Movies Like Manuela ou l'impossible plaisir

If you liked Manuela ou l'impossible plaisir (2003), a drama movie directed by Marc Riva, 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
The Public Woman (1984)
★ 6/10Also drama
An inexperienced young actress is invited to play a role in a film based on Dostoyevsky's 'The Possessed'. The film director, a Czech immigrant in Paris, takes over her life, and in a short time she is unable to draw…
2
Every Man for Himself (1980)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A look at the sexual and professional lives of three people — a television director, his ex-girlfriend, and a sex worker.
3
Two Days, One Night (2014)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.
4
Dogville (2003)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.
5
At Work (2026)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A successful photographer gives up everything to devote himself to writing and discovers poverty.
6
Polisse (2011)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Paris, France. Fred and his colleagues, members of the BPM, the Police Child Protection Unit, dedicated to pursuing all sorts of offenses committed against the weakest, must endure the scrutiny of Melissa, a…
7
Holler (2021)
★ 6/10Also drama
In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery…
8
Secret Things (2002)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
Two young women find themselves struggling to survive in Paris, street-wise Nathalie, a stripper, and naïve Sandrine, a barmaid. Together, they discover that sex can be used to their advantage, and pleasure.
9
The Measure of a Man (2015)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?
10
La Cérémonie (1995)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.
11
The Assistant (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant to a powerful executive. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.
12
La Belle Équipe (1936)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Five unemployed workers win 100,000 Francs in the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
13
Shame (2011)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up…
14
Documenteur (1982)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
After separating from the father of her son, a young French woman tries to find lodging and a fresh start in L.A. for herself and her son.
15
Fidelity (2000)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A talented photographer who lands a lucrative job in Paris with a scandal-mongering tabloid and becomes romantically involved with an eccentric children's book publisher while resisting the sexual advances of another…
16
Working Girls (1987)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
A lesbian college graduate, trying to bankroll her own photography business, works as a high-priced New York City escort.
17
Nomadland (2021)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
A woman in her sixties embarks on a journey through the western United States after losing everything in the Great Recession, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
18
Last Summer (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
One summer, a French teenager who has been living with his mother in the city moves in with his estranged father’s family in the countryside, where he clashes with his stepmother.
19
The Machinist (2004)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.
20
Full Time (2022)
★ 7/10Also drama
Julie finally gets an interview for a job where she can raise her children better only to run into a national transit strike.