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Movies like Manic

Key Features:
Mental institution, Troubled youth, Coming-of-age, Social commentary, Ensemble cast, Violence-moderate, Friendship, Outcasts, Emotional intensity, Character study
Tone:
gritty, serious, dramatic
Target Audience:
Drama viewers, Fans of character-driven stories, Viewers interested in social issues, Indie film enthusiasts
Emotional Arc:
Anger → Connection → Hope

Manic

2001-01-27
Manic Poster - Find Similar Movies

Follows the fate of Lyle, a violent adolescent who, in lieu of prison, is placed in a juvenile mental institution, where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew—abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger—becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Cheadle, Zooey Deschanel, Michael Bacall, Elden Henson, Cody Lightning, Sara Rivas, William Richert, Blayne Weaver, Maggie Baird
Crew
Jordan Melamed, Blayne Weaver, Jordan Melamed, Michael Bacall
Rating
6.9(113 votes)
ManicManic
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David and Lisa
7.2

Teenager David Clemens develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people, but David remains withdrawn from the other patients and his psychiatrist. Over time, however, David grows interested in 15-year-old Lisa, who suffers from multiple personalities – one who can only speak in rhyme, and the other, a mute.



The Fallout
7.5

In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.



Identity
Identity(2003)
7.174

Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.



Ken Park
Ken Park(2003)
6.012

Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim.



Charlie Bartlett
6.675

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.



Kids
Kids(1995)
6.9

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.



Helen
Helen(2009)
6.5

On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.



Hesher
Hesher(2010)
6.799

A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.



Coldwater
Coldwater(2013)
6.4

A teenage boy is sent to a juvenile reform facility in the wilderness. As we learn about the tragic events that sent him there, his struggle becomes one for survival with the inmates, counselors, and the retired war colonel in charge.



Mad Love
Mad Love(1995)
5.2

Matt falls for Casey, the new girl in school. She's fun-loving and eccentric, but there's a darkness to her whimsy that Matt can't begin to comprehend. When Casey attempts to commit suicide, her parents place her in a mental institution. Matt springs her out, and together the young lovers head on a road trip. They believe their love can "cure" Casey's problems. Matt starts to wonder, though, if are they inspired or misguided.



Mall
Mall(2014)
4.696

Malcom's done with his life. Only the noise of Crystal Meth gives him a reason to keep going - everything else it has long regardless. Equipped with a bag full of weapons and self-made bombs, he makes his way to the nearby mall to really stir things up. On his personal war campaign, he not only changes his life radically, but also the fate of other people who are in the wrong place at the same time: a teenager whose favorite pastime is smoking pot in his dreary existence, a housewife, where their best days have been left behind, a greedy businessman whose only desire is to increase his wealth and a depressed pervert.



Dorothy Mills
6.02

When a gloomy, God-fearing island community is rocked by the assault of an infant, a psychiatrist is called in to examine Dorothy Mills, the teenager accused of the crime. Despite the villagers' hostility to her inquiry, she soon comes to suspect that Dorothy suffers from multiple personality disorder...



Brainstorm
7.9

Neto is a middle class teenager living a normal life. After his father finds a marijuana cigarette on his pocket, he is sent to a mental institution, where he gets to know a completely absurd and inhumane reality in which people are devoured by a corrupt and cruel system.



Jailbait
Jailbait(2014)
5.293

A gritty coming of age thriller about a young girl sent to juvenile prison for the murder of her abusive step father. The film follows Anna Nix's journey into the dark world of an all girls jail where she discovers complex relationships, drugs, mental illness and her eventual search for redemption.



Palo Alto
Palo Alto(2014)
6.1

A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.



Young Adult
5.8

A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.



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.



Storytelling
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.



Eternal Beauty
6.2

When Jane is rejected by life, she spirals into a chaotic, schizophrenic world where love and normality collide with humorous consequences.



Brick
Brick(2006)
6.8

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.



It's Kind of a Funny Story

A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.



The United States of Leland

A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.



Short Term 12
7.8

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.



Being Charlie
6.1

Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he's given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.



MadS
MadS(2024)
6.721

A teenager stops off to see his dealer to test a new drug before heading off for a night of partying. On the way home, he picks up an injured woman, and the night takes a surreal turn.



Crazy
Crazy(2000)
6.306

Benjamin, a 16-year-old with lousy grades, switches to a boarding school in order to eventually reach grammar school. Adjusting to his new environment is difficult as he has to struggle with being a teen... specially when he falls in love to the school's dream girl, Malen.



Antwone Fisher
6.929

A sailor prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew.



Bravetown
Bravetown(2015)
6.719

After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.



Imaginary Heroes
6.5

Matt Travis is good-looking, popular, and his school's best competitive swimmer, so everyone is shocked when he inexplicably commits suicide. As the following year unfolds, each member of his family struggles to recover from the tragedy with mixed results.



Hick
Hick(2012)
5.708

A pistol-packing teen meets an unstable rebel and a cocaine-snorting drifter as she hitchhikes her way out West.



Dog Pound
Dog Pound(2010)
7.2

Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.



Crazy/Beautiful
6.6

At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from the affluent neighborhood.



Gully
Gully(2021)
5.3

A slightly dystopian vision of LA, we follow three disaffected teenagers, Jessie, Calvin and Nicky, all victims of extreme childhoods, running supreme hedonistic riot as they try to work out a way in life.



Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Cal Weaver is living the American dream. He has a good job, a beautiful house, great children and a beautiful wife, named Emily. Cal's seemingly perfect life unravels, however, when he learns that Emily has been unfaithful and wants a divorce. Over 40 and suddenly single, Cal is adrift in the fickle world of dating. Enter, Jacob Palmer, a self-styled player who takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to be a hit with the ladies.



Maniac
Maniac(1980)
6.42

A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, kills and mutilates young women and local models on the streets of New York City.



Chicuarotes
7.8

Cagalera and Moloteco are two teenagers from San Gregorio Atlapulco who are desperate to get out and move up and away from oppressive circumstances. When they hear of an opportunity to buy a spot in the electrician’s union, which could transform their lives, they quickly devolve into the criminal, adult underworld of Mexico City in a bid to buy their freedom.



Carrie
Carrie(2013)
6.046

An awkward, telekinetic teenage girl is the object of relentless bullying at school and an oppressively religious mother at home.



mid90s
mid90s(2018)
7.5

In 1990s Los Angeles, a 13-year-old spends his summer navigating between a troubled home life and a crew of new friends he meets at a skate shop.



The Restless
6.8

Leila and Damien struggle with his bipolar disorder.



Ma
Ma(2019)
5.817

Sue Ann is a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own.



Kidulthood
6.3

A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.



Sybil
Sybil(2007)
6.5

A true story of a young woman whose abusive childhood results in her developing a multiple personality disorder.



Feed
Feed(2017)
6.9

Olivia and Matthew Grey, 18-year-old twins born into a world of privilege and high expectations. There are almost no boundaries between them - even their dreams are connected.



Madhouse
Madhouse(2004)
5.7

A young psychiatric intern unearths secrets about the mental health facility in which he works.



Beautiful Beings
7.1

A teenage boy, raised by a mother who considers herself psychic, takes a bullied kid into his group of violent misfits. As the group’s troubles escalate toward life-threatening situations, an inner voice awakens in the boy and, with the help of his mother and his new friend, he manages to find his own path.



Prozac Nation
6.3

When talented young writer Elizabeth Wurtzel earns a scholarship to Harvard, she sees it as her chance to escape the pressures of her working-class background and concentrate on her true talent. But what starts out so promising leads to self-destructive behavior and paralyzing depression that reflects an entire generation's struggle to navigate the effects of divorce, drugs, sex, and high expectations.



2:37
2:37(2006)
6.559

A contemporary, ensemble drama that tells the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37 a tragedy will occur, affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers.



Family Life
7.2

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.



Hellion
Hellion(2014)
5.9

When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for their actions and each other in order to bring Wes home.



Boy A
Boy A(2008)
7.109

Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.



The War
The War(1994)
6.6

The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.



Disturbing Behavior

Steve Clark is a newcomer in the town of Cradle Bay, and he quickly realizes that there's something odd about his high school classmates. The clique known as the "Blue Ribbons" are the eerie embodiment of academic excellence and clean living. But, like the rest of the town, they're a little too perfect. When Steve's rebellious friend Gavin mysteriously joins their ranks, Steve searches for the truth with fellow misfit Rachel.



Jamie Marks Is Dead

No one seemed to care about Jamie Marks until after his death. Hoping to find the love and friendship he never had in life, Jamie’s ghost visits former classmate Adam McCormick, drawing him into the bleak world between the living and the dead.



Jesus' Son
6.264

A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.



Mercy Black
5.959

A woman is sent to a mental institution after stabbing her classmate in an attempt to conjure an evil spirit called, Mercy Black. Fifteen years later she's released, and must save her nephew, who has become obsessed with the phenomenon.



Men, Women & Children
6.451

Follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.



+1
+1(2013)
5.3

Three college friends hit the biggest party of the year, where a mysterious phenomenon disrupts the night, quickly descending into a chaos that challenges their friendships - and whether they can stay alive.



Happiness
Happiness(1998)
7.4

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.



Nickel Boys
6.6

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.



Slow West
Slow West(2015)
6.7

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.



Clip
Clip(2012)
5.4

Jasna, a beautiful teenager, leads a crude life in post-war Serbia. She goes on a spree of sex, drugs and partying until she finds love and tenderness in a harsh environment.



Boyhood
Boyhood(2014)
7.491

The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.



The Spectacular Now
6.673

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.



American Me
7.4

During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits.



Young and Wild
6.278

Daniela, raised in the bosom of a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony.



Typhoon Club
6.375

Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, the film takes place over the 5-day period before, during, and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which six of the students endure while marooned in their school.



K-12
K-12(2019)
7.739

Cry Baby, a strong and sensitive girl, is sent off to a disturbing sleepaway school that’s hidden underneath a grandiose façade. Luckily, she has a sweet and unapologetic best friend who sticks up for her when she gets bullied by the other students whose brains are under control by the Principal and his wicked staff. With the help of the magical friends they meet along the way, as well as an Angelic Spirit Guide, they are able to gain the strength they need to fight off the school’s belligerent patriarchal conditioning.



The Other Sister
6.3

A mentally challenged girl proves herself to be every bit as capable as her "perfect" sister when she moves into an apartment and begins going to college.



Powder
Powder(1995)
6.998

Harassed by classmates who won't accept his shocking appearance, a shy young man known as "Powder" struggles to fit in. But the cruel taunts stop when Powder displays a mysterious power that allows him to do incredible things. This phenomenon changes the lives of all those around him in ways they never could have imagined.



Share
Share(2019)
5.3

After discovering a disturbing video from a night she doesn’t remember, sixteen-year-old Mandy must try to figure out what happened and how to navigate the escalating fallout.



School Life
6.892

In one of the poorest areas of Paris, a school counselor devotes herself to working with disadvantaged students, while facing challenges of her own.



Boys and Girls
5.943

Ryan and Jennifer are opposites who definitely do not attract. At least that's what they always believed. When they met as twelve-year-olds, they disliked one another. When they met again as teenagers, they loathed each other. But when they meet in college, the uptight Ryan and the free-spirited Jennifer find that their differences bind them together and a rare friendship develops.



Jasper Jones
6.4

Fourteen-year-old Charlie's life changes when Jasper takes his help to dispose of the body of his girlfriend, Laura. He decides to look for the murderer and falls in love with Laura's younger sister.



Freeway
Freeway(1996)
6.447

Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.



Mysterious Skin
7.7

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.



Boot Camp
Boot Camp(2008)
5.94

A group of troubled teens are sent to a rehabilitation program housed in a remote camp on the island of Fiji. What their parents believe is a state-of-the-art deluxe institution in a beautiful natural environment turns out to be a prison-like boot camp where they are abused and brainwashed.



Marilyn's Eyes
6.8

Clara and Diego, under the guidance of the psychiatrist of a day rehabilitation center for disturbed people who attend, decide to transform the treatment center into a restaurant, involving all their other companions.



Too Young to Die
5.4

An abused 15 year old is charged with a murder that carries the death penalty in this fact-based story.



El Bola
El Bola(2000)
7.1

El Bola is a 12-year-old boy raised in a violent and sordid environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he avoids becoming close to classmates. The arrival of a new boy at school changes his attitude towards his classmates and friendship. The heart of the story is the change in El Bola's life, at almost all levels, after befriending this new classmate.



Daydream Nation
5.747

Forced to move to a boring backwater town, a teenager embarks on affairs with a teacher and a stoner classmate.



Maniac
Maniac(2012)
6.03

As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.



Prodigy
Prodigy(2017)
6.106

Jimmy is a committed child psychologist who uses his own playbook, but when he is brought in to work with Ellie, he is completely unprepared for his subject—a 9-year-old psychopathic genius with nothing to lose. As he begins to understand the extent of her capabilities and the fate that has been planned for her, he struggles to overcome her defenses before it is too late for them both.



Mojave
Mojave(2016)
4.99

A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelgänger, a homicidal drifter.



Spontaneous
6.8

When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.



Adulthood
Adulthood(2008)
6.2

After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.



The Son
The Son(2022)
6.716

A successful lawyer, with a new wife and infant, agrees to care for his teenage son from a previous marriage after his ex-wife becomes concerned about the boy's wayward behavior.



Child of God
4.82

A dispossessed, violent man's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, he descends to the level of a cave dweller and falls deeper into crime and degradation.



Colossal
Colossal(2017)
6.281

A woman discovers that severe catastrophic events are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she's suffering.



A Mother's Nightmare

A seductive teen becomes vindictive when her boyfriend tries to end the relationship.



Chronicle
Chronicle(2012)
6.837

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.



Twisted Nerve
6.763

Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.



Fists in the Pocket
7.789

A deeply disturbed and epileptic young man benignly decides to murder other members of his dysfunctional family for altruistic reasons.



The New Mutants
6.086

Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.



The Opposite of Sex

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.



Wilderness
6.056

Juvenile delinquents are sent to a small British island after a fellow prisoner's death, where they must fight for survival.



Danika
Danika(2006)
5.071

Traumatized since childhood by her brother's accidental death, Danika Merrick hallucinates a bank robbery and quits her job. Despite support from her three children and loving husband, Danika continues to experience unnerving visions. She seeks help from therapist Evelyn Harris but pervasive reports of violent incidents involving children make Danika fear for her own family, and she grows increasingly paranoid, worrying she may be going insane.



Carrie
Carrie(2002)
6.1

An awkward, telekinetic teenage girl's lonely life is dominated by relentless bullying at school and an oppressive religious fanatic mother at home. When her tormentors pull a humiliating prank at the senior prom, she unleashes a horrifying chaos on everyone, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.



A Woman Under the Influence

Mabel Longhetti, desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick. Increasingly unstable, especially in the company of others, she craves happiness, but her extremely volatile behavior convinces Nick that she poses a danger to their family and decides to commit her to an institution for six months. Alone with a trio of kids to raise on his own, he awaits her return, which holds more than a few surprises.



Clean, Shaven
6.4

Peter Winter is a young schizophrenic who is desperately trying to get his daughter back from her adoptive family. He attempts to function in a world that, for him, is filled with strange voices, electrical noise, disconcerting images, and jarringly sudden emotional shifts. During his quest, he runs afoul of the law and an ongoing murder investigation.

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