Movies and TV shows like Holding On
If you like "Holding On" you are looking for atmospheric, melancholic and existential movies or TV shows about / with city life, character study, desperation, social realism, hopes, bulimia and mature themes of Drama genre shot in UK.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Holding On (1997)
176
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
The interaction between a diverse range of characters—including a bulimic restaurant critic and a highly strung tax inspector—in modern-day London.
Style:
atmospheric, melancholic, existential, intense
Plot:
city life, character study, desperation, social realism, hopes, bulimia, mature, morality, alienation, mental health, moral ambiguity, slice of life, redemption, working life, bittersweet, food critic, crisis of faith, teenager, violence, murder, male nudity, big city life, psychological drama
Time:
90s, contemporary, 1990s
Place:
london
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Holding On
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, emotional, intense and realistic films and TV series with plots about character study, moral ambiguity, slice of life, psychological drama, bittersweet, loneliness and alienation mostly in Drama, Comedy and Romance genres. Some movies like Holding On: Crime of the Decade (1984), Madraskaaran (2025), Truckers (2013), Zebra Crossing (2008), The Last Years of Childhood (1979). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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:
95%
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:
94%
118
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 300 min.
TV show
Story:
Funny, moving and at times painful - Truckers tells stories of real life, ordinary people pushed to extremes. In each episode, one character undertakes a journey and we are along for the ride. In an age when technology would make us seem ever more ...
Style:
realistic, humorous, semi serious, sincere, touching ...
Plot:
redemption, working class, bittersweet, workplace situations, family relations, society, workplace, introspection, parents and children, hopes, journey, moving ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england, northern england
Similarity:
81%
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:
78%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A juvenile offender is handed over to authorities at age 13 and placed in an institution in this somber social drama. Martin is a petty thief who enjoys stealing and looks up to his older brother. When he is informed that his brother has died, ...
Style:
bleak, grim, tragic ending, melancholic, intense ...
Plot:
runaway, social realism, juvenile delinquency, teen suicide, reform school, desperation, social criticism, mental health, loneliness, alienation, child psychologist, character study ...
Time:
70s
Place:
southern germany
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
It's a story about strong women of the mid 1990s in post-soviet Russia. About the women who had to carry on their shoulders all the hardships of providing for families during the period of «original accumulation of capital».
Style:
realistic, inspirational, emotional, sincere, captivating ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
rivalry, family life, girlfriend girlfriend relationship, workplace problem, temper, money problems, financial problem, women, new life, life is a bitch, social problems, working class ...
Time:
90s
Place:
russia, moscow russia
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
TV show
Story:
In 1958 Spain, Jesus shoots his new wife, Begoña, while fleeing through the woods with his daughter. What events led Jesus to turn against his own family?
Style:
soap opera, psychological, thrilling, captivating, emotional ...
Plot:
domestic violence, secret, husband wife relationship, problem, family relations, murder, murderer, murder mystery, relationship problems, male female relationship, marital problem, relationships ...
Time:
1950s, year 1958
Place:
spain
Similarity:
58%
20
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
TV show
Story:
Kang Soo is a loan shark that tries to get by day to day in his depressing reality. His father's abuse lead to his mother running away from home. Thanks to his father's crippling debt, he began to work under Hwang Tae Bok. Happiness ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, crime drama, disturbing, captivating ...
Plot:
violence, life is a bitch, loan shark, debt, desperation, family problems, criminal, escape from reality, social issues, stolen money, money problems, social problems ...
Place:
south korea, korea
Similarity:
58%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
TV show
Story:
Can a coward commit suicide?
Meet Kita Yoshio, a very unlucky man who has chosen his close friend's death anniversary as his suicide date, which is 11 days away. The number 11 has been quite significant throughout his life: he was born on ...
Style:
serious, captivating, realistic, atmospheric, black comedy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
midlife crisis, suicidal, jazz, introspection, hopes, unfulfillment, down on your luck, life, character study, self discovery, suicide attempt, bittersweet ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
asia, japan
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Turkey
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Featuring seven different yet intertwined stories of modern life in Istanbul, 7 Faces is a thought-provoking drama centering on seven characters living in the same city apartment building. Each of them faces a major change in their lives, which ...
Style:
tense, anthology, thought provoking, humorous, captivating ...
Plot:
family relations, character study, modern life, society, city life, eccentric family, dysfunctional family, multiple storylines, lifestyle, family life, social relations, apartment building ...
Place:
istanbul turkey
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: Serbia
TV show
Story:
The TV series "Your Name Is Varvara" reveals to the viewer what is hidden in the shadows of life, i.e. what human life (according to the latest findings) looks like in the modern world today. Without a classic main character, and with ...
Style:
thought provoking, existential, philosophical, emotional, poignant ...
Plot:
suffering, character study, trauma, identity, healing, intimate, female protagonist, resilience, spirituality, redemption, urban, symbolism ...
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 73 min.
Story:
Feature film
Style:
bleak, melancholic, tragic ending, intense, art house ...
Plot:
poverty, hopelessness, drug addiction, pain, desperation, prostitution, illness, isolation, alienation, self destructing, character study, sacrifice ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
The bright sunlight shines on the small island of Arsinoe. Some secrets, betrayals, and crimes are revealed. The mirror has somehow turned upside down. Sotiris, who was let down by those closest to him, will go from being a victim to becoming a ...
Style:
tension, atmospheric, suspense, realistic, intense ...
Plot:
island, oppression, secrets, greek, betrayal, tradition, moral ambiguity, character study, patriarchy, family conflict, female protagonist, revenge ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: Algeria, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Omar, an unstable and lonely teenager, lives in a slum in the suburbs of Mostaganem, Algeria. He is addicted to a famous psychotropic, nicknamed “Madame Courage”: Artane tablets, very popular among young Algerians, for their euphoric effect of ...
Style:
intense, bleak, realistic, crime drama
Plot:
drug addiction, street crime, unrequited love, poverty, coming of age, moral ambiguity, urban decay, social realism, alienation, desperation, male protagonist, character study ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
algeria
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 10 min.
TV show
Story:
BREAKING POINT follows a group of friends dealing with dreams, triumphs, and heartaches as day-to-day transitions and setbacks threaten their relationships and livelihoods.
Style:
emotional, realistic, reflective, melancholic, independent film ...
Plot:
friendship, slice of life, personal growth, bittersweet, murder, city life, coming of age, intimate, mature, betrayal, sex, lie ...
Similarity:
49%
648
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 10 min.
TV show
Story:
Erik is forced to move to an island to get away from his past, but you don't easily run away from rumors, and a broken past.
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, atmospheric, emotional ...
Plot:
gossip, teenager, relationships, troubled past, confronting the past, teenage life, social problems, adolescence, teenage protagonist, life is a bitch, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, problem ...
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: Austria
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Something is different for Tristan: his pregnant girlfriend has disappeared, and a mysterious taxi driver picks him up and explains that he can make wishes come true for him. All the people who meet him behave differently--if he wishes.
Style:
thought provoking, thinking, serious, psychological, suspenseful ...
Plot:
character study, dark secret, female nudity, loneliness, wish fulfillment, identity crisis, alone in the world, troubled past, wish come true, nudity, haunted by the past, pretense ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
The Insiders Guide To Happiness is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of six previously unconnected people. Each life is connected by a bizarre car accident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, romantic, thrilling, romantic drama ...
Plot:
love, character study, romantic relationship, relationships, male female relationship, love story, love interest, love and romance, lifestyle, multiple storylines, love affair, fall in love ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
new zealand
Similarity:
46%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
TV show
Story:
In New York City, four strangers navigate life's challenges while their separate paths unexpectedly intertwine in ways that change them forever.
Style:
emotional, realistic, melancholic, sincere
Plot:
loss of loved one, urban, grief, city life, loss, relationships, loneliness, healing, bittersweet, mature, slice of life, isolation ...
Place:
new york
Similarity:
46%
153
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
The sad and sometimes darkly funny lives of various denizens of Chicago's social and economic underside provide the focus of this adventurous independent comedy-drama.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, suspenseful, psychological, comedy drama ...
Plot:
night, fate, problem, destiny, social commentary, character study, working class, loneliness, nightlife, hopelessness, moral ambiguity, poverty ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
chicago
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: China
TV show
Story:
Lin Kan is a lawyer hired to represent a woman who accuses her boss of workplace assault. As the case becomes more complex, Lin Kan is forced to confront her own ethical dilemmas.
Style:
intense, thought provoking, emotional, tense, suspenseful ...
Plot:
sexual assault, ethical dilemma, courtroom, courtroom drama, realism, female lawyer, moral ambiguity, character study, feminism, social commentary, morality, interrogation ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 229 min.
TV show
Story:
Three part miniseries about Gerald Middleton, an aging historian, who reflects on his youth, relationships (especially the one with his best friend's girl), career (shadowed by a scandal), and current issues, like his marriage and kids.
Style:
reflective, melancholic, bleak, period drama, moody
Plot:
aging, scandal, infidelity, character study, midlife crisis, mature, regret, guilt, intimate, domestic drama, nostalgia, literary ...
Similarity:
44%
107
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway
TV show
Story:
Norwegian tv show about a class. Brings up a lot of different problems that pupils face on a day to day basis. Every character represents a different kind of person.
Style:
psychological, captivating, disturbing, realistic, thought provoking ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
school, teenager, slice of life, adolescence, youth, lifestyle, teenage life, schoolboy, high school life, social issues, coming of age, education ...
Similarity:
43%
Movie in collections
614
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Moving On is a British television series set in contemporary Britain consisting of standalone dramas all sharing the theme of someone going through some kind of change in their life and moving on.
Style:
realistic, emotional, serious, sincere, contemplative ...
Plot:
starting over, introspection, couple relations, parents and children, family relations, life turned upside down, family problems, redemption, hopes, couples, optimism, personal growth ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england
Similarity:
42%
706
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 63 min.
TV show
Story:
Obsessive, self-destructive London television scriptwriter Daniel Feeld finds his health failing while involved with the post-production on his new TV drama, "Karaoke." A hard-drinking heavy smoker, Feeld is in much physical pain as he ...
Style:
metafiction, psychological, surreal, tense, suspense ...
Plot:
paranoia, screenwriter, murder, obsession, character study, hallucination, identity, double life, urban, claustrophobia, duplicity, creative block ...
Time:
90s
Place:
england, london, europe
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 312 min.
TV show
Story:
The Charmer was a 1987 British television serial set in the 1930s, and starring Nigel Havers as Ralph Ernest Gorse, a seducing conman and murderer, Rosemary Leach as Joan Plumleigh-Bruce, the smitten victim widow and Bernard Hepton as Donald ...
Style:
crime drama, tension, atmospheric, suspense, stylized ...
Plot:
murder, deception, british, seducer, manipulation, revenge, betrayal, moral ambiguity, character study, adaptation, obsession, serial killer ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century
Place:
england, london
Similarity:
42%
449
Genre: Drama
Country: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A panoramic view over society across ten unfortunate characters whose stories sometimes intertwine.
Style:
poignant, melancholic, sociological
Plot:
character study, slice of life, social commentary, empathy, urban, city life, working class, loneliness, bittersweet, intimate, alienation, moral ambiguity ...
Place:
bosnia herzegovina
Similarity:
40%
131
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
Psychos is a six-part drama, set in the psychiatric ward of a Glasgow hospital, that aired on Channel 4 from May 6 to June 10, 1999.
Style:
intense, emotional, bleak, controversial, compassionate ...
Plot:
mental institution, psychiatry, mental health, character study, bipolar disorder, trauma, social commentary, moral ambiguity, isolation, working class, therapy, hospital ...
Place:
scotland, glasgow scotland
Similarity:
40%
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:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
A psychiatrist, Rintaro Hino, listens closely to the aching hearts of people, relieving them of their pain. His practice is growing but despite his achievements, Dr. Rintaro himself falls short in one department: love.
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, medical drama, melancholic
Plot:
doctor, psychiatry, mental health, male female relationship, relationships, changing lives, lifestyle change, relationship problems, couple relations, relationship vs career, psychology, physician ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
40%
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