Movies Like İstanbul Tales

If you liked İstanbul Tales (2005), a drama movie directed by Ömür Atay and Yücel Yolcu, 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
Yellow Letters (2026)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state arbitrariness and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz's parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine…
2
Paper Lives (2021)
★ 8/10Also drama
In the streets of Istanbul, ailing waste warehouse worker Mehmet takes a small boy under his wing and must soon confront his own traumatic childhood.
3
The Bride (1973)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
The struggles of a migrant Anatolian family to adapt to and survive in the very different conditions of urban Istanbul. A young woman moves with her husband and small child to her husband's family in Istanbul. Her son…
4
I Saw the Sun (2009)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
In the southeast region of Turkey, the Kurdish family of Altun lives in a small mountainside village plagued by a 25-year war that makes their daily lives a hellish struggle. As the war intensifies, the family is…
5
Kisses (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
6
White Angel (2007)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
The film is a love story. However, it is not a story about the love between two people, but rather a story about the love and affection that a group of people feel for life and for each other. The film depicts all…
7
Innocence (1997)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
Yusuf is released from prison after serving a ten year sentence. Because of unexpected problems at his sister’s house, he finds himself in a cheap hotel where he meets a man, a woman, and a child who will change his…
8
The Kindness of Strangers (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter…
9
Skin (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
10
The Good Neighbor (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and…
11
About Dry Grasses (2023)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A young art teacher hopes to be transferred to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of inappropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape…
12
Gracie (2007)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
13
Sibel (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
25-year-old Sibel lives with her father and sister in a secluded village in the mountains of Turkey’s Black Sea region. Sibel is a mute, but she communicates by using the ancestral whistled language of the area.
14
Charm City Kings (2020)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds…
15
The Third Page (1999)
★ 7/10Also drama
Isa is blamed for a robbery. He is badly beaten and given twenty four hours to return the money. Instead of finding the money, Isa finds a gun.
16
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
17
10 Days of a Curious Man (2024)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
When a young woman goes missing in Istanbul, a jaded writer gets tangled up in a deadly chain of events as he sets out to find her—and a good story.
18
The Butterfly's Dream (2013)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
In a small Turkish town, two young tuberculous poets try to survive while publishing their poems. As they both fall in love, their life would never be the same.
19
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
20
Everything About Mustafa (2004)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A man is forced to confront his past after he loses everything in an accident. Mustafa is a successful business man living a seemingly great life with his family when an accident takes it all away from him and leaves…