Movies Like The Meaning of a Ritual

The Breakfast Club

Community rank #233 · 1985

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

A Place of Our Own

2014

SARAH

2023

SARAH is a short film centered around Ayla and her best friend Sarah as they discuss summer plans, specifically, Ayla's "sweet seventeen". All is well until Sarah doesn't pick up Ayla's messages anymore when they are supposed to hang out. As Ayla's birthday nears, the more upset she becomes with Sarah. When the day arrives, Ayla finds herself celebrating her birthday without Sarah and leads to her final straw, spending her seventeenth birthday alone.

City of God

2002

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

Growing Pains

2024

Two childhood girl friends, Zoe and Nat, face the tumultuous changes of transitioning from middle to high school as their friendship drifts apart. Zoe, a cancer survivor, joins the crew team which exacerbates her body image & mental health struggles. Nat battles with her sexuality and the expectations of her parents.

Stalag 17

1953

After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

Boyz n the Hood

1991

In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre to be a decent person. Tre's friends, on the other hand, have little regard for the law and drag the entire neighborhood into a street war...

Harold and Maude

1971

A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.

Yana-Wara

2024

The communal justice system accuses Don Evaristo, 80 years old, of the murder of his granddaughter Yana-Wara, 13 years old. During the hearing, everyone learns the tragic story of this young girl.

Big

1988

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

Bastard Out of Carolina

1996

A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

2013

A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.

The Tin Drum

1979

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

Eleanor the Great

2025

94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.

The Horse Whisperer

1998

The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.

Whale Valley

2013

The film shows a strong bond between two brothers that live in a remote fjord with their parents. We look into their world through the eyes of the younger brother and follow him on a journey that marks a turning point in the lives of the brothers.

Tigertail

2020

A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Hanna

2011

Raised by her father, an ex-CIA agent, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna's upbringing has been geared to making her the perfect assassin. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys across Europe, eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative. As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence.