20 movies like Permanent Midnight, ordered by similarity : Trainspotting(1996), Dusty and Sweets McGee(1971), Half Nelson(2006), Papi chulo(2018), The Front(1976), The Truman Show(1998), Odds Against Tomorrow(1959), The Middleman(1976), The Beat That My Heart Skipped(2005), Bamboozled(2000), Less Than Zero(1987), Begin Again(2013) ...
Drama
USA
1998
85 Minutes
Ben Stiller Elizabeth Hurley Maria Bello Owen Wilson Lourdes Benedicto Peter Greene Cheryl Ladd Fred Willard Charles Fleischer Janeane Garofalo Jerry Stahl
writer friend wife agent comedian gritty chilling dark los angeles apartment television studio drug addiction television wealth heroin family dysfunction fame fall temptation wretched excess
A comedy writer struggles to overcome his addiction to heroin.
Comedy, Drama
UK
1996
94 Minutes
Ewan McGregor Ewen Bremner Jonny Lee Miller Kevin McKidd Robert Carlyle Kelly Macdonald Peter Mullan James Cosmo Eileen Nicholas Susan Vidler Pauline Lynch
drug addict friend student girlfriend drug dealer sociopath amusing dark gritty edinburgh london household apartment pub hotel addiction abandonment friendship crime death
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.
Drama
USA
1971
91 Minutes
heroin addict boyfriend girlfriend drug dealer hustler teenager emotional gritty offbeat los angeles supermarket house motel freeway heroin drug addiction relationships theft money love
A "straight" couple dabbles in drugs and become heroin addicts.
Drama
USA
2006
106 Minutes
Ryan Gosling Shareeka Epps Anthony Mackie Deborah Rush Jay O. Sanders Nicole Vicius Denis O'Hare Monique Gabriela Curnen Starla Benford Tina Holmes Karen Chilton
teacher co-worker student drug addict friend emotional dark middle school brooklyn, n.y. bar locker room drug addiction friendship education dysfunction family discovery fall 2000s
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
Comedy, Drama, Gay & Lesbian
Ireland|UK
2018
98 Minutes
Matt Bomer Alejandro Patino Elena Campbell-Martinez Wendi McLendon-Covey Michael Shepperd Tommie Earl Jenkins Shaughn Buchholz Tom Beyer Irene White Caitlin Kimball D'Arcy Carden
weatherman television executive day laborer friend ex-boyfriend family member amusing hilarious heartwarming endearing charming los angeles television studio mansion beverly hills office unlikely friendship loss starting over language barrier
A lonely TV weatherman strikes up an unusual friendship with a middle-aged Latino migrant worker.
Comedy, Drama
USA
1976
93 Minutes
Woody Allen Zero Mostel Herschel Bernardi Michael Murphy Andrea Marcovicci Remak Ramsay Marvin Lichterman Lloyd Gough David Margulies Joshua Shelley Danny Aiello
cashier screenwriter comedian actor neurotic friend rousing witty touching dark moving new york city television studio living space courtroom street diner show business corruption television
In 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
Comedy, Drama
USA
1998
102 Minutes
Jim Carrey Laura Linney Noah Emmerich Natascha McElhone Holland Taylor Ed Harris Brian Delate Una Damon Paul Giamatti Philip Baker Hall Peter Krause
good guy producer actress ex-girlfriend uplifting endearing quirky alternate reality florida small town television studio manipulation media deception television discovery transformation underdog 1980s
An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
Crime, Drama
1959
95 Minutes
Harry Belafonte Robert Ryan Shelley Winters Ed Begley Gloria Grahame Will Kuluva Richard Bright Lew Gallo Fred Scollay Carmen de Lavallade Wayne Rogers
thief ex-convict entertainer girlfriend police chief wife dark gritty gripping new york state bank new york city heist racism escape greed dangerous assignment fall wretched excess temptation
Racial tension flares up among an ex-cop, a bigot and a black entertainer who band together to rob a bank.
Drama
1976
122 Minutes
Pradip Mukherjee Utpal Dutt Lily Chakravarty Robi Ghosh Dipankar Dey Soven Lahiri
sister best friend businessman taxi driver college graduate prostitute emotional dark gritty cheeky calcutta, india big city brothel family home apartment business post-college friendship prostitution social climbing
Directed by Satyajit Ray. An innocent youth takes a job in a profession where one must break the rules to succeed.
Drama
France
2005
107 Minutes
Romain Duris Niels Arestrup Linh Dan Pham Aure Atika Emmanuelle Devos Jonathan Zaccaï Gilles Cohen Anton Yakovlev Mélanie Laurent
thug father gangster gangster's wife music teacher promoter gritty brutal unrestrained france apartment restaurant studio organized crime family father/son relationship piano salvation violence escape
Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?
Comedy, Drama
USA
2000
135 Minutes
Damon Wayans Savion Glover Jada Pinkett Smith Tommy Davidson Michael Rapaport Thomas Jefferson Byrd Paul Mooney Sarah Jones Gillian White Susan Batson Yasiin Bey
writer television producer television star assistant brother cheeky creative hysterical quirky gutsy studio new york city office apartment race relations television performance stereotypes unexpected success underdog
A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin it becomes a hit.
Drama
USA
1987
97 Minutes
Andrew McCarthy Jami Gertz Robert Downey Jr. James Spader Michael Bowen Nicholas Pryor Tony Bill
college student ex-girlfriend childhood friend drug dealer mother father dark disheartening hedonistic melodramatic los angeles beverly hills, calif. party swimming pool nightclub funeral troubled youth drug addiction dependency debt
A college freshman returns to L.A. for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
Romance, Comedy, Drama
USA
2013
104 Minutes
Keira Knightley Mark Ruffalo Hailee Steinfeld Adam Levine Catherine Keener James Corden CeeLo Green Yasiin Bey Maddie Corman
woman boyfriend executive singer-songwriter friend groupie charming cool creative new york city apartment recording studio concert stage club central park fame friendship music passion travel
A chance encounter between a down-and-out music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter, new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
Crime, Drama
USA
1983
170 Minutes
Al Pacino Michelle Pfeiffer Steven Bauer Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Robert Loggia Miriam Colon F. Murray Abraham Paul Shenar Harris Yulin Ángel Salazar Arnaldo Santana
drug lord friend kingpin detective girlfriend dark brutal gory intense miami household restaurant drug trade organized crime drug addiction violence corruption self-destruction rise fall
In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
USA
2018
103 Minutes
Julia Roberts Lucas Hedges Courtney B. Vance Kathryn Newton Rachel Bay Jones David Zaldivar Alexandra Park Michael Esper Tim Guinee Myra Lucretia Taylor Mia Fowler
young man mother sister friend addict drug smuggler intense gripping emotional rousing brooding sad family home suburbia neighborhood small town substance abuse drug addiction family dysfunction family ties
A drug addicted teenage boy shows up unexpectedly at his family's home on Christmas Eve.
Drama
USA
1955
119 Minutes
Frank Sinatra Eleanor Parker Kim Novak Arnold Stang Darren McGavin Robert Strauss George Mathews John Conte Doro Merande George E. Stone Emile Meyer
con artist drug dealer drummer ex-girlfriend wife dark gritty prison poker tournament stage staircase drug addiction music second chance prison wretched excess temptation 1950s
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
Drama
USA
2017
104 Minutes
Josh Duhamel Giancarlo Esposito Famke Janssen Caitlin Fitzgerald Sarah Wayne Callies Chris Ellis Lucia Walters Brooke Warrington Jaeden Noel
show host television producer suicidal person murderer producer tv personality chilling disturbing shocking thrilling uneasy bleak tv station studio television studio office united states house suicide television ratings
An unsettling look at reality T.V. where a disturbing hit game show has its contestants ending their lives for the public's enjoyment.
Drama
Canada|UK
2003
104 Minutes
Philip Seymour Hoffman Minnie Driver Maury Chaykin John Hurt Sonja Smits Ian Tracey Roger Dunn Jason Blicker Chris Collins
bank employee gambler girlfriend casino owner thief friend tense gripping dark emotional atlantic city, n.j. toronto casino bank canada gambling fraud theft addiction deception
A bank manager with: (a) a gambling problem and (b) access to a multimillion dollar account gets into a messy situation. Based on the story of the largest one-man bank fraud in Canadian history.
Comedy, Drama
USA
2009
89 Minutes
Michael Douglas Brian Koppelman Mary-Louise Parker Jenna Fischer Jesse Eisenberg Imogen Poots Ben Shenkman David Costabile Susan Sarandon Danny DeVito Olivia Thirlby
business owner car dealer middle-aged man girlfriend ex-wife daughter amusing endearing dark new york city apartment college restaurant park boston divorce bad behavior midlife crisis adultery family
A car magnate watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.
Drama
West Germany
1982
105 Minutes
Rosel Zech Hilmar Thate Annemarie Düringer Cornelia Froboess Doris Schade Erik Schumann Peter Berling Günther Kaufmann
actress sports reporter girlfriend neurologist ex-husband director dark offbeat munich film set newsroom apartment building woods drug addiction filmmaking world war ii investigation love triangle fame love
Partially based on the life of Sybille Schmitz, who found fame under the Nazi regime, but whose career was destroyed afterward. Veronika Voss is a once prominent UFA actress, kept by her doctor, who raises suspicion in a sports journalist.
Drama
UK|USA
1999
159 Minutes
Tom Cruise Nicole Kidman Sydney Pollack Marie Richardson Rade Serbedzija Todd Field Vinessa Shaw Alan Cumming Sky Dumont Fay Masterson Leelee Sobieski
doctor curator husband wife sexy man sexy woman chilling sultry tense shocking new york city apartment mansion city apartment bedroom street husband/wife relationship sex cult sadomasochism
A New York City doctor embarks on a harrowing, night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife reveals a painful secret to him.