Movies like The Water Flows to the Sea (2023)
The best movies like The Water Flows to the Sea (2023) are Not Easily Broken (2009), The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) and Radiance (2017). If The Water Flows to the Sea hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPurple Hearts (2022)8.0/10 from 2,979 votes
- NewestFree Hugs (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseRadiance (2017)Also in Japanese
Not Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRadiance (2017)
The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Little House (2014)
Following the death of the unmarried and childless Taki, Takeshi, a young relative of hers, discovers several pages of closely written lines in which the old lady has recorded her memories. This is how he learns the truth about her youth working as a housemaid and nanny for the Hirai family in a little house in Tokyo with a red gabled roof.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Range Love (2014)
A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClosest Love to Heaven (2017)
When Ninon finds out that her neighbor and popular classmate Yuiji Kira only has one year to live, she decides to go out of her way and help him attain happiness on his remaining time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Tomorrow, Your Yesterday (2016)
Takatoshi Minamiyama majors in art at an university in Kyoto. On the train to the school, he sees Emi Fukuju and falls in love with her at first sight. Gathering up all his courage, he speaks to her. They begin to date and enjoy happy days together, but Emi reveals her secret to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReally Love (2020)
A rising black painter tries to break into a competitive art world while balancing an unexpected romance with an ambitious law student.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Happy Marriage (2023)
An unhappy young woman from an abusive family is married off to a fearsome and chilly army commander. But the two learn more about each other, love may have a chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Give My First Love to You (2009)
Takuma knows that his life is shorter than the others and he feels that his demise is getting near. He chose to stay away from the girl that he loves so that she can easily move on. What he didn't know is that he is under-estimating her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSex and the Central (2003)
May a recently recruited office worker finds she cannot fund her expensive lifestyle with her dismal paycheck. She later discovers her female work colleagues are playing strip poker or having sex with the management team. May soon learns she may have to indulge in carnal desires to make it in the Central district (the premier commercial district in Hong Kong).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Free Hugs (2023)
A jaded Office Lady’s perspective on life is thwarted when she runs into her ex, an Ah Beng giving out free hugs to strangers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Inbi (1987)
Michiko Sakuraba (Mami Ogawa), a secretary at the Morio Kikuchi Law Office, located in a corner of the business district, takes out a concert ticket from her handbag and smiles. After her work is finished, she is going to go with Kikuchi. Then a woman around 20 years old appeared. Kikuchi introduced Michiko to her fiancé, who was surprised. That night, Michiko, deeply saddened, drank a glass alone at the cafe bar. The other guests were couples. Some men and women grope each other's bodies. Michiko returns to her room and comforts herself with a hot shower...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (2020)
An effervescent musical about one of the most unlikely couples seen on screen: two Otaku intent on hiding their nerdiness from their colleagues!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove of Sawako (1990)
Sawako, working in a bank, tired of the usual everyday life, once she met the chef of French cuisine Yukio Goto and spent the night with him. Sawako pretends to be the daughter of an upscale hotel owner and has an affair with Yukio.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Freeze Me (2000)
When a woman is harassed and threatened by one of the men who gang-raped her five years previously, she is pushed to take icy revenge against her attackers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWatashi no Makyou (2023)
Hana Yukawa is an ordinary office lady who can be found anywhere. She is tricked into joining a multi-level marketing company that hires people while hiding her true identity, and receives an unreasonable reprimand from her boss. She was deeply traumatized by a certain incident, but there was no one around her that she could talk to about it. Meanwhile, after seeing a popular YouTuber's introduction video, she becomes obsessed with the cult religion "Nirvana" in search of salvation for her soul.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Clover (2014)
Saya Suzuki is an ordinary employee working at a hotel. She falls in love with her elite boss Susumu Tsuge. Through their romance, Saya Suzuki grows as a person.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHotaru the Movie: It's Only a Little Light in My Life (2012)
Set two years after after "Hotaru no Hikari" drama series, Hotaru Amemiya learns that her boss and now husband Seichi Takano has dreamed of vacationing in Rome, Italy like in the movie "Roman Holiday". Hotaru then makes plans to go to Rome for their honeymoon. Rome, Italy prepare ... Hotaru Amemiy and Seichi Takano are coming!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
I am Me ~ OL Yoko's Late Night Overtime (2018)
Yoko who works at the editorial department of a small publishing company is a weak OL that is not good at communicating with people. Recently, she felt suspicion of being physically attacked by an abnormal sleepiness, but she know that another person = Yoko enjoys a one – night relationship with men at midnight when she fell asleep. The existence of Yoko eventually begins to erode Yoko’s daily life. Yoko thought about trying to communicate with Yoko through the exchange diary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Water Flows to the Sea?
The closest matches to The Water Flows to the Sea are Not Easily Broken (2009), The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) and Radiance (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Water Flows to the Sea?
Start with Not Easily Broken (2009), the closest match to The Water Flows to the Sea.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Water Flows to the Sea?
Purple Hearts (2022), rated 8.0/10 by 2,979 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Water Flows to the Sea?
Free Hugs (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Water Flows to the Sea?
Yes: Radiance (2017), The Little House (2014) and Close Range Love (2014).
How are movies similar to The Water Flows to the Sea chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Water Flows to the Sea, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.