Movies like Gates to Paradise

If you like "Gates to Paradise" you are looking for melancholic, poignant and art house movies about / with medieval, confession, children, unrequited love, crusade, innocence and sexual awakening themes of Drama genre shot in UK or Yugoslavia.
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.
Gates to Paradise (1968)
 6.1
 253
Gates to Paradise (1968)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Yugoslavia
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Directed by Polish auteur Andrzej Wajda, the obscure gem unfolds as a sort of 13th century Road Trip, with youthful hormones and selfish impatience trumping nearly all of the (supposedly) pious preoccupations of their handsome leader Jacques (blonde heartthrob John Fordyce, constantly and comically running his fingers through his Beatlesque moptop).
Style: melancholic, poignant, art house, grim, period drama, cult film
Plot: medieval, confession, children, unrequited love, crusade, innocence, sexual awakening, moral ambiguity, mysticism, obsession, manipulation, coming of age, idealism, gay interest, older man younger man relationship, lgbt, time machine, crusader, historical event, religion, fanatic, gay subtext, literary, colonialism, gay ...
Time: 13th century, medieval times, middle ages, 14th century

Movie in categories

Most similar movies to Gates to Paradise

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, art house, period drama and intense films with plots about obsession, psychological drama, coming of age, moral ambiguity, isolation, character study and literary mostly in Drama and Romance genres. Some movies like Gates to Paradise: Confused Feelings (1981), Valley of the Bees (1968), Duffer (1972), Twice a Man (1963), Daydream Obsession 3: Legacy (2008). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Confused Feelings (1981)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, West Germany
Duration: 90 min.
Story: It is the story of a middle age professor who falls deaply in love with a young student in his English literature class. The student is a boarder in the teacher's house. The teacher is married and his wife knows he is mostly attracted to young ...
Style: tragic ending, melancholic, emotional, intense, art house ...
Plot: gay, lgbt, homosexuality, unrequited love, midlife crisis, teacher student relationship, bittersweet, literary, forbidden love, tragic romance, obsession, love ...
Similarity:
95%
Valley of the Bees (1968)
Genre: Drama
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Ondrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. Her brings her a bowl of flower petals which she starts to throw in the air and then gives out a shriek, as she discovers several ...
Style: homoerotic, black and white, spiritual, philosophical, cerebral ...
Plot: medieval, treasure hunt, male nudity, philosophy, time machine, spirituality, kingdom, crusader, existentialism, religion, heroes, introspection ...
Time: medieval times, middle ages, 13th century, year 1968
Place: balkan, eastern europe, czechoslovakia, europe, central europe
Similarity:
69%
 6.3
 211
Duffer (1972)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 75 min.
Story: 'Duffer' (1971) is a rarely seen cult British movie that has languished in the vaults of the British Film Institute for the best part of forty years until they decided to release it on DVD/BluRay for the first time last month. It's a ...
Style: surreal, psychological, atmospheric, tension, disturbing ...
Plot: gay interest, abuse, obsession, adolescence, manipulation, sadism, male nudity, taboo, sexual awakening, sex worker, identity crisis, macabre ...
Time: 70s
Place: london
Similarity:
64%
 6.4
 200
Twice a Man (1963)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 49 min.
Story: A reworking of the myth of Hippolytus, in which a chaste youth rejects the incestuous advances of his mother and is saved from death by a caring physician.
Style: experimental, avant garde, independent film, art house, surreal ...
Plot: incest, sexual repression, family tragedy, character study, domestic drama, symbolism, taboo, jealousy, crazy love, literary, sexual awakening, obsession ...
Similarity:
59%
Movie in collections
Daydream Obsession 3: Legacy (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story: While visiting his recently-divorced father, Wylie discovers the camera and video diaries of Clayton. With his college friends over, Wylie begins to explore his desires through daydreams and reality. His roommate Greg is the object of his obsession. ...
Style: psychological, suspense, disturbing, captivating, reflective ...
Plot: father son relationship, gay, male nudity, gay interest, gay crush, erotica, lgbtq, sexual awakening, sexual tension, self discovery, obsession, college life ...
Similarity:
53%
Sand and Blood (1988)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Bullfighting, music, medicine, change, and homoerotic possibilities mix in this study of friendship. Francisco is a bullfighter on his way up, so focused even sex doesn't hold his interest. After a minor road accident, he meets a doctor, ...
Style: tense, emotional, art house, intense, melancholic ...
Plot: bullfighting, bullfighter, friendship, character study, obsession, passion, machismo, relationships, sexual repression, medicine, doctor, trauma ...
Place: spain
Similarity:
46%
 5.3
 20
Miss Julie (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Miss Julie has power over Jean because she's an aristocrat but he has power over her because he's a man. On Midsummer Eve this power battle turns to love which is consummated. But as each one battles for power, Jean convinces Miss Julie ...
Style: tense, tragic ending, art house, period drama
Plot: class conflict, sexual tension, forbidden romance, gender roles, tragedy, manipulation, character study, suicide, claustrophobia, literary, moral ambiguity, obsession ...
Time: 19th century
Similarity:
46%
 5.5
 94
Without Me (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Anna, a divorced single mother, employs a mysterious young woman called Lise to care for her children.
Style: tense, melancholic, art house, independent film, dark ...
Plot: character study, female protagonist, single mother, lesbian, existential loneliness, intimacy, secrets, caretaker, young woman, moral ambiguity, trauma, claustrophobia ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: france
Similarity:
46%
Movie in collections
The Sting of Death (1990)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min.
Story: Miho and Toshio, putting their children and household at stake, duel for control in their degrading, middle-aged marriage.
Style: intense, serious, bleak, melancholic, grim ...
Plot: alienation, infidelity, domestic drama, character study, control, power struggle, obsession, manipulation, isolation, family conflict, claustrophobia, revenge ...
Time: 1950s
Similarity:
45%
Act of the Heart (1970)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 103 min.
Story: A woman's peculiar religious convictions lead her on a self-destructive path.
Style: religious drama, melancholic, bleak, poignant, independent film ...
Plot: self destructing, faith, obsession, crisis of faith, female protagonist, clergy, character study, guilt, choir, unrequited love, isolation, catholicism ...
Time: 70s
Place: montreal, canada
Similarity:
45%
 6.7
 113
Agnus Dei (1997)
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 90 min.
Story: The young girl Johanne is left by her mother at a solemn convent school. The school is a strange world to her, and when she feels unable to comply with the demands of faith she faces a difficult decision.
Style: religious drama, bleak, art house, intense, period drama
Plot: nun, convent, catholicism, religion, children, female protagonist, moral dilemma, young girl, catholic church, identity crisis, coming of age, sacrifice ...
Place: denmark
Similarity:
45%
 6.5
 161
Doctor Glas (1968)
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 83 min.
Story: Doktor Glas finds himself attracted to a young woman, married to a corrupt clergyman. She's miserable in her marriage, so he agrees to help in anyway he can. But he is quickly torn between passion and morality. The story is based on the 1905 ...
Style: melancholic, period piece, grim, noir, ambiguous ending ...
Plot: ethical dilemma, obsession, forbidden love, character study, morality, adultery, guilt, desire, existential crisis, existentialism, sexual repression, romantic obsession ...
Time: 60s, 1900s, 20th century
Place: stockholm sweden
Similarity:
43%
Petya of My Petya (2021)
Genre: Drama
Country: Bulgaria
Duration: 90 min.
Story: The film was named after the short story “Petya of My Petya” written by the exceptional young poet Petya Dubarova. The director Alexander Kossev and the writers Valentina Angelova and Nelly Dimitrova lift the vail of the past to present Petya ...
Style: poignant, thought provoking, melancholic, lyrical, grim ...
Plot: suicide, female protagonist, poetry, bullying, oppression, coming of age, repression, mental health, mourning, isolation, identity crisis, literary ...
Time: 2010s, 70s
Place: bulgaria
Similarity:
42%
Time of Indifference (1964)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 84 min.
Story: A penniless countess falls in love with a cad, unaware that he is also involved on the side with her beautiful daughter.
Style: art house, dread, black and white, period drama
Plot: love triangle, betrayal, high society, romantic rivalry, jealousy, adultery, seduction, tragic romance, decadence, manipulation, literary, social satire ...
Place: italy
Similarity:
40%
Les belles manières (1978)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Camille, a young, provincial, proletarian man works for Hélène Courtray, who is still beautiful and seductive. She's a sophisticated, cultivated and well-to-do woman who has engaged him to care for her reclusive son who has spent the past few ...
Style: art house, atmospheric, melancholic, ambiguous ending, moody ...
Plot: seduction, older woman younger man, dysfunctional family, character study, moral ambiguity, isolation, class conflict, repression, obsession, slow burn, tragic romance, claustrophobia ...
Time: year 1970
Place: france
Similarity:
39%
 5.6
 552
Pretty Boy (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Nick is a handsome 13-year-old runaway whose search for a family leads him into the arms of male prostitution. While Nick's sexual exploits with strange men keep his pockets lined with cash, the experience does nothing to preserve his waning ...
Style: controversial, intense, melancholic, bleak, independent film ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: male prostitution, lgbt, gay, loss of innocence, mature, coming of age, juvenile delinquency, desperation, street life, sexual awakening, loneliness, homelessness ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: copenhagen, europe
Similarity:
38%
The Games of Countess Dolingen (1981)
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 114 min.
Story: In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the ...
Style: atmospheric, metafiction, art house, melancholic, ambiguous ending ...
Plot: suicide, female protagonist, mental illness, depression, ambiguity, children, hallucination, psychiatric hospital, death, schizophrenia, uncertainty, obsession ...
Place: paris france
Similarity:
37%
The Miracle According to Salomé (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal, France
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Portugal, 1917. The country is experiencing a great political and social agitation and it is said that in Fatima the virgin appeared to three little shepherds. Salomé, a young lady from the province, is one of the many girls who cheers Lisbon ...
Style: thrilling, psychological, captivating, atmospheric, bleak ...
Plot: religion, female protagonist, miraculous event, religious faith, belief in god, faith, christian faith, religious, moral ambiguity, female exploitation, prostitution, character study ...
Time: year 1917
Place: portugal
Similarity:
36%
Movie in collections
 6.6
 61
Plagio (1969)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 88 min.
Story: During the student movement in Bologna, Italy. 1968. Angela and Massimo are friends, lovers and college students. They get to know Guido, the heir of a wealthy family who has never known love pure. Impressed by the feeling that binds the two lovers, ...
Style: tragic ending, melancholic, art house, period drama
Plot: threesome, love triangle, jealousy, betrayal, tragedy, friendship, obsession, moral ambiguity, passion, intimacy, college student, class differences ...
Time: 60s
Place: italy
Similarity:
36%
 7.3
 3K
Murderess (2023)
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 97 min.
Story: It is the early 20th century on a dystopian Greek island. Hadoula, a widow who lost her husband, loannis Fragkos, at a young age, is a woman who has learned how to survive in a male-dominated and extremely patriarchal society. Hadoula carries a ...
Style: melancholic, atmospheric, bleak, grim, tense ...
Plot: female protagonist, greek island, guilt, moral ambiguity, redemption, literary, remote island, moral dilemma, religion, survival, isolation, widow ...
Time: 20th century
Similarity:
35%
The Nun and the Torture (1983)
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Chief of Police Rui, a happily married man of principles, is in charge of investigating Joana, a teacher who's accused of political crimes. After some false starts, he manages to arrest her, but is startled to learn that she's also a nun. ...
Style: intense, political thriller, dark, suspenseful, grim ...
Plot: male nudity, nun, torture, interrogation, interrogation room, abuse of power, political repression, ethical dilemma, moral ambiguity, guilt, obsession, confession ...
Similarity:
35%
 7.0
 1K
Antaratma (2025)
Genre: Drama
Country: Bangladesh
Duration: 135 min.
Story: A young man struggles with his past and sense of justice, and a girl who brings hope enters his life. The lingering question remains—can love change him, or will his past stand in the way?
Style: romantic drama, poignant, sensitive, melancholic
Audience: adult
Plot: loneliness, unrequited love, heartbreak, soul searching, obsession, love triangle, coming of age
Time: 21st century
Similarity:
35%
 5.5
 2K
The Mountain (2018)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: 1950s America. Since his mother‘s confinement to an institution, Andy has lived in the shadow of his stoic father. A family acquaintance, Dr. Wallace Fiennes, employs the introverted young man as a photographer to document an asylum tour ...
Style: psychological, thrilling, captivating, melancholic, art house ...
Plot: mental institution, cult leader, mental illness, illness, psychiatry, character study, ethical dilemma, doctor, social problems, unconventional method, moral ambiguity, alienation ...
Time: 1950s
Similarity:
35%
Movie in collections
Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time (2018)
Genre: Drama
Country: Romania
Duration: 110 min.
Story: A sequel to one of Romanian cinema’s most lauded adaptations, The Moromete Family, film tells the tale of Ilie Moromete and his family and focuses on his youngest son, Niculae. The entire order of the world of the village, where the most important ...
Style: family saga, psychological, captivating, thrilling, art house ...
Plot: social commentary, village life, dysfunctional family, social problems, problem, family problems, family relations, life is a bitch, communism, father son relationship, coming of age, education ...
Time: 1940s
Place: eastern europe
Similarity:
34%
The Sacred Mound (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: Iceland, Sweden
Duration: 84 min.
Story: A seven-year-old boy is sent to a farm on a remote island, when his mother goes abroad. On the island the boy gets to know a twenty-year-old woman who seems willing to take on a mother's role. But the boy is reaching an age of sexual awareness ...
Style: tension, psychological, atmospheric, melancholic, art house
Plot: coming of age, island, wedding, fire, lighthouse, sexual awakening, obsession, jealousy, loneliness, character study, sexual tension, isolation ...
Place: iceland
Similarity:
34%
Beautiful Thing (2013)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 114 min.
Story: This 20th anniversary production of Jonathan Harvey's play about two working class teenage boys falling in love on a south east London council estate was captured by Digital Theatre live at the Arts Theatre in London's Leicester Square.
Style: poignant, melancholic
Audience: adult
Plot: coming of age, lgbt, gay romance, lgbtq, first love, working class, teenage love, tenderness, sexual awakening, friendship, intimacy, slice of life ...
Place: london
Similarity:
34%
 6.7
 649
Sparrow (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Catania, Sicilia 1854. A serious epidemic of cholera is hitting the region. Maria a 16 years old novice leaves her convent and returns her home to avoid contamination. Here she finds a difficult situation, in fact her stepmother and her half-sisters ...
Style: erotic, sensual, historical drama, melancholic, period piece ...
Audience: adult
Plot: cholera, nun, forbidden love, female protagonist, religious conflict, forbidden romance, young love, unrequited love, tragedy, coming of age, literary, madness ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era
Place: sicily
Similarity:
33%
 7.0
 470
Hedda Gabler (1962)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story: Hedda Gabler has just come back from her honeymoon, married to boring but reliable academic George Tesman. Refusing to tie herself down in life and name, Hedda is banking on George being appointed a professorship to secure a better life for the ...
Style: tragic ending, period drama
Audience: adult
Plot: female protagonist, jealousy, manipulation, gender roles, betrayal, love triangle, literary, power struggle, obsession, social satire, moral ambiguity, small town ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era, 1890s
Similarity:
33%
 8.0
 518
The Snow Goose (1971)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 60 min.
Story: Based upon Paul Gallico's delicate novel, Patrick Garland's Golden Globe winning The Snow Goose is a stark and hauntingly beautiful drama set amongst the striking scenery of the Essex salt marshes during the early years of WWII. A bearded ...
Style: poignant, emotional, melancholic, fairy tale, lyrical ...
Plot: world war two, bird, coming of age, wildlife, wartime, literary, compassion, friendship, lighthouse, isolation, haunting, outcast ...
Similarity:
33%
 6.9
 1K
The Student (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Roque starts University in Buenos Aires but he is not particularly interested in attending classes or working towards a degree. Instead, he dedicates his time to one of the many groups vying for control of the university, motivated less by grand ...
Style: realistic, independent film, art house, melancholic, political drama
Plot: teacher student romance, university, betrayal, manipulation, male female relationship, student, student life, campus, sex, character study, social commentary, power struggle ...
Time: 2010s
Place: argentina, buenos aires argentina
Similarity:
32%