Best movies like Summer Hours

Hanoi comes across almost picture-perfect in director Tran Anh Hung's beautiful, elegiac tale about the lives and loves of three Vietnamese sisters. A mood characteristic of Hung's films is set early on with the vivid sounds of birds, insects and water and the way the lighting enhances the subtle use of color. They all combine to gem-like effect here.

Twenty-year-old Martin seems to be living the dream. After moving from the French countryside to Paris, he quickly found professional success as a fashion model and romantic fulfillment in dating his half-brother's fiery roommate, Alice. Deep down, however, he is avoiding inner turmoil that stems from his tumultuous upbringing. But when Alice becomes unexpectedly pregnant, the full force of his repression is let loose, wreaking havoc on his life.

Louise simultaneously discovers that she is pregnant and that her mother is seriously ill. Happiness and guilt, euphoria and sadness, filial love and love, period. She'll need a good nine months to cope with all this.

11-year-old Eliza is the invisible element of her family unit: her parents are both consumed with work and her brother is wrapped up in his own adolescent life. Eliza ignites not only a spark that makes her visible but one that sets into motion a revolution in her family dynamic when she wins a spelling bee. Finding an emotional outlet in the power of words and in the spiritual mysticism that he sees at work in her unparalleled gift, Eliza's father pours all of his energy into helping his daughter become spelling bee champion. A religious studies professor, he sees the opportunity as not only a distraction from his life but as an answer to his own crisis of faith. His vicarious path to God, real or imagined, leads to an obsession with Eliza's success and he begins teaching her secrets of the Kabbalah. Now preparing for the National Spelling Bee, Eliza looks on as a new secret of her family's hidden turmoil seems to be revealed with each new word she spells.

Antoine Rey looks for a special gift for his sister Melanie on her 40th birthday. He decides to surprise her with a trip to the French Island of Noirmoutier, where they spent many summers as children until their mother's death. On the drive back to Paris, Melanie is seriously injured in a car accident...

When their regal matriarch falls ill, the troubled Vuillard family come together for a hesitant Christmastime reunion. Among them is rebellious ne'er-do-well Henri and the uptight Elizabeth. Together under the same roof for the first time in many years, their intricate, long denied resentments and yearnings emerge again.

The life of two women and their families in a small provincial town of Salta, Argentina.

An outer suburb of Paris, 1972. Gilles and Christine, both sixteen, are classmates and lovers who have become frustrated with the aloofness of their families and the general monotony of their lives. When the pair are caught shoplifting, Christine's father ships her off to a home for emotionally disturbed children, temporarily putting space between her and Gilles. Luckily for them, though, she escapes and the couple contemplate running away together.

Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy 18-year-old Mathieu is on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric and falls in love.

A leukemia patient attempts to end a 20-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

Meg, Pippa, and Hillary are sisters who grew up in Sorrento, a small seaside town in Australia. Meg, who has lived in England for 10 years has just written a criticially acclaimed novel which she claims is entirely fictional. The book causes a stir in Sorrento and in her family when it is supected that the book is not as fictional as she claims.

Grégoire Canvel has everything a man could want. A wife he loves, three delightful children and a stimulating job. He's a film producer. Discovering talented filmmakers and developing films that fit his conception of the cinema-free and true to life-is precisely his reason for living. Yet his prestigious production company, Moon Films, is on its last legs. Too many productions, too many risks, too many debts. Storm clouds are gathering. But Grégoire ploughs on at all costs. Where will his blind obstinacy lead him?

The semi-autobiographical story centers on the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced by an unexpected tragedy.

The first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, 'Flight of the Red Balloon' tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. It is based on the classic French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse.

When his long-time disappeared father is entering his life again, Jean-Luc, a successful doctor, has no option but to face his own life story. Will he ever be able to forget and forgive?

A woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.

Elderly woman Berthe leaves her house to live with her daughter Emilie. Emilie and her brother Antoine had a falling out three years ago and have not seen each other since, but Emilie invites him for Christmas. Memories will resurface and impact both Berthe's destiny and the strange relationship between Emilie and Antoine.

When an aging matriarch starts showing signs of dementia, her dysfunctional family in Istanbul must navigate a minefield of unresolved issues to care for her.

After losing her mother in a car accident that leaves her with a broken arm, 4-year-old Ponette struggles with anguish and fear. Left by her father with a caring aunt and her children, Ponette grieves, secretly hoping her mother will somehow come back. Confused by the religious explanations provided by adults, and challenged by the cruel taunts of a few children at school, little Ponette must make her way through her emotional turmoil.

After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's mother, Diane, has recently arrived with her husband Lloyd, Lane's stepfather. Lane is close to two neighbors: Peter, and Howard. Howard is in love with Lane, Lane is in love with Peter, and Peter is in love with Stephanie.

The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died suddenly, she tries to conceal the truth from her mother, changing the course of their lives forever.

A wealthy architect struggles with a severe case of male menopause at the approach of his 60th birthday.

In this bittersweet comedy, four adult siblings gather at their dying mother's house in North Carolina for what they expect to be a quick, last goodbye. Instead, they find themselves trapped — together — for two weeks.

Rita, a middle aged New York City homemaker, finds herself in an emotional crisis which forces her to re-examine her life, as well as her relationships with her mother, her eye doctor husband, her alienated daughter and estranged son.

Laura, in her thirties, lives alone on the outskirts of a big city. She learns that her father is in a coma, following a serious traffic accident. She decides to visit him regularly at the hospital: the opportunity finally presents itself to settle accounts, perhaps even to take revenge... But life is unpredictable and Laura's desire for revenge will lead to a reunion troubling with her family and her past. She will come out of it reconciled, with herself and with life.

When a school bus driving woman (Tyne Daly) has a heart attack, she makes one request of her three daughters (Ally Sheedy, Marla Sucharetza, Marceline Hugo) - she wants them to find their long lost brother, who was taken away by their father (Jack Davidson) 16 years ago. What they discover is that while they have struggled, their father has become a wealthy man and their brother is in school at Harvard.

Fathers & Sons is a comedic exploration of a group of men and their relationships with their fathers. A middle-aged Jewish man meets his father for the first time at the funeral of his mother. A south-Asian accountant introduces his white fiance to his father - a gay, Bollywood choreographer. A recently bankrupted Wall-Street broker has come home to borrow money from his music teacher father, and four brothers gather at the paternal home to pay their last respects and to collect their inheritance.

Florence and Vincent Leroy are a model couple. They have great jobs, a perfect marriage and delightful children. And now they want their divorce to be an equal success. But when they are both simultaneously promoted to their dream jobs, their relationship becomes a nightmare. From that moment on, the gloves are off, the two exes declare war and will do everything in their power to NOT have custody of their children.

The whole family is reunited when Sofia comes back for his father's funeral. Quickly, inner problems are revealed.

Booky does everything she can to make an enjoyable Christmas, for her family, during the depression as her father is out of work.

In order to to see his idol, Jimi Hendrix, a twelve year old boy attempts a journey from his Quebec village to Woodstock.

Complications arise when family and friends gather for a gay couple's backyard wedding.

A woman learns her estranged father has passed away. She returns with her boyfriend to her childhood home of Belize, where she is reunited with her brother, and must face her past while fighting for intimacy in the present.

The siblings of the Fitzgerald family must decide if the dad who abandoned them 20 years ago can come home for Christmas. Can the big Irish clan get past their grievances to be a family again?

Rich, bisexual Thomas makes his way through a swath of lovers of both sexes in Paris. His parents have died, and he doesn't have to work to earn a living, so his days are bacchanalia-filled affairs that run into each other in a hazy bliss. The only one capable of eking out genuine affection from him is his neighbor, Caroline. When she dies and leaves her son in his care, Thomas learns the joys of commitment and selflessness.