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Movies like Where the White Cranes Dance (2024)

The best movies like Where the White Cranes Dance (2024) are I Am David (2003), Lost on a Mountain in Maine (2024) and White Water Summer (1987). If Where the White Cranes Dance hooked you with its adventure and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. I Am David (2003)

    A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure

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  2. Lost on a Mountain in Maine (2024)

    When twelve-year-old Donn Fendler gets tired of waiting for his father and brothers to join him on the summit of Maine's highest peak, he decides to find his own way back to camp. But Donn doesn't count on a fast-moving fog that obscures the path. He doesn't count on falling down an embankment that hides him from sight. And he doesn't count on taking a turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nearly two weeks in the empty mountain wilderness.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  3. White Water Summer (1987)

    When the experienced guide Vic accompanies the city boy Alan and his three friends on their first wilderness experience, he not only hopes to teach the four boys lessons about the wilderness, but about themselves. Vic pushes them to the limit. Soon after alienating the boys, Vic finds himself in desperate need of help and must rely on his students in order to survive.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  4. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

    Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe—for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack—temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure

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  5. Into the Wild (2007)

    After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  6. Wildlike (2015)

    Fourteen-year-old Mackenzie is sent to live with her uncle in Juneau when her mother can’t care for her anymore. The living situation quickly takes a turn for the worse, and she runs away to rejoin her mother in Seattle. While on her dangerous journey of sleeping in cars and breaking into hotel rooms, she’s drawn to Rene, a lonesome backpacker looking for tranquility in the wilderness.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  7. Walkabout (1971)

    Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  8. Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)

    Teenager Angus adopts a stray dog and names him Yellow. Several days later, while travelling along the coast of British Columbia with Angus's father, John, the boy and dog become stranded when turbulent waters capsize their boat. Angus's parents relentlessly badger rescue teams. Angus, schooled by his father in wilderness survival skills, and assisted by the intelligent Yellow Dog, tries to attract rescuers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  9. Cave Rescue (2019)

    When a youth football team of 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach is trapped deep inside a cave in Northern Thailand, thousands of volunteers and soldiers from around the world unite in a race against time to find them.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  10. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)

    A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

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  11. The High and the Mighty (1954)

    Dan Roman is a veteran pilot haunted by a tragic past. Now relegated to second-in-command cockpit assignments he finds himself on a routine Honolulu-to-San Francisco flight that takes a terrifying turn when disaster strikes high above the Pacific Ocean after the point of no return.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama

  12. Chernobyl: Abyss (2021)

    The aftermath of a shocking explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station made hundreds of people sacrifice their lives to clean up the site of the catastrophe and to successfully prevent an even bigger disaster that could have turned a large part of the European continent into an uninhabitable exclusion zone. This is their story.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  13. Hereafter (2010)

    Three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — are touched by death in different ways.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  14. Remember (2015)

    With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. The Lovely Bones (2009)

    After being brutally murdered, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches from heaven over her grief-stricken family -- and her killer. As she observes their daily lives, she must balance her thirst for revenge with her desire for her family to heal.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. The Starling (2021)

    A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  17. The Caveman's Valentine (2001)

    Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  18. Invasion (2020)

    Two years after the fall of the alien ship, the life of a young woman from Moscow has been changed forever. Her growing powers are now at the focus of both human and celestial investigation: an alien force takes an interest in her, and will stop short of nothing, including an invasion. Can love and compassion save humanity, when faced with a much greater and more demanding test this time?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  19. Brand Upon the Brain! (2007)

    After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  20. Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit (2010)

    Jack Hunter, an adventurous treasure seeker, goes to Syria after his mentor and father figure Professor Fredrick Shaffer is killed. Professor Frederick Shaffer believed that the people of Ugarit, a town in Syria that existed during the Pharoah’s reign, had buried a treasure before they were wiped out by the Pharoahs. Jack Hunter is one of the few archaeologists in the world who can interpret Ugarit writings

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure

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  21. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

    When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  22. Pandora's Box (1929)

    The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  23. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  24. American Graffiti (1973)

    A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  25. Antonia's Line (1995)

    After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  26. Whale Rider (2003)

    A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Māori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  27. Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006)

    A 19-year-old searches for her twin brother after he runs away from home, following a fight with their father.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  28. The Dreamers (2003)

    When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  29. Sex and Lucía (2001)

    Lucía is a young waitress in Madrid who seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island after the loss of her longtime boyfriend. Amidst the fresh air, dazzling sun, and glistening deep blue water, Lucía begins to piece together the dark corners of her past relationship.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  30. Monster's Ball (2001)

    A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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Like Where the White Cranes Dance and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Where the White Cranes Dance?

The closest matches to Where the White Cranes Dance are I Am David (2003), Lost on a Mountain in Maine (2024) and White Water Summer (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Where the White Cranes Dance?

Start with I Am David (2003), the closest match to Where the White Cranes Dance.

What is the highest-rated movie like Where the White Cranes Dance?

Into the Wild (2007), rated 7.8/10 by 10,473 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Where the White Cranes Dance?

Lost on a Mountain in Maine (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Where the White Cranes Dance chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Where the White Cranes Dance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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