Best movies like Awakening

An uptight English writer traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.

An isolated and friendless female security guard finds a glimmer of hope when a charming bartender shows her kindness.

Jeff Allen just got a new job in one of Manhattan's wealthiest brokerage firms, Wolfe Brothers. Here young, good-looking stockbrokers make a lot of money by being particularly cutthroat. Jeff finds out that the real secret to their success is an animal instinct that is turning him into a werewolf, but it may be too late for him to get out.

When the women of her time had their feet bound to please men, Qiu Jin was already questioning the sexual inequality of feudal traditions. Free-spirited and well-educated, she grew up practicing martial arts and was as well versed in poetry as she was in sword-fighting. When this rebellious girl moved to Beijing with her husband, she witnessed how her country was raided and ravaged by foreign powers. With the encouragement of her neighbor Wu Zhiying, the wife of righteous magistrate Li Zhongyue, Qiu Jin left her family behind to pursue study in Japan. There, she met some like-minded schoolmates who shared her ideals, including revolutionary leader Xu Xilin, and secretly joined his anti-Qing cause. After returning to China, Qiu Jin participated in the uprisings staged by Xu Xilin, leading a small group of hot-blooded students against the armed forces of the corrupt Qing government...

The story of two young women who go to the city to work in a dress factory, and who share a room to ease their expenses and their loneliness. The film shows the currents that brought them together and the facets of their natures that first made them seem compatible but eventually drove them apart. Their story reflects, to a degree, the situation of anyone who has ever shared the life of another.

Mountain Rivera is a veteran heavyweight and near-champion who suddenly finds himself washed up in the only trade he knows—prizefighting. Yet, threatened by gangsters for welshing on a gambling debt, Mountain’s opportunistic manager, Maish Rennick, schemes to get the ex-boxer into a phony wrestling match to make some quick money. Although he and his loyal trainer, Army, oppose the degrading proposition, the disillusioned Mountain begins to wonder if he has any options left.

In Fort Lamy, French Equitorial Africa, idealist Morel launches a one-man campaign to preserve the African elephant from extinction, which he sees as the last remaining "roots of Heaven." At first, he finds only support from Minna, hostess of the town's only night club, who is in love with him, and a derelict ex-British Army Major, Forsythe. His crusade gains momentum and he is soon surrounded by an odd assortment of characters: Cy Sedgewick, an American TV commentator who becomes impressed and rallies world-wide support; a U.S. photographer, Abe Fields, who is sent to do a picture story on Morel and stays on to follow his ideals; Saint Denis, a government aide ordered to stop Morel; Orsini, a professional ivory hunter whose vested interests aren't the same as Morel's; and Waitari, leader of a Pan-African movement who follows Morel only for the personal good it will do his own campaign.

At Rio Galdez's remote Brazilian trading post live assorted outcast Americans and Europeans, including Jerry Russell, ex-engineer who became obsessed with the Jivaro headhunters' treasure, quit his job, and took up with the bottle and local girl Maroa. But he still gets letters from his nominal fiancée in California, and unexpectedly the shapely, glamorous Alice Parker arrives, expecting to marry a rich planter. Disillusioned, Alice is almost ready to fall into Rio's arms when news comes that Jerry is missing in Jivaro country.

Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.

An undocumented immigrant finds a human heart in one of the toilets of the west London hotel where he works with other undocumented immigrants.

Two men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take opposite momentum.

Niccolo "Mac" Vitelli is the eldest of three brothers in 1950s Queens. Mac is a construction builder, a trade he learned from his late father, and helps put his brothers on the job. When they can no longer take working for Polowski, who does shoddy work and is abusive to his staff, Mac and his brothers set up their own company. Together, Vitelli Brothers Construction builds houses with pride and care. But Mac turns out to be an overbearing workaholic, with obsessive concern about the quality of their work and incredible attention to detail. His intensity and driven ambition precludes a happy family life and begins to drive his brothers away.

Marion is a factory worker who hopes to trade the assembly line, for a beautiful penthouse apartment. Mark Whitney, a wealthy and influential lawyer can make her dreams come true, but there is only one problem, he will give her everything but a marriage proposal. Will this affair ever lead to marriage?

After his daughter persuades him to move into a new apartment, aged widower Fred strikes up a friendship with his eccentric 74-year-old neighbour Elsa, who convinces him it's never too late to keep enjoying life. Although he seemed resigned to a miserable bedridden existence, Fred embraces Elsa's youthful enthusiasm as she introduces him to the path of life and entertains him with outlandish stories about her past life. But when he discovers Elsa's terminally ill, Fred decides to accompany her on the trip of her dreams to the eternal city of Rome to help her fulfil a lifelong ambition.

At Baycrest, an old-age home in Toronto, we follow a social worker as she talks to residents, particularly Max, Claire, Ida, and Rachel. The film opens on Claire's birthday, she's 89; Max, a tiny cheerful man, is her close friend. Rachel is lonesome, missing her son, complaining he rarely visits. Ida relies on memory for her solace. Helen has no memory and doesn't recognize her daughter; her moods swing. Murray keeps his cap on and likes women. Staff members bring medication, provide care, and offer small talk. Memory is fleeting: Claire re-experiences the death of a close companion several times, each time without remembering her previous grieving. Lives are circumscribed

Angelique's Isle is a harrowing tale of perseverance and survival that unfolds during the great copper rush of 1845. Newlyweds Angelique, a young Ojibway, and Charlie, her voyager husband, are left stranded throughout a brutal winter on Lake Superior's Isle Royale where Angelique is ultimately forced to face her inner demons and beliefs as the unbelievably beautiful, yet treacherous wilderness threatens to claim her.

Based on the popular World War I novel by author William March, director Robert Clem's COMPANY K follows a veteran of the first great conflict as he finishes a book about his wartime experiences and reflects on how a man's true character is revealed through his actions on the battlefield. From the German soldier who visits him in dreams to the camaraderie that is forged by fighting together and the true gravity of laying down your life for a greater cause, World War I veteran Joe Delaney will attempt to exorcise his demons through writing while struggling to readjust to small-town life following the trauma of war.

A busload of women become stranded in an isolated part of the Canadian countryside. As they await rescue, they reflect on their lives through a mostly ad-libbed script.

Seattle undercover narc Jackie Parker is out to bust the drug smuggling ring commanded by Philip Bianco.

Regularly working alone undercover with a vice squad boss she dislikes as much as he dislikes her, Lottie Mason is living pretty much on the edge. An assignment helping out the Assistant D.A. may be the start of a serious relationship but then, tired and disillusioned after a job one night, she finds herself accepting a proposition in a bar that leads rapidly into a web of murder and deceit.

An American joins the French Foreign Legion in order to rescue a boyhood friend.

An outwardly confident but unmarried woman on the verge of her fortieth birthday reflects on her past suitors and the choices she once made while attempting to help her marriage minded niece choose between a number of potential suitors in this tale inspired by the life and letters of Jane Austen. Jane Austen is about to turn forty, but she still hasn't found her ideal man. When Jane is approached by her niece Fanny and asked to help select the perfect husband for the young girl, the aging spinster begins to wonder why it is that she never found a man to share her own life with. Perhaps if Jane had accepted the proposal of a wealthy landowner she could have saved her family from financial ruin, and what of the handsome young physician who once warmed to Jane after tending to her ailing family members?

The story begins at the height of Gleason's career. He has it all: women, wealth, and extraordinary power. But he is haunted by memories of his childhood. Gleason spends his formative years entering amateur contests, performing in sleazy night spots. Along the way, he steals gags from the best comics in town and finds love with Genevieve, a dancer whom he marries. But Gleason isn't the ideal husband or even a responsible father as he abandons his family to answer the call of Hollywood. Brash, arrogant, and egotistical, he alienates his directors and the man who discovers him. When he ends up back in New York, Gleason gets one of those rare second chances in the new medium of television, creating some of its most unforgettable characters. But even as Gleason becomes the talk of the tube, his life - ruled by demons of rage, booze, and insecurity - unravels.

Young businesswoman Elyse Samford's life takes a turn when she inherits Samford Candy, a multi-billion dollar corporation, from her retired father. A trademark infringement lawsuit against a rival company brings Elyse to Higgins Attorneys and Sons, where Rob Carelli, a young, too-nice-for-his-own-good lawyer, is bullied by his boss, firm founder Carter Higgins, and his two arrogant sons. Despite his workplace woes, Rob becomes instantly smitten with Elyse. With Halloween just around the corner, Elyse invites the Higgins law firm staff to an opulent masked Halloween costume ball. Rob obeys an order to remain in the office working that night, but has a change of heart when his spunky, 12-year old niece Ruby, convinces him to attend the ball wearing a prince costume. After a magnificent waltz and magical exchange with the handsome "prince," Elyse yearns to locate this mysterious man and hopefully find the romance her life has been missing.

Bennett, who's engaged to his boss's daughter, just lost a major client for his company. When a letter meant for someone else is accidentally mailed to his home, Bennett tries to return it to its author. She turns out to be Robbie, curator of the museum home of the poet Longfellow which is desperate for funding. Bennett is drawn to Robbie and decides to help her save the museum. In the process, he finds himself reevaluating his life.

Henri was raised by religious in a convent and lived with them until the women, now elders, moved, leaving him alone. Henri fixes lamps. Since his young age, he's been replacing burned light bulbs and illuminates people's lives. After following signs, he finds himself working in a lamp company. Through his new work, he meets an old man trying to never forget his glory days and a blind woman, teller in an adult cinema, with whom he falls in love.

A middle-aged man sets out to find a new career when he learns he's picked the wrong time to retire in this gentle comedy-drama from China. Wang Kangmei (Fan Wei) is a good-humored working stuff who after four decades as an engineer for the Chinese railway has taken early retirement. Wang's timing was less than ideal, as his wife (Cheng Shubo) falls ill and ends up in the hospital shortly after Wang's leaves his job. But Wang is a cheerful and quietly patriotic man who believes that the government will do the right thing for him and that he'll be able to find work if he tries. Wang's father (Cheng Shubo) isn't so confident, but that doesn't stop Wang from spending the day pursuing various sorts of employment, from operating a bicycle-cab to auditioning for an opera company.

Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life. The film brings the past to life in vivid detail as we see how and why these masterpieces were built. Travelling around Europe, Simon uncovers the history of these machines and shows us some of the most spectacular examples, from an entire working automaton city to a small boy who can be programmed to write and even a device that can play chess. All the machines Simon visits show a level of technical sophistication and ambition that still amazes today.

Dane Jensen is a driven, Chicago-based headhunter, working at a cut-throat job placement firm. When Dane's boss announces his retirement, he pits Dane against Lynn Vogel, Dane's equally driven but polar-opposite rival at the firm, in a battle for control over the company.

Senior investment banker Naomi Bishop’s world of high-power big money is brutal and fierce, and one she thrives in. When a controversial IPO threatens the fragile balance of power and confidentiality, Naomi finds herself entangled in a web of politics and deception.

Ella Bishop is an inhibited girl whose frustrations grow as she approaches womanhood. As a women, her ambitions to teach cause her to lose her only opportunity for true love. Ella's life becomes one of missed chances and wrong choices. As she reaches old age, she reflects back and realizes she allowed the years to go by without achieving what she believes to be her true fulfillment. However, her years have not been without glory, and her moment of triumph arrives when her numerous now-famous students from over the years, return to honor their beloved Miss Bishop.

Russell B. Parker, a former vaudeville hoofer, is a man of big dreams but small ambitions. He hardly works at all in fact, often spending the time incessantly playing checkers with his friend, William Jenkins. Parker lives with Theopolis and Bobby, his two unemployed sons, and Adele, his hard-working daughter. The ghost of his dead wife, a woman who drove herself into an early grave working to support the family, nags at his conscience.

Trading company CEO Wu Hao died of brain caner, medical professor Pang transplanted the brain of Wang Jiapei, who was a farmer died of car crash, into Wu Hao's body. By this, Wang came back to life through the identity of Wu.

A woman makes a living by putting her image and video up for sale and finds herself being stalked by someone who is disillusioned into thinking they have a life together based on the videos and photos she's put online.

Derry Thomas is a pretty girl from a good family who earns her own living, but is disillusioned about marriage and is firmly set against ever getting married. Nothing against men, just marriage. She is drawn into the company of some rich businessmen whose wives have gone away for the summer. Parties follow in New York nightclubs, road-houses, country clubs and fashionable estates. Situations and contradictions follow.