Movies like Helen 2008
If you like "Helen" you are looking for psychological, realistic and atmospheric movies about / with kidnapping, hidden identity, obsession, mental illness, society, haunted by the past and police investigation themes of Drama genre shot in UK or Ireland.
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.
Helen (2008)
497
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 79 min.
Story:
An 18 year old girl called Joy has gone missing. Another girl called Helen is a few weeks away from leaving her care home. Helen is asked to 'play' Joy in a police reconstruction that will retrace Joy's last known movements. Joy had everything. A loving family, a boyfriend, a bright future. Helen, parent-less, has lived in institutions all her life and has never been close to anyone. Gradually Helen begins to immerse herself into the role, visiting the people and places that Joy knew; quietly and carefully insinuating her way into the lost girl's life. But is Helen trying to find out what happened to Joy that day, or is she searching for her own identity?
Style:
psychological, realistic, atmospheric, touching, bleak, serious
Plot:
kidnapping, hidden identity, obsession, mental illness, society, haunted by the past, police investigation, missing girl, impersonation, teenager, girl, autumn, misfit, missing person, lottery, teenage life, social misfits, police, orphan, feminist, juvenile delinquent, crimes, female director
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
ireland
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Helen
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, psychological and gloomy films with plots about society, misfit, haunted by the past, family relations, social misfits, life is a bitch and youth mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Helen: The Girl in the Park (2007), Something in the Way (2013), Joy (2010), The Memory Thief (2007), Island (2011). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A mother, enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year old daughter 15 years ago, has cut herself off from her ex-husband and son. However, when a troubled young woman with a checkered past enters her life, old psychic wounds ...
Style:
serious, realistic, psychological, touching, emotional ...
Plot:
missing person, mother daughter relationship, female protagonist, loss of child, obsession, haunted by the past, loss of daughter, social misfits, isolation, family relations, misfit, missing child ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: Indonesia
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Ahmad, a porn obsessed taxi driver from Jakarta, falls for the beautiful young prostitute Kinar and struggles with sexual frustration and misguided piety.
Style:
atmospheric, serious, touching, bleak, sincere ...
Plot:
obsession, dull life, social misfits, misfit, society, prostitution, street walker, call girl, religions or cults, unfulfillment, urban, taxi ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
asia, indonesia
Similarity:
31%
372
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Joy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits and earning a little extra by playing the accordion in the ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, atmospheric, emotional, tense ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
obsession, parents and children, life is a bitch, teenage life, redemption, shoplifting, mistaken identity, society, family relations, hopes, dysfunctional family, youth ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
27%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A Los Angeles tollbooth clerk becomes obsessed with the Holocaust after meeting a survivor.
Style:
serious, psychological, realistic, disturbing, independent film ...
Plot:
holocaust, mental illness, losing-it hero, obsession, haunted by the past, dull life, society, life is a bitch, elderly, parents and children, anti semitism, friendship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
26%
Movie in collections
576
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Based on 'Jane Rogers' acclaimed novel, "Island" is a tale of yearning and retribution. Abandoned at birth, Nikki Black has spent most of her life in care sustained only by fairy-stories. Incapable of love, fearful and desperate ...
Style:
serious, tense, psychological, realistic, atmospheric ...
Plot:
island, incestuous relationship, undercover, hidden identity, family problems, dishonesty, life is a bitch, haunted by the past, illicit affair, mother daughter relationship, storm, mother ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england, europe
Similarity:
23%
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, misfit, youth, social misfits, parents and children, culture clash, society, resilience, single mother, discrimination ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
ireland, europe
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Alzbeta and Tina are sisters bound by jealousy and love, an unspoken history hovering over them like a dark cloud. It is this history that compels Alzbeta to refuse Tina's help in finding a better life, until the day arrives that forces them to ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, atmospheric, emotional, touching ...
Plot:
jealousy, sibling relationship, haunted by the past, family relations, envy, betrayal, couples, sister sister relationship, rivalry, au pair, couple relations, siblings relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
ireland, slovakia, europe
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Conrad Lang, a handyman in a rich family - he has been raised like a brother with Thomas, who has the same age -, accidentally puts fire to the big holiday house he keeps. He returns to the town he grew up in, to the family home, where Philippe, ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, serious, captivating, suspenseful ...
Plot:
mental illness, memory loss, investigation, haunted by the past, flashback, family relations, society, family life, amateur detective, friendship, dishonesty, master and servant ...
Place:
france, europe
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Set in the not so distant future, in Any Town USA, sixteen year old Herman Howards makes a fateful decision. He enters his suburban school and kills thirty nine students, two teachers, and a police officer. Just before his arrest he emails his idol, ...
Style:
psychological, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, realistic ...
Plot:
school shooting, losing-it hero, social relations, haunted by the past, youth, bullying, high school, loneliness, social misfits, teenage life, high school life, murder ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
usa, iowa
Similarity:
22%
342
Genre: Drama
Country: Costa Rica
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
A smart poor girl and a inmature rich boy get their life twisted when they accidently have a baby.
Style:
realistic, touching, emotional, sentimental, psychological ...
Plot:
young lovers, pregnancy, family relations, couples, youth, society, teenage life, love, teenager, grownups, responsibility, life turned upside down ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
costa rica, latin america
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey, France, Germany
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Haunted by his dark past, a man takes a job as a fire warden in a remote tower in the wilderness, and is inexorably drawn towards a young woman with a terrible secret of her own. (TIFF)
Style:
atmospheric, psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative ...
Plot:
loneliness, rape, haunted by the past, social misfits, disorder, confined, introspection, misfit, isolation, women, abandoned baby, resistance ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
turkey, middle east
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Frank is an ex-soldier, haunted by a violent past. He lives alone, drowning his nightmares with alcohol. Christine - smart and successful... on the surface, tackles life as a single working mother by immersing herself in drugs, parties and sex. ...
Style:
realistic, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, rough ...
Plot:
haunted by the past, change of luck, society, alcohol abuse, youth, hopes, confronting the past, troubled past, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, male female relationship, friendship, love ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england, europe
Similarity:
22%
74
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
An aging Roman Catholic Priest living contentedly at a Niagara Falls parish, receives a letter forcing his complacent life into a downward spiral.
Style:
sincere, serious, psychological, touching, realistic ...
Plot:
haunted by the past, clergy, introspection, moral dilemma, church, society, elderly, religions or cults, religion, catholic church, moral ambiguity, guilt ...
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
While the young captains lead the revolution in the streets, the people of Fontainhas search for Ventura, lost in the woods.
Style:
atmospheric, touching, psychological, emotional, postmodern ...
Plot:
immigrant, social decay, haunted by the past, introspection, state affairs, revolution, mental institution, society, misfit, anthropology, existentialism, underground ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
portugal, africa
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
In an impressive follow up to his debut film Forest, Benedek Fliegauf tells the uncompromising story of a day in the life of a drug dealer. His clients include the leader of a religious sect, a friend who needs a final fix, a former lover who has ...
Style:
psychological, serious, atmospheric, stylized, contemplative ...
Plot:
drug abuse, addiction, estrangement, misfit, social misfits, drug dealing, overdose, society, nihilism, underground, criminal heroes, urban ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
hungary, europe
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Costa Rica, France, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
On New Year's holidays, Mariana (21) and Rodrigo (30) drive to the coast where he has to sell a property. There, they find Karina (7), late at night and in the middle of nowhere. She tells then she ran away from home.
Style:
realistic, psychological, serious, atmospheric, contemplative ...
Plot:
mysterious character, introspection, couple relations, society, lifestyle, obsession, social differences, little girl, beach, twentysomething life, ocean, swimming pool ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
costa rica, latin america
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
Encouraged by his editor to seek 'sexy stories that sell', a reporter preys upon the private life of an erstwhile friend, with disastrous results.
Style:
touching, emotional, serious, realistic, psychological ...
Plot:
celebrity culture, friendship, family problems, social worker, family relations, obsession, family in crisis, gays and lesbians, society, journalism, godparent, prostitute ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
No overview found.
Style:
independent film, psychological, realistic, serious, gloomy ...
Plot:
gay interest, mental illness, friendship, amusement park, best friend, friends, self discovery, misfit, life is a bitch, buddies, betrayal, social misfits ...
Time:
year 1998, 90s
Place:
new york, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city, brooklyn new york city
Similarity:
20%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Peru
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Santiago returns home from the Peruvian army ill-prepared to cope with the realities of life. Haunted by his violent military past, he is conflicted by his desire for education and his temptation to join his comrades in a decadent life of crime.
Style:
psychological, serious, realistic, captivating, sincere ...
Plot:
haunted by the past, homecoming, moral dilemma, society, life is a bitch, working class, family relations, family problems, post traumatic stress disorder, ex soldier, urban, down on your luck ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
peru, latin america
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A tragicomedy set in the world of gas stations in rural Ireland, where over-diligent employee of the garage searches for intimacy during the course of a life-changing summer.
Style:
psychological, realistic, melancholic, bleak, humorous ...
Plot:
small town, friendship, society, solitude, misfit, social relations, pornographic video, loneliness, angst, friends, coming of age, small town life ...
Place:
ireland, europe
Similarity:
19%
426
Genre: Drama
Country: Uruguay, Mexico, France
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Agustín forgets things; he is aging and he knows it. María is never alone: she watches over everyone, sleeps very little, and works too much. She’s increasingly overwhelmed. One day, on impulse, María decides to abandon Agustín. The tightening ...
Style:
touching, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic ...
Plot:
family relations, family life, working class, mental illness, society, life is a bitch, urban ghetto life, single parent, poverty, nursing, urban ghetto, waiting ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
uruguay, latin america
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
Style:
realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
city life, immigrant, self discovery, friendship, restaurant, diner, family relations, social misfits, workplace romance, workplace, lonely, unfulfilled love ...
Place:
usa, new york
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.
Style:
realistic, atmospheric, semi serious, touching, psychological ...
Plot:
high school, disappearance, friendship, society, social relations, youth, high school student, rivalry, japanese schoolgirl, japanese teenager, great ending, asian ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan
Similarity:
19%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Aaron, a young misfit living in a remote Scottish fishing community, is the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident that claimed the lives of five men including his older brother. Spurred on by sea-going folklore and local superstition, the ...
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, modern fairy tale, psychological ...
Plot:
lost at sea, fishing village, outcast, bullying, society, social relations, misfit, village life, boy, folk horror, death of brother, ocean ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
scotland
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
A young orphan who lives with her grandmother in a large Virginian home infatuates herself with the voices of Joan d'Arc. Her French nanny seeks out the help of a rich suitor to take her and the orphan away when she realizes that the ...
Style:
psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy, sentimental ...
Plot:
orphan, coming of age, nanny, betrayal, family relations, youth, twins, society, young heroes, mentally challenged, domestic disturbance, power relations ...
Time:
80s, 1950s, 50s
Place:
virginia, southern usa
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
NANCY, PLEASE tells the story of Paul Brawley, a gifted PhD candidate at Yale University. Paul has just moved into an apartment with his pragmatic girlfriend, Jen, and is struggling to complete his dissertation before embarking on a career in ...
Style:
realistic, serious, psychological, mumblecore, captivating ...
Plot:
university, obsession, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, roommate, book, career, relocation, society, college, dark humor, social misfits, misfit ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, connecticut
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece, Turkey
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Zeynep, Tülin Özen works in a hotel as a housekeeper. But she suffers hell on earth because of her father's behavior. She only talks to Mustafa, 'Engin Dogan' who works in the same hotel and he is interested in Zeynep. She is not ...
Style:
atmospheric, touching, sincere, psychological, contemplative ...
Plot:
family problems, love and romance, life is a bitch, dull life, parents and children, death in the family, women's issues, alienation, turk, sexual content, chance, family relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
middle east, turkey
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, Iceland, France
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
The psychiatry department of a young doctor Cora has just admitted a young lady who refuses to speak and whose identity remains unknown. Cora becomes fond of her patient and establishes a relationship which goes beyond the usual course of treatment. ...
Style:
serious, realistic, touching, sentimental
Plot:
opposites attract, haunted by the past, mysterious character, life is a bitch, estrangement, infidelity, doctors and patients, obsession, mentally unstable, mental illness, love and romance, couples ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france, iceland
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Drama - When Zak and his girlfriend Delphina visit his estranged father in the Catskills, they find him suffering from dementia and inadvertently uncover a dark family secret from WWII: an impossible sacrifice Zak's grandfather (Eli Wallach) ...
Style:
emotional, psychological, realistic, captivating, serious ...
Plot:
haunted by the past, holocaust, life is a bitch, memory loss, estrangement, parents and children, deportation, uncover truth, jew persecution, past, world war two, elderly ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, new york
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
"Laura Smiles" is an alarmingly effective portrait of a woman's mental breakdown. We are introduced to "Laura" at her happiest time, in a warm, loving relationship with her fiancé (a very appealing Kip Pardue) in the city, ...
Style:
realistic, psychological, serious, captivating
Plot:
couple relations, haunted by the past, love affair, family problems, infidelity, society, destructive relationship, tragic hero, idealism, couples, mental illness, love and romance ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york
Similarity:
18%
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