Best movies like The Map Reader

In 1987, Ricardo is 17 years old. This summer, Ricardo has a busy schedule: loose his virginity, find a way to get into bars, have a car, spend time with his friends. In order to rapidly make money, Ricardo decides to use his italian inheritance and take a shortcut in the medium of crime. But things will go wrong...

Toss lives on a sheep farm with her father in New Zealand. When Toss's father dies in an accident, Ethan, an itinerant hunter, wanders onto the family farm and is given a job by her grandfather. Toss's fairly innocent relationship with Ethan is severed when he forms a relationship with her mother.

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

The dreary existence of middle-aged spinster Maura Prince takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of young handyman Billy Jarvis, but there is more to Billy than meets the eye. Based on the novel Nest in a Fallen Tree by Joy Cowley.

Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.

Janey is on vacation with her brother, Jim, mother, Kate, and father Ed, at their beach house on the Mahurangi Peninsual in New Zealand. Ed and Kate, who are on the verge of divorce, sit around in the back yard all day drinking whiskey and Janey and Jim are left to their own devices. Cady, a local boaty who is having an affair with Kate, catches Janey's pubescent eye. In response to his wife's drinking problem and recurring infidelity, Ed turns to alcohol, ignoring his children almost as much as his wife, which eventually leads to a character's fate.

A former boyracer, who married his first love and took a job in one of the fish factories, now has a 17 year-old-son of his own following in his footsteps and can no longer ignore the fact he’s going nowhere. Unable to be physically or emotionally present with his family, he takes his son’s car out for one final joy ride and risks losing the love that surrounds him

An immigrant boy faces difficulty growing up in Toronto's apartment slums.

Jack Slavin is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose, on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen, and her sons, Rodney and Thaddius, to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics makes things difficult for everyone in the house.

Set in post-war (1949) rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men to run a betting scam in a small town (Tainuea) already rife with illegal gambling corruption, and eccentricity.

In the aftermath of tragedy, a woman and her teenage son must forge into uncharted territory in order to move on with their lives.

A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.

Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.

Based on the true story of First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a soldier deployed to Iraq begins to keep a journal of love and advice for his infant son. Back at home, senior New York Times editor Dana Canedy revisits the story of her unlikely, life-altering relationship with King and his enduring devotion to her and their child.

When Elizabeth returns to her mother's home after her marriage breaks up, she recreates her imaginary childhood friend, Fred, to escape from the trauma of losing her husband and her job. In between the chaos and mayhem that Fred creates, Elizabeth attempts to win back her husband and return to normality.

Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.

Desire torments a former cultist taking refuge at the home of a scantily clad woman whose husband is away.

Wealthy and precocious teenager Juliet transfers from England to New Zealand with her family, and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. When their parents begin to suspect that their increasingly intense and obsessive bond is becoming unhealthy, the girls hatch a dark plan for those who threaten to keep them apart.

A woman and her son must leave a small South Carolina town because of her wild behavior.

When Holly’s dark secret is accidentally uncovered by her new emotionally unstable neighbor Tom, they are pulled into a violent confrontation with her father, who will do anything to keep the secret hidden.

The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.

Oscar-winner Colin Firth stars in this heart-warming cross-cultural romantic comedy set in the idyllic South of France. Nimi, a beautiful Nigerian single mother to son Sammy, is under pressure from her family to find a suitable husband and who better than the local Reverend? After making friends with Matthew, a British comic-book writer and one of his heros, Sammy has other ideas. He successfully plots to get them together but they've still a few obsticles to overcome. (from Amazon)

Earl Pilcher Jr., runs an equipment rental outfit in Arkansas, lives with his wife and kids and parents, and rarely takes off his gimme cap. His mother dies, leaving a letter explaining he's not her natural son, but the son of a Black woman who died in childbirth; plus, he has a half brother Ray, in Chicago, she wants him to visit. Earl makes the trip, initially receiving a cold welcome from Ray and Ray's son, Virgil. His birth mother's sister, Aunt T., an aged and blind matriarch, takes Earl in tow and insists that the family open up to him.

Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.

An orphan weds an older man in circa-1900 New Zealand, then finds out he's a miser who spies on her.

Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.

A journey through a cultural minefield, navigating the divide between the traditional values of immigrant parents and the contemporary aspirations of their children in a new land.

During the Great Depression, Kate (Greer Robson) is a 13-year-old girl living on New Zealand's South Island. When her mother dies and her father is offered a job in Wellington on North Island, Kate is sent to live with an aunt. The girl runs away to find her father, hopping onto a boxcar and befriending a fellow fugitive, Patrick (Peter Phelps), an emotionally battle-scarred WWI veteran fleeing the authorities after injuring a repo man. Pretending to be father and daughter, Patrick and Kate use each other for cover as they make their way across New Zealand, sleeping under the stars and championing the rights of destitute farmers and homeless squatters whose fortunes have been wiped out by economic hardship.

16-year old Arielle's world is rattled when her mother mysteriously returns, driving a wedge into the seemingly perfect relationship she has with her father while unraveling family secrets hidden long ago on their isolated foothills farm.

Nick Anderson, Kevin Daniels, and Tracey Green do everything together. They are the best of friends, and yet they couldn't be more different. Neighbors from adolescence, they finish each other's thoughts and sentences, joys and pains, happiness and tears. Using Nick's house as their own members only clubhouse, they escape into their own world of contentment. Yet the inevitable intrusion of others tests their stability in ways never imagined.

An overprotective mother tries to stop her son's budding relationship with a flirtatious young divorce.

A struggling motel owner and her daughter are taken hostage by a nearly blind career criminal to be his eyes as he attempts to retrieve his cash package from a crooked cop.

The story of a woman who must find her kidnapped son, navigating a world she doesn't know, on the edge of danger with every heartbeat.

Seduced by a boy's affluent, seemingly idyllic family, a young girl goes to extremes to gain acceptance.

Jade is a sixteen year old girl with all the problems a teenager faces. Moreover, her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother Jesse. Jesse falls in love with Billy, a much younger man who is also divorced and has two little kids. When Billy comes to live with her mother, Jade feels really uncomfortable; and maybe she is attracted to him.

A Palestinian boy becomes entranced with a beautiful Gypsy girl and a fairy tale world she weaves amidst conflict in Gaza. The children explore nature, mysticism and what their future holds, while learning to live with the surrounding brutality c. 1990. Yusef's family scrapes by in a seaside camp while his father's in prison and his heavily-armed brother's on the run, parrying with Israeli troops. Salah, Yusef's schoolmate from a well-off Arab family strives faithfully to assist them, while Yusef helps an elderly, blind neighbor escape from his lonely abandonment into the North American dreamworld he's waited so long for.

Rewi Rapana returns to the small country town of Te Mata after his family has left the district. His arrival rekindles old tensions as well as renewing family ties. He is seeking an identity and a permanent place to call home yet desperately hiding a secret from his past. Oddly enough there is one person with whom he finds peace of mind. She is an old woman known as Kara. A special relationship develops between Rewi, Kara and Kara’s great granddaughter Awatea.

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

College students exploring the Ozark Mountains for a school assignment, stumble upon a group of scary, redneck cave-dwellers.

When 19 year old Heather Walsh accepts a job on a farm in the Mangatiti Valley, she has no idea paradise will become a nightmare. This true New Zealand story tells of Heather's horrific ordeal.

The story of a guy who gets some hope & curry in his life, through love. It's the journey of 'Sid', who migrated from India to New Zealand, to have a life full of bikes & women, but reality hits when he comes to NZ.

Jenny McLean is a single mom working at a 911-call center struggling to make ends meet and raise her two kids, Elsie and Luke. Although still reeling from her divorce, Jenny can’t help but flirt when she gets emergency calls from Jeff, a local firefighter she nicknames “Cowboy” for his handsome voice. When Jeff is hurt in the line of duty, he finds himself unable to climb stairs and needing to rent a first floor room from Jenny. It isn't long before the sparks are flying but can Jenny allow herself to take the risk?

Separated as children, three cousins with an unshakable bond confront their painful pasts and embark on an emotional journey to find each other.

Scraping by in a thankless job and suffering from chronic insomnia, lonely twentysomething Sierra turns to the online world of ASMR, where she meets Kate, a streamer whose soothing voice quickly becomes her virtual companion. When the two women meet in person, they discover there’s chemistry beyond the virtual. It’s not long before Sierra becomes increasingly fixated on Kate – which only intensifies when she feels their relationship is threatened.

Sweet, chubby, theatrical Billy was never cut out to be a farmer or a rugby player, but as the only son of a ‘good kiwi bloke’ he’s obliged to try. The cows are stubborn and the chores gruelling but Billy finds escape in a fantasy world playing Lana, heroine of his favourite TV show Adventures in Space. Not everyone approves of Billy's transformation. On the brink of adolescene, he discovers growing up is more complicated than he could ever have imagined.

In 1916, the New Zealand Government secretly shipped 14 of the country's most outspoken conscientious objectors to the Western Front in an attempt to convert, silence, or quite possibly kill them. This is their story.

Life on the Rock never seemed easy, but for Mitsy it is especially rough. The teenager has been abandoned by her mother, a particularly unfit parent prone to both the bottle and the sex trade. She is left to be brought up by her mercurial grandmother Bride, who is well-meaning but oppressively suffocating. Mitsy's dreams for the future hinge on her desire to be a hairdresser, but her current emotional well-being revolves around a wee dog named Sparky, an unwanted canine misfit to whom she becomes hopelessly attached. After Bride agrees to let Mitsy take the dog in as a pet, the teen tries desperately to create a happy, safe place for Sparky to thrive.

Rebecca Swain is a beautiful, intellectual young woman. Life is good to her. Her new boyfriend Matt's family is rich and socially prominent. The idea of a romantic weekend with him at his parents' palatial estate sounds inviting. The visit to paradise brings her face to face with Matt's family for the first time. His father, Jeremy, is dashingly handsome like his son. His mother Iris, on the other hand, looks at first glance to be a slightly unbalanced alcoholic. Rebecca instantly impresses Jeremy who is smitten with her charm and grace. As the weekend progresses, she finds herself seduced into a deadly love triangle. All is not as it seems between father, mother, and son. As Rebecca peels away the family's hidden realities, she finds herself embroiled in their secrets, and the unwilling victim of the family's most deranged member. She will need all her resources to uncover the ultimate horrible truth and stay alive.

Northpole, the magical city where Santa and his elves live and work is in trouble. Families around the globe have gotten too busy to enjoy the season together, and Northpole depends on their holiday happiness to keep running. In the hopes of turning things around, a determined young elf befriends a little boy with a lot of spirit. His skeptical journalist mom doesn’t have room in her heart for anything but the facts, so it’s going to take a little nudge from his charming teacher to create an unbeatable Christmas team to turn around this town and share the importance of the season with the whole world.

Two young men travelling the dark roads of New Zealand, have their friendship pushed to the limit when their car breaks down, stranding them in the middle of nowhere. A desolate rural road is the last place one would expect to find chaos, but this is no ordinary night. Trapped in increasingly hostile surroundings with no means of escape, the friends are forced to put their lives in each other's hands. As a haunting memory is slowly re-counted, each must come face to face with a chilling truth.