20 best movies like Secrets of the Heart (1997)

List of the best movies like Secrets of the Heart (1997): Ilo Ilo, I Won't Come Back, Machuca, The Way I Spent the End of the World, Butterfly, In Bloom, Foxfire, King Jack, Permanent Record, The Zigzag Kid.

Tags: movies similar to Secrets of the Heart (1997) - full list

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountrySingapore, Japan, Taiwan, France
Duration01:39

Set in the mid 1990s in Singapore, ILOILO chronicles the relationship between a family and their maid from Ilo Ilo, a province in the Philippines.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama
CountryRussia, Estonia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Belarus
Duration01:45

Anya, a young academic raised in an orphanage, is on the cusp of success when she’s accused of drug possession. While in limbo hiding from the police, she hits the road with Kristina, another orphan several years Anya’s junior, in search of her possibly mythical grandmother.

Markimdb: 7.7
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryChile, Spain, United Kingdom, France

Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama
CountryRomania, France
Duration01:46

Bucharest 1989 - the last year of Ceausecu's dictatorship. Eva lives with her parents and her 7 year old brother, Lalalilu. One day at school, Eva and her boyfriend accidentally break a bust of Ceausescu. They are forced to confess their crime before a disciplinary committee and Eva is expelled from school and transferred to a reformatory establishment. There she meets Andrei, and decides to escape Romania with him. Lalalilu becomes convinced that Ceausescu is the main reason for Eva's decision to leave. So with his friends from school he devises a plan to kill the dictator.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genredrama, military
CountrySpain
Duration01:36

The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama
CountryGeorgia, Germany, France
Duration01:42

Eka and Natia leave their childhood behind and ignore societal customs to escape from their turbulent family lives.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:42

The story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.

Markimdb: 7
Genredrama, adventure
CountryUSA

Growing up in a rural town filled with violent delinquents, Jack has learned to do what it takes to survive, despite having an oblivious mother and no father. After his aunt falls ill and a younger cousin comes to stay with him, the hardened 15-year-old discovers the importance of friendship, family, and looking for happiness even in the most desolate of circumstances.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genremelodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration01:31

David Sinclair seems to have everything going for him: he's smart, musically talented, and very successful. To top off his senior year in high school, his band is trying to get a recording session. Therefore, David's suicide leaves everyone, especially his best friend and band-mate, Chris, with a lot of questions.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama, adventure, family
CountryNetherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, France
Duration01:35

Nono, a Dutch kid lacking two days being thirteen, runs away from problems at home and, disguised as a girl, takes up with the world's cleverest thief, who unbeknownst to Nono, may hold the bizarre key to his true identity.

Markimdb: 7.9
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, music
CountryRepublic of Ireland, United Kingdom
Duration02:36

A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountryIsrael, Germany, France

A young Arab is caught between cultures as he is sent to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Israel in the 1980s.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genredrama
CountryItaly, France
Duration01:43

Rome, 1984, Aria is nine-year-old girl. On the verge of divorce, Aria's infantile and selfish parents are too preoccupied with their careers and extra-marital affairs to properly tend to any of Aria's needs. While her two older sisters are pampered, Aria is treated with cold indifference. Yet she yearns to love and to be loved. At school, Aria excels academically but is considered a misfit by everyone. She is misunderstood. Aria finds comfort in her cat - Dac and in her best friend - Angelica. Thrown out of both parents' homes, abandoned by all, even her best friend, Aria finally reaches the limit of what she can bear. She makes an unexpected decision in her life.

Markimdb: 7.9
Genredrama, family
CountryUnited Kingdom

A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genredrama
CountryFrance, USA, Iran

A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration01:56

Miranda Presley moves from New York to Nashville to become a songwriter. At an unsuccessful audition she meets James Wright, a promising newcomer. After only a few days they marry but start to quickly regret it.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama, military
CountryNew Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia
Duration02:13

As a war rages on in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, a young girl becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village. In 1991, a war over a copper mine in the South Pacific tore the island of Bougainville apart. The reclusive “Popeye” (Hugh Laurie) offers the children in fourteen-year-old Matilda’s tiny village an escape with Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. But on an island at war, fiction can have dangerous consequences.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama
CountryFrance
Duration01:53

Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her dress code, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to freedom.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration01:29

Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.

Markimdb: 7.8
Genredrama, music
CountryUSA

In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genreaction, comedy, drama
CountryIndia
Duration01:30

A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama
CountryFrance

After losing her mother in a car accident that leaves her with a broken arm, 4-year-old Ponette struggles with anguish and fear. Left by her father with a caring aunt and her children, Ponette grieves, secretly hoping her mother will somehow come back. Confused by the religious explanations provided by adults, and challenged by the cruel taunts of a few children at school, little Ponette must make her way through her emotional turmoil.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:34

In the fall of 1963, Eddie Birdlace is an 18-year-old Marine Corps volunteer who is about to ship out with three of his buddies for a tour of duty in Vietnam. Planning a massive blowout for their last night in San Francisco, Eddie, his buddies, and a number of other Marines set up a contest they call a "dogfight."

Markimdb: 7.9
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan

When exchanging letters two women discover new things about a deceased man they used to know.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama
CountryCanada, Spain

13-year-old Pablo is a quiet, lonely boy with a troubled past. His only friend is Julia, a shameless 15-year-old girl who is more than willing to help Pablo with his transition from childhood to adolescence, and give him some advice on sex, love and life in general. On a quiet country road just outside of the village, Pablo meets Paco, an oddly calm, well dressed stranger whose car just broke down. Nevertheless, he seems more interested in the boy than fixing his problem.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration01:46

In a village in New Mexico, the life of young farm boy Antonio is dramatically changed when an old medicine woman joins his household. This affecting coming-of-age tale recounts Antonio's experiences to reveal the spiritual conflict in his community.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryIceland, Norway, Germany
Duration01:22

An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:39

    A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."

    Markimdb: 7.6
    Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, adventure, biography
    CountryFrance

    My Mother's Castle (Le chateau de ma mere) is a sequel and companion piece to My Father's Glory (La Gloire de Mon Pere), both based on the childhood recollections of Marcel Pagnol. Like its predecessor, the movie explores the adventures of the young Marcel (Julien Ciamaca) during his summers at the family summer home in Provence.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genredrama
    CountryAustralia
    Duration01:54

    Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition, and their time together becomes limited to Tuesdays. This emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility, and transformation was filmed over the course of a year—once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genredrama
    CountryRepublic of Ireland, United Kingdom

    Centred around greyhound racing in a Catholic community after the "Troubles" have ended but where their legacy remains strong. Donal is a 14-year old who works in a greyhound racing kennel owned by Good Joe. If Donal's favourite greyhound, The Mighty Celt, wins three races in a row, Good Joe has promised him full ownership.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:49

    Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy, and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary, in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.

    Markimdb: 7
    Genredrama, adventure, music
    CountryFrance, Greece, Turkey

    Djam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a passion for Rebetiko, to find a rare part that will repair their boat. In Istanbul, she encounters Avril, a nineteen-year-old French girl, alone and without any money, who came to Turkey as a voluntary worker with refugees. Djam, generous, cheeky, unpredictable, and free-spirited, takes Avril under her wing on the way to Mytilene. A journey filled with encounters, music, sharing, and hope.

    Markimdb: 6
    Genremelodrama, drama
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Sweden, Cayman Islands
    Duration01:34

    A man moves his two daughters to Italy after their mother dies in a car accident, in order to revitalize their lives. Genoa changes all three of them as the youngest daughter starts to see the ghost of her mother, while the older one discovers her sexuality.

    Markimdb: 6.7
    Genredrama, adventure, family, military
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:05

    The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.

    Markimdb: 7.4
    Genredrama
    CountryFrance
    Duration01:18

    A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Mickaël.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genrecomedy, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:31

    In 1976, a lower-middle-class teenager struggles to cope living with her neurotic family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

    Markimdb: 7.1
    Genredrama, family, military
    CountryNetherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
    Duration01:32

    Tuur and Lambert are best friends. But the war is closing in and is about to change their lives forever. Tuurs dad joined the resistance and even his big brother seems so be part of it. Lamberts family on the other hand choose to obey the Germans. Then a new girls from the city shows up, befriending the boys but telling her secret to only one of them. A choice that separates the boys and ultimately gets her in trouble.

    Markimdb: 5.6
    Genremelodrama, drama
    CountryDenmark
    Duration01:22

    When Laura and Christine meet Maria, their friendship takes an intense turn to vulnerability, love and sex.

    Markimdb: 6.4
    Genredrama
    CountryFrance
    Duration02:02

    During the 1970s a student named Gilles gets entangled in contemporary political turmoils although he would rather just be a creative artist. While torn between his solidarity to his friends and his personal ambitions he falls in love with Christine.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genredrama
    CountrySpain

    One summer, Dario flees the hellish environment of his home. Luismi, unconditional friend, a poor devil with pretensions of winning, and Antonia, an old woman who collects abandoned his motorcar furniture, become his new family. Three generations living together in a city too big to be alone.

    Markimdb: 5.9
    Genrecomedy, drama, family
    CountryUSA

    The tale of a ten-year-old boy in a Catholic school who, following the death of his beloved grandfather, embarks on a quest to discover the meaning of life.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genredrama, military
    CountryFrance, Georgia
    Duration02:29

    A woman who works for a non-governmental organization (NGO) forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya.

    Markimdb: 6.5
    Genremelodrama, drama
    CountryAustralia

    Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he's facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.

    Markimdb: 6.2
    Genremelodrama, drama, history
    CountryFrance, Spain
    Duration01:40

    A look at the relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her readers during the final days of the French Revolution.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genrecomedy, drama, family
    CountryFrance, Greece
    Duration01:28

    After his wife died a man refuses to go out and doesn't want to talk to his only son. Life has no meaning for him. One day his son finds a baby pelican and decides to leave the bird at home. Pelican helps the boy find his father again and revive him back to life ...

    Markimdb: 5.8
    Genredrama
    CountryFrance
    Duration01:04

    Two young boys, Victor and Rainer, take the commuter train to spend the evening in Paris. In a nightclub on the banks of the Seine they go from one disappointment to another, from failed chat ups to street brawls. But as they get carried away by the night, they leave the city for the forest. In the silence of the moonlight nature, the desire between the two friends becomes increasingly vibrant. A new day is born from their friendship.

    Markimdb: 4.6
    Genredrama
    CountryRussia, China

    In a love triangle there are always three participants: the torturer, the saviour and the victim, who change roles depending on the situation. There is no room to condemn anyone, there is no right and no guilt. A betrayal can happen with everyone. Margo admits to her husband George that she betrayed him with her student Anton. Her confession changes the life of three people. At first it seems that it is a usual story, but gradually it emerges that everything that happens to Margo has a deeper meaning. She begins to understand God, family, and love. She starts to realize how these values correspond with the eastern world, where she has grown up, and with the western world where she now lives.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:26

    A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

    Markimdb: 6.1
    Genredrama, family
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:50

    A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.




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