Best movies like Amateurs

Freshly graduated from high school, Ana receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Her very traditional, old-world parents feel that now is the time for Ana to help provide for the family, not the time for college.

A Hungarian family forced to flee the Communist country for the United States, must leave a young daughter behind. Six years later the family arranges to bring the absent daughter to the United States where she has trouble adjusting. The daughter then decides to travel to Budapest to discover her identity.

Finley Tremaine, a small-town farm girl, longs to spread her wings and soar as an aspiring performer. When a Hollywood film crew arrives in her sleepy town, she is determined to land a role in the production and capture the attention of handsome lead actor Jackson Stone. Unfortunately, a botched audition forces her to change course. Now, disguised as cowboy “Huck,” Finley finally gets her big break. But can she keep the charade a secret from everyone, including her evil stepmother and devious step-siblings?

A psychopathic twelve-year-old girl in a small town in Nebraska recruits all the other children and goes on a bloody rampage, killing the corrupt adults and anyone else who opposes her. A bright high schooler who won't go along with the plan is the town's only hope of survival.

A teen girl disappears after trying to meet men online in order to escape her small town. Apparently, only her best friend worries enough to investigate the mystery.

The story of Ruby, 13, determined to grow up fast after her mother runs away to become a movie star, leaving Ruby with her hopelessly rural father.

Super close mother Lyn and daughter Iona (Dafty One and Dafty Two) are excited for their new life in a new town. Determined to make a success of things after a tricky start, Iona becomes 'best friends' with Keely, Stacey and Chelsea. Used to being Iona's bestie herself, Lyn feels left out. So Lyn also makes friends with Belinda, her neighbour.

Hannah is a young woman who lives on her own. She starts to get this feeling that she is being watched. The phone starts ringing at night and when she answers, no one is there. Is she imagining everything or is it for real?

Leelee Sobieski is brash, abrasive and vulnerable as a teenage child of divorce who hides her pain behind a mask of hard-edged gothic rebellion. Albert Brooks plays a man who is her total opposite, a precise and well-ordered menswear store owner of forty-nine who manages limited expectations and protects lonely secrets with pleasant ritual and quiet, ironic reserve. These two total opposites collide in conflict then come together in a surprising alliance, changing each other's lives forever.

Disguised aliens set up a pet shop in a dusty Arizona town, hoping to lure local children with their adorable extraterrestrial critters.

Psychological drama about the meeting between a neo-nazi and a Jewish doctor.

When Erik, a Stockholm urbanite, learns that his beauty-queen sister, Susie, is missing, he goes to their country roots to look for her. But after talking to the eccentric locals -- including a shy video store clerk and a corrupt police officer -- Erik finds a woman who is not at all like the girl he left behind. Award-winning director Ulf Malmros helms this black comedy infused with hipster flair.

After discovering a disturbing video from a night she doesn’t remember, sixteen-year-old Mandy must try to figure out what happened and how to navigate the escalating fallout.

Desperate to get out from under her overprotective mother, a home-schooled teen runs off to live with her dad, and forms a bond with his much-younger boyfriend.

Mia returns from Stockholm to her parents' home in a small town in Dalecarlia (Dalarna) to celebrate her father's 70th birthday. Her elder sisters Eivor and Gunilla welcome her, but their different lifestyles prevent them from really communicating. The tension builds, and the party that should be a celebration turns out to be a turning point for the family and their friends

Vicky, an out-of-work actress, struggling waitress and lesbian has her whole life thrown into turmoil when her father comes from Germany to visit. The main problem is that Vicky has told him she is a successful actress and happily married. She enlists the help of a gay friend to play her husband. Using a large range of characters—gay, lesbian, straight, transsexuals—the film creates a funny and touching view of family dynamics and sexuality.

A young Eastern European immigrant working in Sweden is faced with a painful choice when she's laid off from her factory in the name of "efficiencies."

Underwater Dreams, narrated by Michael Peña, is an epic story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build underwater robots. And go up against MIT in the process.

Moa is in her early 20s, works at a factory and lives by herself in a cottage in the forest. She is a vegan and follows her friends and demonstrations, mostly to fit in. But at home, by herself, she listens to pop music and use make-up.

With the threat of having to close her father's candy store, Wendy and her six-year-old daughter Grace travel to the big city in hopes of making extra holiday cash to save the store. When she's offered a job in the toy department of Wolmans, the city's biggest department store, Wendy can't wait! Her excitement doesn't last long when the store's manager, Teanna, destroys the Christmas spirit throughout the store and replaces Santa with a hunky male underwear model surrounded by elfin "babes." What Teanna is unaware of is that she has in fact sacked the real Santa. Unaware of his real "Santa" status, Wendy reaches out to the old man but it seems even he has given up hope. With her daughter losing faith in the holiday, Wendy realizes she must bring the true meaning of Christmas back to Wolmans before it is too late.

Melody, high powered corporate workaholic for a retail conglomerate, is happy to spend the holidays jet-setting with her girlfriends. However, she's in for an unpleasant surprise when her boss sends her to her sleepy hometown to convince the reluctant townspeople to allow them to build a new discount store. Now, forced to reconnect with her family and her childhood sweetheart Carter, her task is not so simple, as all are vehemently opposed to everything Melody's company stands for. Desperate to get out of town and back to her real life, Melody takes a spill and wakes up in an alternate universe where she never left home and is married to Carter! Once determined to leave her small town life behind, Melody must make sense of her new life and decide if you truly can go home again. - Written by ABC

Set in a near-future Sweden, where jobs are scarce, margins are tight and corporate profit trumps all, this timely hybrid film reveals a frighteningly all-too-recognisable economic dystopia. Sköld highlights the effects of the ruthless system on families, friendships and communities. All but a hair’s breadth away from homelessness, zero-hours contract workers squabble over shifts at the discount supermarket while store manager Eleni, a new mother forced to return to work too soon, frantically pumps breast milk in the staff toilets. Poignant and compellingly performed, the film’s vignettes are punctuated with animated sequences, inventively exposing the dehumanising and absurdly wasteful effects of capitalism. And yet, beyond the store, an ever-growing ‘underclass’ offers a sense of hope through sustainability and true community.

Two girls from different backgrounds, one an immigrant from Turkey and the other a girl who needs to get out of her father's shadow, apply to the police academy, where they become close friends.

Filth & Wisdom is a poignant view of the lives of three not quite ordinary friends settled into meaningless jobs that barely keep them afloat while helping to finance their dreams of bigger and brighter futures. Their unique yet universal stories capture their struggles that are at turns funny and tragic but always brutally honest. Their intertwined lives explore the inevitable: a path paved with filth will often end in wisdom and one paved with wisdom will often end in filth.

A drama-comedy about Max, a successful New York-based commercial cinematographer, who is disillusioned and alone. He has a very low opinion of love, romance and emotions. One day Max is contacted by his old childhood friend Peter, who invites him to come to a small Swedish city Hudiksvall and help him make a film about his daughter's friends.

Kidz in da Hood is the gripping and warm story of Amina, who came to Sweden with her grandfather three years ago. Amina has not yet received her residency permit and when her grandfather dies everything seems to fall apart. She temporarily hides out with pierced and tattooed rocker Johan, who lives in a worn-down suburb. The wild girl Mirre lives on the same floor as Amina and together they begin fighting for Amina to stay in Sweden and live with Johan.

A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier's personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.

When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is raped by police officers after leaving a party, she is propelled into a harrowing night in which she must fight for her rights even though justice lies on the side of her tormentors.

A documentary that explores the world of children who reside in discounted motels within walking distance of Disneyland, living in limbo as their families struggle to survive in one of the wealthiest regions of America. The parents of motel kids are often hard workers who don't earn enough to own or rent homes. As a result, they continue to live week-to-week in motels, hoping against hope for an opportunity that might allow them to move up in the O.C.

Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.

After her mother’s death and father’s ensuing depression, 13-year-old Sasha decides to look on the bright side of life and become a stand-up comedian.

The story follows a group of people who are kidnapped from the street and held hostage in an underground prison to await deportation. Will they escape? What will be the cost of freedom?

Mia and Mirjam are two 14-year-olds who live in a very dreary little town. Though not especially grown-up, they're both trying. Mirjam gets a head start by forming a relationship with an older man who says he loves her. Mia has a dad who drinks a little too much. Lucky for them that they have each other. Not forgetting Karl, their super-smart buddy.

Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.

The Story of a Japanese-Canadian woman who finds friendship after her family is interned to a small town during World War II.