Movies like Polar Night (2023)
The best movies like Polar Night (2023) are Art School Confidential (2006), Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko's Lie (2019) and Persona3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth (2013). If Polar Night hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaprika (2006)7.8/10 from 3,059 votes
- NewestAll the Long Nights (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseLupin the IIIrd: Fujiko's Lie (2019)Also in Japanese
Art School Confidential (2006)
Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLupin the IIIrd: Fujiko's Lie (2019)
Fujiko Mine, the devastating femme fatale whose only loyalty is to her desire, befriends a young boy whose late father hid away a fortune. A killer is on the boy's trail and it's up to Fujiko to stop him: but where do her interests really lie?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPersona3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth (2013)
In the spring, male student Makoto Yuki transfers to Gekkoukan High School. However, as he heads to his new dormitory, listening to the music on his headphones, he is stopped. More precisely, time has stopped, and the people who were around him turn into coffins. Makoto learns that this period of time hidden between the minute of midnight is called the Dark Hour, a time when monsters called Shadows appear. Suddenly made the leader of his fellow classmates Yukari and Junpei by his upperclassmen Mitsuru and Akihiko, Makoto must learn empathy, his connection to his comrades, and the meaning of death. With the power of his Evoker aimed at his head he awakens a Persona and fights against the Shadows threatening to attack his world from the mysterious tower of Tartarus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter the Rain (2018)
Akira Tachibana is a soft-spoken high school student who used to be a part of the track and field club. Working part-time at a restaurant, she finds herself inexplicably falling in love with her manager, a divorced 45-year-old man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisK: Missing Kings (2014)
The "Academy Island Incident" in which four "kings" cross paths... Since then, Silver Clansmen Kuroh Yatogami and Neko have been searching for their master, Shiro. Without finding any clues to Shiro's whereabouts, the two became disheartened. However, one day, they see HOMRA members Rikio Kamamoto and Anna Kushina being chased by someone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOcean Waves (1993)
At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersona3 THE MOVIE #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream (2014)
After realizing the value of life and the importance of his own allies, Makoto finally got his smile back. He finds himself learning more about those comrades and getting closer to them. Makoto wishes that everything will continue just as they are. However, little by little, the pieces and people in Makoto's new, happy life begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove & Pop (1998)
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder - Part 1 (2007)
August 1995: Mikiya first meets Shiki in a white kimono during a snowing day. Later on, at the high school freshmen ceremony, Mikiya sees Shiki in the crowd and chases after her, introducing himself to her. But Shiki hides a big secret: A wave of bizarre murders occur around many loose ends, and no suspects. there are still many questions: Who to believe? Who is the murderer? What is the secret of Shiki? and especially: Who is SHIKI?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPremonition (2004)
While stopped at a roadside phone booth for transmitting his work through the Internet to the university, Professor Hideki Satomi finds a scrap of newspaper with the picture of his five-year-old daughter Nana in the obituary section.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Range Love (2014)
A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaprika (2006)
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder - Part 2 (2009)
In February 1999, a string of murders has Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou on edge. These crimes share a disturbing resemblance to a similar set of homicides from 1995, when Shiki and Mikiya first met, and awaken a dark, murderous desire that has laid dormant within Shiki's soul ever since then.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnmyoji (2001)
During a dark time in the Heian period, when evil forces threaten the kingdom, the emperor relies on the onmyōji to keep the supernatural forces in line. But as political events become highly charged, friction within the order leads to betrayal. Now, Seimei, a talented member of the clan, must face down his master, Dōson, in the hopes of restoring peace to the kingdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: The Disappearance of Conan Edogawa - The Worst Two Days in History (2015)
Conan Edogawa comes to a bathhouse with Ran Mouri and Ai Haibara. There, he sees suspicious men in the dressing room of the men's bath. However, Conan falls down in the bathhouse and loses consciousness. The two suspicious men, Tatsu and Kondo, take him away in a car. The two belong to the underworld and seem to be working at someone's request. Meanwhile, a woman named Kanae visits the Mouri Detective Agency to request an investigation into her husband's affair. She shows them a picture, and the husband in the picture is one of the culprits who kidnapped Conan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll the Long Nights (2024)
Misa, battling PMS and stigma, starts anew at Kurita Optics. Amidst work and sweets, she meets Takatoshi. Despite his quiet demeanor and struggle with panic attacks, a deep bond forms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (2003)
Mouri Kogoro is called to a special case in the ancient capital of Kyoto. There, Conan meets Heiji and they team up once again to solve the case, recover the stolen Healing Buddha statue, and even discover the identity of Heiji's first love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShara (2003)
The Aso family live in the old town of Nara. One Day, Kei, one of the Aso's twin boys suddenly disappears. Five years later seventeen-year old Shun, the remaining twin, is an art student. He now has to move forward with his life, together with his childhood friend, Yu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Polar Night?
The closest matches to Polar Night are Art School Confidential (2006), Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko's Lie (2019) and Persona3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth (2013). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Polar Night?
Start with Art School Confidential (2006), the closest match to Polar Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Polar Night?
Paprika (2006), rated 7.8/10 by 3,059 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Polar Night?
All the Long Nights (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Polar Night?
Yes: Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko's Lie (2019), Persona3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth (2013) and After the Rain (2018).
How are movies similar to Polar Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Polar Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.