Movies like Following the Sound (2024)
The best movies like Following the Sound (2024) are Café Lumière (2004), The Safety of Objects (2002) and National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015). If Following the Sound hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSweet Bean (2015)7.5/10 from 625 votes
- NewestIf You had Stayed (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseCafé Lumière (2004)Also in Japanese
Café Lumière (2004)
In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
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, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnimal Crossing: The Movie (2006)
Ai, a self-reliant girl who moves to Animal Village and works at Nook's Cranny, gradually becomes part of the community with guidance from its residents and embarks on a quest to plant pine trees for a Winter Festival miracle after finding a message in a bottle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaith Like Potatoes (2006)
Frank Rautenbach leads a strong cast as Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage, who leaves his farm in the midst of political unrest and racially charged land reclaims and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal,South Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCafe Funiculi Funicula (2018)
Kazu works at "Funiculi Funicula" cafe. There is a mysterious rumour that if a customer takes a specific seat at the cafe, that customer can travel back to a time of their choice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnly Yesterday (1991)
In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweet Bean (2015)
The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
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 and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNothing Personal (2009)
Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Diner (2014)
A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReprise (2019)
A man and a woman who run into each other on a film set were actually lovers in the past. As they play the roles of a couple in the movie, they think about the relationship they once had.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Lens Within Me (TBA)
A film student from Long Island, who cut his dying father’s cough out of the home movies at thirteen, spends four years filming everyone but himself — until one festival slot, a rival’s film, and the footage he’s been cutting force him to choose between the safe version and the true one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Recipe (2017)
A famous chef who is tasked with tracking down a 70-year-old missing recipe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
By Player (2000)
The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
If You had Stayed (2026)
After a tragic choice leads him to the brink, a disillusioned artist named Michael awakens on a mysterious beach. a liminal space where lost souls come to confront their pasts. Guided by Bob, a charismatic yet enigmatic caretaker, Michael embarks on a surreal journey through the pivotal moments of his life: love, heartbreak, and devastating loss. As he confronts hidden truths and unspoken regrets, Michael is faced with one profound question: Was it worth it, and what would life be like if he had stayed?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
Five unmarried sisters make the most of their simple existence in rural Ireland in the 1930s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState and Main (2000)
The residents of a small Vermont town don't know what hit them when a beleaguered Hollywood film crew brings a chaotic shoot to their quaint village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder a Piaya Moon (2024)
In 1980s Bacolod City, a young man aspires to continue the family legacy by winning an inter-city pastry competition with the help of his feuding grandfather and grandmother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2026)
On her 25th birthday, Faith stumbles upon a letter from her 15-year-old self, forcing her to confront the gap between the person she hoped to be and who she has become.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gbre gundan (2025)
"After a freak accident leaves him deaf, a young man enters therapy, only to discover that losing his hearing has granted him a deeper understanding of his fractured family and inner turmoil. ግብረ ጉንዳን/Gbre gundan is a psychological drama that blurs the line between perception and reality, questioning whether true healing comes from what we hear or what we choose to ignore."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Following the Sound?
The closest matches to Following the Sound are Café Lumière (2004), The Safety of Objects (2002) and National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Following the Sound?
Start with Café Lumière (2004), the closest match to Following the Sound.
What is the highest-rated movie like Following the Sound?
Sweet Bean (2015), rated 7.5/10 by 625 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Following the Sound?
If You had Stayed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Following the Sound?
Yes: Café Lumière (2004), Animal Crossing: The Movie (2006) and Cafe Funiculi Funicula (2018).
How are movies similar to Following the Sound chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Following the Sound, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.