Movies like Boy A
If you like "Boy A" you are looking for psychological, disturbing and heartbreaking movies about / with juvenile delinquency, childhood, going straight, haunted by the past, released from prison, redemption and rehabilitation themes of Drama genre shot in UK.
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.
Boy A (2007)
38K
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The story of a young ex-con Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a murder he committed as a child.
Style:
psychological, disturbing, heartbreaking, emotional, touching, dark, compassionate, tense, thought provoking, melancholic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
juvenile delinquency, childhood, going straight, haunted by the past, released from prison, redemption, rehabilitation, starting over, dysfunctional family, child abuse, murder, suspense, melancholy, criminal, vengeance, moral dilemma, new job, incest, social realism, depression, suicide, parent child relationship, social misfits, character change, friendship ...
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
england, europe, manchester, manchester england
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Boy A
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, dramatic and melancholic films with plots about storytelling, loneliness, mentor, honest, depression, friendship and runaway mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Boy A: The Woodsman (2004), Tyrannosaur (2011), Short Term 12 (2013), The Kite Runner (2007), Detachment (2011). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
A paedophile returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.
Style:
disturbing, harsh, sincere, rough, psychological ...
Plot:
pedophilia, friendship, sexual perversion, starting over, ex convict, police officer, psychology, factory worker, suspicion, warden, anger, haunted by the past ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
california, philadelphia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The story of Joseph a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals into turmoil a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. Their relationship ...
Style:
depressing, bleak, thought provoking, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot:
abuse, domestic violence, redemption, depression, rage, violence, marital rape, society, frustration, brutality, social problems, abusive husband ...
Time:
year 2010, 21st century
Place:
england, northern england
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, works with her boyfriend and colleague, Mason, to help at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.
Style:
emotional, compassionate, sad, thought provoking, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, kids, teen drama
Plot:
child abuse, teenager, social worker, suicide attempt, depression, adolescence, foster child, self mutilation, self harm, coming of age, troubled teen, mental illness ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, China, USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Style:
emotional, disturbing, inspirational, sincere, psychological ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
betrayal, childhood, friendship, muslim, coming of age, courage, guilt, rape, mission, haunted by the past, child, islam ...
Time:
70s, 80s, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
afghanistan, middle east, california, san francisco, pakistan
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher, Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long ...
Style:
psychological, bleak, thought provoking, depressing, touching ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
teacher, depression, suicide, teachers and students, dedicated educator, human relationship, school, unhappy, social problems, life is a bitch, society, social decay ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Also search:
The Shawshank Redemption similar movies
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A grandiose party to celebrate a sixtieth birthday unleashes a family drama with all the lies that conceal horrendous secrets. The eldest son, Christian, stages a showdown with the popular pater familias; his provocative, moving after-dinner speech ...
Style:
gloomy, art house, disturbing, thought provoking, surreal ...
Plot:
incest, suicide, family secret, child abuse, hotel, sexual abuse, haunted by the past, birthday, depression, party, birthday party, dysfunctional family ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
denmark, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Three pre-adolescents with virginal and eager-of-signals naivety, hit headlong against monstrous and inhospitable loneliness, in the incandescent fire among the ashes of their own inocence.
Style:
touching, realistic, emotional, heartbreaking, sad ...
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, teenager, childhood, children, vengeance, dysfunctional family, family relations, loss of son, family problems, haunted by the past, family in crisis ...
Place:
new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
63K
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands, UK
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Everything changes for 15 year old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
Style:
emotional, bleak, gloomy, sincere, disturbing ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
age difference, mother's boyfriend, older man younger woman relationship, coming of age, innocence lost, dancing, rebelliousness, youth, life is a bitch, fall in love, adolescence, realism ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
california, europe, england
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Maggie has had four children, by four different fathers, removed by social services because of a previous violent relationship. When she meets Jorge, a gentle Latin American refugee, she gradually sees her chance for happiness, but her history still ...
Style:
sad, disturbing, realistic, thought provoking, biting ...
Plot:
violence, suspense, immigrants, fighting the system, working class, dysfunctional family, love, nude, hospital, sex crime, melancholy, british ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
england, california, london, liverpool, paraguay
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
337K
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Style:
thought provoking, bleak, psychological, sad, controversial ...
Plot:
injustice, teacher, life turned upside down, false accusation, child abuse, divorce, pedophile, social injustice, friendship between men, choir, divorced man, church ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
denmark
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Also search:
Thirteen related movies
10K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Lyle is filled with rage. After badly beating a classmate during a schoolyard fight, Lyle is committed to a juvenile mental institution in lieu of criminal prosecution. Inside the hospital, Lyle encounters a group of adolescents struggling with a ...
Style:
psychological, disturbing, rough, compassionate, depressing ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
mental institution, mental illness, coming of age, depression, addiction, psychiatry, psychology, therapy, dysfunctional family, youth, teenage life, self discovery ...
Place:
new jersey, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway, Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Anders is a recovering drug addict in an Oslo rehab clinic. On the 30th August, he is given a day’s leave to attend a job interview in the city centre.
Style:
gloomy, touching, depressing, thought provoking, melancholic ...
Plot:
suicide attempt, suicide, drug addict, addiction, loneliness, drugs, depression, drug addiction, complex characters, old friends, unlikely friendships, life is a bitch ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
oslo norway, california, scandinavia, norway
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Karl Childers is a mentally disabled man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside ...
Style:
serious, neo noir, touching, bleak, sincere ...
Audience:
manly
Plot:
small town, friendship, dysfunctional family, murder, redemption, mental institution, death threat, father figure, mental illness, homosexual, domestic violence, coming of age ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
arkansas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Jack Dodd was a London butcher who enjoyed a pint with his mates for over 50 years. When he died, he died as he lived, with a smile on his face watching a horse race on which he had bet, with borrowed money. But before he died he had a final ...
Style:
realistic, touching, sentimental, talky, atmospheric ...
Plot:
friendship, last wish, road trip, memory, life, family relations, friendship between men, self discovery, partners, parents and children, parent child relationship, last will and testament ...
Time:
year 1989, 21st century
Place:
england, europe, london, california, australia
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
91K
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before ...
Style:
realistic, sincere, tense, disturbing, intense ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot:
coming of age, drug addiction, friendship, mother daughter relationship, peer pressure, dysfunctional family, addiction, underage drinking, teenage protagonist, self harm, teenager, kids in trouble ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
california, usa, los angeles, venice beach california
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Also search:
Trainspotting similar movies
181K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
The filmed adaptation from David Benioff's novel of the same name. Set in New York, a convicted drug dealer named Monty has one day left of freedom before he is sent to prison. Anger, blame, frustration, betrayal, guilt and loneliness are ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, depressing, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
friendship, drugs, organized crime, drug lord, race against time, drug dealer, betrayal, gangsters, redemption, freedom, russian mafia, mistrust ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the ...
Style:
meditative, psychological, bleak, emotional, depressing ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
prison, murder, teacher, coming of age, dysfunctional family, writers, prison life, family relations, theft, unlikely friendships, suburbs, investigation ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
phoenix arizona, california, paris france, italy, new york ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
53K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Style:
bleak, realistic, serious, touching, dark ...
Plot:
youth, antisocial behavior, loner, depression, arson, life is a bitch, grief, family problems, rebelliousness, coming of age, friendship, dealing with death ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
A hyperactive boy and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.
Style:
sad, depressing, atmospheric, realistic, bleak ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
friendship, teenage life, poverty, juvenile delinquency, child abuse, youth, coming of age, brutality, realism, social misfits, misfit, society ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
england, new jersey, yorkshire, poland, europe ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
59K
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.
Style:
melancholic, touching, depressing, emotional, psychological ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
oedipus complex, dysfunctional family, mother son relationship, mentally unstable, juvenile delinquent, incest overtones, single mother, violence, teenager, stuttering, youth, teenage boy ...
Time:
year 2015, near future, 2010s, year 2010, year 1982 ...
Place:
canada, quebec, montreal
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Also search:
Manchester by the Sea similar movies
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A coming-of-age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, which follows 15-year-old freshman Charlie, an endearing and naive outsider who is taken under the wings of two seniors. A moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope - and the ...
Style:
touching, sincere, romantic, emotional, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, high school, teenager, friendship, first love, youth, adolescence, mental illness, suicide, teenage life, depression, shyness ...
Time:
90s, year 1991, 20th century, 21st century
Place:
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to ...
Style:
psychological, depressing, philosophical, compassionate, disturbing ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, mother daughter relationship, guilt, loneliness, family relations, suspense, coma, family life, family problems, crumbling marriage, single parent, couple relations ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Difficult tale of poor, struggling South Carolinian mother & daughter, who each face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as ...
Style:
realistic, disturbing, serious, emotional, touching ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
sexual abuse, coming of age, rape, domestic violence, family relations, dysfunctional family, parents and children, life is a bitch, pedophile, children, sexual assault, family in crisis ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 90s, 50s
Place:
south carolina, usa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Based on the Henry James novella, the story frames on 7-year-old Maisie, caught in a custody battle between her mother – a rock and roll icon – and her father. What Maisie Knew is an evocative portrayal of the chaos of adult life seen entirely ...
Style:
touching, emotional, sad, atmospheric, talky ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
divorce, childhood, dysfunctional family, unsupportive parent, step parent, child, marriage, crumbling marriage, starting over, family in crisis, family problems, lawyer ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, california, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Style:
disturbing, psychological, depressing, realistic, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
child abuse, gay, homosexual, coming of age, sexual abuse, pedophilia, homosexual rape, child molestation, youth, male rape, homosexuality, teenage life ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 80s, year 1981, year 1987 ...
Place:
kansas, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Also search:
Scent of a Woman related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
The family of Raymond, his wife Val and her brother Billy live in working-class London district. Also in their family is Val and Billy's mother Janet and grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict and Raymond kicks him out of the house, making ...
Style:
disturbing, rough, depressing, realistic, gloomy ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, drugs, drug addiction, heroin, working class, addiction, alcohol abuse, brutality, gangsters, drug addict, violence, drug abuse ...
Time:
90s
Place:
london, england, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a ...
Style:
depressing, talky, emotional, serious, melancholic ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
teacher, drugs, teachers and students, student, friendship, addiction, drug addiction, ghetto, loneliness, school, mentor, existentialism ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
new york, california, usa, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
J.R. is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he gets involved with a local girl, he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it. More explicitly linked with Catholic ...
Style:
talky, sexy, dramatic, intellectual, light ...
Plot:
male nudity, friendship, redemption, violence, catholicism, morality, mentor, revenge, relationships, justice, multiple storylines, secrets ...
Time:
60s, 20th century
Place:
new york, new jersey, europe, italy, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
11K
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
As children, Nick and his little brother take care of their baby brother while their mother drinks herself senseless. But the baby dies, and both brothers blame themselves. Many years later, Nick is out of prison after serving time for an assault. ...
Style:
bleak, gloomy, thought provoking, depressing, disturbing ...
Plot:
heroin, drug abuse, dysfunctional family, childhood trauma, drug addiction, haunted by the past, redemption, estrangement, loneliness, adaptation, family relations, life is a bitch ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
berlin germany, denmark, europe, copenhagen
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, UK, Norway
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
Style:
emotional, touching, sincere, realistic, thought provoking ...
Plot:
wedding, marriage, poverty, family bonds, wealth, family relations, family problems, family secret, hopes, couple relations, parents and children, financial problem ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
denmark, copenhagen, india, bombay india
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
Related movie lists
