Melancholy movies and TV shows – page 4
Best films
New films
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.
Style:
visually stunning, bloody, sweet, independent film, scenic ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, teens, girls' night
Plot:
coming of age, nature, adoption, wilderness, boy, hunting, juvenile delinquent, fat boy, manhunt, childhood, sarcasm, dog ...
Time:
year 2016, 2010s
Place:
new zealand, indiana, persia, oceania
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
A father living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six young kids tries to assimilate back into society.
Style:
philosophical, intellectual, cerebral, emotional, sad ...
Audience:
date night, kids, teen drama, adult
Plot:
road trip, home schooling, family drama, dysfunctional family, teenage girl, capitalism, parenthood, children, survivalist, socialism, precocious child, funeral ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016, 90s, near future, 21st century
Place:
washington state, nebraska, new mexico, xian, oregon
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 46 min.
Story:
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and ...
Style:
anime, touching, sweet, atmospheric, melancholic ...
Audience:
date night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
rain, shoemaker, youth, overcoming, unlikely couple, age difference, young lovers, teenage life, grownups, relationships, shyness, older woman younger man relationship ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
tokyo, japan, asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance ...
Style:
atmospheric, stylized, witty, surreal, visually appealing ...
Audience:
family friendly, teens, adult
Plot:
hotel, art theft, mentor, mentor protege relationship, prison escape, murder, escapades, twists and turns, gunfight, painting, fictional country, lawyer ...
Time:
1930s, year 2014, 20th century, 60s, 80s ...
Place:
eastern europe, alps, europe, persia, america ...
Is relevant?
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63K
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, Denmark, France, UK
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Anna, a young novitiate in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.
Style:
art house, emotional, visually stunning, cerebral, melancholic ...
Plot:
nun, family secret, faith, world war two, anti semitism, judaism, holocaust, religion, suicide, character study, confronting the past, orphan ...
Time:
60s, post world war two, 2010s, year 2016, 90s ...
Place:
poland, eastern europe, israel, europe, denmark
Is relevant?
246K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, War
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to ...
Style:
unusual plot structure, disturbing, psychological, inspirational, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
prison, rape, last will and testament, unwanted pregnancy, incest, twists and turns, civil war, pregnant from rape, incest rape, torture, lebanese civil war, family problems ...
Time:
2010s, year 2010, year 2009, year 1970, y2k ...
Place:
middle east, lebanon, quebec, nebraska, montreal ...
Is relevant?
115K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Style:
psychological, dark, ambiguous ending, suspense, disturbing ...
Plot:
mental illness, nightmare, schizophrenia, obsession, insanity, paranoia, nervous breakdown, dream, delusion, character study, premonition, couple relations ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, year 1986, 21st century
Place:
ohio, columbus ohio, peru, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts -- Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander -- crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.
Style:
touching, visually stunning, talky, fairy tale, visually appealing ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, teens, pre-teens, toddlers ...
Plot:
childhood, imaginary kingdom, children, creature, imagination, child, fantasy world, loneliness, island, boy, surrealism, mischievous children ...
Time:
year 2009, 90s, 21st century
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: Australia, UK, France
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
In 1818, high-spirited young Fanny Brawne finds herself increasingly intrigued by the handsome but aloof poet John Keats, who lives next door to her family friends the Dilkes. After reading a book of his poetry, she finds herself even more drawn to ...
Style:
costume drama, heartbreaking, period piece, romantic, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
poet, writers, poetry, love story, love, biopic, tuberculosis, passion, art, friendship, literary, longing ...
Time:
victorian era, 19th century, regency period, ancient times, 1810s ...
Place:
england, europe, britain, rome italy, london ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Canada
Duration: 144 min.
Story:
Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery.
Style:
disturbing, breathtaking, art house, cerebral, visually stunning ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
punishment, children, sexual abuse, cruelty, physical appearance, suicide, child abuse, death, small town, authoritarianism, transgression, priest ...
Time:
year 1914, year 2009, 1910s, pre world war one, 2000s ...
Place:
germany, northern germany, europe, italy
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a ...
Style:
sad, philosophical, thought provoking, emotional, inspirational ...
Plot:
funeral, self discovery, father son relationship, pregnant wife, life philosophy, workplace, small town, character study, new job, small town life, classical music, musician ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
japan, asia, tokyo
Is relevant?
269K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the ...
Style:
bleak, harsh, depressing, rough, gloomy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
survival, apocalypse, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, father son relationship, distopia, end of the world, cannibalism, starvation, dystopia, on the road, journey ...
Time:
future, year 2009, near future, distant future, 2000s ...
Place:
pittsburgh, usa, north america, canada
Is relevant?
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125K
Genre: Drama, Music, Musical, Romance
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to ...
Style:
touching, sentimental, sexy, independent film, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
music, musician's life, love, street musician, pianist, love and romance, musician, friendship, singer, young lovers, love story, recording studio ...
Time:
year 2007, year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland, europe, london, czech republic
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, UK, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, a wheel chair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.
Style:
sincere, melancholic, sentimental, depressing, realistic ...
Plot:
elderly, alzheimer's disease, true love, love, mental illness, hopes, loneliness, lovers apart, marriage, tragedy, existentialism, human spirit ...
Time:
2000s, year 2006, 21st century
Place:
canada, iceland, ontario canada
Is relevant?
257K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Style:
surreal, melancholic, atmospheric, philosophical, artsy ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
afterlife, surrealism, metaphysics, buddhism, cancer, spirituality, immortality, multiple storylines, death, love, alternate reality, obsession ...
Time:
future, 2000s, year 2006, 16th century, 21st century
Place:
spain, tibet, latin america, europe, guatemala ...
Is relevant?
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
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.
Style:
philosophical, psychological, humorous, witty, dark comedy ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
existentialism, private detective, self discovery, jealousy, making love, philosophy, relationships, investigation, environmental activism, meditation, buddhism, multiple storylines ...
Time:
year 2004, 20th century, 21st century
Place:
seattle
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
The film begins in a flashback from the titular character, Antoine. We are introduced to his fixation with female hairdressers which began at a young age. The film uses flashbacks throughout and there are frequent parallels drawn with the past. We ...
Style:
sexy, erotic, sex comedy, epic, anthology ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
hairdresser, obsession, sex, seaside, erotica, barber, desire, unrequited love, marriage, male female relationship, melancholy, existentialism ...
Time:
90s, year 1990, 20th century, 1940s
Place:
france, normandy
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
An intensely sad film about two brothers who cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent, antisocial and unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, rough, serious, independent film ...
Plot:
small town, welder, pregnancy, vietnam war, brothers, melancholy, murder, family problems, suicide, violence, blood, childhood ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, 60s, year 1991
Place:
nebraska, usa, america, ohio, vietnam ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy
Duration: 374 min.
Story:
Spanning four decades, from the chaotic 1960s to the present, director Marco Tullio Giordana's passionate epic 'La Meglio Gioventu' follows two Italian brothers through some of the most tumultuous events of recent Italian history.
Style:
sentimental, sincere, sad, touching, realistic ...
Plot:
couples, sister in law sister in law relationship, mental illness, cafe, politics, musician, idealism, hopes, couple relations, friendship, storytelling, police brutality ...
Time:
80s, 60s, year 2003, 2000s, 70s ...
Place:
italy, rome italy, sicily, lebanon, europe ...
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: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Lilya lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working ...
Style:
sad, bleak, depressing, harsh, brutal ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
poverty, human trafficking, prostitution, friendship, sexual abuse, prostitute, life is a bitch, suicide, teenage prostitution, teenage life, depression, rape ...
Time:
year 2002
Place:
denmark, estonia, europe, russia, eastern europe ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When ...
Style:
touching, emotional, romantic, sentimental, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, date night, teens
Plot:
love, fall in love, college, tragedy, death, true love, ice hockey, love story, dying young, graduation, cancer, tragic love ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 60s
Place:
new york, bronx new york city, paris france, boston, massachusetts ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
202K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 185 min.
Story:
In the Eighteenth Century, in a small village in Ireland, Redmond Barry is a young farm boy in love with his cousin Nora Brady. When Nora engages to the British Captain John Quin, Barry challenges him for a duel of pistols. He wins and escapes to ...
Style:
period piece, costume drama, epic, visually appealing, atmospheric ...
Plot:
nobility, rise and fall, aristocracy, opportunist, duel, card playing, british army, pistol duel, wealth, soldier, social climber, literary ...
Time:
18th century, georgian era, 20th century, year 1975, 19th century ...
Place:
ireland, england, prussia, berlin germany, britain ...
Is relevant?
115K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 153 min.
Story:
Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's ...
Style:
erotic, disturbing, sexual, psychological, sexy ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
forbidden love, lolita, age difference, girl man relationship, seduction, pedophilia, lust, mother daughter relationship, obsession, older man younger woman relationship, nymphet, sexualized violence ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s, 20th century, year 1962, near future ...
Place:
new hampshire, usa, ohio
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Italy, UK, USA
Duration: 197 min.
Story:
Doctor Zhivago is the filmed adapation of the Russian novel by Boris Pasternak from director David Lean that was an international success and today deemed a classic. Omar Sharif and Julie Christie play two protagonists who in fact love each other ...
Style:
costume drama, epic, period piece, breathtaking, visually stunning ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
world war one, revolution, war, communism, love story, train, forbidden love, rape, poet, deportation, love triangle, wartime ...
Time:
1910s, 20th century, 1920s, 1940s, ancient times ...
Place:
russia, soviet union, moscow russia, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
A naive male prostitute and his sickly friend struggle to survive on the streets of New York City.
Style:
controversial, realistic, cult classic, depressing, sexual ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
friendship, fish out of water, dream, loneliness, friendship between men, marijuana, flashback, sex, sexuality, homosexuality, homelessness, prostitute ...
Time:
20th century, 1950s, 60s, year 1969, 50s ...
Place:
texas, new york, usa, manhattan new york city, florida ...
Is relevant?
35K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A police officer leaves the force in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into a depression, he makes questionable decisions.
Style:
bloody, emotional, bleak, art house, lyrical ...
Plot:
police, yakuza, gangster, character study, dying, death, samurai, loss, loss of partner, loss of loved one, couple relations, love and romance ...
Time:
20th century, year 1997, 90s
Place:
japan, tokyo, asia, mount fuji, india
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, West Germany
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.
Style:
independent film, road movie, black and white, atmospheric, humorous ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, swamp, pimp, escape, prison life, on the road, serendipity, prostitute, fight, misfit, partner ...
Time:
20th century, year 1986, 80s
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, southern usa, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 229 min.
Story:
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Style:
ambiguous ending, melancholic, epic, breathtaking, atmospheric ...
Audience:
boys' night, kids, adult
Plot:
gangster, organized crime, mafia, friendship, prohibition, rape, betrayal, childhood friend, gunfight, murder, corruption, flashback ...
Time:
1930s, 60s, 1920s, 20th century, year 1984 ...
Place:
new york, usa, bronx new york city, america, china ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
