Movies like Strong Women, Weak Men (1968)
The best movies like Strong Women, Weak Men (1968) are Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947), Hula Girls (2006) and Rent-a-Cat (2012). If Strong Women, Weak Men hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedSeven Samurai (1954)8.5/10 from 4,461 votes
- NewestThe Hottest Summer (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseRecord of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)Also in Japanese
Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)
A hard-hearted old woman in a bombed-out Tokyo neighborhood reluctantly takes in an abandoned boy, leading to a heartwarming bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHula Girls (2006)
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRent-a-Cat (2012)
A young woman who rents out cats to lonely old folks finds her life turned upside down when a young man from her past shows back up in her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Taste of Tea (2004)
A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEquinox Flower (1958)
Wataru's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares her love for a coworker and is adamant to live her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Funeral (1984)
When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLate Autumn (1960)
A woman and her daughter are each forced to contend with an increasing pressure to marry, particularly from three men who knew her late husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlasses (2007)
An overworked career woman leaves her life in the city for an island vacation only to encounter eccentric local inhabitants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMOTHER (2020)
Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Autumn Afternoon (1962)
Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShoplifters (2018)
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Only Son (1936)
A rural widow sends her only son to Tokyo to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him and finds he has become a night school teacher struggling to support his wife and son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKabei: Our Mother (2008)
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHer Love Boils Bathwater (2016)
After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Futaba resolves to spend her remaining time reuniting her broken family, reopening the long-closed bathhouse, and helping her shy daughter Azumi learn to stand on her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bad Sleep Well (1960)
In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter the Storm (2016)
Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Insect Woman (1963)
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Woman in the Rumor (1954)
After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSummer in Berlin (2005)
An intimate study of two women friends who come to each other because of troubles with everyday life and with men and thus try to enjoy a life based on their ideas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hottest Summer (2023)
Each year Lucia volunteers at a Summer Camp in Sicily. This summer however, will be the hottest on record, not just because of the crazy weather, but also because of Nicola, the new soon-to-be-priest deacon who, besides being extremely handsome, hides a tormented and idealistic soul. His arrival sows panic in this seaside community, upsetting Lucia's plans forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeaches (1988)
A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Own Private Idaho (1991)
Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTough Enough (2006)
From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeven Samurai (1954)
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMonster (2003)
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Were Warriors (1994)
In a violent relationship, it takes a mother’s strength to save herself and her children from the man she loved. Once Were Warriors is a violent love story set against a contemporary urban backdrop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou, Me and Dupree (2006)
After standing in as best man for his longtime friend Carl Petersen, Randy Dupree loses his job, becomes a barfly and attaches himself to the newlywed couple almost permanently -- as their houseguest. But the longer Dupree camps out on their couch, the closer he gets to Carl's bride, Molly, leaving the frustrated groom wondering when his pal will be moving out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMemoirs of a Geisha (2005)
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Strong Women, Weak Men?
The closest matches to Strong Women, Weak Men are Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947), Hula Girls (2006) and Rent-a-Cat (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Strong Women, Weak Men?
Start with Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947), the closest match to Strong Women, Weak Men.
What is the highest-rated movie like Strong Women, Weak Men?
Seven Samurai (1954), rated 8.5/10 by 4,461 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Strong Women, Weak Men?
The Hottest Summer (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Strong Women, Weak Men?
Yes: Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947), Hula Girls (2006) and Rent-a-Cat (2012).
How are movies similar to Strong Women, Weak Men chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Strong Women, Weak Men, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























