The Short History of the Long Road
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own he…
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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
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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Surviving the Game
A homeless man is hired as a survival guide for a group of wealthy businessmen on a hunting trip in the mountains, unaware that they are killers who hunt humans for sport, and that…
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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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Eye for an Eye
It's fire and brimstone time as grieving mother Karen McCann takes justice into her own hands when a kangaroo court in Los Angeles fails to convict Robert Doob, the monster who rap…
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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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The Safety of Objects
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, an…
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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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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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Belly
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in…
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No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally mu…
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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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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 Chamber
Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.…
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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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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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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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Alex of Venice
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by hers…
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44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out
After a failed bank robbery, two heavily armed men hold the Los Angeles Police Department at bay for 44 minutes.…
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Flicka
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. …
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They Made Me a Fugitive
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.…
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7th & Union
Ex-fighter Raymundo forms an unlikely bond with a disgruntled man whose life and relationship with his daughter are unraveling. The men join forces to win a fight that could very w…
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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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On Fire
Inspired by true and harrowing events, an ordinary man finds his world suddenly torn apart as devastating wildfires rip through the surrounding countryside. With precious moments t…
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Home Run
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties f…
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The Padre
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-…
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Dear Zoe
Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death o…
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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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Framed
Truck driver Mike Lambert is a down-and-out mining engineer searching for a job. When his rig breaks down in a small town, he happens upon a venomous seductress. When her boyfriend…
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The Perfect Weapon
Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened b…
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Jimmy P.
At the end of WWII, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, suffers from unexplainable symptoms and is admitted to a military hospital. When doctors suspect…
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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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Home
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.…
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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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Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.…
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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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Journeyman
A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.…
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Rip Tide
There comes a point in everyone’s life when you have to make a decision about the direction you’re going to take. For newly-18 American fashion model Cora, that time is now. She’s …
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Madame X
Holly Parker, the wife of a wealthy diplomat, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who has been romantically pursuing her. She is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a…
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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.