Movies like Shine (2024)
The best movies like Shine (2024) are Thread of Lies (2014), Canola (2016) and Eleanor the Great (2025). If Shine hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHere (2024)6.5/10 from 739 votes
- NewestNowhere to Lay My Eyes (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanThread of Lies (2014)Also in Korean
Thread of Lies (2014)
Cheon-ji's unexpected suicide causes her mother Hyeon-sook and older sister Man-ji to be moved into another apartment. Tracking down clues from school, Man-ji discovers that Cheon-ji's best friend Hwa-yeon is behind everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCanola (2016)
A girl who went missing after an accident returns 10 years later and reunites with her grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle: Letters to the President (2021)
Dreaming of making a way station for his sister and the villagers who have no choice but to commute along the dangerous train tracks every day, Joon-kyung sends many letters to the President, but with no reply. Ra-hee, who has a crush on Joon-kyung, does everything she can to help him meet the President.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTake Care of My Cat (2001)
When one girl from five close school friends moves to Seoul after school is over, the other four try and deal with the loss of her moving and them drifting apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Con Artists (2014)
A wily safecracker is forced to help a mob boss pull off a $150 million heist, but smells a double-cross in the works.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember (2022)
Pil-ju, an Alzheimer's patient in his 80s, who lost all his family during the Japanese colonial era, and devotes his lifelong revenge before his memories disappear, and a young man in his 20s who helps him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Question of Faith (2017)
When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAloners (2021)
Jina is the top employee at a credit card company call center. She avoids building close relationships, choosing instead to live and work alone – until she is suddenly tasked with training a new recruit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Front of Your Face (2021)
She has never lived in a high-rise apartment, and she wonders how her sister can live at this height every day. A few days ago she kind of burst in to stay with her sister, and she is now becoming re-accustomed to life in Korea. While seeming to keep a grave secret to herself, she manages life one day at a time with a sense of mindfulness. Meanwhile a certain director, some years younger than her, has asked her to join his project, and after a polite refusal, they have agreed to meet for the first time today. Downtown Seoul is filled with narrow alleys that harbor tiny old bars, and that's where they meet. As they are getting drunk, there is sudden rainfall and thunder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2037 (2022)
Yoon-young, a 19-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a civil servant, is framed as a murderer and imprisoned in a women's prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPpong ddol (2011)
Seong-pil, an actor, is traveling through Jeju Island when he sees an ad looking for actors. He follows the ad that leads him to Pong-ddol. The film captures their sincerity without losing the humor. What does film and life mean to you?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cave (2022)
Min-hee, who faces many changes after losing her husband. After her husband's sudden death, Min-hee visits Jeju Island, where her husband had always yearned and experiences a whirlwind of emotions. Mok-ha, a single mom living in Jeju Island, becomes a neighbor to Min-hee who comes down from Seoul and causes various emotional changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Time to Be Strong (2024)
Three retired K-pop idols take a trip to Jeju Island. After failed careers and missed school trips, they finally have the time to go on a trip on their own. On their first day on the island, things start to go awry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eomung (2019)
This is the story of Sook-ja (Moon Hee-kyung), a female diver in the beautiful Jeju Islands who has lived a tough life, and her childish son Yool (Yeon Joon). Young man Yool dreams of becoming a writer. One day he discovers his mother, Sook-ja, has terminal cancer, but she refuses to get treated and continues diving in the water. Yool gives up his dreams as a writer and goes to his brother-in-law to ask for a job just so he can change his mother's mind. One evening, Yool comes home drunk and upset. Sook-ja can't bear the sudden pain and wakes up her drunken son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Poet and the Boy (2017)
Trapped in routine, a Jeju poet finds himself drawn to a boy—and to emotions he’s never dared name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hallan (2025)
In 1948, as Jeju Island is swallowed by state violence, a 6-year-old girl wanders the forests beneath Hallasan, robbed of her voice. Her mother, A-jin, searches for her through a treacherous landscape where soldiers are ruthlessly crushing opposition to the country's partition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like You Know It All (2009)
A South Korean art house film director is first invited to serve on the panel of a film festival, then to guest lecture at a film school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (2026)
With her brother, Sanghee visits her mother on Jeju Island. It’s been 10 years. Her mother's restaurant has become a hit. Her stepfather is making a film about a "grass tomb". His daughter has just started painting. Previously unknown facts, needless advice and cheap compliments are passed back and forth. On the morning of her departure, the other family members watch one of Sanghee's films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hear me (2018)
Yu-jeong who works golf practice is in her late twenties. One day, she receive the shocking news that Sang-ho who is only family and one young brother deserted from his regiment...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sumbisori (2025)
Hae-jin, 29, struggles to adapt to life in Seoul and returns to her hometown of Jeju. There, she reunites with her mother, Ok-ran, and her grandmother, Kang-ja, who has spent her life as a haenyeo. Hae-jin decides to become a haenyeo, but Ok-ran strongly opposes it. The conflict between them intensifies, while Kang-ja is diagnosed with dementia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shine?
The closest matches to Shine are Thread of Lies (2014), Canola (2016) and Eleanor the Great (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shine?
Start with Thread of Lies (2014), the closest match to Shine.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shine?
Here (2024), rated 6.5/10 by 739 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shine?
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Shine?
Yes: Thread of Lies (2014), Canola (2016) and Miracle: Letters to the President (2021).
How are movies similar to Shine chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shine, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.