Movies like Special Ed
If you like "Special Ed" you are looking for emotional, medical drama and bleak movies about / with cancer, doctor patient relationship, hospital, mature, terminal illness, compassion and mortality themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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.
Special Ed (2005)
195
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Dr. David Edwards is a cancer specialist, and his life is his work. His only friend is Lou Rosen, 73. Lou is also David's patient, but at his age, chances are grim. Still, everyone deserves a chance, or at least that's what David thought before Sonny Collins walked into his office. On paper, Sonny looked ideal for his experimental trial: early forties with an inoperable baseball-sized tumor in his lung. But his file didn't say anything about his attitude: crass, crude, and indignant. Would the doctor who's famous for giving even the most gravely ill patient a chance, turn this man away simply because he has a bad attitude? Or is there some other reason? Sometimes healing has nothing to do with medicine. Written by Anonymous
Style:
emotional, medical drama, bleak, realistic, intense, reflective, tense, indie film
Plot:
cancer, doctor patient relationship, hospital, mature, terminal illness, compassion, mortality, character study, ethical dilemma, friendship, morality, conflict, bittersweet, aging, redemption, social realism, urban, doctor, medical, computer, african american, caucasian, receptionist, bare chested male, telephone ...
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Special Ed
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out emotional, realistic, melancholic and intense films with plots about redemption, character study, intimate, bittersweet, urban, hospital and compassion mostly in Drama, Thriller and Horror genres. Some movies like Special Ed: The Littlest Victims (1989), Endings (2010), County (2012), After (2017), Top Hearts! (1999). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Tim Matheson play a doctor that treats children with AIDS. He tries to convince his colleagues that the children got the disease from their parents. Based on a true story.
Style:
compassionate, medical drama, emotional, bleak, inspirational ...
Plot:
biopic, hospital, public health, aids, social commentary, activism, mortality, diagnosis, investigation, medical, children, nurse ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Emmy Ferguson is a 10-year old who learns that, after a long bout with leukemia, today is probably her last day on earth. Chris Ryan is a 35-year-old drug addict who is determined to make this his last day. And Adonna Frost, suffering from advanced ...
Style:
emotional, poignant, melancholic, sad, contemplative ...
Plot:
cancer, drug addict, terminal illness, death, dying, mortality, family relations, empathy, child protagonist, character study, grief, addiction ...
Similarity:
90%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Story:
The lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators working at an underfunded Los Angeles county hospital.
Style:
medical drama, thrilling, psychological, captivating, emotional ...
Plot:
hospital, doctor, medical, doctors and patients, workplace, female doctor, coworker, workplace situations, physician, medicine, social issues, urban ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
87%
20
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
An aging man lies bleeding to death in an alley. As onlookers start to gather around, he reflects on the life that he has lived.
Style:
contemplative, reflective, disturbing, tense, suspense ...
Plot:
memory, a vision, death, flashback, troubled past, dying man, promiscuous past, life is a bitch, left for dead, dying, white trash, elderly man ...
Place:
ohio
Similarity:
85%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A woman (Karin Viard) in the fourth month of her first pregnancy fights to save the baby while being treated for breast cancer.
Style:
medical drama, emotional, inspirational, reflective, bleak ...
Plot:
breast cancer, hospital, pregnant woman, pregnancy, female protagonist, motherhood, life & death, ethical dilemma, determination, resilience, cancer, survival ...
Time:
90s
Place:
france
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Following the death of his father, the past catches up with Dublin taxi driver, Frank Burke.
Style:
emotional, reflective, tense, intense, realistic ...
Plot:
taxi driver, mourning, grief, loss, father son relationship, character study, working class, secrets, family secret, regret, urban, social realism ...
Place:
dublin ireland
Similarity:
71%
9K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
A group of ER residents navigate medical crises and personal drama amid a divisive allegation at their Miami hospital.
Style:
medical drama, tension, emotional, intense, fast paced ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
doctor, hospital, ethical dilemma, urban, power struggle, investigation, morality, leadership, heartbreak, healing, guilt, emergency ...
Place:
miami
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A drama directed by Lou Antonio.
Style:
medical drama, tense, intense, suspense, realistic ...
Plot:
rape, doctor, hospital, female protagonist, revenge, trauma, life & death, moral ambiguity, ethical dilemma, vengeance, justice, character study ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Jack McKee is a doctor with it all: he's successful, he's rich, and he has no problems.... until he is diagnosed with throat cancer. Now that he has seen medicine, hospitals, and doctors from a patient's perspective, he realises that ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, sentimental, touching, depressing ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
hospital, medical, cancer, doctor, medicine, redemption, health, doctors and patients, coldhearted, surgery, business, mental health ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
san francisco
Similarity:
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
PENDULUM SWINGS follows a man into a dark place in his life - a place at which he arrives through a combination of bad decisions and forces beyond his control. When he finally hits bottom, he is presented with an opportunity to climb out of his ...
Style:
emotional, reflective, serious, melancholic, realistic ...
Plot:
compassion, redemption, empathy, second chance, character study, recovery, moral dilemma, morality, healing, resilience, self destructing, humanity ...
Similarity:
65%
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Story:
When a retired police inspector, who suffers from agoraphobia, receives an eviction notice, he befriends a homeless boy and together they come up with a plan to get rid of his phobia.
Style:
heartfelt, psychological, emotional, contemplative, realistic
Plot:
mental health, isolation, agoraphobia, friendship, healing, recovery, bonding, redemption, loneliness, homelessness, personal growth, character study ...
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
This is a heart-wrenching story about a happy-go-lucky 17 year-old boy with a passion for life and love. Under his free spirit are problems that he must deal with. His mother died, his alcoholic father is unapproachable, and ...the biggest problem ...
Style:
emotional, sincere, poignant, reflective, realistic ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
father son relationship, cancer, family drama, dysfunctional family, terminal illness, friendship, mortality, adolescence, bittersweet, tragedy, grief, coming of age ...
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
When Maria (Lisa Carlehed) meets Niels for the first time, he comes across as an angry and unsympathetic young man. His chronic illness has been concentrated into a single wish - to go to a Swiss nursing home for euthanasia. But in order to get ...
Style:
sensitive, romantic drama, heartfelt, road movie, reflective ...
Plot:
life & death, mortality, terminal illness, ethical dilemma, moving, compassion, humanism, bittersweet, intimate, desperation, journey, friendship ...
Place:
scandinavia, denmark
Similarity:
57%
329
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
Acclaimed author and recluse Norma Boswell is reaching the end of her days. She has kept her terminal diagnosis secret from everyone around her, her housekeeper and gardener, as well as her estranged son, Justin. As her health continues to decline, ...
Style:
heartfelt, romantic drama, emotional, melancholic, sentimental ...
Plot:
cancer, mortality, terminal illness, healing, caregiver, aging, friendship, bittersweet, female protagonist, compassion, legacy, introspection ...
Similarity:
56%
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Tate, a young and crooked businessman, thinks he can get rich quick by buying a Russian freighter in the port of Rotterdam. This turns out to be a fiasco because the ship has been arrested, the freight has been sealed by the customs and the crew has ...
Style:
crime drama, independent film, bleak, satirical, art house ...
Plot:
compassion, character study, social realism, working class, moral dilemma, bureaucracy, desperation, redemption, corruption, betrayal, urban, bittersweet ...
Time:
90s
Place:
netherlands
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Geoffrey Griffin who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer in his chest, meets Sarah Phoenix as they both attend a university lecture on the psychology of dying. Sarah Phoenix has got terminal leukemia, but Griffin doesn't know that, and she ...
Style:
emotional, romantic drama, poignant, melancholic, tear jerker ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
terminal illness, cancer, bittersweet, dying, mortality, love story, tragic romance, campus, relationships, intimate, introspection, mature ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
Two poor men try to find a television as a last wish for the terminally ill brother of one of them.
Style:
emotional, tear jerker, realistic, educational, sad ...
Plot:
poverty, turk, sacrifice, illness, brotherhood, family drama, struggle, desperation, compassion, working class, tragedy, terminal illness ...
Time:
70s
Place:
istanbul turkey, turkey
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Sam Alden is the 17-year-old high school star player in baseball who seems to have it all. However, his family notices that he is often bothered with fits of coughing. Worried, his parents decide to take him to the hospital, where they are shocked ...
Style:
medical drama, emotional, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
heart transplant, hospital, surgery, mortality, terminal illness, coming of age, family drama, teenager, organ donation, high school, resilience, doctor patient relationship ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
50%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
During a hectic shift in the neurological department, skilled doctor Alexandra takes on extra responsibility. But a misjudgment ends in tragedy.
Style:
medical drama, psychological, emotional, tension, intense ...
Plot:
guilt, doctor, hospital, trauma, neurology, ethical dilemma, death, confrontation, investigation, reputation, moral ambiguity, tragedy ...
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Chimo turns 18 years and comes from a humble and supportive family. Since childhood he was bullied and even today, while working multiple jobs and dreaming of starting his own business, he continues to face his bully: El Rubio. When Chimo has the ...
Style:
emotional, intense, tension
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, revenge, rivalry, bullying, adolescence, youth, working class, neighborhood, teen angst, transformation, redemption ...
Similarity:
48%
105
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A tragic tale of an individual teen prostitute as seen from the lens of her Buddhist neighbor.
Style:
poignant, melancholic, independent film, contemplative, realistic ...
Plot:
compassion, prostitution, character study, poverty, loss, empathy, social realism, loneliness, urban, slice of life, street life, ethical dilemma ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
A minor argument between two strangers escalates into a life-altering conflict, exploring how a seemingly insignificant event can drastically alter a person's perception and circumstances.
Style:
emotional, tense, intense, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
conflict, escalation, chance meeting, realism, character study, social commentary, misunderstanding, slice of life, city life, urban, suspicion, morality ...
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Beth is a helpline volunteer – part of the small army that gets on the phone every night across America, fielding calls from all kinds of people feeling lonely, broken, hopeless. Over the last year the tide has become a tsunami. As Beth goes ...
Style:
emotional, heartfelt, thrilling, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
social issues, volunteer, telephone call, social problems, empathy, social worker, loneliness, compassion, mental health, relationship problems, trust, character study ...
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
514
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
A driven young medical resident transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. There, the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient.
Style:
medical drama, dramatic, tension, intense, emotional ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
character study, hospital, obsession, guilt, doctor patient relationship, intimate, isolation, slow burn, mortality, asthma, ethical dilemma, burnout ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
The lives of four people from different walks of life is affected by a disastrous road accident. The regret, remorse and realisation these characters undergo makes the crux of the film.
Style:
disturbing, captivating, psychological, realistic, emotional ...
Plot:
accident, regret, road accident, guilt, remorse, multiple storylines, social differences, society, crisis of conscience, tragic event, changing lives, social problems ...
Place:
india
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Over the course of a day in a California hospice, three terminally ill patients are observed with their families reflecting on life and death. Adapted for television from the award-winning play by Michael Cristofer.
Style:
emotional, poignant, sensitive, realistic, melancholic ...
Plot:
cancer, terminal illness, mortality, reflection, intimate, grief, bereavement, compassion, humanism, realism, bittersweet, acceptance ...
Place:
california
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Medical drama about a major hospital whose emergency room regularly faces an overload of patients. One of the doctors finds it necessary to adopt an unorthodox procedure to try to save a patient, and finds himself in trouble in consequence.
Style:
medical drama, intense, realistic, suspenseful
Audience:
adult
Plot:
emergency room, hospital, doctor, ethical dilemma, compassion, teamwork, urban, medical malpractice, empathy, surgery, bureaucracy, medical ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Wandering around wine bars and pubs drinking, thirty-year old worker Oldrich (Petr Kostka), who is celebrating the birth of his son, meets a seventeen-year old lad called Yellow T-shirt Boy (Vladimír Pucholt). Yellow T-shirt Boy is a problematic ...
Style:
realistic, emotional, melancholic, poignant
Plot:
fatherhood, compassion, character study, working class, social realism, male protagonist, male bonding, friendship, alienation, bittersweet, coming of age, redemption ...
Time:
60s
Place:
czechoslovakia
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
What was once a superlative varsity baseball coach is now a jaded middle-aged man. He and a former student meet and the older man discovers that his now married pupil is afflicted with terminal cancer. Full of regrets of how he once treated the ...
Style:
emotional, psychological, thrilling, captivating, realistic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
baseball, terminal illness, cancer, japanese man, redemption, mortality, bittersweet, fighting illness, guilty conscience, athlete's life, athlete and trainer, problem ...
Similarity:
39%
833
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
A former East German boxing champion reduced to working as a bouncer and debt collector is forced to reflect on his life when he is diagnosed with a fatal disease.
Style:
emotional, reflective, realistic, melancholic
Plot:
boxing, ex boxer, father daughter relationship, mortality, character study, als, terminal illness, redemption, illness, reconciliation, loss, bittersweet ...
Place:
germany, german democratic republic, east germany
Similarity:
39%
Related movie lists
