Movies like Suzhou River (2000)
The best movies like Suzhou River (2000) are Untamed Heart (1993), Her Story (2024) and Fallen Angel (1945). If Suzhou River 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 ratedWhite Snake (2019)7.7/10 from 582 votes
- NewestA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseHer Story (2024)Also in Chinese
Untamed Heart (1993)
Caroline, a young waitress who seems to have bad taste in men, is on her way home one night when thugs attempt to rape her. Adam, the mysterious busboy who works at the same diner, helps fight off the assailants, and she begins a relationship with him -- but not all their fellow Minnesotans are happy for them. Meanwhile, the couple face their own difficulties when Caroline finds about Adam's past, including his unique health condition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisFallen Angel (1945)
An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her over, and it involves June. Before long, murder works its way into this passionate love triangle.
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 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 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 thisMagnificent Obsession (1954)
Reckless playboy Bob Merrick crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator while a local hero, Dr. Phillips, dies waiting for the life-saving device. Merrick then tries to right his wrongs with the doctor’s widow, Helen, falling in love with her in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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 thisReturn to Dust (2022)
Humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage. They have to combine their strength and build a home to survive. In the face of much adversity, an unexpected bond begins to blossom, as both Ma and Cao, uniting with Earth's cycles, create a haven for themselves in which they can thrive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time (2017)
Bai Qian, a goddess and monarch from the Heavenly Realms, is sent to the mortal world to undergo a trial to become a High Goddess. There, she meets Ye Hua, with whom she falls in love and marries. When an old enemy reappears in her life, everything she holds dear is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
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 thisShanghai Triad (1995)
Shanghai, China, 1930. When young Shuisheng arrives from the countryside, his uncle Liushu puts him at the service of Bijou, the mistress of Laoda, supreme boss of the Tang Triad, constantly threatened by his enemies, both those he knows and those lurking in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lady from Shanghai (1947)
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tourist (2010)
American tourist Frank meets mysterious British woman Elise on the train to Venice. Romance seems to bud, but there's more to her than meets the eye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Snake (2019)
One day a young woman named Blanca is saved by Xuan, a snake catcher from a nearby village. As they set off an a journey to discover her real identity, the pair develop feelings for each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Dog (2024)
Released from jail, Lang returns to his hometown in Northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new journey together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLong Day's Journey Into Night (2018)
Luo Hongwu returns to Kaili, the hometown from which he fled many years ago. He begins the search for the woman he loved and whom he has never been able to forget.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEndless Journey of Love (2025)
In 1930s China, village girl Qian Xiao gains the power to control time, making her a target of powerful forces. As she uncovers the metropolis's hidden secrets, she faces peril and the cost of her gift.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOne Second (2020)
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDyesebel (1990)
After years of hiding from a cruel, suspicious society on the land, the mermaid Dyesebel returns and falls in love with a man named Fredo. However, she becomes the target of Fredo's jealous ex girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Dyesebel (1978)
Dyesebel is unique among the merfolk for she is the only mermaid born of human parents from the surface world. A mermaid from birth, she is shunned by the superstitious due to her physical form. After her father is killed by an angry, superstitious mob, Dyesebel is taken to the ocean by her mother where she is sent into exile since her chances for survival are greater there than on land. The young girl-mermaid is found by Banak who adopts her and takes her to their kingdom where she is welcomed into their community.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Dyesebel (1953)
Dyesebel is a story of a girl with a mother who is really obsessed with mermaids. When she was born, she had deformities which her father was really angry. The family decided to relocate and leave their village so they can raise Dyesebel secretly and to avoid from angry mobs. Dyesebel met his guy Fredo who saved him when she was kidnapped.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEfreet (2022)
Sophia, who recently turned 10, is haunted by mysterious nightmares. In her nightmares, a girl named Selinka keeps appearing, showing her things about her mother Tina's past that she shouldn't know anything about. Tina thinks that her ex-husband Markus is secretly seeing Sophia, although he is not allowed to have any contact with her. But when one evening Sophia mentions the name "Efreet", Dana (a close friend of the little family) knows that they are dealing with evil forces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The tree children from Volo (1957)
In love with the village's belle, a passionate nineteen-year-old suitor from Volos and his two friends kidnap her in broad daylight; however, the police and a ruthless criminal are hot on their trail. Will the young lovers find happiness?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Simple Plan (1998)
Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQuadrophenia (1979)
Based on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job. While after, he shops for tailored suits and rides his scooter as part of the London Mod scene.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Jewel of the Nile (1985)
Joan Wilder is thrust back into a world of murder, chases, foreign intrigue... and love. This time out she's duped by a duplicitous Arab dignitary who brings her to the Middle East, ostensibly to write a book about his life. Of course, he's up to no good, and Joan is just another pawn in his wicked game. But Jack Colton and his sidekick Ralph show up to help our intrepid heroine save the day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Suzhou River?
The closest matches to Suzhou River are Untamed Heart (1993), Her Story (2024) and Fallen Angel (1945). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Suzhou River?
Start with Untamed Heart (1993), the closest match to Suzhou River.
What is the highest-rated movie like Suzhou River?
White Snake (2019), rated 7.7/10 by 582 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Suzhou River?
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Suzhou River?
Yes: Her Story (2024), Mountains May Depart (2015) and Return to Dust (2022).
How are movies similar to Suzhou River chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Suzhou River, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.