Movies Similar to Ordinary Tenderness

Libérés(2020)

Nanook of the North(1922)

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Living at 100 miles an hour(2019)

Louis, Éric and Daniel are inseparable. They are young, reckless and live at 100 miles an hour. Quickly, children's games take the path of small, disorganized crime. Their friendship will be put to the test. A tender and offbeat look at the turbulent and intoxicating period of the transition to adulthood, with the city of Quebec and its 1970s and 1980s as a backdrop.

Mommy(2014)

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.

Atikamekw Suns(2024)

Manawan, 1977. A vehicle falls into a river near a Native community. Two Quebecers managed to escape, but five Atikamekws lost their lives. While the police conclude that it was an accident, the victims’ families are left with unanswered questions. A historical, poetic and choral tale, Soleils Atikamekw is inspired by the dreams, impressions and memories of the relatives of the five victims. In an intimate, humanistic approach, the filmmaker involves the families both in front of and behind the camera. Documentary and fiction come together in a deeply moving film about grief, injustice and memory.

The Last Tunnel(2004)

A recently released prisoner reunites his criminal colleagues to pull off one last heist.

The Score(2001)

An aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist.

C.R.A.Z.Y.(2005)

A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging identity with his father's values.

Léolo(1992)

The story of an imaginative boy who pretends he is the child of a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato upon which his mother accidentally fell.

Through the Mist(2009)

A biopic of the late musician Dédé Fortin, the singer, songwriter, and founder of a very popular Québécois band called "Les Colocs".

Agnes of God(1985)

When a dead newborn is found, wrapped in bloody sheets, in the bedroom wastebasket of a young novice, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent enough to stand trial for the murder of the baby.

Corbo(2015)

Montreal, spring 1966. Jean Corbo, 16 years old, born to a Quebec mother and an Italian father, is torn between his two affiliations. After befriending two young far-left activists, he joined the Front de Libération du Québec, an underground radical group. Jean, from then on, marches inexorably towards his destiny.

Bunker(2014)

Two isolated Canadian soldiers come to grip with a difficult order: launch a nuclear strike against the former USSR, some 25 years after the end of the Cold War.

Jack Kerouac's Road: A Franco-American Odyssey(1987)

Part documentary, part drama, this film presents the life and work of Jack Kerouac, an American writer with Québec roots who became one of the most important spokesmen for his generation. Intercut with archival footage, photographs and interviews, this film takes apart the heroic myth and even returns to the childhood of the author whose life and work contributed greatly to the cultural, sexual and social revolution of the 1960s.

Real Lies(2014)

Marco Valois wants to direct a serious movie inspired by the life of a soldier living with post-traumatic stress disorder. He soon realizes that the young soldier home from Afghanistan won't open up that easily. Marco, willing to do just about anything to get his story, follows Éric Lebel to his hometown.

Memory Box(2021)

Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia, from 13 to 18 years old, sent from Beirut to her best friend who left for Paris to escape the civil war. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.

Aurore(2005)

After the sudden death of her mother, Aurore Gagnon is abused by her disturbed step-mother as her town remains in the silence followed by her death. Based on a true story.

I Confess(1953)

Unable, due to the seal of the confessional, to be forthcoming with information that would serve to clear himself during a murder investigation, a priest becomes the prime suspect.

Free Fall(2009)

Three friends meet one summer at a skydiving center. Adventurous, they spend most of their time jumping - for thrills and to escape what haunts them. When his dream of becoming a pilot is shattered, Rafaël, a young daredevil of 20 years, puts his life in danger by pushing his limits as a parashooter. Her friend Charles, the older owner of the skydiving center, tries to make her understand reason while developing a love passion for Manu, a young woman who, at 20, has to deal with her mother's cancer. But Manu and Rafaël also develop a strong passion, which comes to compromise the strong bond between the three friends. Things don't work out when Rafaël, who has been forbidden to jump, comes to miss a particularly dangerous jump prepared by Charles.

Cross My Heart(2017)

12-years-old Manon promises her younger brother, Mimi, that they will stay together, despite their difficult family circumstances and the ominous signs of being put into foster care. During the height of Quebec's FLQ Crisis in 1970, they stage their own rebellion by kidnapping an elderly woman and hiding her in the country, aided by their two cousins.