20 movies like A Lesson Before Dying, ordered by similarity : Song for a Raggy Boy(2003), Papillon(2017), Words and Pictures(2013), The Student(2016), Borstal Boy(2000), Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison(1951), Paper Towns(2015), Pin Cushion(2017), Torment(1944), Girl Flu(2016), The Browning Version(1994), I Am David(2004) ...
Drama
1999
101 Minutes
Don Cheadle Cicely Tyson Mekhi Phifer Irma P. Hall Brent Jennings Lisa Arrindell Anderson Frank Taylor Stuart Culpepper Patty Mack Elijah Kelley Wynton Yates
schoolteacher young man lawyer woman reverend sheriff bleak emotional deep south prison school false accusations prejudice race relations friendship incarceration underdog discovery 1940s
A caring teacher (Don Cheadle) tries to inspire strength and dignity in an innocent black man (Mekhi Phifer) condemned to death in 1940s Louisiana.
Drama
Ireland|UK|Denmark|Spain
2003
98 Minutes
Aidan Quinn Iain Glen Marc Warren Dudley Sutton Alan Devlin Stuart Graham John Travers Chris Newman
school principal schoolboy schoolteacher prefect irishman teacher friend rival bully intense sad emotional endearing ireland school teaching school abuse sadism courage
The true story of a single teacher's courage to stand up against an untouchable prefect's sadistic disciplinary regime and other abuse in a Catholic Reformatory and Industrial School in 1939 Ireland.
Adventure, History, Biography, Drama
USA|Czech Republic|Spain
2017
133 Minutes
Charlie Hunnam Rami Malek Roland Møller Nina Senicar Tommy J. Flanagan Eve Hewson Christopher Fairbank Brian Vernel
convict innocent man prison guard prisoner escape artist friend tense bleak thrilling suspenseful incredible intricate prison island prison cell paris french guiana apartment prison prison break
Wrongfully convicted for murder, Henri Charriere forms an unlikely relationship with fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega, in an attempt to escape from the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island.
Romance, Comedy, Drama
USA|Canada|Australia
2013
111 Minutes
Clive Owen Juliette Binoche Amy Brenneman Bruce Davison Keegan Connor Tracy Adam DiMarco Valerie Tian Eva Allan Janet Kidder David Lewis Josh Ssettuba
woman man teacher art teacher english teacher student brooding charming emotional intense moving quirky witty uplifting prep school school america competition love courtship
An art instructor and an English teacher form a rivalry that ends up with a competition at their school in which students decide whether words or pictures are more important.
Drama
Russia
2016
118 Minutes
Pyotr Skvortsov Viktoriya Isakova Aleksandra Revenko Yuliya Aug Aleksandr Gorchilin Irina Rudniktskaya Svetlana Bragarnik Nikolay Roshchin
student young man christian friend teacher moralist bleak suspenseful emotional thrilling intense melodramatic russia school university classroom bible relationships evil fanaticism
Contemporary Russia. A high school student becomes convinced that the world has been lost to evil, and begins to challenge the morals and beliefs of the adults around him.
Drama
UK|Ireland
2000
93 Minutes
Shawn Hatosy Danny Dyer Michael York Lee Ingleby Robin Laing Eva Birthistle
militant teen boy prisoner warden daughter friend brutal emotional creative inspiring boat liverpool, england prison courtroom reform school beach brendan behan irish republican army self-discovery imprisonment
Irish writer and political activist Brendan Behan, is befriended as a teenager in a British labor camp by a liberal warden.
Drama
USA
1951
87 Minutes
Steve Cochran David Brian Philip Carey Ted de Corsia Scott Forbes Michael Tolan Dick Wesson Paul Picerni William Campbell
warden prison guard prisoner prison official sergeant inmate brooding intense engaging emotional brutal bleak folsom state prison reformation prison life prison riot prison break humanity human rights escape
At California's Folsom Prison, escape attempts and riots are on the rise due to the old-school sadistic style of management of a brutal warden.
Mystery & Thriller, Comedy, Adventure, Drama
USA
2015
109 Minutes
Nat Wolff Cara Delevingne Halston Sage Austin Abrams Justice Smith Jaz Sinclair Cara Buono Griffin Freeman Josiah Cerio
young man young woman friend neighbor parent teacher brooding emotional intense hilarious town house street bedroom school classroom friendship disappearance search clues
After an all-night adventure, Quentin's lifelong crush, Margo, disappears, leaving behind clues that Quentin and his friends follow on the journey of a lifetime.
Drama
UK
2017
82 Minutes
Joanna Scanlan Lily Newmark Chanel Cresswell Sacha Cordy-Nice Loris Scarpa Bethany Antonia Saskia Paige Martin Isy Suttie John Henshaw Nadine Coyle Charlie Frances
woman daughter friend neighbor bully classmate emotional engaging sad melodramatic heartwarming england midlands school new life mother/daughter relationship awkward situations relationships friendship outsider
Super close Mother LYN and daughter IONA (Dafty One and Dafty Two) are excited for their new life in a new town. Determined to make a success of things after a tricky start, Iona becomes '... See full summary »
Drama
Sweden
1944
100 Minutes
Stig Järrel Alf Kjellin Mai Zetterling Olof Winnerstrand Gösta Cederlund Hugo Björne Olav Riégo Märta Arbin
teen boy young woman teacher headmaster father mother bleak dreamy disturbing melodramatic school apartment shop household sweden love triangle alcoholism jealousy school rivalry
An idealistic adolescent, suffering under the thumb of a sadistic schoolmaster, falls in love with a loose girl who is bullied and tormented by another lover.
Comedy, Drama
USA
2016
92 Minutes
Katee Sackhoff Jade Pettyjohn Heather Matarazzo Jeremy Sisto Judy Reyes Diego Josef Isaiah Mustafa Jonah Beres
young girl mother sister classmate friend young boy cheeky amusing emotional california school house classroom bathroom bedroom menstruation growing up immaturity friendship self-esteem
Bird, 12, has to become a woman whether she wants to or not when - in the worst week of her life - she gets her first period, is ditched by her impulsive, free spirited mom, and learns that you can never really go back to The Valley.
Drama
UK
1994
97 Minutes
Albert Finney Greta Scacchi Matthew Modine Julian Sands Michael Gambon Ben Silverstone Maryam d'Abo Jim Sturgess
husband wife teacher lover student schoolboy schoolteacher gripping engaging school england boarding school marriage career failed marriage affair education retirement transformation discovery
On the verge of forced resignation, a strict old-fashioned teacher rethinks his life.
Adventure, Drama
UK|USA
2004
92 Minutes
Ben Tibber Joan Plowright Jim Caviezel Maria Bonnevie Silvia De Santis Francesco De Vito Paco Reconti Hristo Shopov Alessandro Sperduti Adrian McCourt Clem Tibber
young boy prisoner young girl old woman mother friend powerful emotional prison camp bulgaria greece denmark ship prisoners of war prison break coming of age friendship reunion trust escape
A twelve-year-old boy escapes from a Bulgarian Communist concentration camp and sets out on a journey to reach Denmark.
Drama
USA
2016
117 Minutes
Jon Voight William Fichtner Lia Marie Johnson George Kosturos Kevin G. Schmidt Gabriel Basso Shannon Collis Courtney Hope Turner Nicholas Guilak
high-school student wrestler hero school principal team member coach emotional engaging heartwarming inspiring moving touching small town california high school gym school bus wrestling new school new town
In 1980, a teenage boy escapes the unrest in Iran only to face more hostility in America, due to the hostage crisis. Determined to fit in, he joins the school's floundering wrestling team.
Drama
Ireland|USA
1996
112 Minutes
Helen Mirren Fionnula Flanagan Aidan Gillen David O'Hara John Lynch Tim Woodward Tom Hollander Ciarán Hinds Gerard McSorley Geraldine O'Rawe Dan Gordon
teacher irishman woman prisoner friend mother emotional gritty gory belfast, northern ireland prison irish republican army pacifism mother/son relationship unusual friendship hunger strike political unrest sacrifice discovery 1980s
The 1981 hunger strike in an Irish prison, in which I.R.A. prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against their treatment as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. It focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle.
Drama
2013
88 Minutes
Anna Odell Sandra Andreis Kamila Benhamza Anders Berg Erik Ehn Niklas Engdahl Per Fenger-Krog Robert Fransson Sara Karlsdotter Sanna Krepper Andreas Kundler
artist classmate bully filmmaker confident raw striking school film set sweden bullying school adolescence friendship discovery underdog revenge transformation 2010s
Anna is not invited to her class reunion and makes a film about what would have happened if she confronted her former bullies.
Crime, Drama
France
1959
93 Minutes
Jean-Pierre Léaud Claire Maurier Albert Remy Guy Decomble Patrick Auffray Georges Flamant Yvonne Claudie Robert Beauvais
son mother father friend teacher bleak disheartening france paris apartment school childhood child custody troubled youth rebellion growing up underdog 1950s
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Drama
USA
2020
117 Minutes
John Alberto Leguizamo Rachel Bay Jones Michael Kenneth Williams Corwin C. Tuggles Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Angel Bismark Curiel Will Hochman Zora Casebere
teacher student friend drug dealer parent african-american confident emotional passionate uplifting intense moving school chess tournament family home inner city united states city apartment chess inner-city life
The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
Drama
2000
91 Minutes
Mariam Parvin Almani Nargess Mamizadeh Fareshteh Sadr Orafai Monir Arab Elham Saboktakin Fatemeh Naghavi Mojgan Faramarzi Fereshteh Sadr Orafai Maryiam Palvin Almani Solmaz Panahi
woman friend husband prostitute prisoner pregnant woman suspenseful disheartening profound emotional iran prison hospital street city bus pregnancy prison life iranian society journey
Three Iranian women (Mariam Parvin Almani, Nargess Mamizadeh, Fareshteh Sadr Orafai) battle oppressive governmental regulations that affect all areas of their lives.
Drama
Spain
2013
108 Minutes
Francesc Colomer Javier Cámara Ramon Fontserè Natalia de Molina Rogelio Fernández Jorge Sanz Ariadna Gil Violeta Rodríguez
teacher fan pregnant woman teen boy runaway cheery dreamy emotional fascinating heartwarming inspiring spain car road school family home freedom growing up fanaticism running away
In Spain in 1966, an English teacher picks up two hitchhikers on his quest to meet John Lennon.
Drama
USA
2018
104 Minutes
Carey Mulligan Jake Gyllenhaal Ed Oxenbould Bill Camp Zoe Colletti Travis W. Bruyer Darryl Cox Mollie Milligan
teen boy golfer housewife firefighter mother friend bleak emotional tense intricate raw montana forest school house car small town mother/child relationship father/child relationship marriage
A teenage boy must deal with his mother's complicated response after his father temporarily abandons them to take a menial and dangerous job.