movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like Wadjda

Key Features:
Social commentary, Cultural identity, Gender roles, Female empowerment, Cultural traditions, School life, Determination, Middle East, Motorcycle, Coming-of-age
Tone:
earnest, restrained
Target Audience:
World cinema enthusiasts, Social issue film fans, Feminist film viewers, Cultural exploration
Emotional Arc:
Frustration → Determination → Achievement

Wadjda

2012-08-31
Wadjda Poster - Find Similar Movies

An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Quran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Algohani, Ahd Kamel, Sultan Al Assaf, Dana Abdullilah, Rehab Ahmed, Rafa Al Sanea, Sara Aljaber, Noura Faisal
Crew
Haifaa al-Mansour, Haifaa al-Mansour
Rating
7.216(502 votes)
WadjdaWadjda
Select exactly what you are looking for


Farha
Farha(2021)
7.212

Palestine, 1948. After the withdrawal of the British occupiers, tensions rise between Arabs and Jews. Meanwhile, Farha, the smart daughter of the mayor of a small village, unaware of the coming tragedy, dreams of going to study in the big city.



Whale Rider
7.057

A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.



Layla M.
Layla M.(2016)
6.555

18-year-old Layla, a Dutch girl with Moroccan roots, joins a group of radical Muslims. She encounters a world that nurtures her ideas initally, but finally confronts her with an impossible choice.



Towelhead
Towelhead(2008)
6.187

A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist, and her strict father during the Gulf War.



Rad
Rad(1986)
6.458

A BMX racer, who lives in a small town with his mother and sister, is faced with a tough decision, qualify for Helltrack or take his SATs in order to attend college.



Skater Girl
7.3

Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.



Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar

Sanjay, a carefree young man, experiences mental and physical transformation to compete in an inter-collegiate bicycle race after his elder brother is unable to participate due to an injury.



Girlhood
Girlhood(2014)
6.424

Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her dress code, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to freedom.



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.



The Perfect Candidate

A young Saudi doctor campaigns for a seat on the municipal council, finding confidence as she combats prejudice.



Hala
Hala(2019)
6.214

Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural, and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.



Parched
Parched(2015)
7.3

In the arid landscape of Rajasthan, four women navigate their way through personal and cultural difficulties.



Mustang
Mustang(2015)
7.727

In a Turkish village, five orphaned sisters live under strict rule while members of their family prepare their arranged marriages.



The Idol
The Idol(2016)
7.1

Mohammed Assaf, an aspiring musician living in Gaza, sets a seemingly impossible goal: to compete on the program "Arab Idol."



In Between
7

The film captures the daily duality of three young Palestinian women in Tel Aviv, caught between hometown tradition and big city abandon, and the price they must pay for a lifestyle that seems obvious to many: the freedom to work, party, have sex, and choose.



Leila
Leila(2011)
6

Gab has a well-ordered life: a fiancée, a wealthy family. Leïla, who struggles to juggle her studies, odd jobs, and a brother to support, does not allow herself to live her own life... When Gab meets Leïla, it is a clash of worlds, the beginning of a great love story that will collide violently with reality.



God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya

In Stip, a small town in Macedonia, every January the local priest throws a wooden cross into the river and hundreds of men dive after it. Good fortune and prosperity are guaranteed to the man who retrieves it. This time, Petrunya dives into the water on a whim and manages to grab the cross before the others. Her competitors are furious - how dare a woman take part in their ritual? All hell breaks loose, but Petrunya holds her ground. She won her cross and will not give it up.



UFO
UFO(2022)
6.1

When aspiring musician and student Deniz falls for a rough-hewn motorbike racer, tragedy and family opposition obstruct their path to love.



Papicha
Papicha(2019)
7.7

Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War keep her from experiencing a normal life. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to put on a fashion show.



A Wedding
A Wedding(2017)
6.612

Zahira, 18, is close to her family until her parents ask her to follow Pakistani tradition to choose a husband. Torn between family customs and her western lifestyle, the young woman turns for help to her brother and confidant Amir.



Circumstance
6.632

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



Desert Flower
7.5

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.



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.



Battle
Battle(2018)
6.348

Amalie is the girl who has everything, good looks, money, a boyfriend and a big talent of dancing. One day, her world falls apart and she moves from everything she knows. Then enter Mikael. He is dancing in the streets and Amalie joins him in dancing on the streets, dancing Battles.



Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces

Twelve-year-old Noura dangles uncertainly in that difficult netherworld between childhood and adulthood. His growing libido has gotten him banned from the women's baths, where his mother took him when he was younger, but he's not yet old enough to participate in grown-up discussions with the men of his Tunisian village. Noura's only real friend is a troublemaker named Salih -- the village political outcast.



Gracie
Gracie(2007)
6.13

A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.



Capernaum
Capernaum(2018)
8.143

After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him.



Anuja
Anuja(2024)
6.476

When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.



Sand Storm
6.1

A Bedouin village in Northern Israel. When Jalila's husband marries a second woman, Jalila and her daughter's world is shattered, and the women are torn between their commitment to the patriarchal rules and being true to themselves.



Hadewijch
Hadewijch(2009)
6.379

A troubled young woman is thrown out of a convent and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.



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.



Girl in Progress
5.6

As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.



Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Sweety has to contend with her over-enthusiastic family that wants her to get married but the ultimate truth is that her love might not find acceptance in her family and society.



Mall Girls
5.35

Shopping malls - today's place of creating desires. Best jewelry, clothes, shoes. Unaffordable by young girls, but they "work" to get themselves sponsors for new items.



Miral
Miral(2010)
5.696

A drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.



French Women
5.757

A story about 11 girls living in Paris. Each of them has its own problems: career, love life, children. Every girl has their complexes and virtues. They always look elegant, hiding their inner feelings. Will they reach all the goals and overcome all their difficulties?



Cuties
Cuties(2020)
5.1

Amy, an 11-year-old girl, joins a group of dancers named “the cuties” at school, and rapidly grows aware of her burgeoning femininity—upsetting her mother and her values in the process.



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.



Parisienne
5.9

18-year-old Lina arrives in Paris for her studies. She comes to look for what she has never found in Lebanon, her country of origin: a certain form of freedom. The survival instinct as the only baggage, she sails from one Paris to another to the rhythm of her romantic encounters.



Moolaadé
Moolaadé(2004)
7.158

When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.



Adam
Adam(2019)
6.89

Abla runs a modest local bakery from her home in Casablanca where she lives alone with her 8-year-old daughter Warda. Their routine of housework and homework is interrupted one day by a knock on the door. It is Samia, a young woman looking for a job and a roof over her head. The little girl is immediately taken with the newcomer, but her mother initially refuses to allow a pregnant stranger into their home. Gradually, however, Abla's resolve softens and Samia's arrival begins to offer all of them the prospect of a new life.



Divines
Divines(2016)
7.678

In a ghetto where religion and drug trafficking rub shoulders, Dounia has a lust for power and success. Supported by Maimouna, her best friend, she decides to follow in the footsteps of Rebecca, a respected dealer. But her encounter with Djigui, a young, disturbingly sensual dancer, throws her off course.



Cowgirls n' Angels

A group of rodeo trick-riders recruits a young girl to join them.



Touki Bouki
6.668

Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.



The Story of Qiu Ju
7.309

When her husband is kicked in the groin by the village head, Qiu Ju, a peasant woman, despite her pregnancy, travels to a nearby town, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats and find justice.



Into the Wind
5.4

She graduated from a prestigious high school in Warsaw and entered medicine in London. He works as a kitesurfing instructor at the seaside, thanks to which he combines earning money and passion. They will meet in Hel. The unusual charm of the boy makes the girl exceed her limits and enter a completely unknown world of kitesurfing, music and fun. The feeling that arises between them does not please her family or his friends. Is Ania and Michal's relationship strong enough to overcome adversities and become more than just a holiday love?



Beijing Bicycle
6.7

A seventeen-year-old country boy working in Beijing as a courier has his bicycle stolen, and finds it with a schoolboy his age.



Theeb
Theeb(2014)
6.743

Set in the Arabian Desert of 1916, the film follows Theeb, a young Bedouin boy, and his brother Hussein as they leave the safety of their tribe to venture on a treacherous journey at the dawn of the Great Revolt. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust and betrayal.



Tomboy
Tomboy(2011)
7.3

Ten-year-old Laure isn't like most girls. She prefers football to dolls and sweaters to dresses. When Laure and her family move to a new neighbourhood, local girl Lisa mistakes Laure for a boy. Indulging in this exciting new identity, Laure becomes Mickaël, and so begins a summer of long sunny afternoons, playground games and first kisses. Yet with the school term fast approaching, and with suspicions arising amongst friends and family, Laure must face up to an uncertain future.



Stand Up Girl
6.5

Lila, grows up in the high-rises of the Marolles in Brussels. Along with her sister and her friends, she dreams of becoming a dancer and revolutionising the world of hip-hop. While her friends stay in Brussels, Lila leaves everything - comfort, family - behind to go to Paris, where she is certain her persistence will pay off. Except that life in Paris quickly takes an unexpected turn. The woman who dreamed of being a choreographer ends up as a lap dancer in a rap video, and that’s only the beginning of her disillusionment. After a chance meeting with a drama teacher, she bears her heart and soul on stage and begins doing stand-up. This time, her unusual dedication leads her to find her calling. However, she still has to fight one final battle: convincing her father that she has made the right choice.



Wajib
Wajib(2017)
7.2

After years abroad in Italy, Shadi returns to his native Nazareth. But this is no spectacular homecoming. He's back somewhat begrudgingly to honour his "wajib" (or duty) to hand out invitations to his sister's wedding with his father. The simmering tension between the two — who are often stuck in a car, more often than not in traffic — builds, exposing the sometimes-comic chasms that exist between men who live in different worlds but share an unshakable bond.



Cairo 6,7,8
7.363

Three women seek justice due to the difficult daily situation which sexual harassment causes in the streets of Cairo, Egypt.



Combat Girls
6.7

Marisa, a 20-year-old German girl, hates foreigners, Jews, cops, and everyone she finds guilty for the decline of her country. She provokes, drinks, fights and her next tattoo will be a portrait of Adolf Hitler. But Marisa's convictions begin to crumble when she meets a young Afghan refugee, and she learns that the black and white principles of her gang are not the only way.



Worldly Girl
6.269

Giulia’s is a poised world, made of rigour and sacred texts, which fiercely excludes those who do not belong to it. Libero's world is the world of all the others, of those who make mistakes, who fend for themselves looking for another chance and who love unconditionally. When Giulia meets Libero, she realizes she can have another destiny, one she will have to choose and build.



Once in a Lifetime
7.389

At Léon Blum High School in Créteil, France, a history teacher decides to have her weakest 10th grade class participate in a national history competition.



Bangla
Bangla(2019)
6.1

A 22 year-old Bangladeshi-Italian Muslim boy meets a beautiful, exciting Italian girl who makes him re-analyze his beliefs and culture.



Corpo Celeste
6.849

After growing up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns to a city in southern Italy with her mother and older sister. Independent and inquisitive, she joins a catechism class at a local church. However, the games and religious pop songs she encounters there do not nearly satisfy her interest in faith. Struggling to find her place, Marta pushes the boundaries of the class, the priest, and the church.



Tru Confessions
6.8

Trudy Walker hated her life. She thought it was totally messed up until she found out about a contest that could change everything...



Bird
Bird(2024)
7.237

12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.



Yes or No
Yes or No(2010)
6.897

Traditional girl Pie is initially uncomfortable with her tomboyish new roommate. But as time goes on, she finds herself increasingly attracted to her.



Horses of God
7.223

The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.



Dad Wanted
7.5

What does a thrill-seeker tween girl do when her mom forbids her to enter a BMX race? Cast an actor with nothing to lose to play her approving dad.



The Breadwinner
7.8

A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.



Wild
Wild(2016)
6.102

An anarchist young woman breaks the tacit contract with civilization and fearlessly decides on a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net.



The Path of Excellence

Sophie is a brilliant student. Encouraged by her maths teacher, she leaves the family farm to attend a science preparatory class. Between new encounters, successes and failures, and faced with fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream of joining the Polytechnique represents more than an entrance examination but a true challenge of social climbing.



Kiki's Delivery Service

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.



The Source
6.57

A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favours as long as the men refuse to install a water pipe.



The Rocket
6.6

Laos. In a land ravaged by war and exploitation, a boy whose family believe he is cursed must redeem himself by taking part in a dangerous rocket competition.



Italian Race
7.542

Giulia De Martino is a pilot. At seventeen she participates in the GT Championship, under the guidance of her father Mario. But one day everything changes and Giulia has to face alone both the track and her own life.



Fitting In
6.672

A teenage girl gets diagnosed with a reproductive condition that upends her plans to have sex and propels her into exploring unusual methods to have a sex life, challenging her relationships with everyone in her life, but most importantly, herself.



Bend It Like Beckham
6.325

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.



Water Lilies
6.5

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.



The Anthem of the Heart

A young girl had her voice magically taken away so that she would never hurt people with it, but her outlook changes when she encounters music and friendship. Will Naruse be able to convey the anthem of her heart?



Tomboy
Tomboy(1985)
4.8

A budding female race-car driver finally meets her racing idol and unbelievably they fall in love...a love that's quickly put to the test when, having received the chance to show her racing talents, the two find themselves in a race for a multi-million dollar sponsorship contract.



Han Gong-ju
7.2

After being involved in a traumatic incident, 17-year-old Gong-ju is forced to change schools. Uncared for by her parents, her previous teacher arranges for her to hide away at his mother's place. It takes time for her past to catch up with her, but when it does the revelation is devastating.



Salaam Bombay!
7.3

After destroying his older brother's motorbike in retaliation for his constant bullying, 11-year-old Krishna is sent to a traveling circus to earn money to pay for the bike's repairs, but soon winds up in the streets of Bombay's poorest slums. There, he befriends the drug dealer Chillum and young prostitute Sola Saal, while trying to make enough money at a neighborhood tea stall to repay his debt to his family.



Flying Colors
7.5

A high school girl, Sayaka Kudō was the bottom of the class. After a year, she improved her deviation value from 30 to 70, then passed Keio University that is considered one of the most difficult to enter in Japan.



Lou!
Lou!(2014)
5.6

Lou, a creative and dreamy 12-year-old girl, lives alone with her mother in an orange building with tons of little balconies that give access to the roof. Mina has been her best friend since kindergarten, and Lou has been in love with Tristan, one of her neighbors, since elementary school. Her mother has relinquished her own personal happiness of late so as to devote herself to her daughter, but their little bubble bursts when Mom meets a man and Lou at last dares speak to Tristan.



Hidalgo
Hidalgo(2004)
6.9

Set in 1890, this is the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize, in an adventure that sends the pair around the world...



Fatima
Fatima(2015)
6.2

Fatima, an Algerian-born woman who now lives in France with her two teenage daughters, with whom she is barely able to communicate.



Hideous Kinky
6.043

In 1972, disenchanted about the dreary conventions of English life, 25-year-old Julia heads for Morocco with her daughters, six-year-old Lucy and precocious eight-year-old Bea.



Belle épine
5.446

After the death of her mother, 17-year-old Prudence finds herself living alone in her Paris apartment. Then she meets Maryline, a rebel of her own age, who introduces her to the thrills of motorcycle racing on the biker circuit at Rungis. Prudence’s newfound lease of freedom becomes complicated when she falls for a boy Franck who wastes no time in taking advantage of her naivety...



Omar
Omar(2013)
7.1

The drama, the story of three childhood friends and a young woman who are torn apart in their fight for freedom, is billed as the first fully-financed film to come out of the Palestinian cinema industry.



Amreeka
Amreeka(2009)
6.696

Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi, divorcée Muna Farah leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda, and brother-in-law, Nabeel.



Godless Youth
6.2

German students compete to enter one of the country's elite schools.



Much Loved
5.9

A social drama about four marginalized prostitutes in Marrakech and their complex relations with their families and society at large.



Sobreviviendo mis XV

Quinceañeras, a magical age... except when your family wants to put you in a bulky dress and make you waltz in front of everyone, which is exactly what happens to Danae shortly after she transfers to a very proper private school. Now Danae has to manage to balance the demands of her family, those of her new friends and organize a cool, but traditional, but modern, but emotional, but aesthetic, but also grandmother-pleasing Quinceañera party... without dying in the process.



A Geisha
A Geisha(1953)
7.527

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.



As I Open My Eyes
6.549

Tunis, summer 2010, a few months before the Revolution: Farah, 18 years old, has just graduated and her family already sees her as a future doctor. But she doesn't have the same idea. She sings in a political rock band, has a passion for life, gets drunk, discovers love and her city by night against the wishes of her mother Hayet, who knows Tunisia and its dangers all too well.



Raging Phoenix
6.4

A young girl joins hands with a group of kung-fu masters to stop a notorious gang from abducting young women. However, the mission is compromised after they fail to locate the gang's hideout.



The Price of Success

A comedian's relationship with his family crumbles when his career begins to take off.



Won't Back Down
6.1

Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.



Dancing Queens
5.9

The story of Dylan Pettersson, a 23-year-old girl from a small island in the Swedish archipelago with big dancing aspirations.



Arab Blues
6.104

Selma, a psychoanalyst, deals with a cast of colorful new patients after returning home to Tunisia to open a practice.



The White Balloon
7.4

Several people try to take advantage of a little girl's innocence to hustle money her mom gave to her to buy a goldfish with.



The Goat Life
7.2

Indian migrant worker Najeeb Muhammad goes to Saudi Arabia to earn money. However, in a twist of fate, he finds himself living a slave-like existence, herding goats in the middle of the desert.



The Prophet
7.337

Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter; together the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa's words will incite rebellion.



Breaking Away
7.1

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.



What Will People Say

Sixteen year-old Nisha lives a double life. At home with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager. When her father catches her in bed with her boyfriend, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. To set an example, Nisha's parents decide to kidnap her and place her with relatives in Pakistan. Here, in a country she has never been to before, Nisha is forced to adapt to her parents' culture.

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us