Best movies like Acla's Descent into Floristella

In the 1890s, 10-year-old Yohan is sent away from home to survive on his own as a child laborer. He experiences hardships and overcomes his fears by relying on bravery and hope to make the best of his circumstances.

Don Giorgio, a handsome young priest and teacher in a convent, is involved with two lovers: Orchidea and Giulia. When he repents and vows to return to the Church, he is savagely beaten to death. Not long after, Giulia has her throat slashed. Inspector Boito falls in love with and prepared to marry Orchidea, who is also the main suspect. The key to solving the case seems to lie with an inquisitive boy called Ferruccio, who is kept locked up and drugged. He witnessed one of the murders, but will anyone believe his story?

Thirteen-year-old Kerry is repeatedly sexually abused by several adults, including at one point her mother. Her father sets her up as a prostitute. Kerry finally calls Childline and is put in a safe house, where she tries to come to terms with what has been done to her. Based on a true story, with the names changed to protect the real Kerry's identity.

Two anarchistic brothers live by petty thievery and try to recover from their Catholic upbringing. Bandiera and Rabbino were children when they pushed their drunk of a father out of a window for killing their pet sheep. When a girl is raped by her father, she is brought by young "rescuers" to the home of the two brothers who then watch their friends take advantage of her sexually. The brothers take her in, and the three live happy and celibate if not uneventful lives until the brother's are sent to jail for stealing.

In the '80s, priests and especially the Father Geoghan arrested for sexual abuse of minors. Cardinal Law, also indicted, and the diocese was aware of the actions of these men of the church and was kept secret for years, until the victims decide to seek redress.

Cupertino, Italy, 1623: A simple-minded and clumsy young man joins a Franciscan order as a hired hand, overcoming his intellectual and social challenges with a pure heart and a simple faith. God performs a miracle through him, quite literally raising him to sainthood.

Grazia is a free-spirited mother-of-three married to shy fisherman Pietro and living on the idyllic but isolated island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. She shows signs of manic depressive behavior — one moment she's laughing wildly and swimming half-naked in the sea, while the next she's curled in a ball on her bed. Out of her earshot, the adult members of her extended family vaguely discuss sending her to a facility of some sort in Northern Italy.

Fact-based story of a Louisiana priest accused of molesting young parishioners, and of the family of one of his victims, caught between their loyalty to their son and to their Church.

Legendary "devil violinist" Niccolo Paganini sets all of 19th century Europe into frenzy.

Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission was previously run by the Catholics, before the natives murdered them all. They are sent by the pompous Leslie Huben, who runs the missionary effort in the area but who seems more concerned about competing with his Catholic 'rivals' than in the Indians themselves. Hazel is terrified of the Indians while Martin is fascinated. Soon American pilot Lewis Moon joins the Indian tribe but is attracted by Leslie's young wife, Andy. Can the interaction of these characters and cultures, and the advancing bulldozers of civilization, avoid disaster?

When troubled 12-year-old Jacob Felsen is sent away to boarding school, he enters every kid’s worst nightmare: a creepy old mansion, deserted except for six other teenage misfits and two menacing and mysterious teachers. As events become increasingly horrific, Jacob must conquer his fears to find the strength to survive.

The only chance to escape a desert island is to convert the plane carrying many different animals into a boat.

This loosely plotted coming-of-age tale follows the life of 15-year-old Laurent Chevalier as he stumbles his way over the burgeoning swell of adolescence in 1950s France. After having his first sexual experience with a prostitute and dodging the lips of a priest, Chevalier contracts a case of scarlet fever. When the fever leaves him with a heart murmur, Chevalier is placed in a sanatorium, along with his over-attentive and adulterous mother.

A celebrated painter receives a visit from a cardinal's assistant, who informs him that his mother could become a saint.

Four women are given into the custody of the Magdalene sisterhood asylum to correct their sinful behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a premarital child, Margaret got raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly caught flirting with the boys. All have to work in a laundry under the strict supervision of the nuns, who break their wills through sadistic punishment.

Peasant life in a feudal farm in rural Italy at the end of the 19th century.

Phillip and Dieter nearly suffocate hiding their sexual identity in the face of puritanical small town values. Joined by a mysterious German relative, the three misfits escape to the big city searching for a place to belong.

The young Ramon Salazar, son of a village owner, dreams of becoming a pearl fisherman. His father agrees to let him experience this job. Ramon enters a forbidden cave, den of a giant skate nicknamed the Manta Diablo. He finds an oyster containing a black pearl of unusual size. His father donates it to the Virgin rather than sell it to dishonest traffickers. Shortly after, the flotilla of the village led by Salazar perishes at sea. Ramon must face the Manta Diablo with another fisherman to bring prosperity to the village ..

Roma.During a clash between demonstrating laborers (whose fight the students have joined) a policeman and a student are both killed. The investigating magistrate - in charge of the case with two commissioners - wants to believe to the version of the police: the student was killed by one of the laborers, while the policeman would have been killed by Massimo Trotti.

The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.

Set in London’s East End, The 14 (aka The Wild Little Bunch aka Existence) is based on the true story of fourteen children who struggle against overwhelming pressures to stay together after the death of their single mother.

This is the story of a Sicilian woman that tries to have avidly as many sexual adventures as possible. She uses different identities and personalities, but she can't stop collecting adventures. One day she meets Valerio, a young student who falls in love with her.

This film sheds light on the role of the Catholic Church and the people of Assisi in rescuing Italian Jews from the Nazis in 1943.

Shipwrecked on a tropical island, a young boy befriends an abandoned native youth, forcing him to reevaluate societal prejudice about race, religion and nudity.

Tommaso, a quiet, thoughtful child of five, lives in a world of his own, conversing daily with three imaginary friends. Seemingly loved by his parents, Tommaso senses that their affections are superficial and he yearns for something more.

A 12-year-old boy and his single mother live separate lives. The boy spends his days alone while his mother works and goes out with her friends. The boy’s solitude is both a source of freedom and a cause for grief. His explorations slowly bring to light the dark contrast between the rules of society and the laws of nature. And before long, the delicate balance of his inner world becomes shattered by unforeseen events.

Joey lives with his mother. His father isn't around, he doesn't like school, he is bored and doesn't take orders from anyone. In other words he is a real little scamp. Being at one's wit's end, his mother decides to look for a "big brother" (sort of surrogate father) for Joey. At first this clumsy Arnie doesn't know how to handle Joey but after a while everything changes and not only for Joey ...

A mute mother stands by idly as her young children radicalise as a result of a society that thrives on conflict and manipulation. As she is drawn to a group of political activists, her absence allows her children to become increasingly extreme in their behaviour and lethal games they play.

A young woman in early-1900s Italy searches for a mystical sanctuary where her stillborn child can be brought back to life long enough to be baptized.

A governess, caring for two children at a remote estate, becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted and the children are under an evil influence.

A family moves into a Model Home and finds more trouble than they bargained for when the mother begins modeling the rest of their lives.

Alina is married to Daniele, a famous conductor. While Daniele is away, she finds herself attracted to Bruno, a butcher. One day, Bruno left a message… “Tomorrow morning I’ll knock on your door. If you don’t want me, don’t be there.” Next morning Bruno keeps his word. The apartment door is ajar. He finds Alina on a sofa, pale, bathed in sweat, fearful and expectant. While Daniele conducts his final concert in Samarkand, Bruno and Alina make love in every way imaginable… and Alina will never be the same.

Since the death of his colleague, which was partly his fault, Lieutenant Nick Gentry lives a lonesome life. Reporter Joan wants to write a story about him, and seems to be interested in other ways too, but he rejects. Instead he falls in love with his new neighbor Irene and witnesses how she's repeatedly beaten up by her husband Allan. One day, when Allan threatens her with a gun, he shoots him. Certainly self-defense -- until it turns out, that Alan's gun was made inoperable...

Academy Award®–winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.