The Public

Movies Like

The Public (2019)

Drama

If you loved The Public, you'll love these similar films. Handpicked based on shared themes, genre, and feel.

Run the Race

Run the Race

2019 ★ 6.9

Reeling from his mother’s death and his father’s abandonment, Zach, an All-State athlete, finds glory on the football field, working to earn a college scholarship and the brothers’ ticket out of town. When a devastating injury puts Zach—and his dreams—on the sidelines, David laces up his track cleats to salvage their future and point Zach toward hope.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood

2018 ★ 5.9

A war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

1972 ★ 7.3

Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

1965 ★ 7.1

British agent Alec Leamas refuses to come in from the Cold War during the 1960s, choosing to face another mission, which may prove to be his final one.

The House on Carroll Street

The House on Carroll Street

1988 ★ 5.9

A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.

The Banker

The Banker

2020 ★ 7.6

In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream.

Heart of Champions

Heart of Champions

2021 ★ 6.5

During their last year at an Ivy League college in 1999, a group of friends and crew teammates' lives are changed forever when an army vet takes over as coach of their dysfunctional rowing team.

Ladybird Ladybird

Ladybird Ladybird

1994 ★ 7.2

Maggie has had four children, by four different fathers, removed by social services because of a previous violent relationship. When she meets Jorge, a gentle Latin American refugee, she gradually sees her chance for happiness, but her history still haunts her.

Mr. Church

Mr. Church

2016 ★ 7.4

A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus: Gods and Kings

2014 ★ 5.9

The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 400,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

Come Sunday

Come Sunday

2018 ★ 5.8

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

2073

2073

2024 ★ 6.6

Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.

Mad City

Mad City

1997 ★ 6.3

A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.

Stormageddon

Stormageddon

2015 ★ 6.1

What happens when you ask the most powerful computer program, run by the most powerful computers, to follow, listen and predict human behavior? The program learns, becomes sentient and begins to behave like a human. When a master computer program, Echelon, takes over America's entire online system, our country is threatened to be brought to its knees. Hacking into DARPA, Echelon gains the ability to manipulate the weather, create earthquakes, and cause a level of destruction unlike anything the country could ever imagine. But how do you stop a computer program when it has control over any and every defense you have?

The Company You Keep

The Company You Keep

2012 ★ 6.2

A former Weather Underground activist goes on the run from a journalist who discovers his identity.

Parked

Parked

2010 ★ 6.6

Fred Daly returns to Ireland with nowhere to live but his car. Then dope-smoking 21-year-old Cathal parks beside him, and brightens up his lonely world. Encouraged by Cathal, Fred meets attractive music teacher Jules. Growing closer, these three outsiders are set on a course that will change their lives forever.

Riot in Cell Block 11

Riot in Cell Block 11

1954 ★ 7.1

A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.

Adopt a Highway

Adopt a Highway

2019 ★ 6.7

Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.

Rob Roy

Rob Roy

1995 ★ 6.7

In the highlands of Scotland in the 1700s, Rob Roy tries to lead his small town to a better future, by borrowing money from the local nobility to buy cattle to herd to market. When the money is stolen, Rob is forced into a Robin Hood lifestyle to defend his family and honour.

The Gift

The Gift

2015 ★ 6.7

Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.

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