Movies like The Calm
If you like "The Calm" you are looking for bleak, melancholic and period piece movies about / with corruption, redemption, working class, social realism, class conflict, character study and loneliness themes of Drama genre shot in Poland.
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.
The Calm (1976)
765
Original name: Spokój
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
A young man in his twenties leaves prison after a three-year sentence. He wants to start a new life in a place where he is not known and dreams only of a job, a wife and a family. He succeeds partially in fulfilling these dreams, but then runs into a conflict on a construction job between the corrupt boss and fellow workers secretly planning a strike. He becomes a pawn in one camp while remaining true to his ideals in the other. Filmed in 1976 and shelved for five years.
Style:
bleak, melancholic, period piece
Plot:
corruption, redemption, working class, social realism, class conflict, character study, loneliness, betrayal, rehabilitation, alienation, realism, solidarity, minimalism, mature, small town, politics, worker, ex convict, strike, labor union, construction worker, shipyard, bigger dreams, twenty something, construction site ...
Time:
year 1970, year 1976, year 1980, year 1979, year 1978, year 1977
Place:
poland
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Calm
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, bleak, independent film and emotional films with plots about working class, social realism, character study, alienation, loneliness, isolation and intimate mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like The Calm: The Constant Factor (1980), Short Working Day (1995), The Scar (1976), The Traitors (1973), Nautilus (1990). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
The main character in this effective, convincing drama is Witold (Tadeusz Bradecki) who is high in what later would be termed the "emotional quotient" or the ability to bounce back from adverse, tragic circumstances. Witold has been ...
Style:
existential, melancholic, bleak, intellectual, tragic
Plot:
corruption, grief, character study, moral dilemma, family drama, existential crisis, bureaucracy, frustration, social realism, betrayal, class struggle, anti hero ...
Time:
year 1980
Place:
eastern europe, poland, himalaya
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 73 min.
Story:
Kieślowski’s study of a political strike, controversially told from the viewpoint of a Communist functionary trying to keep order.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, serious, intense, educational ...
Plot:
working class, violence, civil unrest, character study, cold war era, social realism, ethical dilemma, bureaucracy, renaissance, political party, government, clerk ...
Time:
70s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
89%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
After discussions and dishonest negotiations, a decision is taken as to where a large new chemical factory is to be built and Bednarz, an honest Party man, is put in charge of the construction. He used to live in the small town where the factory is ...
Style:
thought provoking, captivating, bleak, sincere, emotional ...
Plot:
communist, factory, small town, innocence lost, introspection, politics, moral dilemma, society, human nature, state affairs, social relations, small town life ...
Time:
70s
Place:
poland
Similarity:
72%
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Raymundo Gleyzer s only fictional film, THE TRAITORS is a compelling political thriller about a trade unionist corrupted by his rise to power. Skillfully weaving documentary and fictional sequences, THE TRAITORS covers the Peronistas movement ...
Style:
serious, historical drama, period piece, bleak, political thriller ...
Plot:
labor movement, corruption, betrayal, activism, bureaucracy, rise and fall, class struggle, social realism, character study, working class, worker, urban ...
Time:
60s
Place:
argentina
Similarity:
71%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
This life period of the main character Felix (L. Lutvinsky) coincides with rather complicated period of country history Chernenko dies, Gorbachev succeeds him, then Ligachev criticizes Eltsin, county is reined by deficit, backstairs influence, ...
Style:
melancholic, art house, existential, period piece
Audience:
adult
Plot:
social commentary, character study, alienation, escape from reality, loneliness, social realism, identity crisis, absurdism, minimalism, poverty, city life, working class ...
Place:
soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Lucjan Bohme is a ruthless debt collector working in a post-industrial Silesian town. In the land of unemployment and misery, he's got a lot of work and no mercy at all. Until something happens.
Style:
realistic, psychological, captivating, serious, bleak ...
Plot:
redemption, debt collector, lovers reunited, self discovery, moral dilemma, collector, life is a bitch, debt, ex girlfriend, rivalry, society, desperation ...
Time:
year 2005, 21st century
Place:
poland, europe
Similarity:
62%
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:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
A young, idealistic poet, turns his back on civilization and goes to small, backwood village, rents a bed in the house of an old woman, and decides to make his living as a lumberjack. Soon he realizes that the world around him is far from perfect.
Style:
existential, melancholic, bleak, art house, period piece
Plot:
lumberjack, outsider, alienation, loneliness, isolation, introspection, backwoods, small town, poet, frustration, self discovery, intimate ...
Place:
poetic realism, poland
Similarity:
60%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, Switzerland, Albania, Poland
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Threatened by creditors, a newly unemployed man agrees to work for a debt collector, but soon discovers his deal with the devil has unexpected costs.
Style:
sincere, psychological, disturbing, captivating, suspense ...
Audience:
teens, boys' night
Plot:
desperation, debt, society, life is a bitch, rivalry, money, violence, redemption, escapades, life philosophy, adaptation, poverty ...
Place:
italy
Similarity:
58%
228
Genre: Drama
Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Peter "Koza" Baláz is a former Olympic boxer. He and his partner, Misa, live in a dilapidated housing estate, constantly struggling to make ends meet. Misa learns that she is expecting a child and decides to terminate her pregnancy. In ...
Style:
realistic, sincere, serious, touching, bleak ...
Plot:
boxing, redemption, pregnancy, athlete's life, on the road, realism, hopes, life is a bitch, bittersweet, poverty, desperation, male protagonist ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
eastern europe, croatia, serbia, slovakia
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
The workers fight for their rights creating independent union. They know that it is the only way to struggle against the owners of the plant.
Style:
realistic, disturbing, serious, sincere, thought provoking ...
Plot:
exploitation, socialism, capitalism, industry, money, worker, labor union, class conflict, crisis, working class, city life, society ...
Place:
soviet union
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A former prostitute and her reformed convict boyfriend try to make a new start in life. They begin to refurbish a derelict building close to the sea, but people from their past come back to haunt them.
Style:
emotional, melancholic, independent film, suspense
Plot:
redemption, second chance, female protagonist, ex prostitute, branding iron, ex convict, seaside, trauma, intimate, rehabilitation, male protagonist, social realism ...
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 56 min.
Story:
Two symbiotic sociopaths play obscurely deviant mind games with each other while engaging in perversely brutal acts of violence against victims apparently chosen at random
Style:
disturbing, intense, tense, bleak, atmospheric ...
Plot:
violence, working class, class conflict, moral ambiguity, character study, cruelty, celebrity, social commentary, humiliation, obsession, machismo, alienation ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 62 min.
Story:
The precise portrait of people in the Berlin neighborhood, their longings, despairs and paltry consolations
Style:
melancholic, bleak, existential
Plot:
character study, striptease, alcoholism, slice of life, realism, alienation, abandonment, working class, midlife crisis, sexuality, social realism, blue collar ...
Time:
80s
Place:
west berlin west germany
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Wally Olynyk (Stefan Wodoslawsky) returns home to the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia in this somber drama. After years of living in Los Angeles, he hopes to attend his high-school reunion and visit with his father Stan (Jan Rubes). Stan is the ...
Style:
melancholic, emotional, bleak, realistic, independent film ...
Plot:
father son relationship, alzheimer's disease, family drama, small town, memory loss, character study, estranged son, getting home, regret, mortician, reconciliation, homecoming ...
Place:
nova scotia, canada, nova scotia, canada, los angeles
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece, Cyprus
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Takis is trapped. Takis tries to escape. Takis wants money. He's got a family, a baby, a home... Takis is being cheated. He loves her and he suffers... Takis can't take it at work. He's besieged by savages. But his boss tops them ...
Style:
melancholic, intense, dark, psychological, tragic
Plot:
working class, desperation, family crisis, betrayal, male protagonist, anger, oppression, isolation, alienation, revenge, realism, slow burn ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
athens greece
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
While he loses his clandestine work, and because he believes that Maroussia and him will no longer be able to love each other as well, Frank leaves to earn as much as she: twelve thousand, just what it takes to have a year before them. No more no ...
Style:
melancholic
Plot:
employment, working life, poverty, working class, realism, urban, slice of life, intimate, resilience, character study, social realism, sacrifice ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
france
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A man lives alone in Istanbul. He makes a living doing odd jobs for several people, but dreams of being a singer.
Style:
melancholic, emotional, independent film
Plot:
dream, loneliness, male protagonist, character study, ambition, singing, working class, housekeeper, struggle, introspection, urban, aspiration ...
Place:
istanbul turkey
Similarity:
44%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
A young man in a depressed satellite city, meets a woman who offers him love and hope.
Style:
melancholic, emotional
Plot:
urban decay, desperation, social commentary, working class, poverty, alienation, longing, character study, hopes, social realism, isolation, loneliness ...
Time:
80s
Place:
australia
Similarity:
44%
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:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Set amongst the backdrop of the towering, concrete-clad estates of south London ‘Zebra Crossings’ blends a diverse mixture of characters that all share one thing in common: The incredible loneliness of living alongside 7 million other people.
Style:
atmospheric, tense, intense, melancholic, bleak ...
Plot:
loneliness, coming of age, friendship, urban, social commentary, drug addiction, alienation, realism, character study, social realism, father figure, mentor ...
Place:
england
Similarity:
41%
394
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Follows the lives of an unemployed drunk and his son as they struggle to adapt to each other.
Style:
emotional, melancholic, independent film, bleak
Plot:
unemployment, family drama, alcoholism, father son relationship, poverty, character study, intimate, social realism, parenting, working class, empathy, slice of life ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A look at the lives of migratory farm workers, focusing on one family.
Style:
melancholic, period piece, road movie, art house
Plot:
poverty, hardship, working class, family drama, village life, social realism, blue collar, slice of life, family bonds, coming of age, resilience, character study ...
Similarity:
41%
Movie in collections
180
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Greece nowadays. Seven different stories about seven persons who have already reached their limits and finally fall apart. Despite their seemingly obvious connection they are simultaneously connected through a common desperate action: the last phone ...
Style:
melancholic, realistic, bleak, tragicomedy, avant garde ...
Plot:
social realism, multiple storylines, loneliness, isolation, mental health, hopelessness, alienation, desperation, resilience, slow burn, moral ambiguity, survival ...
Similarity:
40%
193
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A mentally-challenged delivery boy indulges in fantasies that he is a superhero in the tough streets of Brooklyn. He lives a life marked with torments from the gang of deadbeats at the corner, overbearing concern from his mother and older brother, ...
Style:
period piece, melancholic
Plot:
working class, character study, mental disorder, mother son relationship, innocence, loneliness, outsider, dreaming, empathy, misunderstanding, coming of age, bullying ...
Time:
70s, year 1978
Place:
brooklyn new york city, new york
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 65 min.
Story:
Two former classmates (one an honest working man with a wife and children, the other a conman) meet at a train station. The conman comes to stay with his old friend and slowly begins to assume the role of master of the house, taking the place of ...
Style:
psychological, melancholic, tension, suspenseful, sinister
Plot:
character study, deception, friendship, intimate, identity, working class, moral dilemma, betrayal, impostor, slow burn, machismo, switching roles ...
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: Switzerland, West Germany
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Beautiful, detached, laconic, consumptive Lily Brest is a streetwalker with few clients. She loves her idle boyfriend Raoul who gambles away what little she earns. The town's power broker, called the rich Jew, discovers she is a good listener, ...
Style:
melancholic, bleak, art house, ambiguous ending, poignant
Plot:
prostitution, corruption, female protagonist, alienation, existentialism, minimalism, moral ambiguity, character study, small town, shadow, urban, bittersweet ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Broke and homeless Australian teenagers in love.
Style:
independent film, emotional, romantic drama, melancholic, bleak ...
Plot:
teenager, street life, homelessness, youth, coming of age, friendship, urban, poverty, realism, social realism, survival, working class ...
Time:
70s, year 1978
Place:
australia
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
The people of this remote village in the Black Forest don't talk much, but when they do, it's in the Alemannic dialect. Hanna, 21 has traveled far to work here. She shovels manure, milks cows and tries to cope with the farmer, Uwe Kiefer, ...
Style:
art house, atmospheric, melancholic, independent film, bleak ...
Plot:
female protagonist, loneliness, character study, intimate, isolation, social realism, alienation, male protagonist, moral dilemma, secrets, financial ruin, mistrust ...
Place:
germany
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
A man who is socially inept and out of touch with the world lives with his sister in a small farmhouse. The overly sensitive man lives off his hard-working sibling, taking odd jobs as he gets them to secure his meager earnings. When he brings home a ...
Style:
melancholic, art house, tragic ending, tragicomedy
Plot:
socially awkward, loneliness, jealousy, character study, sibling relationship, isolation, alienation, lake, love triangle, obsession, social realism, possessiveness ...
Place:
poland
Similarity:
35%
Related movie lists
