Top 250 Movies Like The Firebrands

Two rebellious youths, Ralph and Scott, find themselves struggling with adulthood as the Vietnam War rages. Feeling trapped in their small town, Scott battles with his conservative veteran father, Cliff, and Ralph deals with his desperately sexual mother, Ev. When tragic news arrives from overseas, the entire town, inspired by Ralph and Scott's antiwar efforts, reevaluates its attitude toward the war.

A man on the verge of a promotion takes a mysterious hallucinogenic drug that begins to tear down his reality and expose his life for what it really is.

A pair of slackers get in way over their heads when they try to dump the body of a dead girlfriend in the basement of a drive-in movie theater where a satanic cult performs ritual sacrifices.

A chronicle of the sordid life and suspicious death of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, who was found in the bottom of his swimming pool weeks after being let go from the band.

The ghost of John Belushi looks back on his troubled life and career.

To a growing number of Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, narco-traffickers have become iconic outlaws and the new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto, nurturing a new American dream fueled by the war on drugs. Narco Cultura looks at this explosive phenomenon from within, exposing cycles of addiction to money, drugs, and violence that are rapidly gaining strength on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border

Chris Anderson and his wife Pam live a fairly normal life until Chris loses his job on the police force and secretly turns to robbing banks to make his wife's dreams come true. Upon discovering his secret, she joins his deadly crime wave and together they terrorize an unsuspecting suburban town.

Not Waving But Drowning is a chronological look at growing up, formed from two different stories. The two sets of friends represent the American dilemma between what you have known and what you hope to know; the tear between longing for the past and the desire to explore.

The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.

The San Francisco scene in 1967-68. Documentary about hippies shot during the height of the movement . Viewpoints from many kinds of people. Music by Steve Miller Band, Mother Earth, Quicksilver Messenger Service and others.

What is meant to be a weekend party across the border soon becomes a heartbreaking journey that tests the boundaries of companionship, romantic love and personal ethics.

Ad executive Bill Compton confronts and murders his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend. Wandering into a local bar, Bill encounters a drunken, bigoted factory worker with a bloodlust, Joe Curran. When Bill confesses the murder to Joe, the two strike up an uneasy alliance, leading to a wild adventure.

An offbeat romantic comedy about a decent guy, Ray Tuckby, with a dead-end life in the dead-end town of Trona, CA. After encouragement from a stranger whom he happens upon, Ray begins to dream again. He sheds the parasites in his life, musters the nerve to pursue his childhood love, and finally takes back his community by toppling the local teenage Meth-baron.

Marat works as a personal driver in Almaty, capital of Kazakhstan. When he hits a Mercedes, the nightmare begins. The loan he accepts to pay for the damages puts him at the mercy of a Mafia boss.

Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.

A smart-mouthed junkie and a former hairdresser spends his days looking for just "one more fix".

A normal, average guy who lives in New York City becomes dependent on an evil, disembodied brain.

A disillusioned young writer living in New York City turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife.

Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in San Fran. Though initially confusing, as Rooks blends drug-illusion with reality, and cuts color with black-and-white and monochrome tinted shots, "Chappaqua" is conventionally constructed with a beginning, middle, and end.

Linda Kasabian falls prey to the hypnotic charms of Charles Manson and his self-proclaimed "family" during the drug-fueled summer of 1969.

Marcia always thought her overachieving daughter Zoey was the dream child. But then she discovers that her perfect teen has a not-so-perfect drug addiction. Marcia and her ex-husband go through plenty of denial as their daughter spirals out of control. It's a true-to-life tale that parents and their kids should watch together.

After the Portuguese government demolishes his slum and relocates him to a housing project on the outskirts of Lisbon, 75-year-old Cape Verde immigrant Ventura wanders between his new and old homes, reconnecting with people from his past.

An alcohol/drug abuser re-examines his life until he nearly dies from an overdose. Then a friend convinces him to join a self-help group which turns out to be demonic.

A cross-country trip to sell drugs puts two hippie bikers on a collision course with small-town prejudices.

For Pablo Escobar family is everything. When young surfer Nick falls for Escobar's niece, Maria, he finds his life on the line when he's pulled into the dangerous world of the family business.

After his wife leaves him, a disillusioned director dives into the drug scene, trying anything his friend suggests.

The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the establishment as too obscene for the public.

Set in 1912, inside a dive bar named The Last Chance Saloon, its destitute patrons eagerly await the arrival of Hickey, who arrives annually and props everyone up with free drinks and spirited stories of his travels. However, when Hickey does show up this year, it is with a message of temperance and an exhortation to give up hopeless dreams and face reality.

Prey for Rock & Roll is set in the Los Angeles club scene of the late 1980s and follows the story of Jacki (Gershon) and her all-girl punk rock band, Clam Dandy. On the verge of turning 40, Jacki decides that if the band's one last shot at the big time is unsuccessful, she will give up her dreams of stardom. Along the way, the women are rocked by personal tragedies that threaten to break up the band before they can get their last shot at success.

A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life and consider their daughter to be “misbehaving” whenever she’s trying to find her own way in life.

A swinging, hypocritical college student cat raises hell in a satirical vision of the 1960s.

The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Excess Baggage is a lost 1928 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze and distributed by MGM. The film was based on the play of the same name by John McGowan. The film starred William Haines, Josephine Dunn and Kathleen Clifford.

A biker comes upon a girl with a flat tire and offers her a ride home. He winds up at a drug party with the girl's sister, then follows her to a turkey farm owned by her father, a mad scientist. The father turns the biker into a giant turkey monster who goes after drug dealers.

Two former geeks become 1980s punks, then party and go to concerts while deciding what to do with their lives.

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

A 15 year old boy (Beni) falls in love with Fögi, a singer in a Rock band. As Fögi seduces him, he is only willing to follow him where ever Fögi wants to. But Fögi is a drug addict and pulls Beni deeper and deeper into the hell of drug addiction.

A Harvard graduate transports a load of marijuana from Boston to Berkeley, California.

A teacher trying to break up a local drug ring is framed and arrested for possession of marijuana.

Fahrije’s husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo so she sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision: to wait for his return, or to continue to persevere.

An unflinching, fragmentary look at a handful of self-destructive, marginalized people, but taking as main focus the heroin-addicted Vanda Duarte.

Its All Gone Pete Tong is a comedy following the tragic life of the legendary Frankie Wilde. The story takes us through Frankie's life from being one of the best DJs alive, through a subsequent battle with a hearing disorder, culminating in his mysterious disappearance from the scene.

An alien creature invades New York's punk subculture in its search for an opiate released by the brain during an orgasm.

Psychedelic surfer documentary. Also see http://encyclopediaofsurfing.com/entries/drugs-and-surfing

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.

Hugo Barrett is a servant in the Chelsea home of indolent aristocrat Tony. All seems to go well until the playboy’s girlfriend Susan takes a dislike to the efficient employee. Then Barrett persuades Tony to hire his sister Vera as a live-in maid, and matters take another turn for the worse…

The life story of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, who is estimated to have recorded in excess of 500 traditional Irish sean nós ('old style') songs. Heaney moved from Ireland to the UK, and then on to New York City, where he settled shortly after performing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Stuck in a dead end town, young James kills time with his druggie friends, engaging in debauched chemical intake to the point of unconsciousness, until he meets Sara, a sweet new arrival to their group. However, Sara wants James to take her further into the world of narcotics experimentation (just as James was contemplating abandoning this lifestyle), and she also wants him to introduce her to the sinister local legend of Toad Road, a spot deep in the forest that is apparently home to the Seven Gates of Hell.

A woman leaves for a quiet weekend in the country after losing her job and imploding her latest dysfunctional relationship. She rents a country house from an old-fashioned widower who’s struggling to hide his psychopathic tendencies. Soon, two generations collide with terrifying results.

An alcoholic drifter must battle withdrawal and psychotic rednecks after he becomes the target of a deranged sporting event.

His name is Born, Frank Born, and he suffers from an illness known as Bonditis!! In this very funny parody, Frank believes he is James Bond. His entire reality is shaped around this fantasy as he believes he has to save the world!

Martin Stone chose freedom: in 1966, he took his young daughters, Deborah & Jacqueline and hit the road on a six-year adventure with America's wildest hippy community, the Hog Farm. Five decades later, Martin and his girls live very separate lives. Martin remained true to his counter-culture beliefs and today, lives "in community," sharing his rambling Montreal, Mile End apartment with young roommates who dig his alternative vibe. For Martin, being a hippy wasn't a phase, it's a way of life. His daughters, both now living in Philadelphia, decided on less eccentric existences. Martin and his girls give honest accounts of their lives together and why their paths and dreams ran so far apart. This is a film about choices and how they impact those we love.

Simon is an intelligent and privileged young man whose family expects him to become a Princeton graduate. Crying out for attention from his reserved and cool hearted family, Simon commits numerous petty crimes and is soon sent away to boarding school where he befriends a "Deadhead," adopts the "hippie" lifestyle and dabbles in many drugs in his search for acceptance.

A suicidal man who can't kill himself agrees to finance his terminally ill neighbor's bucket list of fantasies if, at the end, the neighbor will kill him.

There may not be any secrets in a small town, but there is an expectation of silence. In A Town Called Oil City, the return of a native son to announce his same sex wedding and help a gay teen who is being tormented at school offers a chance to change the way things have always been done.

17-year old Sarah, filled with adolescent angst, is an extreme person who in her rehearsals with a theatre group is transformed until she is almost in a trance, and her performances at home or elsewhere verge on excess. A cold, intellectual father, a timid mother, a younger sister and an older brother who has left home complete the picture: a silent time bomb.

Los Angeles heroin addict Jesse endangers the lives of his childhood friends after he discovers a briefcase full of money from a drug deal gone bad, and returns home with it to Texas. Hoping to turn his life around with his newfound wealth, Jessie endures detox with the support of his friends. However, the gang leader behind the drug deal, along with his cronies, trace Jesse's footsteps to Texas to exact revenge and take back their money.

Spring 1995 - after the closure of the Needle Park and the public drug scene in Zurich, eleven-year-old Mia and her heroin addicted mother Sandrine are relocated to the countryside. While caring for her mother, Mia spends time with her imaginary friend and a gang of local teenage misfits. These friendships finally give her the strength to rebel and break free from her abusive mother.

A 14-year-old girl in late 1960's America is inadvertently sucked into an odyssey of sex and drugs. She eventually seeks help.

An exploration into the life and art of the renowned author of "Last Exit To Brooklyn" and "Requiem For A Dream." Hubert Selby Jr., a self-described "scream looking for a mouth," against all odds, reached international acclaim with his controversial novels. His is a classic story of the great American novelist, overcoming tuberculosis, drug addiction and financial ruin, Selby eventually triumphed in his life and penned seven of the most remarkable and distinctly American books ever written.

When Elaine, an adventurous young woman from Germany, arrives in New York City, she sets out to be a famous writer. After a brief stint at a mundane job, Elaine falls on hard times and also becomes intrigued by a mysterious stranger named Lulu. Before long, Elaine gets roped into situations involving theft, murder and the mob. Can the beleaguered expatriate with big dreams turn her life around and steer clear of crime and chaos?

A tramp tries to trick the community into paying for the funeral of his fellow tramp who was found frozen to death.

In 1988, filmmaker Kevin Tomlinson filmed & interviewed a group of back-to-the- land "hippies"--living off-grid, insulated from mainstream culture. In 2006 he tracked down his subjects again to find out what had become of their families' utopian plans and dreams.

In 1980 young George O'Dowd baffles his parents with his love of frocks and make-up and moves into a squat with kindred spirit Peter, who dresses as Marilyn Monroe and calls himself Marilyn. They make a splash at Steve Strange's trendy Blitz Club where George gets a job in the cloakroom but George is unlucky in his relationships with men until he meets wannabe musician Kirk. Through Kirk George meets the handsome drummer Jon Moss, on whom he develops a crush, but sacked by the Blitz and spurned by Kirk, George turns to Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren to further his music career. George's spell with McLaren's group Bow Wow Wow is short but fan Mikey North is impressed and asks George to sing in a group he is forming, where George again meets Jon. They will have an affair and the group will become the very successful Culture Club. Four years later, however, hounded by the tabloid press amid stories of his drug addiction, an unhappy George turns to Jon for advice on his future.

Assisi, 1211. Chiara is eighteen years old and one night she runs away from home to join her friend Francesco: from that moment on her life changes forever. With charisma and conviction, she breaks free from her family's constraints and stands up to the Pope himself. She fights for herself, for the women who join her and for her dream of freedom. The story of a Saint. The story of a girl and her revolution.

An adaptation of Barbara Gordon's nonfiction account of her addiction to Valium.

Jim Bakker establishes a large televangelical empire in the 1980s, including Heritage Village. However, they are removed from P.T.L, the ministry that they had established in 1987.

Filippo returns to the Ticino dance school where the desire to dance was awakened in him as a child. He traces his relationship with dance, from childhood to adulthood.

A Vietnam veteran returns to his Texas home but feels restless and decides to become a radio singer.

A black as tar comedy charting the dissolution of a commune for sober living in '90s suburban New Jersey.

A talented wedding photographer, at a crossroads with his own marriage, reflects on tales of past clients and the hope, adversity and romance that holy matrimony brings. Starring as the photographer, football great Joe Namath narrates the unconventional tales of three couples: Judd Hirsch and Melinda Dillon as a twosome who have married and divorced multiple times and who are on the verge of repeating their mistake; an anxious newlywed who prefers the "freedom" that living together allows; and Jack Albertson as an aging comedian who wants to marry his much younger secretary despite the disapproval of his son.

A "straight" couple dabbles in drugs and become heroin addicts.

An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.

Documents 18 months in the lives of three crack addicts in Lowell, Massachusetts.

An unprecedented access to a number of Saudi women in the capital city of Riyadh as they embrace the freedom that comes from being behind the wheel.The Saudi Women’s Driving School is said to be the world's largest driving school, which caters exclusively to women since the ban on female drivers was lifted in 2017.

A close look at the Austrian far-left Friedrichshof Commune which was set up in 1972 by artist Otto Muehl. It was dissolved in 1990 when Muehl was convicted of the abuse of teenagers who lived in the commune.

In a mountain town, where corn and poppies grow, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground to escape the threat of being stolen. Ana and her two best friends grow up together, affirming the bonds of their friendship and discovering what it means to be women in a rural town marked by violence. Their mothers train them to flee death, to escape those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. They create their own impenetrable universe, but one day one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hiding place in time.

In a small traditional Georgian village, Etero, the owner of a housekeeping shop, is a forty-eight-year-old spinster. She cherishes her freedom, as much as her cakes, and is preparing for a peaceful and comfortable retirement away from gossip. But a fiery affair with her delivery man could derail all her plans.

A beautiful blonde hooks up with a rock star, and after a night of sex and drugs, he leaves. She, though, has fallen madly in love with him, and sets out with her girlfriend across Europe to track him down. On the way, however, she gets mixed up with everyone from a gang of nasty bikers to a ring of devil worshipers.

A high-school track star (Nick Stahl) watches without judgment as his two best friends (Summer Phoenix, Aaron Paul) abuse heroin.

A few years from now, the sun is on the verge of exploding and spatial shock waves flow the Earth. Most humans suffer auditory pain and Cyril's mother becomes a prominent drug dealer for those who decided not to take shelter underground. When she suddenly disappears, Cyril is adopted but he soon feels the need to embark on a journey to find her back.

A young musician takes a beautiful tattoo artist on a ride in a stolen classic car.

Bafta-winning drama. Following difficulties with her parents, teenager Gemma Brogan leaves home. She falls under the spell of a young woman who introduce her to the world of alternative youth culture and drugs. Initially her new life seems glamorous and exciting but she soon discovers its dark side as she slides uncontrollably into heroin addiction.

The wife of a research geneticist agrees to the experimental procedure of a 'test-tube baby' by having her fetus brought to full term in a glass jar in a laboratory.

Yukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically threatened by a volcano on one side and tidal waves on the other. Yukio's younger sister Setsu follows then and dreams of becoming a pearl diver. Toru is preparing to go fishing with his father when a bell tolls and a danger flag is hung high on the hill behind the village to warn of an impending tidal wave by the village patriarch, known as Old Gentleman.

Benedetta, an obese fifteen-year-old yearning for attention, lives in a tawdry province in the south of Italy, emblematic of her inner landscape where everything could be and yet is not. She falls in love with Armando, aka Amanda, a young transvestite who is attracted to the young girl's innocence and begins an unhealthy relationship of mutual dependence with her. Amanda runs a carousel at the fair across the street from Benedetta's house, and the girl is magnetically drawn to this colorful and exciting world. But Amanda not only runs the carousel, she's also a call boy and sells drugs. Between intoxication and family rebellion and the discovery of sex - a great disappointment - she completes her rite of passage into adulthood.

A young man in Los Angeles dreams of striking it big as a singer in the music business. One day he gets signed to a big record contract, but along with the fame and money he develops an addiction to the drug PCP.

A mystery man brings together a group of dead, gay artists to investigate a police response to the dilema of wash-room sex in Toronto. The artists have seven days in which to report on the ethics of police tactics. The artists infiltrate the police only to discover that they themselves are under surveillance as a political subversive group. The artists explore and report on the evolution of toilets and wash-room behavior.

Water is a scarce and sometimes dangerous resource in the Swiss Mountain Village. Anytime the wooden pipe is damaged and the supply breaks, one man from the village is determined by "unlucky" draw to take on the life-threatening repairs.

The story of Sausalito's houseboat war and the struggle of the people to survive an onslaught by cops, lawyers and courts all stacked against them. Joe Tate and the Redlegs star as the ragtag leaders of the resistance.

A chronic gambler whose addiction has lost him his ranch. On the verge of total bustitude, he discovers that a gold mine, of which he is part-owner, has finally paid off. Once his debts are settled, his first move is to buy out the local banker who'd foreclosed on him.

Sensory Perception is a sci-fi, feature length drama about Jeremy Jacobs, a "recovering" drug addict struggling to get his life back together. Things get even harder for him when he begins to have visions of an apocalyptic future. Stalked by strange messages and shadowy figures, he is persuaded that there's a way to avert this future disaster. Although, fighting through addiction, paranoia, and skepticism, he finds it difficult to convince anyone, even himself, that we can change.

Based on the story by Jeremas Gotthelf, this horror film direct by Mark M. Rissi features the hallucinations of a woman after a drug raid gone.

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

Four young people take a gap year after leaving secondary school. All four have a different personal story and therefore different fears, questions and wishes in relation to this special year. What drives the teenagers on the cusp of adulthood?

Since the 1970s, Switzerland has been characterized by a sometimes controversial, sometimes innovative drug policy that has become a model for other countries around the world. Using archive footage and interviews with contemporary witnesses - politicians, social workers and former drug addicts - the film reconstructs key moments in this turbulent chapter of national politics.

Silva, an old drifter, arrives at a small and isolated Portuguese village where he meets the young Ana. They develop a relation in between friendship and initiation. Fascinated by that wondrous man, Ana progressively falls into his universe. A life populated by supernatural figures including her long lost friend Carolina. But strange fits weaken Silva, bringing him to the hospital, where a dozen women start inhabiting him. Will they save him?

50 years after the legendary fest, Barak Goodman’s electric retelling of Woodstock, from the point of view of those who were on the ground, evokes the freedom, passion, community, and joy the three-day music festival created.

Free to Run tells the amazing story of the running movement over the past five decades, the struggle for the right to run - especially for women – against conservative Federations, the explosion of grass roots road races and marathons, until the boom of running as a vast business enterprise.

A young Swiss drug addict has been imprisoned for robbery, and must wait and wait for his upcoming trial, all the while isolated and without hope of parole - the police are convinced he is a dealer and not just a user. He hears from his son that his girlfriend has a new man, and begins to despair of ever coming to trial, or of having another relationship like the one he lost. This fiction film is said to be based on a true story.