Movies Like Pariah

If you liked Pariah (2011), a drama movie directed by Dee Rees, 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
Mammal (2016)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the…
2
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality…
3
The Doors (1991)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
4
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
5
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
6
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
7
To Write Love on Her Arms (2015)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The story follows 19-year-old Renee who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction…
8
Pimp (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and…
9
The Chronology of Water (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.
10
Lockdown (2000)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and…
11
King Cobra (2016)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay…
12
Bully (2001)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
13
Lost Highway (1997)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
14
Performance. (1970)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In underworld terms, Chas Devlin is a 'performer,' a gangster with a talent for violence and intimidation. Turner is a reclusive rock superstar. When Chas and Turner meet, their worlds collide—and the impact is both…
15
Getting Go: The Go Doc Project (2013)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Too shy to make a proper introduction, a recent college grad devises to shoot a documentary about the NYC nightlife scene in order to meet the go-go guy he’s cyber-obsessed with.
16
The Silent Twins (2022)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
June and Jennifer Gibbons are twins from the only Black family in a small town in Wales in the 1970s and '80s. Feeling isolated from the community, the pair turn inward and reject communication with everyone but each…
17
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even…
18
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
★ 8/10Also drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
19
Too Late (2016)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Private investigator Mel Sampson is tasked with tracking down the whereabouts of a missing woman from his own past.
20
Enter the Void (2010)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police…