Movies like Empire of Dirt
If you like "Empire of Dirt" you are looking for sincere, serious and emotional movies about / with small town, haunted by the past, youth, parents and children, family life, life is a bitch and dysfunctional family themes of Drama genre shot in Canada.
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Empire of Dirt (2013)
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Where to Watch
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was pregnant and, before giving birth, was kicked to the curb by her mom. The cycle continues and Lena is now watching helplessly as her own daughter, Peeka, spirals out of control, landing herself in the hospital following a drug overdose. As a final attempt at survival, Lena decides to return home and face her own mother and a past she’s desperate to escape.
Style:
sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak, gloomy
Plot:
small town, haunted by the past, youth, parents and children, family life, life is a bitch, dysfunctional family, society, family problems, social misfits, single parent, family in crisis, native american, responsibility, indigenous people, broken family, neglect, parent child relationship, abuse, misfit, family relations, strong female presence, kids in trouble, love, police officer ...
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
canada
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Empire of Dirt
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, emotional and touching films with plots about family relations, parents and children, family problems, life is a bitch, youth, single parent and dysfunctional family mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Empire of Dirt: Hidden Diary (2009), Shirley Adams (2009), Bluebird (2013), Curling (2010), Fly Away (2011). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Genre: Drama
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
In the 1950s, Louise left her husband when their children were still little. She was never heard from again. Her daughter Martine stayed in the small seaside town, where she became a doctor. Martine's daughter, Audrey, a thirty-year-old ...
Style:
atmospheric, realistic, serious, sincere, gloomy
Plot:
dysfunctional family, family relations, mysterious past, murder, parent child relationship, haunted by the past, family problems, parents and children, estrangement, bittersweet, small town, diary ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa, USA, UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Shirley Adams spends her days caring for her disabled son, Donovan - he was shot in the back of the neck on his way home from school one afternoon over a year ago. Since then the Adams family has lost all their worldly possessions to medical bills. ...
Style:
realistic, serious, uplifting, touching, sincere ...
Plot:
disability, parents and children, hopes, life is a bitch, human spirit, introspection, single parent, family relations, family problems, family in crisis, social decay, small town ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
africa, south africa, cape town south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
93%
961
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden, USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
On a freezing January evening, school bus driver Lesley completes her route, but her final inspection abruptly ends when a bluebird comes into view. What happens next shakes her small Maine logging town, proving that even the slightest actions have ...
Style:
touching, sincere, serious, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
isolation, winter, family problems, family in crisis, single parent, youth, teenage life, drug abuse, parents and children, dysfunctional family, working class, small town ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
maine, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
87%
894
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Set in a rural Quebec village in the dead of winter, Jean-François, a single father works at a deserted bowling alley at night and in a rundown motel during the day. His daughter, Julyvonne never leaves their home. Jean-François isolates her in ...
Style:
realistic, sincere, atmospheric, serious, gloomy
Plot:
isolation, absent mother, bittersweet, single parent, family relations, parents and children, coming of age, misfit, youth, social misfits, home schooling, overprotective father ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
81%
Movie in collections
363
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
The poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager severely impacted by autism, forced to reckon with her daughter's future. As her child becomes an adult, what used to work, no longer does. What will sustain her daughter, ...
Style:
emotional, sincere, sentimental, touching, serious ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
autism, nursing, moral dilemma, parents and children, single parent, youth, social misfits, mentally challenged, life is a bitch, society, family problems, child illness ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
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Sex & the Single Mom related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, Afghanistan
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Saddled by a senile grandfather and a neglectful father, Mina, an impulsive twelve-year-old Afghan street seller sees her future slipping away when she is forced to neglect her education and walk the streets of Kabul to support her fragmented ...
Style:
sincere, realistic, thought provoking, rough, social ...
Plot:
rebelliousness, dysfunctional family, single parent, family problems, youth, realism, family relations, drug abuse, parents and children, life is a bitch, child as adult, rebellion ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
afghanistan
⇓ similarity ⇓
74%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
As things unravel for a struggling single mother in Las Vegas, she must decide what she's willing to give up to get by.
Style:
realistic, serious, captivating, emotional, psychological ...
Plot:
life is a bitch, moral dilemma, society, working class, parents and children, family problems, down on your luck, single mother, poverty, youth, single parent, family relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
las vegas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
72%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The story of a lone father's relationship with his daughter, of the destructive power of alcohol, of a child's vulnerability, but also of love, betrayal and socialist politics in 1970s Sweden. A unique and moving story freely based on Åsa ...
Style:
touching, bleak, emotional, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
working class, parents and children, disorder, youth, single parent, life turned upside down, family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, addiction, children, father daughter relationship ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 70s
Place:
sweden, eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
72%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld.
Style:
serious, disturbing, realistic, rough, emotional ...
Plot:
addiction, dysfunctional family, moral dilemma, unlikely criminals, family relations, life is a bitch, family problems, family in crisis, youth, society, teenager, oedipus complex ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
72%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.
Style:
touching, realistic, emotional, sincere, gloomy ...
Plot:
family relations, psychiatrist, dysfunctional family, haunted by the past, sexual abuse, family problems, life is a bitch, parents and children, hopes, redemption, domestic disturbance, family in crisis ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
Also search:
Movies like Gimme Shelter
871
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A man attempts to reclaim the life that prison took from him but his dark past threatens to ruin everything.
Style:
touching, serious, sincere, realistic, gloomy
Plot:
starting over, redemption, haunted by the past, family relations, society, parents and children, human nature, family problems, dysfunctional family, hopes, life is a bitch, estrangement ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
belgium
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
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:
serious, realistic, bleak
Plot:
family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, introspection, youth, society, siblings relations, teenage life, working class, haunted by the past, family in crisis, graphic violence ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
israel
⇓ similarity ⇓
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
An intimate portrait of a resilient and spirited young girl and her proud and dignified family, who are part of Ireland's "traveller" community.
Style:
touching, serious, emotional, sincere, realistic
Plot:
life is a bitch, youth, misfit, social misfits, realism, family relations, culture clash, parents and children, society, resilience, discrimination, single mother ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
ireland, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
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:
kidnapping, kids in trouble, coming of age, family problems, estrangement, life is a bitch, hopes, confined, single parent, captivity, dysfunctional family, parents and children ...
Time:
90s
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
866
Genre: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
The uneasy relationship between a mother and daughter is made all the more turbulent by drug abuse in this downbeat drama from Iranian filmmakers Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab
Style:
realistic, serious, sincere, emotional, gloomy
Plot:
redemption, dysfunctional family, hopes, life is a bitch, rehabilitation, family relations, family problems, couples, addiction, parents and children, drug abuse, lovers apart ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
iran, middle east
⇓ similarity ⇓
63%
Also search:
Too Young to Be a Dad related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Nicole (Marianne Basler) gives birth to a mentally challenged boy after she is gang-raped by American soldiers at the close of World War II in this grim dramatic tragedy. Young Ludo is hidden in the attic of the family home and continues to yearn ...
Style:
serious, psychological, realistic, touching, bleak ...
Plot:
mental disorder, isolation, parents and children, haunted by the past, dysfunctional family, kids in trouble, family problems, family relations, estrangement, misfit, single parent, youth ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
belgium, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
63%
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, emotional, touching, psychological ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
pregnancy, family problems, lifestyle, teenage life, family in crisis, hopes, parent child relationship, sister sister relationship, youth, family relations, husband wife relationship, teenage pregnancy ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
For as long as she can remember, 16 year-old Gracie has been raising her four siblings, each of whom has a different, absent father and their mother is on the fast track to self-destruction. When these children's lives are about to be pulled ...
Style:
sincere, emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
custody battle, teenage girl, coming of age, youth, custody, mother daughter relationship, drugs, responsibility, family values, parents and children, dysfunctional family, siblings relations ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
61%
Movie in collections
172
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Life on the Rock never seemed easy, but for Mitsy it is especially rough. The teenager has been abandoned by her mother, a particularly unfit parent prone to both the bottle and the sex trade. She is left to be brought up by her mercurial ...
Style:
serious, realistic, emotional, touching
Plot:
sexual abuse, parents and children, dysfunctional family, teenage life, prostitute, single parent, youth, family relations, estrangement, family problems, small town life, absent mother ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada, newfoundland
⇓ similarity ⇓
60%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Jess Gradwell and her teenage daughter boast a superclose relationship. When it comes to sex, however, Mom won't stand for anything less than premarital celibacy. So she gets a pretty healthy dose of her own medicine when she winds up getting ...
Style:
realistic, serious, emotional, touching, sexy ...
Plot:
single parent, pregnancy, love, moral dilemma, teenage life, love and romance, youth, society, lifestyle, family problems, parents and children, family life ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
58%
Also search:
Gracie's Choice similar movies
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Three poor Black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family's cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence.
Style:
sincere, emotional, touching, rough, bleak ...
Plot:
life is a bitch, introspection, dysfunctional family, society, addiction, human nature, family relations, family problems, family in crisis, child abuse, women of color, racial issues ...
Time:
80s, 90s, 20th century
Place:
africa, mississippi, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
790
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, Ireland
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A woman finds out she's pregnant and returns home when the expected father wants nothing to do with her.
Style:
realistic, emotional, serious, touching, psychological ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
pregnancy, family life, parents and children, homecoming, single parent, unsupportive spouse, family relations, older man younger woman relationship, love, women, family problems, troubled relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada, ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
A single mother and her embattled son struggle to subsist in a small Mississippi Delta township. An act of violence thrusts them into the world of an emotionally devastated highway store owner, awakening the fury of a bitter and longstanding ...
Style:
realistic, serious, emotional, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
small town, single parent, family relations, life is a bitch, parents and children, suicide, juvenile delinquent, robbery, poverty, society, mother son relationship, suspense ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, africa, mississippi
⇓ similarity ⇓
55%
Movie in collections
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 ...
Plot:
single father, family relations, single parent, family problems, parents and children, family in crisis, life turned upside down, parent child relationship, babies and infants, death in the family, father son relationship, baby ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
13-year-old Sachiko is about to encounter the most difficult moments in her young life. Her father abandons her and her mother attempts to commit suicide by slashing her wrist. Her teacher, whom she relies on heavily, leaves for northern Japan to ...
Style:
touching, serious, realistic, emotional, disturbing ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, family life, youth, life is a bitch, family problems, kids in trouble, uncontrollable, parents and children, school, teen angst, suicide attempt, alienation ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
Also search:
Movies similar to Mom at Sixteen
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Story of a man Bill Januson whose pride in being the head of his family won't let him accept help from his sick daughters doctor. He has to prove to his kids that even with the death of his wife and the loss of his job that they can and will ...
Style:
serious, realistic, emotional, disturbing, gloomy ...
Plot:
starvation, youth, starving child, doctor, single parent, unemployment, family relations, family problems, society, human spirit, human nature, life is a bitch ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Mathieu Roy's L’Autre maison is an intimate and powerful family drama featuring three generations of great Quebec Actors. Marcel Sabourin plays Henri Bernard, an 86 year-old man with a failing grip on reality. His sons, a jet setting middle ...
Style:
emotional, touching, realistic, psychological, serious ...
Plot:
alzheimer's disease, family problems, dysfunctional family, aging, estrangement, family relations, parents and children, memory loss, elderly, father son relationship, brothers, love ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
786
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
In a story weaving the past and present together, Emile seeks redemption from the family he abandoned.
Style:
emotional, sincere, touching, serious, gloomy ...
Plot:
redemption, orphan, introspection, haunted by the past, homecoming, betrayal, human nature, starting over, hopes, elderly, family life, dysfunctional family ...
Place:
europe, canada, england, british columbia
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
1959, support from US troops based in Asia and later from the Sates enables two actresses to start a charity for mixed-race 'orphans' who are locally neglected as outcasts. Thus originates Childhelp, which later runs multi-disciplinary ...
Style:
disturbing, touching, thought provoking, rough, tense ...
Plot:
orphan, child abuse, rescue, family relations, selflessness, dysfunctional family, parents and children, life is a bitch, family problems, abuse, love, youth ...
Time:
20th century, 50s, 60s
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
286
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The movie spotlights an intelligent high school senior and National Merit Scholar (Bryant) who has never been part of the "in crowd." She teaches a high school equivalency night class, tends to the needs of her widower father, Jesse ...
Style:
realistic, serious, sincere, emotional, touching ...
Audience:
date night, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
single parent, small town, coming of age, teenage life, destructive relationship, family relations, couples, parents and children, lifestyle, youth, love and romance, society ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
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