20 movies like The Arbor, ordered by similarity : The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things(2004), Papillon(2017), Sweet Sixteen(2002), Midnight Express(1978), Half Nelson(2006), Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison(1951), Winter's Bone(2010), The Old Man & the Gun(2018), Diane(2018), Stranger Inside(2001), A Way of Life(2004), Ben Is Back(2018) ...
Drama
UK
2010
94 Minutes
Manjinder Virk Christine Bottomley Neil Dudgeon Natalie Gavin Robert Emms Parvani Lingiah Danny Webb Liam Price
playwright daughter son drug addict mother bleak dark shocking housing project bradford, england street estate poverty drug addiction tragedy writing andrea dunbar family dysfunction wretched excess escape
Portrayal of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar.
Drama
USA|UK|France|Japan
2004
97 Minutes
Asia Argento Jimmy Bennett Dylan Sprouse Cole Sprouse Peter Fonda Ben Foster Ornella Muti Kip Pardue Michael Carmen Pitt Jeremy Renner John Robinson
drug addict son boyfriend truck driver cult leader teenage mother chilling dark disheartening grocery store atlantic city, n.j. meth lab household street mother/son relationship drug addiction sexual abuse prostitution religion family dysfunction
Seven-year-old Jeremiah is pulled from his foster home and thrown into a troubled life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah.
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.
Drama
UK|Germany|Spain
2002
106 Minutes
Martin Compston William Ruane Annmarie Fulton Michelle Abercromby Michelle Coulter Gary McCormack Tommy McKee
teen boy stepfather mother grandfather prisoner drug dealer tense gutsy emotional greenock, scotland port city prison street house apartment imprisonment drugs ambition theft teenage rebellion
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
Biography, Drama
UK|USA
1978
121 Minutes
Brad Davis Randy Quaid John Hurt Bo Hopkins Paul L. Smith Mike Kellin Norbert Weisser Irene Miracle Paolo Bonacelli Michael Ensign Kevork Malikyan
prison guard prisoner police officer girlfriend judge bleak gutsy shocking istanbul prison airport prison life prison break drug trafficking foreign relations torture escape transformation wretched excess 1970s
Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
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.
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.
Drama
USA
2010
99 Minutes
Jennifer Lawrence John Hawkes Kevin Breznahan Dale Dickey Garret Dillahunt Sheryl Lee Lauren Sweetser Tate Taylor
daughter family brother father sheriff lawman bleak dark gritty suspenseful the ozarks arkansas rural community abandonment family dysfunction poverty drug trade conspiracy darkness sacrifice
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.
Comedy, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
USA|UK
2018
93 Minutes
Robert Redford Casey Affleck Sissy Spacek Danny Glover Tom Waits Tika Sumpter Ari Elizabeth Johnson Teagan Johnson Gene Jones John David Washington Barlow Jacobs
prisoner prison guard bank robber wife detective escape artist amusing gutsy bleak suspenseful tense california san quentin penitentiary prison bank car escape bank heist life story prison
Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker and his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public.
Drama
2018
95 Minutes
Mary Kay Place Jake Lacy Estelle Parsons Andrea Martin Deirdre O'Connell Phyllis Somerville Celia Keenan-Bolger Ray Iannicelli
woman son drug addict volunteer sick person uneasy tense emotional profound amusing touching hospital house bar church homeless shelter secret past troubled past self-sacrifice drug addiction
A woman fills her days helping others and desperately attempting to bond with her drug-addicted son. But as those around her begin to drift away in the last quarter of her life, she is left to reckon with past choices and long-dormant memories.
Drama
USA
2001
97 Minutes
Yolonda Ross Davenia McFadden LaTonya "T" Hagan Mary Mara Rain Phoenix Marc Vann Medusa Ella Joyce Conchata Ferrell Emily Kuroda Patrice Fisher
mother daughter prisoner african-american woman gang leader gritty tense raw dark prison bus library yard mother/daughter relationship prison life drug trade reunion jealousy discovery rivalry
An aging former child star tries to capture the wealth that has always eluded him by latching on to a lucky man while both have their eye on the same girl of their dreams.
Drama
UK
2004
90 Minutes
Stephanie James Nathan Jones Gary Sheppeard Dean Wong Sara Gregory Oliver Haden Brenda Blethyn
teenage mother grandmother social worker neighbor brother daughter dark gritty thrilling cardiff, wales council estate library police station custody battle racism paranoia family dysfunction abuse poverty growing up
At 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) ... See full summary »
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.
Comedy, Drama
2004
99 Minutes
Carmine Famiglietti Michael Aronov Miriam Shor Sharon Angela Susan Varon Fil Formicola Lou Martini Jr. Patrick Michael Buckley Sophia Antonini Gino Cafarelli
obese person drug addict childhood friend mother sister brother-in-law amusing offbeat brooklyn, n.y. upstate new york trailer restaurant wilderness family home obesity discipline friendship family addiction compulsive eating
An obese man (Carmine Famiglietti) moves away from home and into the woods in a bid to lose weight and beat his addiction to food.
Drama
USA
2004
92 Minutes
Damian Lewis Abigail Breslin Amy Ryan Liza Colón-Zayas John Tormey Ed Wheeler Christopher Evan Welch Lev Gorn
mentally impaired person father single mother daughter bleak dark uneasy new york city bus station hotel mourning loss mental illness kidnapping addiction fall mystery wretched excess 2000s
A man in his early 30s (Keane) struggles with the supposed loss of his daughter from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York, while fighting serious battles with schizophrenia. We can ... See full summary »
Drama
Italy
1979
144 Minutes
Jill Clayburgh Matthew Barry Veronica Lazar Renato Salvatori Fred Gwynne Alida Valli Elisabetta Campeti Roberto Benigni
mother opera singer husband stepfather son lover bleak profound disturbing italy rome apartment opera house suicide family dysfunction incest mother/son relationship drug addiction troubled youth growing up
While touring in Italy, a recently-widowed American opera singer has an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old son to help him overcome his heroin addiction.
Drama
Japan
1952
100 Minutes
Kinuyo Tanaka Masao Mishima Akihiko Katayama Kyoko Kagawa Eiji Okada
mother husband daughter sister son japanese man melodramatic tender moving japan family home street factory mother/daughter relationship family postwar japan poverty marriage hard times sacrifice
A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
Biography, Drama
USA
2018
112 Minutes
Steve Carell Timothée Chalamet Maura Tierney Amy Ryan Timothy Hutton Kaitlyn Dever Andre Royo LisaGay Hamilton
father son ex-wife drug addict doctor addict emotional intense melancholy raw tender powerful united states new york city los angeles school home addiction father/son relationship love
Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.
Comedy, Drama
UK
1972
107 Minutes
Alan Bates Janet Suzman Peter Bowles Sheila Gish Joan Hickson Elizabeth Robillard Murray Melvin Fanny Carby
mother father daughter friend bleak offbeat shocking family home england parenthood mother/daughter relationship cerebral palsy family transformation quest 1970s
A couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly completely brain dead. They take turns doing the daughter's voice and stare into the eyes of death ... See full summary »
Drama
2006
98 Minutes
Ai Qin Lin Zhan Yu Zhe Wei Man Qin Wei Devi Zhu
immigrant gang member son prostitute bleak shocking china england factory beach bay immigration poverty desperation tragic death illegal immigration isolation sacrifice escape 2000s
Drama
2018
90 Minutes
Anna Maxwell Martin Vicky McClure Daniel Mays David Wilmot Simone Kirby
mother terrorist family victim son gritty powerful tense england city united kingdom terrorism political unrest mother/son relationship mother courage transformation revenge 1990s
Two women living on opposite sides of the Irish Sea are brought together by the Warrington bombing in 1993.