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, native american, youth, parents and children, family life and life is a bitch themes of Drama genre shot in Canada.
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.
Empire of Dirt (2013)
 6.6
 263
Empire of Dirt (2013)
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, native american, youth, parents and children, family life, life is a bitch, dysfunctional family, society, danger, family problems, social misfits, single parent, family in crisis, responsibility, indigenous people, broken family, neglect, native, homeless, poverty, parent child relationship, abuse, misfit, family relations ...
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, touching and sincere films with plots about family relations, parents and children, family problems, life is a bitch, single parent, society and youth mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Empire of Dirt: Shirley Adams (2009), About Sunny (2011), Bluebird (2013), Hidden Diary (2009), Mina Walking (2015). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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 6.7
 127
Shirley Adams (2009)
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: serious, realistic, uplifting, emotional, sincere ...
Plot: disability, hopes, human spirit, life is a bitch, single parent, introspection, family relations, family problems, parents and children, misfit, society, small town ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south africa, africa, cape town south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
 6.4
 388
About Sunny (2011)
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: poverty, life is a bitch, moral dilemma, society, working class, parents and children, family problems, down on your luck, single mother, youth, homeless, single parent ...
Time: 21st century
Place: las vegas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
 5.8
 980
Bluebird (2013)
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: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, bleak ...
Plot: isolation, winter, family problems, family in crisis, youth, single parent, teenage life, working class, dysfunctional family, parents and children, drug abuse, small town ...
Time: 21st century
Place: maine
⇓ similarity ⇓
76%
 6.4
 553
Hidden Diary (2009)
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: realistic, atmospheric, sincere, serious, gloomy
Plot: dysfunctional family, mysterious past, murder, parent child relationship, parents and children, estrangement, family problems, haunted by the past, bittersweet, small town, beach, cemetery ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
74%
Movie in collections
 8.2
 90
Mina Walking (2015)
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, rough, social, bleak ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, rebelliousness, family relations, drug abuse, realism, child as adult, rebellion, life is a bitch, family problems, youth, parents and children, single parent ...
Time: 21st century
Place: afghanistan
⇓ similarity ⇓
68%
Blame It on Mum (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Mady Celliers, an attractive housewife of 60, he spends his life speaking ill of her two daughters and her husband, a man who shows a strange behavior since has retired. Antoine, the eldest son, company director, is unable to make a success of a ...
Style: realistic, serious, sincere, touching
Plot: dysfunctional family, family relations, working class, family problems, family in crisis, family life, parents and children, couples, society, midlife crisis, crumbling marriage, life is a bitch ...
Time: 21st century
Place: france
⇓ similarity ⇓
68%
For the Love of a Child (2006)
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: touching, disturbing, rough, realistic, serious ...
Plot: child abuse, orphan, rescue, danger, life is a bitch, dysfunctional family, parents and children, selflessness, family relations, family problems, adoption, abuse ...
Time: 60s, 20th century, 50s
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
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 ⇓
63%
Movie in collections
 6.3
 375
Fly Away (2011)
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, sentimental, sincere, touching, independent film ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: autism, nursing, moral dilemma, parents and children, single parent, society, mentally challenged, life is a bitch, social misfits, youth, family problems, child illness ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
62%
Nobody Owns Me (2013)
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, life turned upside down, youth, family relations, single parent, disorder, family problems, dysfunctional family, children, addiction, parents ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, 80s
Place: eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
61%
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 ⇓
61%
Gracie's Choice (2004)
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: sentimental, sincere, emotional, touching, realistic ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: teenage girl, custody battle, coming of age, youth, custody, adoption, responsibility, parents and children, family values, siblings relations, dysfunctional family, life is a bitch ...
Time: 21st century
Place: nova scotia
⇓ similarity ⇓
60%
 5.6
 830
Stay (2013)
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, single parent, unsupportive spouse, homecoming, family relations, love, vicious, women, family problems, troubled relationship ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada, ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
59%
 6.4
 913
Curling (2010)
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, slow cinema ...
Plot: isolation, absent mother, bittersweet, single parent, family relations, parents and children, coming of age, youth, social misfits, misfit, home schooling, overprotective father ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
 7.1
 883
Offline (2012)
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: realistic, serious, sincere, touching, gloomy
Plot: haunted by the past, redemption, starting over, society, family problems, life is a bitch, family relations, parents and children, dysfunctional family, estrangement, hopes, job seeking ...
Time: 21st century
Place: belgium
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
 6.7
 676
A Way of Life (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min.
Story: At 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) across the street becomes target to her growing paranoia that ...
Style: realistic, psychological, disturbing, bleak, sad ...
Plot: poverty, vandalism, delusion, family relations, family problems, social relations, life is a bitch, society, custody, interracial relations, parents and children, immigrant ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
57%
 7.2
 293
Our Homeland (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min.
Story: From the late 1950s through the '70s, more than 90,000 of the ethnic Koreans in Japan emigrated to North Korea, a country that promised them affluence, justice, and an end to discrimination. KAZOKU NO KUNI tells the story of one of their ...
Style: realistic, serious, touching, sincere, contemplative ...
Plot: fish out of water, culture clash, haunted by the past, family life, society, life is a bitch, homecoming, terminal illness, parents and children, under the surface, family relations, family problems ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, north korea, asia, tokyo
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
A Long Way Home (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.
Style: touching, sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative ...
Plot: psychiatrist, haunted by the past, dysfunctional family, sexual abuse, domestic disturbance, redemption, life is a bitch, family in crisis, hopes, parents and children, family problems, estrangement ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
Movie in collections
Hidden in America (1996)
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: crying, serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy ...
Plot: starving child, starvation, youth, doctor, single parent, unemployment, family problems, family relations, human nature, society, life is a bitch, friendship ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
Zion and His Brother (2009)
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 crisis, brother brother relationship, family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, society, youth, introspection, siblings relations, family in crisis, haunted by the past, teenage life ...
Time: 21st century
Place: israel
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
 6.9
 2K
Ballast (2008)
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, psychological, emotional, captivating ...
Plot: small town, single parent, family relations, life is a bitch, parents and children, danger, suicide, juvenile delinquent, robbery, society, poverty, mother son relationship ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: usa, mississippi
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
When Andrew Came Home (2000)
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, realistic, serious, emotional, sad
Plot: kids in trouble, kidnapping, coming of age, family in crisis, dysfunctional family, parents and children, captivity, family problems, estrangement, danger, confined, hopes ...
Time: 90s
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
The Cruel Embrace (1987)
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, gloomy, touching ...
Plot: mental disorder, parents and children, haunted by the past, dysfunctional family, isolation, kids in trouble, family relations, estrangement, family problems, single parent, misfit, mentally challenged ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century
Place: europe, belgium
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
Movie in collections
native movies
372
homeless movies
1204
poverty movies
1911
canada movies
1797
Children of Invention (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story: Two young children living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother disappears
Style: serious, sincere, touching, realistic, sad ...
Plot: youth, single parent, working class, family problems, suburbs, family relations, society, siblings relations, eviction, parents and children, child, poverty ...
Place: boston, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
Pavee Lackeen: The Traveller Girl (2005)
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, sincere, emotional, realistic
Plot: life is a bitch, family relations, realism, youth, misfit, social misfits, culture clash, parents and children, society, resilience, discrimination, single mother ...
Time: 21st century
Place: ireland, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
 6.0
 2K
Glassland (2014)
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: realistic, rough, disturbing, serious, emotional ...
Plot: addiction, dysfunctional family, unlikely criminals, moral dilemma, youth, life is a bitch, family in crisis, family problems, family relations, society, oedipus complex, teenager ...
Time: 21st century
Place: ireland, dublin ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
 6.7
 692
On the Outs (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Follows the choices made by three young women - one a drug dealer, one an addict, one a pregnant teen - in Jersey City.
Style: serious, emotional, rough, touching, anthology ...
Plot: asthma, teenage pregnancy, drug dealer, single mother, juvenile delinquency, life is a bitch, lifestyle, teenage life, kids in trouble, social misfits, drug dealing, gang ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new jersey, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
A Dad for Christmas (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Matt, a 19-year-old student, goes to the hospital to see his newborn son. He learns his girlfriend plans to put the baby up for adoption without his consent, so he takes his son to his grandmother's house to fight for custody.
Style: realistic, touching, captivating, emotional, sincere ...
Plot: christmas, against the odds, adoption, custody, couples, family life, family relations, parents and children, hospital, single parent, holiday, love ...
Time: 21st century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
Sex & the Single Mom (2003)
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: serious, realistic, touching, emotional, sexual
Plot: pregnancy, single parent, love, moral dilemma, teenage life, lifestyle, love and romance, society, youth, family problems, parents and children, family life ...
Time: 21st century
Place: nova scotia
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
 6.5
 897
Mainline (2006)
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: serious, realistic, emotional, sincere, gloomy
Plot: redemption, dysfunctional family, family relations, couples, family problems, rehabilitation, hopes, life is a bitch, addiction, drug abuse, parents and children, lovers apart ...
Time: 21st century
Place: middle east, iran, persia
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
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