Character study movies and TV shows – page 5
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| Rental Family (2025) | 7.6 |
List of character study movies
23K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
An Irish fisherman discovers a woman in his fishing net believing her to be a mermaid.
Style:
touching, sentimental, sweet, fairy tale, romantic ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
father daughter relationship, mermaid, small town, sea, mysterious stranger, daughter, longing, fisherman, self discovery, character study, secrets, solitude ...
Time:
year 2009
Place:
ireland, europe, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
14 years after third impact, Ikari Shinji awakens to a world he does not remember. He hasn't aged. Much of Earth is laid in ruins, Nerv has been dismantled, and people who he once protected have turned against him. Befriending the enigmatic ...
Style:
mecha, futuristic, anime, psychological, surreal ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
androids and robots, loneliness, father son relationship, character study, dystopian future, imaginary, society, young heroes, escapades, danger, life is a bitch, giant robot ...
Time:
future
Place:
japan, asia, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Years after their successful restaurant review tour of Northern Britain, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are commissioned for a new tour in Italy.
Style:
humorous, melancholic, semi serious, talky, witty ...
Plot:
food, satire, character study, restaurant, on the road, friendship, odd couple, buddies, verbal byplay, art, wine, dialogue ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
italy, tuscany, europe, pompeii, rome italy ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who ...
Style:
sweet, touching, humorous, funny, semi serious ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
love and romance, teacher, twins, relationships, friendship, girl, dating, character study, adolescence, family relations, parents and children, fall in love ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, new zealand, california, new jersey ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
A veteran actress comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier.
Style:
melancholic, psychological, cerebral, atmospheric, philosophical ...
Plot:
actress, skinny dipping, lesbian, movie actress, divorce, midlife crisis, women, mountain, relationships, sexual attraction, character study, suicide attempt ...
Time:
year 2014, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
switzerland, swiss alps, alps, london, zurich switzerland ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A drama centered on a classical pianist who has been diagnosed with ALS and the brash college student who becomes her caregiver.
Style:
touching, sentimental, sweet, dramatic, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens
Plot:
terminal illness, friendship, quadriplegic, musician, dying, life is a bitch, marital infidelity, young woman, character study, disability, family relations, teaching the ways of the world ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, san francisco, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Country: UK, Germany, Greece, France
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
A depressed musician reunites with his lover in the desolate streets of Detroit. Though their romance has endured several centuries, it is tested by the arrival of her capricious and unpredictable younger sister.
Style:
atmospheric, melancholic, artsy, philosophical, stylized ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
vampire, goth, love, immortality, blood, supernatural, vampirism, eternal life, death, musician, fate of humanity, vampire bite ...
Time:
2010s, year 2013, 90s, year 1975, year 1968 ...
Place:
tangier morocco, detroit
Is relevant?
526K
Genre: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother, an ex-marine ...
Style:
emotional, tense, inspirational, touching, sentimental ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, manly
Plot:
martial arts, courage, mixed martial arts, fight scenes, boxing, fistfight, estrangement, muscleman, happy ending, father son relationship, athlete and trainer, fight ...
Time:
year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
pittsburgh, usa, iraq, atlantic city new jersey, el paso texas ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos. Follows Solondz's film Happiness (1998).
Style:
psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, independent film, talky ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, pedophile, couple relations, father son relationship, family relations, sisters, character study, dark humor, family problems, parents and children, family life, haunted by the past ...
Time:
year 2009, 70s, 21st century
Place:
florida, new jersey, usa, miami, israel ...
Is relevant?
68K
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Netherlands
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Everything changes for 15 year old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
Style:
sexy, emotional, sincere, bleak, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, pre-teens, teen drama
Plot:
adolescence, age difference, coming of age, teenage girl, rebelliousness, mother's boyfriend, hopes, dancing, youth, sexual content, older man younger woman relationship, fall in love ...
Time:
year 2009, near future, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
europe, england, california
Is relevant?
20K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Unable to cope with a recent personal tragedy, LA's top celebrity shrink turns into a pothead with no concern for his appearance and a creeping sense of his inability to help his patients.
Style:
psychological, depressing, emotional, serious, sentimental ...
Plot:
therapist, suicide, mental illness, hollywood, character study, life philosophy, suicide attempt, widower, haunted by the past, power relations, doctors and patients, artists and showbiz ...
Time:
2000s, year 2009, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant?
17K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Austria
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Ex-con Alex plans to flee to the South with his girl after a robbery. But something terrible happens and revenge seems inevitable.
Style:
suspenseful, bleak, psychological, art house, atmospheric ...
Plot:
vengeance, culture clash, redemption, couple relations, prostitution, character study, storytelling, robbery, love and romance, unfulfillment, revenge, family problems ...
Time:
year 2008, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
austria, ukraine, europe, vienna
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.
Style:
touching, realistic, sincere, psychological, heartbreaking ...
Plot:
family drama, redemption, prison, character study, physician, job seeking, honest, parenthood, complex characters, loss of son, sibling relationship, estrangement ...
Time:
year 2008, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
france, europe, paris france
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Shotgun Stories tracks a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father. Set against the cotton fields and back roads of Southeast Arkansas, these brothers discover the lengths to which each will go to protect ...
Style:
bleak, realistic, harsh, suspense, depressing ...
Plot:
violence, vengeance, violent, brutality, revenge, family relations, character study, sibling relationship, family bonds, family feud, siblings relations, estrangement ...
Time:
year 2007, 20th century, 90s, 80s
Place:
usa, arkansas, southern usa, california
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) might be imperiously brilliant, monumentally self-possessed and an intellectual giant -- but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy.
Style:
humorous, emotional, talky, melancholic, realistic ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, writers, happy ending, professor, father daughter relationship, character study, self discovery, eccentricity, family relations, parents and children, teacher, couples ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
usa, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, new york, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Lawrence, an aging, lonely civil servant falls for Gina, an enigmatic young woman. When he takes her to the G8 Summit in Reykjavik, however, their bond is tested by Lawrence's professional obligations.
Style:
touching, emotional, melancholic, sweet, romantic ...
Plot:
politics, sex, power of love, passion, female nudity, character study, against the rules, state affairs, social differences, society, hypocrisy, couples ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
iceland, united kingdom, reykjavik iceland, africa, seattle
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the ...
Style:
sincere, jidai geki, talky, touching, lyrical ...
Plot:
samurai, poverty, feudal japan, sword fight, asian history, friendship, love story, tragedy, character study, samurai era, visceral, assassination ...
Time:
19th century, 2000s, y2k, 1800s, year 2002
Place:
japan, east asia, asia, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Country: West Germany, Ghana
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
A fearsome 19th century bandit, Cobra Verde cuts a swath through Brazil until he arrives at the sugar plantation of Don Octávio Countinho. Not knowing that his new guest is the notorious bandit and impressed by his ruthless ways, Don Octávio hires ...
Style:
surreal, intense, meditative, harsh, serious ...
Plot:
slave trade, culture clash, treasure hunt, slavery, female warrior, character study, rescue, complex characters, survival, political unrest, master and servant, rebelliousness ...
Time:
19th century, year 1987
Place:
africa, brazil, latin america, west africa, germany ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A Vietnam veteran, Charles Rane, returns home after years in a POW camp and is treated as a hero. When thugs invade his home to steal the silver coins he received for his service, they mangle his hand and leave him and his family for dead. Rane ...
Style:
grindhouse, neo noir, stylized, harsh, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
vigilante, revenge, home invasion, vengeance, vigilantism, murder, vietnam war, exploitation, insomnia, macabre, complex characters, character study ...
Time:
70s, year 1977, year 1973, 80s
Place:
texas, el paso texas, vietnam, asia, san antonio texas ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Neddy Merrill has been away for most of the summer. He reappears at a friend's pool. As they talk, someone notices that there are pools spanning the entire valley. He decided to jog from pool to pool to swim the whole valley. As he stops in ...
Style:
psychological, atmospheric, serious, surreal, depressing ...
Plot:
swimming pool, midlife crisis, swimmer, swimming, nudist, surrealism, neighbor, existentialism, neighborhood, character study, life philosophy, social relations ...
Time:
60s, year 1968, 20th century, 70s
Place:
connecticut, usa, california
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Gifted 18-year-old Meg has been abandoned by her father and neglected by her hardworking mother. Left to care for her emotionally disturbed younger sister, her world begins to unravel. She finds an outlet in writing poetry and support from her ...
Style:
disturbing, poignant, depressing, heartbreaking, contemplative ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
teenage girl, power relations, cheerleading, teachers and students, teacher student relationship, dysfunctional family, depression, innocence lost, family in crisis, character study, complex characters, bittersweet ...
Time:
year 2002
Place:
ohio, florida
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
A con man travels to Cambodia (also on the run from law enforcement in the U.S.) to collect his share in an insurance scam, but discovers more than he bargained for
Style:
intense, stylized, serious, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
father son relationship, character study, dark hero, greed, chases and races, cons and scams, law enforcement, dishonesty, police investigation, friendship, unlikely friendships, fbi investigation ...
Time:
year 2002
Place:
cambodia, usa, new york, bangkok thailand
Is relevant?
48K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he ...
Style:
neo noir, noir, retro, cult classic, perverse ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
safecracker, bank robbery, robbery, mafia, organized crime, character study, heist, criminal, bank robber, great ending, violence, betrayal ...
Time:
80s, year 1981, 20th century, 70s
Place:
chicago, usa, illinois, los angeles, new jersey
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
16K
Genre: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Style:
tense, realistic, harsh, suspense, talky ...
Plot:
old west, journey, cowboy, racism, apache, loneliness, outlaw, native american, apache territory, apache indian, character study, embezzlement ...
Time:
19th century, year 1967
Place:
arizona, yuma arizona, usa, tucson arizona
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.
Style:
suspense, tense, intense, realistic, neo noir ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
gambling addiction, college, addiction, gambler, poker, gambling debt, character study, bookies, hopes, gangster, casino, bet ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 80s
Place:
new york, bronx new york city, usa, las vegas, harvard university ...
Is relevant?
44K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
The true and intense story of Mark 'Chopper' Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison.
Style:
disturbing, cynical, rough, brutal, dark ...
Audience:
manly
Plot:
criminal, prison, true crime, convict, brutality, prison life, dark humor, character study, gangster, murder, eccentricity, judge ...
Time:
year 2000, 70s, 80s, 20th century, year 1978 ...
Place:
australia, melbourne, oceania, new zealand
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Charlie takes an odyssey through grief during a fall weekend in New York City. His encounters are planned and chance: with a homeless man who sleeps by his building, with a friend who's dying, with the couple who lives (and noisily loves) in ...
Style:
sexy, homoerotic, surreal, psychological, talky ...
Plot:
gay, urban legend, gender, gay relationship, glbt, murder, closeted homosexual, gay bashing, character study, depression, lgbt, gangster ...
Time:
2000s, 90s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.
Style:
sexy, erotic, intense, stylized, captivating ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
politics, supernatural, obsession, twists and turns, election, female nudity, character study, politician, ghost, love, state affairs, haunted by the past ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 80s, year 1973
Place:
chile, new york, harvard university, minneapolis minnesota, canada ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
The story of a young, gay black con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.
Style:
talky, semi serious, realistic, humorous, cult classic ...
Plot:
art, high society, satire, racism, art dealer, investigation, gay lead character, urban setting, character study, lgbt, social differences, social climbing ...
Time:
90s, year 1993
Place:
new york, usa, afghanistan, california
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A mother with seven sons feels like she's losing control of her life and her family. But personal...
Style:
touching, realistic, melancholic, serious, sentimental ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, character study, family relations, family problems, life is a bitch, family life, parents and children, couples, estrangement, hopes, single parent, terrorism ...
Time:
90s, year 1994, 70s
Place:
new jersey, middle east, utah, beirut lebanon, london
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
