Gook
Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers who own a struggling women's shoe store, have an unlikely friendship with 11-year-old Kamilla. On the first day of the 1992 L.A. riots,…
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Movies Like Self Defense
If you liked Self Defense, this Cinento mix gives you more titles with a similar feeling, rhythm, tension, comfort level, and after-watch taste. Start with 16 picks, then load more when you want a wider path.
Movies Like Self Defense
Gigi & Nate
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.…
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I'm Not Here
A man struggles with the tragic memories of his past to make sense of his present, but soon realizes that time isn't the enemy he thinks it is.…
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TalhotBlond
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately lead…
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Cold in July
While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dan…
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Strange Weather
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.…
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The Young One
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.…
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Jawbone
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the …
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Hands of Stone
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.…
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Ray Donovan: The Movie
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn…
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The Gambler
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as c…
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Hungry Hearts
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.…
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Home
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.…
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Imperial Dreams
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Ang…
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Richard Jewell
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, onl…
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O.G.
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 Be…
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The Visit
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-m…
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Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland
Based on the best-selling book, Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days, and told through the eyes of Jackson's trusted bodyguards, Bill Whitfield and Javon…
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Burden
Ku Klux Klansman Mike Burden opens the Redneck Shop and KKK museum in historic Laurens, SC. He subsequently falls in love with a single mother and, under her influence, quits the K…
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Run
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.…
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Salomé
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his k…
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Jane Got a Gun
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend…
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The Unforgivable
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.…
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God's Pocket
A boozy lowlife tries to bury the truth about his crazy stepson's suspicious death, but a nosy newspaper columnist and the young man's mother complicate matters.…
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Starving in Suburbia
When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site …
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Embattled
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.…
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Hardball
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of gettin…
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The Man Who Wasn't There
A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity and a…
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Grandview, U.S.A.
Life in the small town of Grandview, Illinois is one that is just like any other city or town. Tim Pearson, soon to be graduating high school wants to go to Florida to study oceano…
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Scandalous Sex
A daughter seeks to restore the reputation of her disgraced father, a wronged college professor. With help of a professional student, she must overcome an ambitious sorority bitch …
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The Pumpkin Eater
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatib…
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Crash
In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Kore…
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Bastard Out of Carolina
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer a…
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Fast Charlie
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.…
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Burning Sands
Deep into Hell Week, a favored pledgee is torn between honoring his code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing.…
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My Dinner with Hervé
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-ch…
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Farming
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Ins…
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The Karate Kid
New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thug…
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Luckiest Girl Alive
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.…
Open full watch pageFAQ
How should I use Movies Like Self Defense?
Start with the first row of picks and choose the title that matches your mood tonight. Use Load More when you want a wider path without leaving the same feeling zone.
Why do these picks belong together?
Cinento looks at the feeling behind the search: tone, pacing, tension, comfort level, genre lane, and the kind of emotional aftertaste people usually want from this mix.
Is this mix only for people who already know the main title?
No. The title is a shortcut. You can use the mix even if you simply want the same mood, pressure, or story energy.
Can I find official watch options from here?
Yes. Open any title card and check the Stream / Rent / Buy section for official provider options when they are available in your region.