Movies like I Am a Cat (1975)
The best movies like I Am a Cat (1975) are Rent-a-Cat (2012), Madadayo (1993) and Gifted (2017). If I Am a Cat hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGifted (2017)8.0/10 from 6,129 votes
- NewestGhost Cat Anzu (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseRent-a-Cat (2012)Also in Japanese
Rent-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 thisMadadayo (1993)
In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by the fierce devotion of his former students, who honor him each year with a raucous “Not yet!” birthday toast. Told in warm, gently comic vignettes, Kurosawa’s farewell celebrates aging, friendship, and the sustaining ritual of teacher and pupils refusing to say goodbye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGifted (2017)
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWood Job! (2014)
After failing his university entrance exam, Yuki Hirano sets his eyes on the role of a forestry trainee. Setting off for training he doubts his decision many times, but eventually after passing the training course, he is sent to Kamusari Village for a year of work experience - where he becomes assimilated with the beauty of nature and the warm-hearted people of the village.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this10 Lives (2024)
A pampered cat takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRudolf the Black Cat (2016)
Rudolf, a black stray cat, is suddenly separated from his beloved master. He unexpectedly wakes up in a long-distance truck that takes him to metropolis Tokyo. There, he meets Ippai-attena, a big boss cat feared by everyone in town. Unable to return home, Rudolf starts a life as a stray with Ippai-attena, but Ippai-attena isn't all that he seems to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf Cats Disappeared from the World (2016)
A postman learns that he doesn't have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil then appears in front of him and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with ex-friends, ex-lovers, relatives and colleagues who will be sincerely sad when he dies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost Cat Anzu (2024)
Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant "ghost cat" and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu's odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)
The popular cartoon cat and mouse are thrown into a feature film. The story has the twosome trying to help an orphan girl who is being berated and exploited by a greedy guardian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhisper of the Heart (1995)
Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: "Seiji Amasawa."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGirls und Panzer der Film (2015)
When the Ministry of Education goes back on its promise to keep Ooarai Girls Academy open, the task of saving the five-mile-long Academy Ship from the wreckers falls to Miho and her barely-seasoned tankery team. However, things go off track almost immediately. While the Oorai tank crew may have won the high school tournament, they’re now facing a larger and more experienced university team, and if they fail, their armored vehicles will be forfeit! Will they be swapping their tanks for the memories? It’s possible, but winning a tank battle is all about tactics and teamwork, and the fledgling Ooarai students have more friends and allies than anyone suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
Lonely and awkward, Giovanni struggles with his sick mother, absent father, and an afterschool job that isolates him from his peers. But on the night of the Festival of Stars, he is magically transported onto a celestial train with his only friend, Campanella. Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey through the galaxy, encountering mysterious characters and grappling with life's deepest questions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNine Lives (2016)
A stuffy businessman finds himself trapped inside the body of his family's cat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDetroit Metal City (2008)
Soichi Negishi moved to Tokyo to chase his dream of becoming a musician playing stylish, Swedish-style pop. Instead, he finds himself leading the death metal band Detroit Metal City, or DMC, as the costumed and grotesquely made-up "demon emperor" Johannes Krauser II. Although he hates the role and the things he has to do as a member of the band, he has a definite talent for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssassination Classroom (2015)
A mysterious creature destroys part of the moon and then warns that, if it is not destroyed before March of the following year, Earth will be next. It also demands to become the homeroom teacher of Class E, a third-year class at Kunugigaoka High School.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: The Legend Called: Dance! Amigo! (2006)
Something sinister's afoot in Kasukabe. Shin-chan doesn't know what it is, but he's pretty sure it involves samba-dancing doppelgängers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Action Kamen VS Leotard Devil (1993)
Everyone's favorite TV superhero Action Mask shows up in Kasukabe, and he's trying to get something from Shin-chan -- but what could it be?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPsychic Kusuo (2017)
Born a powerful psychic, high schooler Kusuo Saiki craves the simple life. But the weirdos in his class make it difficult to conceal his abilities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite (2020)
It's been ten years since the creation of the Great Truce, an elaborate joint-species surveillance system designed and monitored by cats and dogs to keep the peace when conflicts arise. But when a tech-savvy villain hacks into wireless networks to use frequencies only heard by cats and dogs, he manipulates them into conflict and the worldwide battle between cats and dogs is BACK ON. Now, a team of inexperienced and untested agents will have to use their old-school animal instincts to restore order and peace between cats and dogs everywhere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria Watches Over Us (2010)
Yumi Fukuzawa is an ordinary first year student at Lillian Girls' Academy. By chance Yumi meets second year student Sachiko Ogasawara, who is a candidate to become a Red Rose. Sachiko later offers her rosary to Yumi Fukuzawa which signifies she will become an older sister to Yumi. Meanwhile, Yumi, who already looks up to popular Sachiko, is perplexed why she is picked. A festival named "Cinderella" then approaches, which is run by the Yamayuri Council. Conflicts between the older and younger sisters soon begins ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Opposite of Sex (1998)
A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWill You Marry My Wife? (2016)
Shuji Mimura works as a broadcast writer. He learns that he doesn't have much time left to live. He decides to concentrate on the future of his beloved family. Shuji Mimura's final plan is to find the best man to marry his wife Ayako.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Black Rain (1989)
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCritters (1986)
Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaughty Nudes (1965)
A group of young female artists pose for each other as nude models.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Naked Island (1960)
A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThrone of Blood (1957)
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like I Am a Cat?
The closest matches to I Am a Cat are Rent-a-Cat (2012), Madadayo (1993) and Gifted (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after I Am a Cat?
Start with Rent-a-Cat (2012), the closest match to I Am a Cat.
What is the highest-rated movie like I Am a Cat?
Gifted (2017), rated 8.0/10 by 6,129 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like I Am a Cat?
Ghost Cat Anzu (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like I Am a Cat?
Yes: Rent-a-Cat (2012), Madadayo (1993) and Wood Job! (2014).
How are movies similar to I Am a Cat chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside I Am a Cat, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.