Movies like Drawing Days (2015)
The best movies like Drawing Days (2015) are Hungry Hearts (2015), The Truth About Emanuel (2013) and El Chicano (2019). If Drawing Days hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCharm City Kings (2020)7.8/10 from 508 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
- In JapanesePassion (2008)Also in Japanese
Hungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Experiment (2010)
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPassion (2008)
A young couple's announcement of their engagement to their friends is followed by a series of interactions and conflicts that forces everyone to reflect on their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Sister's Secret (2018)
Twin sisters secretly swap places on their thirtieth birthday. The harmless prank becomes a nightmare when one of them is murdered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHanzo, the Razor (1993)
During Tenpo period, Bakuhu announced a law regulating expenditures in order to improve the financial situation. However, Doshin of a government office Itami Hanzo, called Kamisori Hanzo, challenged Bakuhu's oppressive way. Because of this, his father Magobei was told to kill himself by the Bakuhu and Hanzo himself was demoted. Five years later, Hanzo came back to the government office and implement a law regulating expenditures. He stands up for revenge Torii Kainokami who desires power as he likes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kōsoku o Oritara (2024)
A silly and serious midnight road TV movie produced by NHK.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Love Comes Softly (2003)
Nineteen year old pioneer woman Marty has recently married. She goes west with her husband Clem, hoping to start a new life. But Clem unexpectedly dies, and Marty finds herself alone, two months pregnant. Widower Clark offers her a marriage of convenience: she needs food and money, and he needs someone to take care of his daughter Missie. She accepts his proposal as a temporary solution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPygmalion (1948)
Can Professor Higgins transform flower-girl Eliza Dolittle into a great lady?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Duel in the Forbidden Territory (1983)
The wandering swordsman, Ino Heihachiro, defeats Ichima, the youngest of the famed swordsmanship trio, the Nikis, but sustains an injury. In the mountains of Tohoku, he is aided by a young boy named Shosuke. Heihachiro finds refuge in the home of the boy's parents, Magoichi and Shino, only to discover that Magoichi was a skilled ninja from Koga. The peaceful days with the family are short-lived as Ichima, bent on revenge, along with his brothers Kurodo and Ryuma, pursue Heihachiro. Heihachiro and Magoichi head towards the duel's location, but the village headman, Seibei, blinded by the allure of gold dust in the mountains, abducts Shino...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tokugawa Ieyasu: The Conqueror of Japan (1992)
The life story of Japan’s greatest leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose shogunate ruled the nation for almost 300 years has never been told like this before. From the early days as a supporter of Imagawa Yoshimoto, then on to his days with Oda Nobunaga, leading to his wars against and ultimate victory over the Toyotomi to become shogun is a fascinating tale of his military genius coupled with a native intelligence that allowed him to become the last of the great warlords and ultimately the leader of the nation. With great performances from an all-star cast featuring names like Kitaoji Kinya and Takahashi Hideki this is history come to life on the screen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Retired Samurai (1987)
Japan's greatest jidaigeki star, Mifune Toshiro is Shogun's Advisor Okubo Hikozaemon who must be coaxed out of retirement to save Shogun Iemitsu from danger. The elderly Hikozaemon has been belittled of late and has seemingly lost the will to live, much less the desire to assert himself and make Iemitsu listen to reason. The plot thickens when a lovely young woman enters the picture. Can she change Hikozaemon's mind, and thus alter the path of Japanese history? No longer a young man, can Hikozaemon gain the shogun's ear, and succeed in warning him of the evil plot to overthrow him?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Branded Female Convicts (1984)
In an Edo-era women's prison, Ochiyo manages to escape execution during a fire and becomes determined to seek revenge against her harsh jailers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kasajiro: Truncheon versus Sword (1982)
A series of murders at Fukagawa lumberyard is tied to a grudge letter from the deceased Kansuke Tsukunamiya. Officer Kasajiro Sakane investigates the baffling case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Saint Paul (2000)
A biblical epic from the Book of Acts and Paul's epistles covering his conversion from Saul of Tarsus to his ministry to the Gentiles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Drawing Days?
The closest matches to Drawing Days are Hungry Hearts (2015), The Truth About Emanuel (2013) and El Chicano (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Drawing Days?
Start with Hungry Hearts (2015), the closest match to Drawing Days.
What is the highest-rated movie like Drawing Days?
Charm City Kings (2020), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Drawing Days?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Drawing Days?
Yes: Passion (2008), Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974) and Hanzo, the Razor (1993).
How are movies similar to Drawing Days chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Drawing Days, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.