| Monpura (2009) | 8.8 | |
| C/o Kancharapalem (2018) | 8.8 | |
| Night Train (2007) | 6.4 | |
| Tony (2009) | 6.2 | |
| Sorry We Missed You (2019) | 7.6 |
Social realism movies and TV shows – page 2
Best films
New films
| Central (2025) | 6.4 | |
| Defying Destiny (2026) | 8.1 | |
| Three Graces (2025) | 8.4 | |
| Hamburg (2025) | 5.6 | |
| Untamable (2025) | 6.3 |
List of social realism movies
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, France, Belgium, Italy
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Narrowly avoiding jail, new dad Robbie vows to turn over a new leaf. A visit to a whisky distillery inspires him and his mates to seek a way out of their hopeless lives.
Style:
feel good, harsh, sincere, semi serious, humorous ...
Plot:
community service, working class, moral dilemma, misfit, caper, going straight, fish out of water, food, one last chance, society, buddies, goodhearted ...
Time:
2010s, year 2012, 70s, 21st century
Place:
scotland, europe, edinburgh scotland, glasgow scotland, england ...
Is relevant?
765K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
Style:
disturbing, psychedelic, captivating, dark comedy, black comedy ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
addiction, heroin, drug addiction, drug abuse, existentialism, dark humor, counterculture, junkie, life is a bitch, subculture, dialogue, social misfits ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1996
Place:
scotland, edinburgh scotland, london, england, britain ...
Is relevant?
18K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: France, India
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
Style:
political, emotional, bleak, disturbing, realistic ...
Plot:
immigrant, violent, refugee, culture clash, character study, greed, language barrier, gangster, illegal immigration, migration, social realism, orphan ...
Time:
year 2015, 2010s
Place:
france, paris france, sri lanka, middle east, india
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?
Style:
realistic, psychological, serious, captivating, political ...
Plot:
unemployment, economic crisis, working class, supermarket, society, petty theft, coworker relationship, layoff, job interview, social realism, life is a bitch, rivalry ...
Time:
2010s, year 2015
Place:
france
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
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
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
"CLOSE-UP" is a dramatic feature film told through the eyes of a failed Philadelphia actor who has succumbed to drug addiction. Our story follows him during the Holidays as he desperately tries to regain everything he has lost in his life; ...
Style:
ambiguous ending, psychological, suspenseful, touching, contemplative ...
Plot:
social realism, husband wife relationship, addiction, divorce, father daughter relationship, violence, washed up star, fame, father daughter estrangement, drug, drug addiction, fired from the job ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new york, philadelphia, los angeles
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A 12-year-old gay who comes from a criminal family falls in love with a handsome policeman.
Style:
sentimental, touching, emotional, erotic, serious ...
Plot:
gay, teenage life, lgbt teen, boy, gays and lesbians, youth, man boy relationship, friendship, rich and poor, brother brother relationship, teenage love, parents and children ...
Place:
manila philippines, the philippines
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland
Duration: 341 min.
TV show
Story:
Two days before Christmas, while Sweden is paralyzed by a heavy snowstorm, five-week-old baby Lukas inexplicably disappears from his home. Experienced police officer Alice thinks that something is not right in the parents' stories.
Style:
suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
missing person, deaf child, social realism, child neglect, murder investigation, police, winter, partner, heroes, police investigation, investigation, murderer ...
Place:
stockholm sweden, scandinavia, eastern europe
Is relevant?
559
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
The life of Krister has become an unending nightmare, ever since his wife's death. There seems to be no respite for this man, tormented by the errors of his past and held prisoner by a grim daily existence.
Style:
psychological, suspense, lovecraft, captivating, scary ...
Plot:
body horror, family tragedy, psychosis, hallucination, guilt, revenge, small town, social realism, broken family, panic attack, sleeping, pursuit ...
Place:
eastern europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Családi tüzfészek (aka Family Nest) is an intimate portrayal of a family slowly disintegrating under various pressures in late 1970s communist Hungary. The plot of the film is deceptively simple, with the occasional momentous event--including one ...
Style:
tension, melancholic, serious, black and white
Plot:
rape, social realism, domestic drama, resentment, claustrophobia, marriage, dysfunctional family, confined space, isolation, everyday life, slice of life, underground ...
Place:
hungary
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Musical
Country: India
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Discovered by an eccentric ballet master, two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams.
Style:
motivational, inspirational, disturbing, colorful, spiritual
Plot:
ballet school, dancing, ballet, ambition, self discovery, social realism, family relations, fight, unsupportive parent, friends, parents and children, life is a bitch ...
Place:
mumbai india
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
The daughter of a man on death row falls in love with a woman on the opposing side of her family's political cause.
Style:
romantic drama, sad, serious, psychological, deep ...
Plot:
lgbt, lesbian, lesbian relationship, lesbian love, lesbian sex, lesbian teen, death penalty, sister sister relationship, death row, lgbtq, sapphic, lesbianism ...
Place:
usa, indiana
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Escape from Alcatraz tells the story of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years, the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary, which housed Al Capone and "Birdman" Robert ...
Style:
atmospheric, suspense, suspenseful, exciting, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, prison escape, alcatraz, escape, prison life, freedom, jail, island, prison warden, harassment, prison guard, convict ...
Time:
year 1960, 20th century, year 1979, year 1961, year 1962 ...
Place:
san francisco, bay area, usa, canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Chile
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Many socially-concerned priests in Catholic Latin America have at some time left their parish churches to go and work in the fields and factories of the poor. Such priests, usually adherents of "liberation theology," are called ...
Style:
serious, thought provoking, historical drama, period piece
Audience:
adult
Plot:
liberation theology, class struggle, poverty, social realism, social justice, solidarity, political activism, human rights, clergy, labor movement, moral dilemma, religious conversion ...
Time:
70s, 60s
Place:
chile, latin america
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
Actions of the movie occurred in Post-WWII years in small village. Mother with three children. Father was lost in the war, like many other. 11-year old son rather smart boy is main help in housekeeping. But here was primary school only, and he was ...
Style:
melancholic, grim, period drama
Plot:
11 year old boy, social realism, education, poverty, post war, child protagonist, compassion, hunger, bullying, absent father, high school life, small village ...
Time:
1950s, year 1948, post world war two
Place:
soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Venezuela, Spain
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Devil Gold is director José Novoa's third collaboration with producer Elia Schneider, and like the previous two films, Huelepega (or Glue Sniffer, which Schneider directed in 2000) and Sicario (1994), the film is a thriller-melodrama that ...
Style:
crime drama, art house, tragic
Plot:
amazon, violence, contamination, greed, poverty, realism, environmental destruction, social realism, human rights, slum, lawlessness, rain forest ...
Place:
venezuela, latin america, south america
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Three young men face the university entrance exams upon which their economic and social fates depend.
Style:
realistic, melancholic
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, social realism, working class, friendship, slice of life, bullying, male friendship, family conflict, poverty, machismo, identity, military service ...
Time:
90s
Place:
south korea, seoul, korea
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The first motion picture film by Agnieszka Holland about loneliness, longing for affection, and misfortune. Irena, a postal delivery worker, is struggling with a inadequate housing, a drunk neighbor who wants to take her place, and a heartless boss, ...
Style:
bleak
Plot:
loneliness, poverty, alienation, isolation, social realism, female protagonist, single mother, theft, tragic romance, working class, melancholy, desperation ...
Time:
80s
Place:
eastern europe, west berlin west germany, poland
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil, West Germany, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A girl from the countryside goes to the city of Belém to take part in the Círio de Nazaré celebrations. Led to prostitution, she wishes to move to the wealthiest Southeast region of Brazil. In a dance club, she meets a truck driver that ...
Style:
road movie, realistic, bleak, melancholic, experimental ...
Plot:
poverty, prostitution, truck driver, deforestation, amazon, survival, slavery, journey, sexploitation, exploitation, social realism, child prostitution ...
Time:
70s
Place:
brazil
Is relevant?
208
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Lolo lives in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City. One day he is assaulted and injured out of the factory where he works. After a week of hospitalization, Lolo loses his job and is forced to seek sustenance. The accidental death of ...
Style:
bleak, dark, tense
Plot:
poverty, guilt, social realism, working class, theft, desperation, coming of age, character study, accidental death, ethical dilemma, shame, violence ...
Time:
90s
Place:
mexico city
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A group of immigrants from the south of Italy live collectively in the Milano's suburbia in the 1974.
Style:
melancholic
Plot:
friendship, survival, class struggle, social realism, poverty, resilience, solidarity, slice of life, worker, desperation, bittersweet, machismo ...
Time:
70s, year 1974, 20th century
Place:
italy, milan italy, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
The National Film Board of Canada was one of the guiding forces behind Sitting in Limbo. Fabian Gibbs plays a black Montreal college student forced to leave school when his girlfriend Pat Dillon becomes pregnant. Gibbs resents this interruption in ...
Style:
realistic, melancholic, independent film
Plot:
teenage pregnancy, poverty, social commentary, working class, social realism, young parents, coming of age, character study, welfare, domestic drama, teenage angst, intimate ...
Time:
80s
Place:
montreal, canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 69 min.
TV show
Story:
A nine part series depicting the varying fortunes of four friends - Nicky, Geordie, Mary and Tosker - from the optimistic times of 1964 to the uncertainties of 1995. Taking nine pivotal years (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995) ...
Style:
saga, realistic, historical drama, melancholic, family saga ...
Plot:
friendship, police corruption, politics, social change, social realism, working class, political corruption, class struggle, urban decay, family drama, coming of age, bittersweet ...
Time:
70s, 60s, 80s, 90s, 20th century
Place:
london, northern england
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
The changing and turbulent history of Hungary is seen through the eyes of three men over a 30-year period in this somber drama. The three recall the highlights of their lives in flashbacks as they reminisce in the mid 1960s. The venerable trio begin ...
Style:
family saga, historical drama, bleak, period piece, thought provoking ...
Plot:
political repression, social realism, father son relationship, village life, class struggle, oppression, cold war era, moral ambiguity, resistance, revenge, betrayal, boredom ...
Time:
year 1967
Place:
hungary
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
1963 Indian Film
Style:
tragic
Plot:
poverty, village, social injustice, social realism, agriculture, family tragedy, class struggle, humanism, literary, resilience, hopelessness, satire ...
Time:
60s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
Against his wishes, 'Cuba' Mukundan (Sreenivasan) goes to Dubai to make good his father's alleged misappropriation of funds from the local cooperative bank. It is there that he learns the true meaning of the term 'working ...
Style:
realistic, bleak, political thriller, political, political drama
Audience:
adult
Plot:
corruption, frustration, working class, communism, political corruption, class struggle, social realism, activism, ethical dilemma, betrayal, cultural conflict, whistleblower ...
Time:
year 2007
Place:
dubai, cuba
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
A young boy follows his violent and alcoholic father on a quest to find his mother, who has run away from his abuse.
Style:
road movie, intense, bleak, indie film, melancholic ...
Plot:
father son relationship, village, family drama, domestic abuse, village life, social realism, realism, journey, alcoholism, minimalism, poverty, child protagonist ...
Place:
india
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
When an acclaimed music producer goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his friends chase him though the LA music scene to help commit him to a psychiatric hospital, revealing the troubling inadequacies of the mental health care system.
Style:
realistic, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, touching ...
Plot:
songwriter, schizophrenia, record producer, medication, mental disorder, music industry, mental illness, friendship, help, music, musician's life, schizophrenic ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Short, Comedy, Drama, Music, Musical, Romance
Country: Japan, Poland
Duration: 15 min.
TV show
Story:
Frustrated with her thankless office job, Retsuko the Red Panda copes with her daily struggles by belting out death metal karaoke after work.
Style:
anime, adult animation, feel good, humorous, entertaining ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
anthropomorphic animal, anthropomorphism, slice of life, office, hyena, coworker, obnoxious boss, workplace situations, employer employee relationship, social realism, everyday life, life is a bitch ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Each day the President is faced with dozens of life and death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst - Charleston Tucker - assembles the President's Daily Briefing.
This list of ...
Style:
serious, tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
politics, national security, cia, dead son, white house, spy, workplace situations, usa president, u.s. president, president, female protagonist, death ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
colombia, nigeria, washington d.c., afghanistan, usa
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
