Melancholy movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant melancholy movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out weird, visually appealing, melancholic, thought provoking, reflective and psychological films and TV shows about / with melancholy, loneliness, storytelling, existentialism, love, relationships, depression, life & death, dialogue and solitude plots mostly in Drama, Romance and Comedy genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
2664
TOP 10 movies tagged as melancholy: The Remains of the Day (1993), The Elephant Man (1980), Never Let Me Go (2010), Her (2013), Last Life in the Universe (2003), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Two Lovers (2008), Mary and Max (2009), 25th Hour (2002), The Lobster (2015).
Best films
New films
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
A rule bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties ...
Style:
period piece, costume drama, breathtaking, romantic drama, romantic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
melancholy, nazi, love, nazism, butler, aristocracy, manor, british, class differences, master servant relationship, domestic servant, master and servant ...
Time:
1930s, 1940s, ancient times, 20th century, year 1993 ...
Place:
england, britain, europe, germany
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his ...
Style:
surreal, psychological, melancholic, romantic, philosophical ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, girls' night, adult
Plot:
memory, amnesia, relationships, surrealism, loneliness, existentialism, melancholy, love, love story, dream, memory loss, couples ...
Time:
2000s, year 2004, future, year 2003, 21st century
Place:
persia, america, usa, north america, new york
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph ...
Style:
emotional, touching, psychological, sad, poignant ...
Audience:
family outing, teens
Plot:
disability, hospital, dignity, freak, melancholy, disfigurement, social misfits, cruelty, isolation, hopes, biopic, humanism ...
Time:
19th century, victorian era, ancient times, 20th century, turn of the century ...
Place:
england, london, britain, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for ...
Style:
sad, melancholic, depressing, psychological, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
teens, date night, girls' night, chick flick, adult ...
Plot:
dystopia, boarding school, existentialism, distopia, childhood, cloning, sadness, friendship, transplant, couples, love story, love and romance ...
Time:
year 1978, 2010s, 50s, year 2010, 70s ...
Place:
england, europe
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
722K
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every needs. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. ...
Style:
melancholic, philosophical, futuristic, crying, clever ...
Audience:
date night, teens, chick flick, adult
Plot:
loneliness, artificial intelligence, existentialism, philosophy, love, melancholy, computer, cyberspace, impossible love, solitude, love story, relationship problems ...
Time:
near future, future, year 2013, distant future, 2030s ...
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Thailand, Japan, Netherlands
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
An obsessive-compulsive Japanese librarian living in Bangkok spends most of his days contemplating suicide in his lifeless apartment. His life changes when he witnesses the death of Nid, seconds before he was about to jump off a bridge. This brings ...
Style:
atmospheric, lyrical, psychological, serious, black comedy ...
Plot:
suicide attempt, melancholy, suicide, friendship, self discovery, relationships, destiny, perfectionist, loneliness, opposites attract, existentialism, couples ...
Time:
year 2003, 2000s
Place:
japan, thailand, east asia, bangkok thailand, asia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
Style:
psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, atmospheric ...
Audience:
kids, adult
Plot:
addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, drug, junkie, loneliness, mental illness, depression, dream, subculture ...
Time:
year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place:
britain, america, new york, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.
Style:
depressing, psychological, emotional, romantic, realistic ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
melancholy, couples, suicide attempt, young lovers, fall in love, lust, desire, character study, neighbor, love triangle, passion, life turned upside down ...
Time:
year 2008, 2000s, 70s, 21st century
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, usa, new jersey, california
Is relevant?
201K
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. In the mid-1970's, a homely, friendless ...
Style:
depressing, touching, emotional, sad, adult animation ...
Audience:
kids, teens, adult
Plot:
loneliness, stop motion, friendship, social misfits, letter, depression, melancholy, asperger's syndrome, young woman, relationships, solitude, mental illness ...
Time:
20th century, year 2009, 2000s, year 1976, 70s
Place:
australia, oceania, persia, usa, new york ...
Is relevant?
191K
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:
bleak, cerebral, clever, psychedelic, atmospheric ...
Plot:
friendship, drug lord, organized crime, drug dealer, drug, melancholy, 9/11, freedom, redemption, paranoia, hopes, profanity ...
Time:
2000s, year 2002, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 166 min.
Story:
Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.
Style:
touching, philosophical, sentimental, dramatic, melancholic ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, girls' night, adult
Plot:
destiny, true love, life philosophy, life & death, aging, existentialism, love and romance, life changing, melancholy, magic realism, love, life lesson ...
Time:
50s, 1940s, 20th century, 1930s, year 2008 ...
Place:
southern usa, cambodia, usa, new orleans, russia ...
Is relevant?
330K
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Ireland, UK, Greece, France, Netherlands, Belgium, USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.
Style:
surreal, art house, clever, absurd, ironic ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
absurdism, dystopia, distopia, solitude, blindness, love, manhunt, society, suicide attempt, hotel, relationships, secret relationship ...
Time:
year 2015, year 2016, 2010s, future, near future
Place:
ireland, greece, hellas, canada
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, Belgium
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.
Style:
erotic, cult classic, costume drama, sexual, serious ...
Plot:
gay, poet, lgbt, homosexuality, male nudity, violence, melancholy, homosexual, writer's life, homoeroticism, teenage boy, gay teenager ...
Time:
19th century, ancient times, victorian era, turn of the century, 1870s
Place:
paris france, europe, africa, france, holland ...
Is relevant?
875K
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Hong Kong
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
Style:
neo noir, futuristic, tech noir, atmospheric, thought provoking ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
artificial intelligence, cyberpunk, dystopia, existentialism, dystopian future, distopia, androids, cyborgs, fugitive, police detective, fugitives, flying car ...
Time:
future, 2010s, year 2019, 20th century, near future ...
Place:
los angeles, california, bolivia, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Extremely shy Lars finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother and sister-in-law worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars' new lady is a life-size ...
Style:
touching, humorous, depressing, sweet, melancholic ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
loneliness, mental illness, sex doll, shyness, doll, delusion, bittersweet, young man, introvert, small town, forbidden love, character study ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, future, 21st century
Place:
usa, wisconsin, new jersey
Is relevant?
132K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls' ...
Style:
black comedy, thought provoking, teen, independent film, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, age difference, graduation, adolescence, older man younger woman relationship, teenage girl, teenage life, teen angst, blues, best friend, high school student ...
Time:
year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, indiana, los angeles
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.
Style:
melancholic, atmospheric, cerebral, intellectual, sexy ...
Audience:
girls' night, date night, family friendly, chick flick
Plot:
loneliness, midlife crisis, older man younger woman relationship, age difference, friendship, character study, alienation, fish out of water, melancholy, unlikely couple, actor, hotel room ...
Time:
2000s, year 2003, 21st century
Place:
japan, tokyo, asia, yale university, america ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Horror
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Ghoulish Count Dracula lures a naive estate agent, Jonathan Harker, to his decaying Transylvanian castle with the promise of easy money. But when he spies a portrait of the man's beautiful young wife Lucy, the vampire becomes obsessed and sets ...
Style:
gothic, gothic horror, dark, bleak, creepy ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
vampire, blood, castle, melancholy, plague, nosferatu, death, rat, medieval, loneliness, insanity, solitude ...
Time:
19th century, year 1979, 1850s, 1800s, 20th century ...
Place:
romania, transylvania, europe, germany, black sea ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
40K
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 106 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, touching, suspense, heartbreaking, compassionate ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
redemption, juvenile delinquency, childhood, haunted by the past, going straight, bullying, melancholy, released from prison, teen angst, rehabilitation, violent, starting over ...
Time:
year 2007, 21st century
Place:
nebraska, britain, united kingdom, england, europe ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Style:
mindfuck, suspense, thought provoking, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot:
dementia, suicide, winter, farm, relationships, high school, waitress, blizzard, road trip, elderly couple, estrangement, haunted by the past ...
Time:
2020s, 21st century
Place:
america, oklahoma
Is relevant?
1.0M
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
Style:
psychological, neo noir, bleak, atmospheric, cult classic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
loner, vigilante, character study, alienation, vigilantism, violence, obsession, loneliness, psychology, lone wolves, taxi, social decay ...
Time:
70s, year 1976, 20th century, year 1975
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa, america, harlem ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Germany
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
This South Korean film takes place on an isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
Style:
philosophical, atmospheric, melancholic, meditative, spiritual ...
Plot:
buddhism, life & death, coming of age, isolation, meditation, buddhist monk, monk, guilt, existentialism, buddhist, nature, beautiful scenery ...
Time:
year 2003, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
south korea, tibet, korea, east asia, asia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Style:
sincere, sentimental, humorous, touching, tragicomedy ...
Audience:
family friendly, chick flick
Plot:
loneliness, friendship, bittersweet, depression, small town, grief, melancholy, loner, train, new in town, loss, solitude ...
Time:
year 2003, 21st century
Place:
nebraska, usa, new jersey, manhattan new york city, canada ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
325K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
Style:
touching, sad, emotional, philosophical, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
redemption, depression, life philosophy, self sacrifice, life changing experience, motivation, true love, sacrifice, existentialism, life & death, melancholy, love ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, UK, Finland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, USA
Duration: 153 min.
Story:
In a small and conservative Scottish village, a woman's paralytic husband convinces her to have extramarital intercourse so she can tell him about it and give him a reason for living.
Style:
disturbing, sad, bleak, heartbreaking, sexy ...
Plot:
husband wife relationship, sex, love story, love, marriage, crazy love, obsession, depression, tragic love, sex with a stranger, melancholy, self sacrifice ...
Time:
90s, 70s, 20th century, year 1996
Place:
scotland, nebraska, europe, scottish highlands
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
Style:
witty, sweet, humorous, touching, talky ...
Audience:
kids, girls' night
Plot:
small town, village life, husband wife relationship, fish out of water, culture clash, american abroad, melancholy, social commentary, oil, therapist, rabbit, beautiful scenery ...
Time:
20th century, year 1983, 80s
Place:
scotland, houston texas, texas
Is relevant?
139K
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany, France, UK, USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
Style:
road movie, touching, surreal, atmospheric, lyrical ...
Plot:
amnesia, father son relationship, desert, redemption, on the road, road trip, relationships, memory, melancholy, motel, reconciliation, drifter ...
Time:
80s, year 1984, 20th century
Place:
texas, los angeles, houston texas, california, america ...
Is relevant?
207K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Style:
atmospheric, bleak, psychological, surreal, philosophical ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
depression, wedding, end of the world, apocalypse, sister sister relationship, nihilism, collision, mental health, disaster, female nudity, mental disorder, human nature ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, future, 21st century
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Romance
Country: France, Belgium, Japan, USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.
Style:
meditative, atmospheric, stylized, anime, colorful ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, adult
Plot:
nature, loneliness, island, raft, sea turtle, isolation, desert island, sea, swimming, magic realism, turtle, solitude ...
Time:
year 2016, 2010s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity ...
Style:
depressing, sad, serious, heartbreaking, crying ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, against humanity, nazi, concentration camp, relationships, writers, wartime life, passion, melancholy, obsession, tragedy ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, year 1982, 1930s, year 1947 ...
Place:
poland, new york, middle east, usa, brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
