Movies like Those Were the Days (1995)
The best movies like Those Were the Days (1995) are Christmas Cottage (2008), Departure (2016) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). If Those Were the Days hooked you with its drama and romance, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMountains May Depart (2015)7.0/10 from 264 votes
- NewestHer Story (2024)Released 2024
- In ChineseThe Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007)Also in Chinese
Christmas Cottage (2008)
Inspired by the picturesque paintings of Thomas Kinkade, The Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeparture (2016)
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007)
When schoolboy Wang Bao discovers a magical gourd that can instantly grant his every wish, the awkward child suddenly becomes a hero amongst his curious classmates. When the gourd proves more of a burden than a blessing and the boy decides to get rid of it, he quickly discovers that's easier said than done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMountains May Depart (2015)
The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Witch's Destiny (2013)
As Cassie's birthday approaches, Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and her great aunt, who disappeared years before on her birthday. When signs of a curse appear, Cassie conjures up a little magic to make things right again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHer Story (2024)
Wang Tiemei, a single mother, loses her job and moves, befriending neighbor Xiaoye who appears cheerful but is depressed. Their bond grows as Tiemei navigates relationships with her ex-husband causing trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrotherhood of Blades (2014)
In the late Ming Dynasty, three sworn brothers who serve as the imperial secret police are dispatched to hunt down Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch politician who had been forced to resign from his influential post and exiled from Beijing. The brothers return successfully from their quest, only to find that their task was but the beginning of a strange conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Witch's Gift (2010)
Almost as soon as Jake and Cassie decide to get married on Christmas Eve, complications arise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEinstein and Einstein (2018)
A 13-year-old girl deals with the issues brought about by her family's high-priced son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisViva La Vida (2024)
A young woman who needs a kidney transplant wants to marry someone who will be able to donate a kidney, and meets a young man who has a brain disease.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTime Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Hawthorn Tree (2010)
The daughter of a right-winger, schoolgirl Jing Qiu is sent to the countryside for reeducation, and tasked to help write a textbook. There she meets Lao San, a young soldier with a bright future ahead. Despite the class divide and parental disapproval, romance blooms against turbulent times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of the Country (2013)
With her husband jailed for Wall Street-based fraud, Faith has to leave behind her luxury life in New York to return home to North Carolina and the widower father and dutiful older sister she left behind. Together, they have to deal with the buried emotions of sudden death of Faith’s mother years ago, and learn to be a family again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Witch's Family (2011)
A young witch visits her cousin in a small town during a heated mayoral election race. Her kind-hearted cousin, the town’s beloved “good witch” and newlywed with two teenage step-kids, is running for office, but must keep her family from falling apart when their visitor uses her magic to put them—and the whole town—under her bitter spell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWander Darkly (2020)
New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter's Tale (2014)
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Golden Lotus (1974)
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Those Were the Days and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Those Were the Days?
The closest matches to Those Were the Days are Christmas Cottage (2008), Departure (2016) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Those Were the Days?
Start with Christmas Cottage (2008), the closest match to Those Were the Days.
What is the highest-rated movie like Those Were the Days?
Mountains May Depart (2015), rated 7.0/10 by 264 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Those Were the Days?
Her Story (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Those Were the Days?
Yes: The Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007), Mountains May Depart (2015) and Her Story (2024).
How are movies similar to Those Were the Days chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Those Were the Days, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.