Movies like Doing Life
If you like "Doing Life" you are looking for tense, dramatic and intense movies about / with maximum security prison, death row, innocence, wrongful conviction, death sentence, execution and biopic themes of Biography and Drama genre shot in Canada or USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Doing Life (1986)
134
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Tony Danza stars in this prison drama about Jerome "Jerry" Rosenburg, a self-professed "jailhouse lawyer" who defends himself against the homicide charge that has put him on death row. This tense movie, made in Canada, has the feel of a biographical documentary.
Style:
tense, dramatic, intense, thought provoking, emotional, suspense, period drama
Plot:
maximum security prison, death row, innocence, wrongful conviction, death sentence, execution, biopic, survival, isolation, redemption, determination, courtroom, character study, loneliness, investigation, moral ambiguity, prison, nazi, gulag, killer, lawyer, prisoner, convict, wrongful imprisonment, prison warden ...
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Most similar movies to Doing Life
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out emotional, tense, intense and tragic films with plots about biopic, investigation, courtroom, moral ambiguity, character study, prison and redemption mostly in Drama, Biography and Crime genres. Some movies like Doing Life: The Conviction of Kitty Dodds (1993), The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains (1987), Coming Out of the Ice (1982), Dumont's Case (2012), Roe vs. Wade (1989). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
The story of Eddie Slovik, who was executed by the Army in 1945, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War.
Style:
period piece, grim, bleak, tragic
Plot:
world war two, firing squad, execution, desertion, death sentence, biopic, social commentary, court martial, world war, military, soldier, moral dilemma ...
Time:
1940s
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
An abused woman escapes from prison, is recaptured, and sent back then tries to get her sentence reduced. Based on a true story.
Style:
serious, dramatic, emotional, intense, realistic ...
Plot:
domestic abuse, female protagonist, survivor, prison life, wrongful imprisonment, psychological trauma, legal battle, biopic, courtroom, escape, survival, female empowerment ...
Similarity:
93%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
The true story of Robert Elliot Burns, the prisoner who, after being sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, attempted two daring escapes.
Style:
serious, period piece, bleak, historical drama, harsh ...
Plot:
crime and punishment, imprisonment, injustice, escape, escape attempt, biopic, wrongful conviction, forced labor, oppression, realism, survival, brutality ...
Time:
1930s
Similarity:
83%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Victor and his family moved to the USSR in the mid '30's. When he refused to sign his skydiving accomplishment as a citizen of the USSR, he was not tried but simply sent to prison. His horrific imprisonment, beating and torture culminated ...
Style:
historical drama, brutal, period piece, bleak, intense ...
Plot:
gulag, biopic, prisoner of war camp, torture, survival, totalitarianism, endurance, persecution, resilience, isolation, exile, adaptation ...
Time:
1930s, 1940s
Place:
siberia, eastern europe, soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
68%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 200 min.
Story:
The true story of a woman who is sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her husband's ex-wife.
Style:
dramatic, emotional, tension, suspenseful, tragic
Plot:
serial killer, true crime, police corruption, wrongful conviction, investigation, murder mystery, biopic, female protagonist, controversy, courtroom, scandal, defense attorney ...
Place:
milwaukee wisconsin, wisconsin, canada, ontario canada
Similarity:
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Michel Dumont is charged, judged and sentenced for a rape he denies ever having committed. While he serves his time in prison, Solange, who he fell in love with during his trial, embarks on the colossal task of proving his innocence and having the ...
Style:
emotional, realistic, intense, suspenseful
Plot:
false accusation, sexual assault, innocence, wrongful conviction, investigation, courtroom, social injustice, prison, evidence, determination, character study, female protagonist ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
quebec, montreal
Similarity:
64%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Holly Hunter plays a lonely, single, poorly educated Texan who finds herself pregnant with no means to support a child. To avoid giving up the child, she seeks an abortion. Denied an abortion in Texas the young woman hires a novice lawyer to plead ...
Style:
thought provoking, controversial, bleak, tense, political ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
abortion, courtroom, supreme court, social commentary, women's rights, court case, moral dilemma, social issues, poverty, legal battle, female protagonist, character study ...
Time:
80s
Place:
texas
Similarity:
56%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
This is the story of a man fighting with all his might for his life and his freedom. Eleuterio (”El Lute”) embarks upon an action-packed future, fuelled by the notions of freedom and dreams of living just as his countrymen, ever-growing in his ...
Style:
crime drama, suspenseful, emotional, tense, realistic ...
Plot:
biopic, freedom, fugitive, prison escape, manhunt, resilience, determination, survival, family bonds, family drama, oppression, social injustice ...
Time:
60s
Place:
spain
Similarity:
56%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
The film tackles the life journey of Toni Ligabue, visionary naïf painter who used to draw tigers, lions and jaguars while living among the poplar trees of the boundless Po valley. A harsh life that is a fairy tale too, as a lonely and marginalized ...
Style:
captivating, sincere, semi autobiographical, suspense, psychotronic ...
Plot:
poverty, painter, isolation, autobiography, world war two, biopic, hiding place, alienation, painting, loneliness, character study, identity ...
Time:
1950s
Place:
switzerland
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
The tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas for killing his three children after scientific evidence and expert testimony that bolstered his claims of innocence were suppressed.
Style:
depressing, realistic, emotional, factual, compassionate ...
Plot:
court, death penalty, lawyer, trial, justice, death sentence, arson, true crime, fighting the system, false accusation, hopes, prison ...
Place:
texas
Similarity:
52%
1K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Pakistan
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
The controversial and troubled Indo-Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto finds his artistic choices challenged by censors.
Style:
historical drama, melancholic, art house, intellectual, bleak ...
Plot:
biopic, controversy, social criticism, loneliness, realism, moral ambiguity, courtroom drama, bittersweet, alcoholism, journalism, censorship
Time:
20th century
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
This film is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos a prostitute-turned-serial killer who preyed mostly on truck drivers.
Style:
dark, crime thriller, controversial, psychological, tense ...
Plot:
serial killer, female killer, prostitute, biopic, murder, true crime, trauma, female protagonist, violent, killer, mental illness, highway ...
Place:
florida
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Kevin Barlow (Roy Dupuis) will die on schedule and according to regulations. Harry Parlington (Serge Houde), director of the Cantos execution facility, intends to make sure of it. However Barlow chooses to go, be it calmly or fighting to the end, ...
Style:
psychological, intense, existential, tense, philosophical ...
Plot:
prison, death row, execution, death sentence, character study, ethical dilemma, moral ambiguity, humanity, claustrophobia, power struggle, mature, warden ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia, UK, USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain: During a camping trip to Ayers Rock in outback Australia, she claims she witnessed a dingo taking her baby daughter, Azaria, from the family tent. Azaria's body is never found. After investigations ...
Style:
realistic, emotional, disturbing, thought provoking, suspense ...
Plot:
courtroom, courtroom drama, legal, trial, prejudice, court, australian outback, religious persecution, injustice, false accusation, investigation, murder ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, year 1980
Place:
australia, sydney australia, new zealand
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Story:
With the odds already not in her favor, Araya tells her side of the story while being interrogated for possibly killing the man who was responsible for her father's death.
Style:
tense, intense, suspense, psychological, dramatic ...
Plot:
interrogation, investigation, moral ambiguity, female protagonist, suspect, character study, murder, revenge, accusation, claustrophobia, guilt, police procedural ...
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Based on a true social event, The Rice Bomber depicts a series of bombing events in Taiwan a decade ago. It is a time when the agriculture is struggling to survive. A man strives to arouse the government’s attention and to revive its conscience by ...
Style:
realistic, serious, controversial, tense, independent film ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
fighting the system, forced into action, political unrest, society, family relations, globalization, state affairs, rebelliousness, ethical dilemma, village life, moral ambiguity, activism ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
taiwan
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Based on the book Crossed Over: A Murder/A Memoir by Beverly Lowry, Crossed Over tells the true story of a woman, Beverly Lowry, who after the tragic hit-and-run death of her teenage son, sinks into a deep depression. Lowry and her supportive ...
Style:
psychological, serious, sincere, touching, thought provoking ...
Plot:
obsession, family problems, hopes, life is a bitch, human nature, murder, estrangement, redemption, friendship, curses spells and rituals, death in the family, husband wife relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada, texas, usa
Similarity:
46%
190
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A tough female lawyer on holiday ends up in a small Pacific Northwest town where she befriends a local teenage girl and tries to persuade her to to press charges against the young thugs who raped her.
Style:
dramatic, suspense, dark, crime thriller, tense ...
Plot:
gang rape, rape, small town, sexual abuse, rape accusation, female protagonist, danger, lawyer, justice, district attorney, threat, investigation ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
45%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
The actress (Glenda Jackson) recovers from a 1966 stroke with help from friends and her husband, author Roald Dahl (Dirk Bogarde).
Style:
emotional, heartfelt, uplifting, intense, medical drama ...
Plot:
biopic, marriage, survival, resilience, family drama, disability, hollywood, inspiration, rehabilitation, writers, tragedy, intimate ...
Time:
60s
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Shivan revolves around a couple who are very much in love but one day the woman is found dead and the man is found guilty and imprisoned. But once he is in jail he recollects certain memories that change everything.
Style:
tense, suspense, intense, psychological, emotional ...
Plot:
love, innocence, flashback, memory, murder, wrongful conviction, investigation, prison, justice, moral ambiguity, guilt, character study ...
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Biography
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
The story of the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of shooting President Kennedy. Via flashbacks, the story traces the woman's life from her days in Russia, the turmoil following the assassination, raising her family, and coming to ...
Style:
political, thought provoking, melancholic, period piece, psychological ...
Plot:
assassination, widow, conspiracy, biopic, american history, controversy, trauma, mourning, grief, flashback, kennedy assassination, paranoia ...
Time:
60s
Place:
north america
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Enric Marco, a Spanish trade unionist, claims to be a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.
Style:
thought provoking, historical drama, non fiction, bleak, tense ...
Plot:
holocaust, fraud, biopic, reputation, scandal, moral ambiguity, investigation, shame, ethical dilemma, character study, testimony, betrayal ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
spain, catalonia, barcelona
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
After a brutal nighttime attack on a woman alone in her suburban home, police investigators zero in on teenager Eric Sutter. When the victim identifies Sutter as her attacker, the legal system closes in on the boy as friends, neighbors and the media ...
Style:
suspense, realistic, tense, emotional, crime thriller
Plot:
rape, false accusation, courtroom, justice, innocence, mother son relationship, investigation, legal battle, alibi, moral dilemma, attempted murder, police procedural ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Filipino action star Eddie "Lagalag" Fernandez is convicted and jailed for his role in a homicide.
Style:
crime drama, dramatic, action drama, intense, suspense ...
Plot:
homicide, police, imprisonment, prison, law enforcement, convict, courtroom, corruption, revenge, betrayal, realism, biopic ...
Time:
90s
Place:
the philippines
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Explores the idea that not everyone accused of a crime is guilty. Delves into how even good people can be affected by the errors in the system and turn gangsters.
Style:
crime thriller, realistic, tense, suspenseful, intense ...
Plot:
courtroom, wrongful accusation, innocence, moral ambiguity, corruption, perjury, ethical dilemma, miscarriage of justice, social commentary, evidence, police investigation, vigilantism ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
The Government Inspector is a 2005 television drama based on the life of Dr. David Kelly and the lead-up to the Iraq War in the United Kingdom.
Style:
serious, tense, thought provoking, political drama, tragic
Plot:
iraq war, investigation, british politics, moral ambiguity, cover up, journalism, bureaucracy, ethical dilemma, biopic, realism, whistleblower, character study ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
united kingdom, london, iraq, britain
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights ...
Style:
tense, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, touching ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
courtroom, death penalty, injustice, lawyer, false accusation of murder, defense attorney, perjury, african american, murder, prison, innocence, convict ...
Time:
year 1987, 2010s, 80s, year 2019, year 1993 ...
Place:
alabama
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
An All-American football player's dreams to play in the NFL are halted when he is falsely accused of rape and sent to prison.
Style:
factual, realistic, disturbing, thought provoking, emotional ...
Plot:
american football, wrongful conviction, nfl, black, prison, lawyer, fighting the system, black history, american football player, miscarriage of justice, freedom, friendship ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Biopoic of actor Győző Szabó's younger years struggling with his drug addiction.
Style:
intense, tense, dark, therapeutic, heavy ...
Plot:
drug addiction, rehabilitation, biopic, psychiatrist, character study, male protagonist, conflict, substance abuse, actor's life, mental health, isolation, obsession ...
Place:
hungary, budapest
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
The take-down of an infamous leader of a small polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group, who ordered assassinations of his opponents.
Style:
dark, disturbing, tense, suspenseful, atmospheric ...
Plot:
polygamy, serial killer, murder, cult leader, religious fundamentalism, religious cult, sect, fanaticism, violent, power struggle, manipulation, assassination ...
Time:
70s, 80s
Place:
utah
Similarity:
38%
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