Movies like Bright Lights, Big City
If you like "Bright Lights, Big City" you are looking for intense, serious and sentimental movies about / with drug abuse, nightlife, writers, addiction, redemption, drug and life is a bitch themes of Drama genre shot in Japan or USA.
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.
Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
10K
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A young kid from Kansas moves to New York to work on a magazine. He gets caught up in the world of drink and drugs, and starts a steady decline. The only hope is the cousin of one of his drinking partners, can she pull him through it ?
Style:
intense, serious, sentimental, touching, bleak, realistic, stylized, unusual plot structure, suspense, melancholic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
drug abuse, nightlife, writers, addiction, redemption, drug, life is a bitch, starting over, friendship, alcohol abuse, supportive spouse, downfall, loser, nightclub, magazine, yuppie, brother sister relationship, drug addiction, cocaine, drug addict, fashion show, drunkard, grief, recovery, dj ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, new jersey
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Bright Lights, Big City
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, gloomy and touching films with plots about addiction, life is a bitch, drug abuse, drug, drug addiction, redemption and hopes mostly in Drama, Romance and Crime genres. Some movies like Bright Lights, Big City: Drunks (1995), Less Than Zero (1987), The Panic in Needle Park (1971), The Boost (1988), Aleksandr's Price (2013). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first time in seven months, so he does - and leaves the meeting right after. As Jim wanders the night, ...
Style:
independent film, realistic, talky, spiritual, serious ...
Plot:
alcoholic, drug addiction, addiction, alcohol abuse, drug, drinking, recovery, support group, redemption, self discovery, drug abuse, drug addict ...
Time:
90s
Place:
manhattan new york city, new york, new jersey, los angeles
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
Style:
erotic drama, erotic, stylized, art house, cerebral ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
drug addiction, drug addict, male nudity, friendship, male prostitution, male prostitute, hedonism, addiction, drug, drug abuse, homosexuality, love triangle ...
Time:
80s, year 1987
Place:
los angeles, beverly hills, california, usa, palm springs california ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless ...
Style:
disturbing, depressing, bleak, serious, rough ...
Plot:
addiction, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug use, drug, heroin addict, drug addict, heroin, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, death of pet, life philosophy, couple relations ...
Time:
20th century, year 1971, 70s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa, new jersey, california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Lenny Brown moves to California to find his fortune in tax shelter investments. When the federal government changes the tax laws, poor Lenny finds himself $700,000 in hock with nowhere to turn. His friend, Joel, introduces him to cocaine to give ...
Style:
bleak, independent film, gloomy, touching, serious ...
Plot:
addiction, drug addiction, drug, alcoholism, recovery, drug abuse, drug addict, cautionary tale, substance abuse, couples, life is a bitch, drug dealing ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, future
Place:
los angeles, usa, mexico, california, new york
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
The life of an illegal Russian boy who, after losing his family, is pushed into becoming an escort - ultimately trying to come to terms with who he thinks he is.
Style:
serious, psychological, realistic, disturbing, sexual ...
Plot:
male prostitution, male escort, gay interest, gay rape, male prostitute, gay, hopes, losing-it hero, homosexual, lgbt, immigrant, life turned upside down ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
100%
107K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK
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:
tense, sincere, emotional, teen, independent film ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, girls' night, teen drama, adult
Plot:
coming of age, adolescence, friendship, drug addiction, addiction, peer pressure, teenage protagonist, dysfunctional family, underage drinking, teenage girl, teenager, self harm ...
Time:
year 2003, 20th century, y2k, near future, 2000s ...
Place:
california, usa, los angeles, venice beach california
Similarity:
100%
57K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between prison or a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs ...
Style:
touching, realistic, intense, emotional, melancholic ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, date night, teens
Plot:
addiction, drug addiction, wedding, rehabilitation, drug addict, alcoholism, dysfunctional family, going straight, doctors and patients, siblings relations, life is a bitch, drug abuse ...
Time:
year 2000, 20th century, 90s
Place:
usa, new york, manhattan new york city, new jersey
Similarity:
50%
54K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Gia Carangi travels to New York City with dreams of becoming a fashion model. Within minutes of arriving, she meets Wilhelmina Cooper, a wise and high-powered agent who takes Gia under her wing. With Cooper's help and her own natural instincts, ...
Style:
erotic, melancholic, psychological, sexy, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens
Plot:
lesbian, fashion, addiction, aids, drug abuse, drug addiction, lgbtq, supermodel, model, lgbt, heroin, mental illness ...
Time:
80s, 70s, 20th century
Place:
new york
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Hotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the ...
Style:
realistic, touching, emotional, compassionate, melancholic ...
Plot:
drug addiction, redemption, addiction, introspection, alcoholics anonymous, drug abuse, recovery, yuppie, rehabilitation, drug, drinking, recovering drug addict ...
Time:
80s
Place:
usa, philadelphia, new jersey, california
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Alix is taken in by a photographer, Digna, who despite her friends' protests, tries to help Alix piece her life back together and overcome her addictions.
Style:
realistic, serious, rough, disturbing, gloomy ...
Plot:
addiction, friendship, juvenile delinquency, downfall, going straight, destructive relationship, life is a bitch, rehabilitation, youth, drug abuse, overdose, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, lower east side manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Angel celebrates the birth of his daughter by taking his first hit of crack cocaine. With the hesitant support of his wife, Monika, he joins a friend of his to deal drugs for a short time--enough time to get out of debt and buy some nice things for ...
Style:
melancholic, realistic, serious, independent film, crying ...
Plot:
drug addiction, drug abuse, loneliness, family problems, family relations, downfall, introspection, crumbling marriage, life is a bitch, misfit, money, dysfunctional family ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new york, usa, bronx new york city, new jersey
Similarity:
40%
11K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
Albany, New York, Halloween, 1938. Francis Phelan and Helen Archer are bums, back in their birth city. She was a singer on the radio, he a major league pitcher. Death surrounds them: she's sick, a pal has cancer, he digs graves at the cemetery ...
Style:
touching, intense, realistic, serious, sincere ...
Plot:
homeless, alcohol abuse, redemption, halloween, mental disorder, female nudity, alcoholic, couple relations, rich and poor, parents and children, human nature, life is a bitch ...
Time:
1930s, 1900s, year 1987, 1910s, 20th century
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
39%
2K
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
The story of writer William Seward Burroughs and his wife.
Style:
captivating, realistic, serious, independent film
Plot:
beat generation, love triangle, infidelity, writers, lifestyle, writer's life, celebrity culture, drug abuse, addiction, adultery, rebellion, rebel ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 50s
Place:
new york, mexico, usa, latin america, mexico city
Similarity:
39%
72
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Angel and Zooey are not your typical newlyweds. Zooey is a professional prostitute and Angel is a drug dealer. Yet they are not without hopes and dreams, of escaping their life in the streets and starting a new in a fresh painted cottage with picked ...
Style:
serious, realistic, rough, gloomy, bleak
Plot:
love affair, lifestyle, going straight, drug abuse, addiction, life is a bitch, love and romance, hopes, survival, downfall, society, drug dealing ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, new york
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A New York City-set drama of interlocking stories which occur over a 36-hour period.
Style:
realistic, emotional, captivating, psychological, gloomy ...
Plot:
human nature, city life, estrangement, redemption, introspection, hopes, addiction, unfulfillment, lifestyle, multiple storylines, family problems, urban ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
39%
792
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Kyle Peoples never wanted to be the man he has become in his 30s, an accountant stuck in a dead end job, with a lover who is more successful than he and a family that doesn't get him at all. So when a night of partying leads to a new family of ...
Style:
realistic, serious, emotional, touching, sexual ...
Plot:
addiction, mistaken identity, couples, drug abuse, society, life is a bitch, friendship, gay, lgbt, male nudity, male rape, gay subtext ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
This movie tells five stories set in a single day at the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York City, involving an ensemble cast of some 30-35 characters.
Style:
meditative, intense, touching, serious, talky ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
hotel, eccentricity, writer's life, lifestyle, addiction, looking for love, drug abuse, couple relations, rising to stardom, nightlife, down on your luck, artist ...
Time:
year 2001
Place:
new york, usa, manhattan new york city, empire state building manhattan new york city, minneapolis minnesota ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Seemingly autobiographical story of a woman overwhelmed with trying to please everyone except herself, and not finding any answers until she's admitted to a rehab center by her parents. Eventually here is where she finds her answers.
Style:
realistic, touching, serious, psychological, emotional ...
Plot:
nervous breakdown, rehabilitation center, rehabilitation, drug abuse, mental institution, parents and children, family problems, life is a bitch, doctors and patients, addiction, family relations, power relations ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
usa
Similarity:
38%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Two brothers, Lex and younger Mick, are living in Harlem. Mick is a policeman, and Lex, who spent youth years in reformatory because of injustice after he confronted the cop who tried to sodomize Mick on the street, is living with his wife Debbie ...
Style:
emotional, serious, touching, bleak, rough ...
Plot:
downfall, haunted by the past, going straight, society, family problems, addiction, down on your luck, dysfunctional family, hopes, re-education, drug abuse, brother brother relationship ...
Time:
year 1997, 20th century, 90s
Place:
new york, harlem, usa
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Based on the true story of Bill W. (James Woods), a successful stock broker whose life falls apart after the stock crash of the 20's and how he comes to grips with his alcoholism. Along with a fellow alcoholic (James Garner) he forms a support ...
Style:
realistic, touching, serious, sincere, thought provoking ...
Plot:
addiction, recovery, rehabilitation, coping, alcoholics anonymous, support group, family problems, self discovery, human spirit, hopes, against the odds, friendship ...
Time:
1930s, 1920s, year 1929
Place:
usa
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
An adaptation of Bishop T.D. Jakes' self-help novel, chronciling a woman's struggle to come to terms with her legacy of abuse, addiction and poverty.
Style:
serious, captivating, sentimental, touching, emotional ...
Plot:
drug abuse, redemption, sexual abuse, bishop, going straight, youth, life is a bitch, hopes, addiction, family relations, family problems, compassion ...
Time:
year 2004, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
Similarity:
37%
18K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
Kate and Charlie like to have a good time. Their marriage thrives on a shared fondness for music, laughter… and getting smashed. When Kate’s partying spirals into hard-core asocial behavior, compromising her job as an elementary schoolteacher, ...
Style:
sincere, depressing, touching, realistic, indie film ...
Plot:
addiction, rehabilitation, alcoholic, support group, alcohol abuse, teacher, depression, introspection, irresponsible, recovery, life is a bitch, hopes ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles, california
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.
Style:
realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, social
Plot:
rehabilitation, drug addiction, male nudity, male pubic hair, drug, addiction, roommate, alcohol abuse, self destructing, fall in love, clinic, introspection ...
Time:
year 1993
Place:
minneapolis minnesota, usa
Similarity:
36%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Mother of a 15-month old daughter and would-be dancer, fighting alcoholism and the hardships of living on the streets gets help from a home for women and tries to find the will to live and get her life back on track
Style:
realistic, serious, sincere, touching, inspirational ...
Plot:
addiction, friendship, starting over, adoption, poverty, pregnancy, family relations, hopes, life is a bitch, optimism, couples, babies and infants ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A woman stuck in a stale marriage struggles to raise her children and manage her secret drug habit. But when winter comes to her small town, her balancing act begins to come crashing down.
Style:
emotional, sincere, touching, serious, scary ...
Plot:
addiction, infidelity, rehabilitation, cocaine, dysfunctional family, going straight, family life, working class, drug abuse, destructive relationship, life is a bitch, cliche ...
Place:
new york, new york state, usa
Similarity:
36%
503
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Set in the belly of Los Angeles' criminal underworld, Arc is the story of Paris Pritchert, a former police officer turned drug dealer and addict, who embarks on a quest to find a missing child in the hope of redeeming his eroding character. The ...
Style:
rough, suspenseful, serious, stylized, dark ...
Plot:
redemption, addiction, missing child, private detective, law enforcement, dealer, drug abuse, prostitute, life is a bitch, urban ghetto life, society, drug addiction ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
Similarity:
36%
300
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
When Julius (Marty Sader) loses his girlfriend, his job and the life of his pseudo father, Jack, his itch for a "quick fix" suffocates his ambitions and takes him on a trip through the disturbing addiction of crystal meth. Julius confides ...
Style:
realistic, serious, psychological, rough, gloomy ...
Plot:
losing-it hero, downfall, rehabilitation, addiction, couples, family problems, under the surface, destructive relationship, life is a bitch, drug abuse, drug, drug addiction ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
hawaii
Similarity:
36%
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, independent film, emotional, talky, inspirational ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
teacher, drug addiction, teachers and students, drug, loneliness, addiction, drug abuse, friendship, student, ghetto, school, existentialism ...
Time:
year 2006, future, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, brooklyn new york city, california
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Tommy Matisse, a gifted musician, undertakes an odyssey of self-discovery and tragedy in Melbourne's dance music scene.
Style:
realistic, psychological, captivating, sentimental, gloomy ...
Plot:
self discovery, musician's life, prodigy, lifestyle, couples, addiction, rave, redemption, nightclub, fall in love, drug abuse, overdose ...
Place:
europe, australia, london, england
Similarity:
35%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Chuck brought sorrow to his family when he shot his father who is now a semi-invalid. After 15 years of self destruction, he returns home to seek forgiveness.
Style:
independent film, contemplative, serious, realistic, touching ...
Audience:
manly
Plot:
redemption, family relations, cons and scams, drug abuse, family life, family gatherings, teenage life, high school, addiction, parents and children, homecoming, buddies ...
Time:
year 1988, 80s, 20th century
Place:
vietnam
Similarity:
35%
Related movie lists
