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Movies like Please Hold

Key Features:
Dystopian future, Technological control, Kafkaesque, Injustice, Loss of freedom, Social commentary, Short film, Systemic failure, Powerlessness, Satire
Tone:
serious, satirical, cynical
Target Audience:
Sci-fi fans, Socially conscious audiences, Dystopian fiction enthusiasts, Short film viewers
Emotional Arc:
Confusion → Frustration

Please Hold

2020-09-25
Please Hold Poster - Find Similar Movies

A young man’s life is suddenly and inexplicably derailed, as he finds himself at the mercy of automated ‘justice’.

Genres
Science Fiction, Comedy
Cast
Erick Lopez, Doreen Calderon, Daniel Edward Mora, Ruben Dávila, John Alton, Greg Karber, Dani Messerschmidt, Brian Paison, Shaun S. Sutton, Devon Dávila
Crew
K.D. Dávila, K.D. Dávila, Omer Levin Menekse
Rating
7.5(53 votes)
Please HoldPlease Hold
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Code 8
Code 8(2019)
6.3

In Lincoln City, some inhabitants have extraordinary abilities. Most live below the poverty line, under the close surveillance of a heavily militarized police force. Connor, a construction worker with powers, involves with a criminal gang to help his ailing mother. (Based on the short film “Code 8,” 2016.)



Accused
Accused(2023)
6.2

After a revenge obsessed society incorrectly selects its next target, a young man must survive the night as the online witch-hunt arrives at his front door.



Escape
Escape(2024)
5.4

A young man becomes convinced that the solution to all his problems is to live in jail, and he will do whatever it takes to get it.



Papers, Please
7

An official adaptation of the award winning game "Papers, Please" by Lucas Pope.



The Platform
6.968

A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.



The Platform 2
5.551

After a mysterious leader imposes his law in a brutal system of vertical cells, a new arrival battles against a dubious food distribution method.



Why
Why(1971)
7.244

Giuseppe Di Noi, an Italian surveyor living in Swiden, gets arrested at the border while going back to Italy with his family for a vacation. But can someone tell the man why?



Blade Runner: Black Out 2022

This animated short revolves around the events causing an electrical systems failure on the west coast of the US. According to Blade Runner 2049’s official timeline, this failure leads to cities shutting down, financial and trade markets being thrown into chaos, and food supplies dwindling. There’s no proof as to what caused the blackouts, but Replicants — the bio-engineered robots featured in the original Blade Runner, are blamed.



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.



Timecrimes
7

A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.



Infinity Chamber
6.3

A man trapped in an automated prison must outsmart a computer in order to escape and try and find his way back to the outside world that may already be wiped out.



Hypersleep
6

The old and overcrowded penitentiaries are just a memory. Inmates now serve their sentence in a state of deep sleep that renders them harmless, and has drastically reduced recidivism. Until one day, a psychologist in charge of monitoring the mental state of inmates finds himself confronted with a prisoner over whom he's lost all control.



American Hangman
6.016

An unidentified man posts a live feed on social media showing that he has kidnapped two strangers and intends to kill one before the day is out. His intention is to hold a capital 'trial' online. As the authorities recognize what's happening, it becomes apparent that the online public is going to act as judge and jury.



Two Distant Strangers
7.057

A man trying to get home to his dog becomes stuck in a time loop that forces him to relive a deadly run-in with a cop.



Dual
Dual(2022)
6

A terminally ill woman opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death.



On Our Watch
6.5

Arturo loses his tech job to an algorithm he created and ends up working as a delivery man, monitored by an unreasonably strict app. His only solace comes from Stella, a hologram-for-girlfriend whose free trial is running out. Unable to renew the subscription due to his financial uncertainty, Arturo decides to take a stand.



Code 8
Code 8(2016)
6.565

In Lincoln City, 4% of people have extraordinary abilities. Most live below the poverty line, under the close surveillance of a heavily militarized police force. Taylor, a construction worker with powers, is forced to fight after committing a misdemeanor…



Held
Held(2020)
5.581

A couple's ailing marriage is put to the test when they are held hostage in an isolated vacation rental by an unseen Voice that commands their every move and threatens harm if they don’t obey.



2081
2081(2009)
6.469

2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General, everyone is "finally equal...." The strong wear weights, the beautiful wear masks and the intelligent wear earpieces that fire off loud noises to keep them from taking unfair advantage.



The Trial
The Trial(1962)
7.4

The surreal tale of an unassuming man who is accused of a never-specified crime and shambles through bizarre encounters to escape this nightmare.



Consequences
6

After being sent to a youth detention centre, 18-year-old Andrej has to fight for his place within the group of inmates while getting closer to Željko, their informal leader, and struggling to keep his repressed secret in the dark.



The Aerial
7.2

An entire city has lost its voice. Mr. TV, the owner of the city's only television channel, is carrying out a sinister plan to control all of the city's inhabitants.



Tau
Tau(2018)
6.165

Held captive in a futuristic smart house, a woman hopes to escape by befriending the A.I. program that controls the house.



Sleep Dealer
5.906

Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology.



Qwerty
Qwerty(2012)
6.4

The movie is a fictionalized account of a disgruntled cop who has been wrongly implicated in a torture video that went viral. It begins on his last night of duty, as he is about to leave for abroad for better job prospects.



Restraint
Restraint(2008)
5.946

Two fugitives land in hot water when they take a hostage who poses a threat to their well-being.



The Telephone Box
7.2

A man gets trapped inside a telephone box and nobody is able to free him.



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)…



Harrison Bergeron
6.7

"All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.



Fortress
Fortress(1992)
6.1

In the future, the inmates of a private underground prison are computer-controlled with cameras, dream readers, and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife Karen are locked inside "The Fortress" but are determined to escape before the birth of their baby.



Blinky™
Blinky™(2011)
6.8

A story about a boy, his robot and the consequences of his anger at the disintegration of his parents marriage.



Judge Dredd
5.8

In a dystopian future, Dredd, the most famous judge (a cop with instant field judiciary powers) is convicted for a crime he did not commit while his murderous counterpart escapes.



Blindspotting
7.341

Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.



2149: The Aftermath

In an oppressive future, where everyone's only contact is their computer, one lonely young man is forced to venture forth in search of human contact.



Cops and Robbers
6.6

Animation and activism unite in this multimedia spoken-word response to police brutality and racial injustice.



Stutterer
Stutterer(2015)
7.4

A lonely typographer with a cruel speech impediment but an eloquent inner voice must face his greatest fear.



Gamer
Gamer(2009)
5.7

Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of the game. Kable's ultimate challenge becomes regaining his identity and independence by defeating the game's mastermind.



V/H/S: Viral
4.8

As the streets of Los Angeles overflow with camera-wielding gawkers seeking to capture images of a bizarre police pursuit, the same people who sought to exploit the suffering of others for amusement on the Internet become the stars of a gruesome viral video from which no one gets out alive.



Some Time Later
6.2

Planet Earth, 9177. The remains of humankind live in a post-apocalyptic environment divided into only two social classes: the ruling king and the oligarchs who inhabit the Representative Building and the poor of the world who hardly survive in the slums built around it.



OtherLife
OtherLife(2017)
6.383

Ren Amari is the driven inventor of a revolutionary new drug. OtherLife expands the brain's sense of time and creates virtual reality directly in the user's mind. With OtherLife, mere seconds in real life feel like hours or days of exciting adventures. As Ren and her colleagues race around the clock to launch OtherLife, the government muscles in to use the drugs as a radical solution to prison overcrowding. They will create virtual cells where criminals serve long sentences in just minutes of real time. When Ren resists, she finds herself an unwilling guinea pig trapped in a prison cell in her mind. She must escape before she descends into madness, and then regain control of OtherLife before others suffer the same fate.



Listening
Listening(2015)
5.7

For years, we have tried to harness the power of the human mind… and failed. Now, one breakthrough will change everything. Beyond technology. Beyond humanity. Beyond control. David, Ryan, and Jordan hope the telepathy invention will solve all their problems, but the bleeding-edge technology opens a Pandora’s box of new dangers, as the team discovers that when they open their minds, there is nowhere to hide their thoughts.



Captive State
5.7

Nearly a decade after occupation by an extraterrestrial force, the lives of a Chicago neighborhood on both sides of the conflict are explored. In a working-class Chicago neighborhood occupied by an alien force for nine years, increased surveillance and the restriction of civil rights have given rise to an authoritarian system -- and dissent among the populace.



The Terminal Man
5.277

As the result of a head injury, brilliant computer scientist Harry Benson begins to experience violent seizures. In an attempt to control the seizures, Benson undergoes a new surgical procedure in which a microcomputer is inserted into his brain. The procedure is not entirely successful.



Eddington
Eddington(2025)
6.491

In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.



Ten Years
Ten Years(2015)
6.93

Five shorts reveal a fictional Hong Kong in 2025, depicting a dystopian city where residents and activists face crackdowns under iron-fisted rule.



Sovereign
Sovereign(2025)
6.656

Struggling single father Jerry indoctrinates his son Joe into the sovereign citizen movement, teaching him that laws are mere illusions and freedom is something you take. But, as Jerry’s ideology consumes them, they are set on a collision course with a police chief who has spent his life upholding the rules that Jerry has spent his tearing down.



Held Up
Held Up(1999)
5.526

What should have been a romantic getaway turns into one hilarious debacle after another when Michael's woman dumps him in the desert where he gets carjacked by a teenager and he is taken hostage in a stickup at the local Sip and Zip.



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.



World of Tomorrow
7.817

A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.



Dear David
4.556

Shortly after comic artist Adam responds to Internet trolls, he begins experiencing sleep paralysis. As he chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences in a series of tweets, Adam begins to believe he is being haunted by the ghost of a dead child named David.



Songbird
Songbird(2020)
6.186

During a pandemic lockdown, Nico, a young man with rare immunity, must overcome martial law, murderous vigilantes and a powerful family to reunite with his love, Sara.



Toc Toc
Toc Toc(2017)
7.103

A group of patients meet at a prestigious psychologist's office. Apart from the day and time of the appointment, something else unites them all: all six suffer from OCD. But the plane bringing the doctor is unexpectedly delayed, which forces them to spend an endless wait until the doctor shows up. Will they be able to keep their manias, impulses, convulsions, obsessions and rituals at bay during the wait?



Harmony
Harmony(2015)
6.9

Set in a future world. Japan has created a great medical technology that controls ethics, health, and social interaction to create a perfect world. Three young girls attempt to stand up to this by committing suicide, but it doesn't work. Years later, Tuan, one of the girls who attempted suicide must prevent a crisis that threatens this "perfect" world.



Sorry to Bother You
6.788

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.



Singularity
3.646

When Elias van Dorne, CEO of the world's largest robotics company, introduces his most powerful invention, Kronos-a super-computer designed to end all wars-it determines that humans are the biggest threat and launches a worldwide attack on mankind. A small band of survivors must form an unlikely alliance to survive the greatest artificial intelligence threat man will ever know.



Miracle in Cell No. 7

Separated from his daughter, a father with an intellectual disability must prove his innocence when he is jailed for the death of a commander's child.



The Paramedic
6

Unable to face his new reality in a wheelchair, Ángel develops a deadly obsession with the woman who left him and unleashes a sinister revenge plot.



Detained
Detained(2024)
5.787

In the dead of night, Rebecca wakes in a decrepit precinct, accused of a hit-and-run. But a deadly scuffle reveals a sinister plot. With nowhere to turn, she must uncover the truth before it consumes her. But Rebecca harbors secrets darker than they know.



One Point O
5.6

Paranoid computer programmer Simon wakes up to find a package in his room one day. Despite attempts at securing his apartment, the packages keep arriving. While cameras watch Simon's every move, he struggles to find the answers to the mysterious forces taking over his life.



Naked Singularity
4.6

When a successful New York public defender loses his first case, he is pulled into a drug heist by a former client in an effort to beat the broken system at its own game.



Setback
Setback(2011)
8.4

A race against time between a man whose son requires urgent treatment and a stockbroker who suddenly lost his investors' money and ruined his own family.



Paradise
Paradise(2023)
6.471

A man sees the dark side of the time-manipulating biotech company he works for when a crushing debt forces his wife to give up 40 years of her own life.



This House Has People in It

AB Surveillance Solutions, a security company seems to be keeping logs and watching a family as they live a seemingly average life. However it seems that there is something darker going on under the facade.



Modern Problems
5.3

Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fielder, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses to not only win her back, but to gain a little revenge.



Xchange
Xchange(2001)
5.172

In the near future, a company called Xchange owns a mind transference technology that enables instantaneous travel by swapping bodies with someone at the destination. A member of the privileged corporate class ("Corpie") Xchanging for the first time unwittingly switches bodies with a terrorist. Forced to hide in a limited life span cloned body with just 2 days remaining, he races against time to stop the terrorist and regain his body.



Bekçiler Kralı
7.2

The story of a guard who revolts because of exploiting reeve and tradespeople. People start to think he has an uncle working in the ministry of the interior.



TiMER
TiMER(2009)
6.271

When implanted in a person's wrist, a TiMER counts down to the day the wearer finds true love. But Oona O'Leary faces the rare dilemma of a blank TiMER. Her soul mate - whoever and wherever he is - has yet to have a TiMER implanted. Staring down the barrel of thirty and tired of waiting for her would-be life partner to get off the dime, Oona breaks her own rules and falls for Mikey, a charming and inappropriately young supermarket clerk with a countdown of four months.



Warning
Warning(2021)
4.8

Loneliness, death and the meaning of life, explored through vastly separate lives colliding in interweaving short stories set in future Earth.



The Fall
The Fall(2019)
6.722

A mob's punishment of a lone man proves cruel and unusual.



Atlas
Atlas(2024)
6.702

A brilliant counterterrorism analyst with a deep distrust of AI discovers it might be her only hope when a mission to capture a renegade robot goes awry.



Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System - Case.3 On the Other Side of Love and Hate

Following the incident in the Southeast Asia Union in 2116, Shinya Kogami resumes his vagrant journey. In a small South Asian nation, Kogami rescues a bus of refugees under attack by armed guerrilla forces. Among the refugees is a young lady by the name of Tenzin, who begs Kogami to teach her how to retaliate against the enemy. Just what does the girl who wishes for revenge and the man who has exacted revenge see as they gaze upon the edge of a world from which there is no escape?



SMS
SMS(2014)
4.577

At 9:00, Laurent receives a worrying text message. 9:01, his mobile's stolen. 9:30, his son disappears. 10:00, his house burns down. 10:15, his wife leaves him. 10:30, his company goes bankrupt. 11:00, he's in custody. The day's got off to a bad start.



The Star Chamber

As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle with his tortured conscience and growing despair as he watches helplessly as the ruthless criminals brought before his court go free because clever lawyers find obscure loopholes in the law.



Narcopolis
4.622

In the near future, Frank, a police officer, discovers that the legalization of all recreational drugs comes with a price.



Bigbug
Bigbug(2022)
5.3

Set in the world of 2045, where communities have robotic helpers, a group of suburbanites are locked in for their protection by their household robots, while a rogue, self-aware AI android revolt uprising takes place outside.



THX 1138
THX 1138(1971)
6.43

People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.



Air
Air(2015)
4.952

In the near future, breathable air is nonexistent. Virtually all of humanity has disappeared, and those chosen to reestablish society reside in a controlled state of suspended animation. Two engineers tasked with guarding the last hope for mankind struggle to preserve their own sanity and lives while administering to the vital task at hand.



Matriculated
6.614

The human resistance works to convert a sentinel to their side. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.



Westworld
Westworld(1973)
6.775

Delos is a futuristic amusement park that features themed worlds populated by human-like androids. After two patrons have a run-in with a menacing gunslinger in West World, the androids at Delos all begin to malfunction, causing havoc throughout the park.



Metropolis
7.1

In the midst of societal conflict in the futuristic city of Metropolis, Kenichi and his uncle Shunsaku Ban set out to uncover the mystery behind the first human-like robot, Tima.



Premature
Premature(2014)
5.486

On the most important day of his young life, a high school senior is forced to relive his failed attempt at losing his virginity over and over again, until he gets it right.



Lockout
Lockout(2012)
5.936

Set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent , whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.



Norte, The End of History

An embittered law student commits a brutal double murder; a family man takes the fall and is forced into a harsh prison sentence; a mother and her two children wander the countryside looking for some kind of redemption.



Robot Riot
5.7

Unconscious soldiers are dropped into a testing site only to discover their memories have been wiped and that once docile machines are the new intelligence.



Humane
Humane(2024)
5.422

In the wake of an environmental collapse that has forced humanity to shed 20% of its population, a family dinner erupts into chaos when a father's plan to enlist in the government's new euthanasia program goes horribly awry.



Smash and Grab
6.548

After years of toiling away inside the engine room of a towering locomotive, two antiquated robots will risk everything for freedom and for each other.



Await Further Instructions

A dysfunctional family awake on Christmas morning to discover they’re sealed inside their house by a mysterious black substance. On television, a single line of text reads: “Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions.”



The Social Dilemma
7.437

This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.



Nimic
Nimic(2020)
6.6

A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.



The Humanity Bureau
4.813

In 2030 the world is in a permanent state of economic recession and facing serious environmental problems as a result of global warming.



Kafka
Kafka(1991)
6.4

After a colleague is murdered, insurance worker Kafka gets embroiled in an underground group who are attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society.



Higher Power
5.1

When the Universe decides what it wants, it's pointless to resist. With his family's life at stake, Joseph Steadman finds himself the unwilling test subject of a maniacal scientist in a battle that could save the world – or destroy it.



Metropia
Metropia(2009)
6.051

In the near future, oil reserves are nearly depleted and Europe is connected by series of underground tunnels. While navigating these tunnels, Roger hears voices, one in particular. Seeking a way to rid himself of the voice only leads Roger deeper into a bizarre conspiracy of control - mind and body.



The Kovak Box
5.8

David Norton is used to being in control. As a best-selling author, he decides the fate of his characters, their lives and their deaths. But what happens when his fictional world becomes all too real?



White Man's Burden
5.144

The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Louis Pinnock is a white worker in a chocolate factory, loving husband and father of two children. While delivering a package for black CEO Thaddeus Thomas, he is mistaken for a voyeur and, as a result, loses his job, gets beaten by black cops and his family gets evicted from their home. Desperate Pinnock takes a gun and kidnaps Thomas, demanding justice.



Jexi
Jexi(2019)
6.8

Phil's new phone comes with an unexpected feature, Jexi...an A.I. determined to keep him all to herself in a comedy about what can happen when you love your phone more than all else.



Anon
Anon(2018)
6

Set in a near-future world where there is no privacy, ignorance or anonymity, our private memories are recorded and crime almost ceases to exist. In trying to solve a series of unsolved murders, Sal Frieland stumbles onto a young woman who appears to have subverted the system and disappeared. She has no identity, no history and no record. Sal realizes it may not be the end of crime but the beginning. Known only as 'The Girl', Sal must find her before he becomes the next victim.



Dark City
Dark City(1998)
7.329

A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.



The 24th Day
6.4

Tom and Dan's one-night stand turns into an intense power-play between captor and captive.

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