Movies Like Dead Water

If you liked Dead Water (2023), a movie directed by Kamran Mohammadi and Sahar Mirzaeianfar, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Circumstance (2011)
★ 6.6/10
A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.
2
Tatami (2024)
★ 7.7/10
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the…
3
Below Her Mouth (2017)
★ 6.8/10
An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever.
4
Not Without My Daughter (1991)
★ 6.9/10
An American woman, trapped in Islamic Iran by her brutish husband, must find a way to escape with her daughter as well.
5
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
★ 7/10
The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills…
6
The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009)
★ 7.7/10
In 1986 Iran, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village, enters into a conversation with Zahra, who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya, whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant ended in…
7
Tehran Taboo (2017)
★ 7.1/10
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling…
8
The World to Come (2021)
★ 7/10
In 1856, two women forge a close connection despite their isolation on the American frontier.
9
Return to Sender (2015)
★ 6.1/10
A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled…
10
Foxfire (1996)
★ 6/10
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.
11
I Can't Think Straight (2008)
★ 7.5/10
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla…
12
Argo (2012)
★ 7.3/10
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.
13
The Crush (1993)
★ 6.7/10
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
14
Holy Spider (2022)
★ 7.3/10
A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of…
15
Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
★ 7/10
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a…
16
Elena Undone (2010)
★ 6.9/10
The wife of a pastor who preaches against homosexuality embarks on an affair with a female writer.
17
My Favourite Cake (2024)
★ 7.3/10
Mahin lives alone in Tehran since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life.
18
The Object of My Affection (1998)
★ 5.8/10
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.
19
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2010)
★ 6.5/10
A lesbian in the 1800s who keeps a detailed account of her life written in coded diaries attempts to live independently while juggling an affair with a married woman.
20
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
★ 8.4/10
A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.