Movies Like La Promesse (1996)

La Promesse is a 1996 drama film from Jean-Pierre Dardenne with a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with A Girl at My Door and Short Term 12.

Drama

A Girl at My Door

2014

Sent from Seoul to serve in a remote coastal village, a policewoman gets involved in the life of a mysterious teenage girl who is abused by both her father and her grandmother.

6.9

MagicScore

Short Term 12

2013

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

7.8

MagicScore

Twelve Mile Road

2003

A divorced farmer takes in his troubled teenage daughter for the summer, a summer which changes the lives of the two of them, and their friends and family.

5.7

MagicScore

36 Fillette

1988

Lili, a pouty and voluptuous 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in Biarritz. She's self-aware and holds her own in a café conversation with a concert pianist she meets, but she has a wild streak and she's testing her powers over men, finding that she doesn't always control her moods or actions, and she's impatient with being a virgin. She sets off with her brother to a disco, latching onto an aging playboy who is himself hot and cold to her. She is ambivalent about losing her virginity that night, willing the next, and determined by the third.

4.9

MagicScore

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

1972

After avenging the death of his teacher, a Shaolin monk flees China to the American West and helps people while being pursued by bounty hunters.

7.1

MagicScore

Taste of Cherry

1997

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

7.7

MagicScore

Baran

2001

On a building site in present-day Tehran, Lateef, a 17-year-old Turkish worker is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. The revelation of Rahmat's secret changes both their lives.

7.5

MagicScore

Manila in the Claws of Light

1975

Julio, a young fisherman from a provincial village, descends into social alienation as he arrives in Manila to search for his loved one.

7.2

MagicScore

Locke

2014

Ivan Locke has worked hard to craft a good life for himself. Tonight, that life will collapse around him. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.

6.9

MagicScore

#10

Enzo

2025

Enzo, 16, defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship, a path far removed from the prestigious life they had envisioned for him. In their chic villa in the sun-drenched South of France, tensions simmer as relentless questions and pressures weigh on Enzo’s future and dreams. On the construction sites, however, Vlad, a charismatic Ukrainian colleague, shakes up Enzo’s world and opens the door to unexpected possibilities.

6.6

MagicScore

#11

Our Life

2010

Claudio is a construction worker living in the outskirts of Rome. He's happily married and his wife is pregnant with their third child. However, a dramatic event comes to upset this simple and happy life.

6.5

MagicScore

#12

While She Was Out

2008

Della Myers, a suburban housewife, lives with her twin children and her abusive husband, Kenneth. On Christmas Eve, she drives to the local mall to buy gift-wrap. In the jam-packed parking lot, she notices an old car taking up two spaces and decides to leave a note on the windshield calling them out. After the mall closes, her car is blocked by the old car and she's threatened by four thugs. She escapes in her vehicle, but they drive after her. She crashes at a dead end construction site at the edge of a forest. What unfolds in the desolate woods is Della's lone fight for survival against a gang of angry young men with murderous intent.

5.5

MagicScore

#13

Dark Buildings (A Crack in the Wall)

2018

When the beautiful Leonor arrives at the architecture studio Borla y Asociados looking for Nelson Jara, both Mario Borla and his partner Marta Hovart and Pablo Simó, the building's oldest architect, claim to ignore that name completely. But they all lie. The truth begins to unravel through the memories of Pablo Simó. Pablo should carry out the unpleasant job of dealing with Nelson Jara, an indignant owner of the building adjoining a work of the studio, damaged by a crack in the wall of his living room caused by an error in the construction. But the fear and nervousness that provokes in the three involved the arrival of Leonor and her question "what happened to Nelson Jara?" Show something much darker and more suspicious. (FILMAFFINITY)

5.5

MagicScore

#14

Capernaum

2018

After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him.

8.1

MagicScore

#15

Eternity and a Day

1998

Famous writer Alexander contracts a terminal illness. He receives a letter from his wife describing a summer day 30 years ago, and leaves his seaside home to remember his past. This journey will allow him to wander between the past and the present, and encounter unexpected people, allowing him to collect unforgettable memories in the final moments of his life.

7.8

MagicScore

#16

Biutiful

2010

This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

7.2

MagicScore

#17

A Better Life

2011

A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

7.2

MagicScore

#18

In the Heights

2021

The story of Usnavi, a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic or staying in Washington Heights.

7.1

MagicScore

#19

El Norte

1983

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Icebox

2018

Forced to flee his home in Honduras, Óscar seeks asylum in the United States, only to find himself trapped in the immigration system.

7.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like La Promesse?

The top films similar to La Promesse by MovieMagicScore are A Girl at My Door (6.9), Short Term 12 (7.8), Twelve Mile Road (5.7). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is La Promesse worth watching?

La Promesse holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10 from 174 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is La Promesse?

La Promesse (1996) is a drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, starring Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo.

Where can I find more recommendations like La Promesse?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like A Girl at My Door Movies like Short Term 12 Movies like Twelve Mile Road Movies like 36 Fillette Movies like Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon Movies like Taste of Cherry

About movies like La Promesse

This ranked list pairs La Promesse (1996), a drama film from Jean-Pierre Dardenne, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jérémie Renier take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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