dermot and Maurice, make it clear to the authorities that ...
Style: sentimental, touching, sincere, feel good, intense ...
Plot: children, court, lawyer, mercy, family problems, unemployment, against the odds, parents and children, fighting the system, courtroom drama, 007, single father ...
Time: 50s, year 2002, 1950s, 20th century, year 1953
Place: ireland, sydney australia, scotland, europe, dublin ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.9
 16K
The Class (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: Estonia
Duration: 99 min.
Story: An average guy of an Estonian high-school decides to defend his bullied classmate. This starts war between him and the informal leader of the class. As teenagers' honour is a touchy thing, everything ends in bloodshed.
Style: serious, disturbing, tense, emotional, realistic ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: school shooting, bullying, vengeance, humiliation, society, youth, friendship, life is a bitch, juvenile delinquency, social misfits, high school, teenage life ...
Time: 21st century
Place: estonia, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Difficult tale of poor, struggling South Carolinian mother & daughter, who each face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as ...
Style: disturbing, realistic, emotional, touching, suspense ...
Audience: teens
Plot: sexual abuse, coming of age, rape, family relations, dysfunctional family, pedophile, parents and children, life is a bitch, domestic violence, child abuse, children, child rape ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, 90s, 1950s, 50s
Place: south carolina, usa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France, Japan
Duration: 98 min.
Story: The dysfunctional twenty-three years old Sarah takes her six year old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and lowlife ...
Style: disturbing, psychological, rough, serious, depressing ...
Plot: child abuse, pedophile, rape, sex, child molester, sexual abuse, child rape, coming of age, police, psychologist, child molestation, dysfunctional family ...
Time: year 2004
Place: tennessee, indiana, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.8
 67K
The Chorus (2004)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: France, Switzerland, Germany
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Set in 1940's France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.
Style: touching, inspirational, uplifting, sentimental, feel good ...
Audience: kids, teens, teen drama
Plot: boarding school, teacher, childhood, music, teachers and students, children, boss, boarding school life, musician, friendship, orphan, school ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 2004
Place: france, new york, switzerland, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min.
Story: The determined new headmaster of an English prep school attempts to reform the frequently unruly students, who are tormented by a ruthless bully.
Style: realistic, touching, serious, exciting, tense ...
Plot: bullying, corporal punishment, boarding school, coming of age, friends, self discovery, boys' school, power relations, lifestyle, misfit, dedicated educator, hardcase students ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era
Place: england, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Red Like the Sky (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min.
Story: A nearly sightless boy is sent to a school for blind children, where he secretly discovers the possibilities of the recorded sound.
Style: uplifting, contemplative, realistic, serious, touching ...
Plot: disability, coming of age, blind character, against the odds, fighting the system, rebellion, follow your dream, friendship, human spirit, hopes, society, rebelliousness ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: italy, europe, tuscany
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
King of the Hill (1993)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a ...
Style: touching, realistic, heartbreaking, serious, depressing ...
Plot: coming of age, hotel, childhood, dysfunctional family, against the odds, loneliness, child's point of view, children, family problems, parents and children, hopes, life is a bitch ...
Time: 1930s, year 1993, 90s, 20th century
Place: missouri, st. louis missouri
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Black Shack Alley (1983)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: France, Martinique
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Martinique, in the early 1930s. Young José and his grandmother live in a small village. Nearly everyone works cutting cane and barely earning a living. The overseer can fine a worker for the smallest infraction. The way to advance is to do well in ...
Style: realistic, serious
Plot: black, youth, women of color, african, international relations, blaxploitation, racial issues, woman, boy, grandmother, school, poverty ...
Time: 1930s, year 1983
Place: indiana, africa, europe, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Movie in collections
 7.3
 8K
Sami Blood (2016)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Norway, Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Elle Marja, 14, is a reindeer-breeding Sami girl. Exposed to the racism of the 1930s and phrenological examinations at her boarding school, she starts dreaming of another life. To achieve this other life she has to become someone else and break all ...
Style: harsh, anthropological
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: racism, coming of age, teenage girl, corporal punishment, indigenous people, boarding school, identity, teacher, runaway, nordic, book, humiliation ...
Time: 1930s
Place: eastern europe, scandinavia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 105 min.
Story: The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited ...
Style: realistic, serious, sincere, captivating, educational ...
Plot: social worker, deportation, child abuse, against the odds, fighting the system, uncover truth, injustice, life is a bitch, state affairs, society, rebellion, family reunited ...
Time: 80s, 20th century, 2010s, 21st century
Place: england, united kingdom, australia, europe, adelaide south australia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
 7.1
 297
Maya (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 105 min.
Story: MAYA is a coming of age story set against an outlawed brutal practice of ritual rape still occurring in some parts of India.
Style: thought provoking, disturbing, sincere, emotional, grim ...
Plot: coming of age, youth, sexual abuse, religions or cults, kids in trouble, injustice, parents and children, life is a bitch, society, moral dilemma, introspection, family problems ...
Time: 21st century
Place: india, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
King of Thieves (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany, France
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Two amateur circus kids from a poor Ukrainian village, ten-year-old Barbu and his older sister Mimma, are sold to a circus artist called Caruso who promises them a career in the West.
Style: disturbing, emotional, serious, realistic, bleak
Plot: youth, circus, boy, child prostitution, human trafficking, life is a bitch, juvenile delinquency, kidnapping, kids in trouble, hopes, dishonesty, siblings relations ...
Time: 21st century
Place: eastern europe, berlin germany, ukraine, europe, germany
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
 7.2
 571
Our Fathers (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story: In the '80s, priests and especially the Father Geoghan arrested for sexual abuse of minors. Cardinal Law, also indicted, and the diocese was aware of the actions of these men of the church and was kept secret for years, until the victims decide ...
Style: thought provoking, serious, realistic, sincere
Plot: church, sexual abuse, pedophile, clergy, legal investigation, social decay, courtroom drama, sexual harassment, dishonesty, fighting the system, legal, society ...
Time: 21st century
Place: boston, usa, europe, france
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Movie in collections
 7.7
 13K
Machuca (2004)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Chile, Spain, UK, France
Duration: 116 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, communism, demonstration, boy, children ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1973
Place: chile, latin america, santiago chile
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
 7.5
 2K
Behavior (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Cuba
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Meet Chala, an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela suffers an accident, things get complicated…
Style: serious, realistic, emotional, touching, inspirational ...
Plot: education, boy, kids in trouble, fighting the system, life is a bitch, alcoholic mother, youth, society, hopes, rebellion, hardcase students, dedicated educator ...
Time: 21st century
Place: cuba, latin america, havana cuba
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
The Blind Sunflowers (2008)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Ourense, Spain, 1940. Every time that Elena locks the door, she locks her secrets. Her husband Ricardo spend years hidden in his house with his children (Elenita and Lorenzo), trying to dodge persecution. Salvador, a priest confused after battling ...
Style: serious, touching, disturbing, emotional, realistic ...
Plot: repression, confession, family relations, survival, life is a bitch, spanish civil war, republican, society, soldier, obsession, clergy, love and romance ...
Place: spain, galicia
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
The Emperor's Club (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to ...
Style: realistic, touching, inspirational, contemplative, emotional ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: teacher, coming of age, dedicated educator, boarding school life, boarding school, youth, teachers and students, hardcase students, school, friendship, mentor, education ...
Time: 20th century, year 2002, 70s, 2000s
Place: washington d.c., pennsylvania
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 7.3
 7K
Pellet (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 88 min.
Story: El Bola, a 12 year old boy a.k.a. "Pellet" is a 12 year old boy raised in a violent and sordid environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he avoids becoming close to classmates. The arrival of a new boy at school changes his attitude ...
Style: serious, realistic, emotional, disturbing, social ...
Audience: teens
Plot: child abuse, friendship, kids in trouble, abusive father, school, boy, youth, social worker, life is a bitch, self discovery, childhood, family problems ...
Time: 90s
Place: spain, europe, madrid
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
The Slingshot (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Stocholm in the 1920s. Young Roland lives with his socialist father, Jewish mother and a boxing brother. His mother sells condoms illegally, and from them, Roland makes slingshots which he sells. His rebellious ways has gotten him the special ...
Style: bleak, serious, harsh, enigmatic, sexy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: coming of age, childhood, anti semitism, bullying, working class, politics, bigotry, reform school, corporal punishment, society, life is a bitch, rebelliousness ...
Time: 1930s, year 1993, 1920s, 20th century
Place: europe, stockholm sweden, eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
The Blue Kite (1993)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 140 min.
Story: The lives of a Beijing family throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as they experience the impact of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.
Style: depressing, political, realistic, controversial, serious ...
Plot: communism, children, politics, revolution, cold war, activist, asian history, prisoner of war camp, family relations, life is a bitch, rebellion, innocence lost ...
Time: 1950s, year 1993, 20th century
Place: china, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie