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Movies like A Hero

Key Features:
Moral ambiguity, Debt, Prison, Social pressure, Reputation, Family drama, Ethical dilemma, Redemption, Iranian cinema, Character study, Deception, Financial struggle
Tone:
serious, dramatic, restrained
Target Audience:
Drama enthusiasts, International cinema fans, Character-driven narratives, Socially conscious viewers
Emotional Arc:
Hope → Disappointment

A Hero

2021-12-15
A Hero Poster - Find Similar Movies

Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things don't go as planned. Is he truly a hero?

Genres
Drama
Cast
Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Sahar Goldoost, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Sarina Farhadi, Ehsan Goodarzi, Maryam Shahdaie, Ali Reza Jahandideh, Farrokh Nourbakht, Mohammad Aghebati
Crew
Asghar Farhadi, Asghar Farhadi
Rating
7.307(357 votes)
A HeroA Hero
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Leila's Brothers
7.599

At the age of 40, Leila has spent her entire life caring for her parents and four brothers. A family that is constantly arguing and under pressure from various debts in the face of sanctions against Iran. While her brothers are struggling to make ends meet, Leila makes a plan.



A Separation
7.9

A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.



The Salesman
7.251

Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life.



Text
Text(2019)
6.4

Ilya Goryunov has spent seven years in prison on false charges of drug trafficking. When Ilya is free he realizes that the old life that he yearned for is no more. Although he did not intend to take revenge on the man who sent him to prison, now there is no other way out.



There Is No Evil
7.5

Set against the backdrop of Iran's strict and oppressive legal system, this anthology film tells the stories of four men who each face a moral crisis when having to deal with death penalties.



A Man of Integrity
6.8

Reza, residing in the wilderness with his wife and son, lives a retired life and devotes himself to freshwater fish farming. A private company that has targets on his land is ready to do anything to force him to sell.



The Bandit
7.324

Baran the Bandit, released from prison after serving 35 years, searches for vengeance against his former best friend who betrayed him and stole his lover, teaming up with a young punk with his own demons along the way.



Law of Tehran
7.17

Samad is nobody’s fool. The narcotics officer has seen his share of a drug dealer’s lies and games, and his patience has come to run thin. While searching for the infamous drug baron Nasser Khakzad, he and his colleague Hamid scour the streets of Tehran, turning an overcrowded prison on its head. With his rough and dubious approach, Samad finally manages to find the criminal’s whereabouts – but things do not quite go according to plan...



Pawn
Pawn(2020)
8.433

A debt collector who looks intimidating, but actually has a warm heart, ends up becoming the guardian of a child, who has been left behind as collateral by her illegal immigrant mother.



Sun Children
7

The story of 12-year-old Ali and his three friends. Together they work hard to survive and support their families, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes to make fast money. In a turn of events that seems miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find hidden treasure underground. He recruits his gang, but first, to gain access to the tunnel, the children must enroll at the Sun School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child laborers, close to where the treasure is located.



Crimson Gold
6.8

Pizza man Hussein is a daily witnesses to the unjust distribution of wealth in his native Iran. One day, he finds a purse filled with shockingly expensive receipts from an upscale jewelry store. He attempts to bring the purse back to the store, but because of his working-class attire, he's not allowed inside. Then, during a delivery, a rich man invites Hussein into his extravagant mansion – an event that spurs Hussein to make a desperate bid for wealth.



Tehran Taboo
7.036

The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling modern metropolis, avoiding prohibition has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation.



A Somewhat Gentle Man
6.517

After serving a 12-year sentence for killing the man that slept with his wife, a man ponders whether he should try and reconcile with his family, or take revenge on those who turned him in.



Fireworks Wednesday
7.428

Rouhi, a young bride-to-be, is hired as a maid for an affluent family in Tehran. Upon arriving, she is suddenly thrust into an explosive domestic conflict. The wife is convinced her husband is having an affair and enlists Rouhi as a spy, to follow her husband, and confirm her suspicions. What Rouhi discovers, however, threatens not only their marriage but her own future.



Ayan
Ayan(2009)
7

Deva works for Arumugam, a smuggler, who has taken care of him for many years. However, when his best friend gets killed, Deva decides to help the police to nab a dangerous drug lord.



About Elly
7.5

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.



Tatami
Tatami(2024)
7.761

Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.



Gorbaciof
Gorbaciof(2010)
6.05

Marino Pacileo has a soft spot for gambling. When he discovers that Lila's father, the young Chinese girl that he is in love with cannot pay a debt, the gambler steals money from the jail he is in to help the love of his life.



Life and a Day
7.87

Somaieh, the youngest daughter of an indigent family, is getting married and fear is overwhelming each and every member of the family regarding how to overcome their difficulties after she's gone.



Forgive Us Our Debts

Threatened by creditors, a newly unemployed man agrees to work for a debt collector, but soon discovers his deal with the devil has unexpected costs.



A Moment of Innocence
7.554

A semi-autobiographical account of Makhmalbaf's experience as a teenager when, as a 17-year-old, he stabbed a policeman at a protest rally. Two decades later, he tracks down the policeman he injured in an attempt to make amends.



Where Is The Friend's House?

An 8-year-old boy must return his friend's notebook he took by mistake, lest his friend be punished by expulsion from school.



Collector
Collector(2016)
6.8

An unscrupulous debt collector who is a prominent member of the Moscow elite has just a few hours to refute an accusation that might cost him his job and his life.



Levity
Levity(2003)
6.1

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.



The Prison
7.1

An imprisoned ex-police inspector discovers that the entire penitentiary is controlled by an inmate running a crime syndicate and becomes part of the crime empire.



The Cow
The Cow(1969)
7.7

An old villager deeply in love with his cow goes to the capital for a while. While he's there, the cow dies and now the villagers are afraid of his possible reaction to it when he returns.



The Color of Paradise

Mohammad joyfully returns to his tiny village on summer vacation from the Institute for the Blind, unaware of his widowed father's intentions to disown him in order to win the hand—and dowry—of a local woman. With the wedding swiftly approaching, Mohammad's future hangs precariously in the balance as his father struggles against his destiny, unable to see the wonder of life and love that's so clear to his son.



A Prophet
A Prophet(2009)
7.577

Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.



Baran
Baran(2001)
7.452

On a building site in present-day Tehran, Lateef, a 17-year-old Turkish worker is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. The revelation of Rahmat's secret changes both their lives.



Small Crimes
5.383

A disgraced former cop, fresh off a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder, returns home looking for redemption but winds up trapped in the mess he left behind.



A Man
A Man(2022)
7

Akira works as a lawyer. One day, he meets with his former client Rie, who asks Akira to perform a background check on her late husband Daisuke.



A Self-Made Hero
6.8

Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator.



Clemency
Clemency(2019)
6.3

Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.



Lakshya
Lakshya(2004)
6.7

An aimless, jobless, irresponsible grown man joins the army and matures into a battlefield hero.



The Furlough
5.6

The story of four inmates during their 48 hours furlough, of their reality and how it has brought them behind bars. The characters are described with realism, with their contradictions, their desperation, the temptation of an escape, but the cornerstone of the movie is the sincerity of the positive feelings of each and everyone of them: the love of a father for his son, the love for a woman, for friends, and most of all the pursuit of a lost (if ever had) personal dignity and pride. Four characters of different ages and extractions, three man and a woman: Luigi, Donato, Rossana and Angelo.



Pickpocket
7.22

A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.



Io sono Tempesta
5.8

To avoid jail, a tax-dodging businessman is sentenced to a year of community service in a homeless shelter.



Abandoned Man
7.336

After serving time in prison for his brother's crime, a man warily reunites with family, finding hope and healing in a life-changing bond with his niece.



One Million Yen Girl
7.055

A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.



No Bears
No Bears(2022)
6.8

Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has been barred from leaving the country, arrives at a village on the Iran-Turkey border to supervise a film based on a real-life couple seeking passports to Europe being shot in Turkey, but both his stay and the production run into trouble.



Close-Up
Close-Up(1990)
7.954

This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.



3 Faces
3 Faces(2018)
6.717

Filmmaker Jafar Panahi and actor Behnaz Jafari travel to a tiny village after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbidden her from studying acting. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by the desire to protect old traditions.



Apprentice
6.9

When ambitious young correctional officer Aiman is transferred to the country's highest-security prison, he catches the attention of the seasoned chief executioner Rahim. Aiman's desire to become the hangman's apprentice is not only professional but born of an unspeakable urge to reconnect with a past that haunts him.



Bittersweet
7.494

An Egyptian-American returns to his homeland after twenty years abroad, filled with nostalgia and high hopes. But as he reconnects with his roots, he finds himself caught between two worlds—and begins to experience the reality of a country he thought he knew.



Heroic Losers
7.573

In a town in the Northwest of the province of Buenos Aires, a group of neighbors is organized to recover the economy of the area, but when the corralito is implemented in the country and they suffer a fraud, their hopes disappear. Now, they will unite to recover the lost money and give the blow of their lives to their greatest enemy.



Pity
Pity(2018)
6.3

The story of a man who feels happy only when he is unhappy: addicted to sadness, with such need for pity, that he’s willing to do everything to evoke it from others. This is the life of a man in a world not cruel enough for him.



No Date, No Signature
6.773

Kaveh Nariman is a Doctor in the medical examiner's office. One day at his work he meets a corpse which is very familiar to him.



The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.



Two Men in Town
7.1

A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.



Circumstance
6.632

A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.



Aamir
Aamir(2008)
6.658

A doctor of Indian origin returning to Mumbai from London is forced to participate in a terrorist plot.



7 Prisoners
7.1

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.



Cell 211
Cell 211(2009)
7.448

The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.



Dom Hemingway
5.83

After spending 12 years in prison for keeping his mouth shut, notorious safe-cracker Dom Hemingway is back on the streets of London looking to collect what he's owed.



Justice
Justice(2024)
6.554

A young detective seeks the help of a discharged police officer, giving him the chance to reclaim his old life in exchange for solving a bank raid case.



Home
Home(2021)
6.7

An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.



Pamfir
Pamfir(2022)
7.3

When reformed ex-smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he’s determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep him at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed.



It Was Just an Accident

Vahid, an Azerbaijani auto mechanic, was once imprisoned by Iranian authorities. During his sentence, he was interrogated blindfolded. One day, a man named Eqbal enters his workshop. His prosthetic leg creaks, and Vahid thinks he recognizes one of his former torturers.



Kamikaze
Kamikaze(2014)
6.036

Slastan, a Karadjistan man, is willing to blow himself up aboard a Moscow plane bound for Madrid, but his plan is complicated when, due to a snowstorm, the flight is delayed. Staying in a hotel, the terrorist will have to live with the 332 people who he will kill until the storm ceases, which prevents him from continuing his mission. Slastan knows, speaks and relates to his future victims and begins to wonder if suicide and ending the lives of all these innocent people is really right.



Symmetry
Symmetry(2003)
7.4

Łukasz, an unemployed geography graduate, is wrongfully arrested for robbery. His alibi is weak, and he is identified during a lineup. The situation gets hopeless when, a few hours later, the alleged victim suddenly dies. The defense lawyer promises to do everything in his power, but Łukasz ends up in custody. He must find his place in a world of harsh prison rules. He chooses the cell of the “grypsujący” (inmates who communicate by coded messages)…



Haider
Haider(2014)
7.171

A young man returns to Kashmir after his father's disappearance to confront his uncle - the man he suspects to have a role in his father's fate.



Savior
Savior(1998)
7.187

A hardened mercenary in the Foreign Legion begins to find his own humanity when confronted with atrocities during the fighting in Bosnia.



The Song of Sparrows
7.545

When an ostrich-rancher focuses on replacing his daughter's hearing aid, which breaks right before crucial exams, everything changes for a struggling rural family in Iran. Karim motorbikes into a world alien to him - incredibly hectic Tehran, where sudden opportunities for independence, thrill and challenge him. But his honor and honesty, plus traditional authority over his inventive clan, are tested, as he stumbles among vast cultural and economic gaps between his village nestled in the desert, and a throbbing international metropolis.



Elena
Elena(2011)
7.198

After suffering from a heart attack, a wealthy elderly Russian man plans to will most of his estate to his estranged daughter, but his titular wife has other plans.



A War
A War(2015)
6.6

Company commander Claus Michael Pedersen and his men are stationed in Helmand, Afghanistan. Meanwhile back in Denmark, with a husband at war and three children missing their father, everyday life is a struggle for Claus' wife Maria. During a routine mission, the soldiers are caught in heavy Taliban crossfire. In order to save his men, Claus makes a decision that ultimately sees him return to Denmark accused of a war crime.



Innocence
Innocence(1997)
7.708

Yusuf is released from prison after serving a ten year sentence. Because of unexpected problems at his sister’s house, he finds himself in a cheap hotel where he meets a man, a woman, and a child who will change his life in unexpected ways…



Trafficking
5.87

Fresh out of prison, a former debt collector working for a gangland boss is told he has a terminal brain tumour. In an attempt to atone for his past he rescues a young girl from trafficking, forcing him into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with his boss.



The Guilty
7.31

Police officer Asger Holm, demoted to desk work as an alarm dispatcher, answers a call from a panicked woman who claims to have been kidnapped. Confined to the police station and with the phone as his only tool, Asger races against time to get help and find her.



The Patience Stone
7.018

In a war-ridden country, a woman watches over her husband, comatose from a bullet in the neck and abandoned by Jihad companions and brothers. One day, the woman decides to say things to him she could never have done before.



Intrepido: A Lonely Hero

A meek middle-aged man takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to feel useful and keep his dignity—until something shakes his inexhaustible optimism.



The Stoning of Soraya M.

In 1986 Iran, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village, enters into a conversation with Zahra, who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya, whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant ended in tragedy.



Outside In
6.162

An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher.



The Eel
The Eel(1997)
6.867

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.



Life, and Nothing More…

After the earthquake of Guilan, a film director and his son travel to the devastated area to search for the actors from the movie the director made there a few years previously. In their search, they see how people who have lost everything in the earthquake still have hope and try to live life to the fullest.



Offside
Offside(2006)
6.9

During the 2006 World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, numerous young women are caught and rounded up for dressing as men so they could gain access to the game. Guarded by several soldiers in a holding pen, the women attempt to keep updated on the score.



Veteran
Veteran(2015)
6.915

When an old collaborator gets severely injured, a veteran policeman tries to figure out the way to bring to justice the ultimately suspected aggressor, a spoiled young executive, heir to a mega corporation, who believes he is above the law.



Character
Character(1997)
7.4

In pre-WWII Holland, the penniless, illegitimate son of a powerful bailiff sets out to become a lawyer as he spends a lifetime struggling to prove his worth to his relentlessly spiteful father.



Awaara
Awaara(1951)
7.2

A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.



The Snows of Kilimanjaro

A union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.



Sultan
Sultan(2016)
6.896

The ageing wrestler Sultan Ali Khan decides to try his luck on the mat again; to do this, he wants to represent his country at the Olympic Games, but first has to overcome personal issues.



Oasis
Oasis(2002)
7.7

A young man released from prison visits the widow of the man he killed drunk-driving and becomes infatuated with his cerebral palsy-stricken daughter.



Broker
Broker(2022)
7.182

Sang-hyun is always struggling from debt, and Dong-soo works at a baby box facility. On a rainy night, they steal the baby Woo-sung, who was left in the baby box, to sell him at a good price. Meanwhile, detectives were watching, and they quietly track them down to capture the crucial evidence.



Seven Days
6.7

A successful lawyer who, in order to save her daughter, is pressured into defending the innocence of a man slated to receive the death penalty.



A Man in a Hurry
6.5

The story revolves around Alain, a busy businessman who is always in a rush. In his life, there is no room for spare time or family. But one day, he suffers a stroke, which makes him lose his grasp of language and use one word in place of another.



In Hell
In Hell(2003)
6.588

A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's entertainment.



Players
Players(2012)
4.895

Two professional robbers, an illusionist, an expert make-up artist, a gadget expert and a hacker come together to steal Romanian gold ingots while it is in transit.



Sons
Sons(2024)
6.785

Eva, an idealistic prison officer, is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past gets transferred to the prison where she works. Without revealing her secret, Eva asks to be moved to the young man’s ward – the toughest and most violent in the prison. Here begins an unsettling psychological thriller, where Eva’s sense of justice puts both her morality and future at stake.



R
R(2010)
6.8

The R of the title stands for the young protagonist, Rune, fearlessly played by Pilou Asbæk. Imprisoned for violent assault, he's a cocky, good-looking young man placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations. R also stands for Rachid, a young Muslim prisoner who becomes Rune's friend and accomplice, defying the rigid racial stratifications among the inmates.



The Kite Runner
7.3

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.



Osama
Osama(2004)
7.008

After the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the restriction of women in public life, a preteen girl is forced to masquerade as a boy in order to find work to support her mother and grandmother.



Mado
Mado(1976)
6.4

A middle-aged businessman faces bankruptcy after his partner's suicide and a rival's unscrupulous offer to buy his company. Determined to avoid the trap, he finds an unexpected solution through a prostitute.



Made in Italy
6.067

Riko is an honest and hardworking man who can count on a group of real friends and a loving wife. Things change after he loses his job and experiences a midlife crisis.



Convict
Convict(2014)
6.508

Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.



At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own

Following the Russian Civil War, a loyal Red, Shilov, must prove he is at home among strangers as he attempts to recapture a shipment of gold that he was supposed to deliver to Moscow. Needed as a means of buying food for the people, the gold Shilov was entrusted with is stolen, initially by a group of assassins and then by a group of bandits. In tracking the gold’s whereabouts, Shilov’s motives are questioned and he is suspected of treason, in part because his brother was a devoted White. In an effort to clear his name, Shilov locates the gold, but he also discovers rampant greed and corruption.



O.G.
O.G.(2018)
5.9

Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.



Billion
Billion(2019)
4.9

An influential banker is doing everything possible not to share the property with his illegitimate sons. But when he is deprived of all the money, it turns out that only they can help Matthew ... To regain his fortune, the billionaire will be forced to rob his own bank in Monte Carlo. And for this, he will have to perform an even more difficult task: regain the trust of children who grew up without a father ...



Seven Years
6.4

The drama is centered on four friends and business partners who in one evening are forced to find a way to save their company and themselves. The impossible decision they face is agreeing on who will be the one to sacrifice their freedom to save the others from personal and financial demise. It is a race against time that will put their friendship and sanity to the test. Who will take the fall?



The Past
The Past(2013)
7.2

After four years apart, Ahmad returns to his wife Marie in Paris in order to progress their divorce. During his brief stay, he cannot help noticing the strained relationship between Marie and her daughter Lucie. As he attempts to improve matters between mother and daughter Ahmad unwittingly lifts the lid on a long buried secret...



The Ticket
5.64

A blind man who regains his vision finds himself becoming metaphorically blinded by his obsession for the superficial.

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