Best movies like Mariposa in the Cage of the Night

Raquela is a transsexual, or lady boy, from the Philippines, who dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris. In order to make her dreams come true, she turns from prostitution toward the more lucrative business of Internet porn. Her success as a porn star brings new friends, including Valerie, a lady boy in Iceland, and Michael, the owner of the website Raquela works for. Valerie helps Raquela get as far as Iceland. From there, Michael offers her a rendezvous in Paris. Will Paris be everything she dreamed of? And will Michael turn out to be her Prince Charming?

An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too?

A young woman quits her teaching job to be a private tutor for two wealthy young kids, but soon starts to suspect there’s more to their house than what meets the eye.

A musical tale about two impoverished sisters' anguish over whether or not to sell the final masterpiece of their recluse father days before the second world war, in Manila.

Set in the Aokigahara Forest, a real-life place in Japan where people go to end their lives. Against this backdrop, a young American woman comes in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared.

A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.

A group of friends band together to hide the truth about a mutual friend's tragic death. They soon discover that an evil entity is in pursuit of them.

Rich club-man Kirk Rainsford, attends a charity bazaar at the home of Marjorie Vail, the society girl he hopes to marry. A fire breaks out among the booths and everyone is pulled to safety except little Peggy, Marjorie's kid sister. Marjorie pleads with Kirk to save the child, but he lacks the courage, and Randolph Sherman, Kirk's rival for Marjorie's affections, plays the hero part. For Kirk's public display of cowardice, he is disowned by his father and rejected by Marjorie, who soon marries Sherman. Kirk drifts to the South Seas, eventually landing in Manila, where he becomes a derelict. When Lillie, a fellow drifter, is roughly handled in a bar, Kirk goes to her assistance; she expresses appreciation for his bravery and soon effects his regeneration through her faith in him. Kirk and Lillie journey to the interior, and they obtain work on a plantation recently purchased by Randolph Sherman. During a native uprising, Sherman is killed, and Kirk saves Marjorie from certain death.

Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.

To avenge the brutal murder of his brother, Jake Ray journeys to the Philippines, where his search for truth finds him battling both in and out of the ring. But the weapons are always the same: bare fists, bare feet. And the rules never change: last man standing wins.

Jessica Santiago & Ana Bartolome are two sisters who have lived in separate lives for 12 long years. Jessie, though an excellent student, has grown to feel sorrow of Ana’s lost while Ana, not knowing that she’s an orphan, grew up in a far-flung fishing village. When they meet in a swimming competition, the Santiagos exert effort to bring Ana back. But when Ana returns home, Jessie feels more abandoned & lovelorn. With their relationship turning sour, Jessie’s life is terribly put in danger. In the end, the two sisters find home where their hearts truly lie.

A woman uncovers sinister secrets while investigating the apparent suicide of her sister.

The Missing Daughters of the title are innocent young girls who've been led astray by seedy dance-hall operator Lucky Rogers.

While celebrating with her friends in her new cheaply rented apartment (with balcony and view of the sea) on the thirteenth floor of a building, the young Sayaka unexpectedly jumps off the balcony committing suicide. Her mother goes insane and her older sister, Mariko, decides to investigate the mysterious death of her sister. She finds that there have been many suicides of young women living in apartment 1303. She finds a book telling the tragic story of the Yukiyo and her mother, the first tenants of the apartment and uncovers the truth behind the suicides.

Lilet Never Happened is the rollercoaster story of how a young girl, struggling to survive in the streets of Manila, spirals down into child prostitution. She is a fighter. She is a dreamer. She is a rebel and she thinks she can handle the world with her wits. But she has to face up to reality when she runs out of innocent dreams.

A story about Estelito who went to the province to hunt game, after the hunt he went swimming but upon his return, all his belonging were gone. He then went searching and meets Pilar the person who kept his belongings, after their meeting Estelito goes back to the metro. One day Pilar's grandfather returns from America and opts for Pilar and her family to stay and live with him in the metro.

Web is a desperate man with a dangerous mission. His young brother Tony has mysteriously vanished with a million dollars worth of heroin that belongs to the mob. The mob wants the drugs back...and Tony dead. In the back alleys of Manila, his search leads him to three beautiful women, each one hiding a clue to Tony's disappearance, but only one will help him. As a vicious network of thugs closes in, Web battles to unravel the mystery and save his brothers life. But a fortune in drugs with a criminal empire at stake makes Web's life dispensable and the action explodes in MISSION MANILA.

Upon learning that he is from New York City, a wide-eyed boy, who is half human and half alligator, decides to leave his sheltered life in the swamp and search for his long lost father. A musical adventure.

Three boys from the slums of Manila find their luck has changed when one of them learns he's the heir of a rich man.

Lauro (Eddie Garcia) is a married man who just loves women. His wife Elena (Gloria Diaz), a beautiful and strong-willed woman is dead set in keeping him from womanizing.

A tribute to the real potential of digital cinema, Slingshot is a slum epic on steroids. It weaves stories left and right into a shocking tableau about life for the lowest of the low in the Philippines poorest and most crime-ridden districts. National elections are coming up so in the usual attempt to appear “tough-on-crime”, The Big Boys have been sent into crack down on the the local squatters, thieves and miscreants who litter the film like broken bottle. And since no sweep is ever a clean sweep, the cops brutal shock-force tactics quickly ripple outwards with jagged repurcussions.

This is a short documentary which examines a small selection of theories about Atlantis, and looks at a few archaeological sites as well. Uncover fascinating new information about the "lost" underwater city of Atlantis, a legend that has long mystified scholars and explorers.

Lola Sepa's grandson has been killed by a cell phone snatcher. Despite being devastated by the sudden violence, she must bear the burden of making the funeral arrangements. She and her family are poor, and there is not enough money for the coffin nor the legal pursuit against the suspected murderer. But the elderly woman is ready to even seek a bank loan to assure both a proper burial and justice for her beloved grandson. Lola Puring is committed to getting her grandson Mateo out of jail, although he has been accused of senselessly murdering Lola Sepa's grandson. But the poor aged woman doesn't have the bail money. Each time she visits her grandson in prison to bring him proper meals, it breaks her heart to see him wasting away behind bars with countless others. At the first court hearing, the two grandmothers must face one another. Both frail and poor, each is determined to do everything necessary for her grandson. The future of the case is dependent on grandmotherly love...

This movie is a story about a forest tribe with one dominant male, one old male and the rest are all females. The rules of the tribe are the dominant male can only mate with the other females once his wife has given him an heir, which causes friction with the other females as they need to repopulate their tribe with offsprings. A male nature photographer from the city happens to find his way to the tribe. He is virile and could be the answer to the tribe's problem, but as with lion prides, the alpha male of the group won't accept him so willingly, especially if the intruder's eyes are set on his own wife.

An Englishman has been working in the US so long he now speaks with an American accent. He is drafted into the British Army during WWII but is injured and loses his memory. Because he talks like an American, the doctors repatriate him to the States where he is housed with a New York family. After the war they all travel throughout Europe, searching for the women he still remembers in the hope of restoring his lost memory

The title "Binyag" translates to 'loss of innocence,' and this little-known film from the Philippenes shows, very effectively, the process in which one young person loses his own innocence. A boy living a quiet, picturesque life in the Filipino province, spending his days swimming in the sea, is offered a job as a "film star" when a shady "talent scout" visits his small village. He promises the naive Leo that he can "make him a star." Leo, excited at the idea of escaping his seemingly mundane life, accepts the offer, thus beginning his journey to the city of Manila, where he will learn some hard facts about the world he lives in.

Long years of separation have made sisters Loida and Lina strangers to each other. So much so that when cruel fate makes their paths cross anew, it is by way of one man's love Willie's. As unsuspecting of the two women are, of their familial affinities, Willie gets caught in the what seems a sticky situation. Especially as Loida and Lina finally and eventually find the truth about themselves. Love and life can be as hot and sticky as rice cakes, indeed!

Three friends made their way in the big city. One ended up the mistress of a rich married man. Another became a suicidal prostitute. And the third found true love where it had always been all along despite her long fruitless search. In the end they all thought of the things they should never have done, wondering what might have been had these tomorrows been their yesterdays.

War drama set in the closing stages of World War Two. As Allied Forces are nearing the defeat of the Japanese Army in Manila, the Japanese Empire's soldiers begin attacking innocent civilians. A brutal month-long battle ensues.

Recreation of the widespread rapes and murders of Filipina women by Japanese soldiers during WWII.

It's fear that they seek! Dr. Schroder listens to her criminally insane patient as he recounts the story of the murder of his four friends. Chip implants, government mind control, Russian military, and Alien visitors form the puzzle pieces of this science fiction thriller. A search for the answers leads to the mind-bending truth...it's our fear that they seek. The Aliens are HERE and they show only disgust for what the human race has become.

Bread is a socially engaged drama which follows the fate of a woman struggling to pull herself out of poverty as she’s ruthlessly exploited by a string of men.

Wealthy playboy Grant Van Gore means to have his way with his beautiful maid, the innocent Hattie Lou. He swears his love to the naive girl, and in an act so heinous as to defy belief, has the captain of his yacht perform a fake marriage ceremony. He ruins poor Hattie Lou, and then abandons her ashore the very next morning. A year later, the destitute girl and her starving baby are wandering the streets. When she sees a newspaper headline announcing that Grant has drowned at sea, Hattie Lou hatches a desperate plan for survival. She will present herself to the wealthy Van Gore's, who cannot fail to provide for their late son's widow and child!

An English-speaking manananggal (a malevolent, blood sucking monster) spreads terror in Manila. The manananggal is a Philippines mythical creature described as scary, often hideous, usually depicted as female, and always capable of severing its upper torso and sprouting huge bat-like wings to fly into the night in search of its victims.