Movies like Empty Room (2001)
The best movies like Empty Room (2001) are One Million Yen Girl (2008), Effie Gray (2014) and Hounddog (2008). If Empty Room hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 465 votes
- NewestThe Enforcer (2022)Released 2022
- In JapaneseOne Million Yen Girl (2008)Also in Japanese
One Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisIntentions of Murder (1964)
The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisXiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDream Lover (1994)
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisShirley (2020)
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRepast (1951)
In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFemale Yakuza Tale (1973)
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBruised (2021)
Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Decadence (1992)
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Only Living Boy in New York (2017)
When a young man learns that his overbearing father is having an affair, he tries to stop it, only to be seduced by the older woman as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAng Kapitbahay (2003)
Paula and Edmund are peacefully married until she meets Nicanor, a composer who happens to be their neighbor. Edmund feels troubled after seeing Paula seeing interest in Nicanor. Could it be that Nicanor is the man who will destroy their lives?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kiskisan (2003)
Jojo grew in the house of his wicked Lola Susana who never taught him to be a rightful person. He became an image of his grandmother--- deceitful, arrogant and very greedy. He intentionally destroys the lives of his brothers and his sister without knowing that his own actions leads to his own downfall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Young Lady (2015)
Joon-seok and Soo-yeon are 3 years married. They are happy but have no child and are slightly tired of each other. A female friend from Japan visits them and stays with them for a month. That's when things happen. The friend is an AV Idol who Joon-seok has always been a fan of. Hitomi is sleeping on his sofa!!!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Revenge Porn: Love Is Dead (2015)
A female office worker grows tired of her popular and attractive colleague's office affairs, and releases explicit footage of her as revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Housekeeper - My Wife's Friend (2019)
Mi-jeong works in a company and she's an elegant and formal elite career woman. Hyeon-seok, her husband, is proud of her and loves her, but he's submissive to her at night, so some times he flinches when she even steps close to him. Hyeon-seok is close to his little brother, Hyeon-soo, and they start a useless talk about the housekeeper that moves in with them. Then one day the housekeeper, Se-hee, tells him to 'keep the secret or make up a secret...' and he falls into confusion and indecisiveness. Hyeon-seok and Hyeon-soo don't dream for a second that his wife has plans up her sleeve and they end up in a very strange situation...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Young Wife (2016)
Jong-hwan's friend's daughter Seong-hye moves into his house. She messes up the house and drinks with her friends and even has sex with men in the house. One day, Jong-hwan ends up comforting Seong-hye who broke up with her boyfriend. They spend more time together and become dependent on each other. Afterwards, they fall for each other more than they should...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Condition of a Mom: Sugar Mom (2019)
It's hard to believe Hee-jeong is old enough to have a son (Seong-bin) in university. She needs some kind of stimulant in life, so she starts meetings under conditions. Yeon-hee, Hee-jeong's friend who runs a café, is a killer for younger men. Hee-jeong sends her son Seong-bin to work in Yeon-hee's café... Yeon-hee thinks of her friend's son as meat... Hee-jeong ends up meeting with her son's friend and fate decides to play a game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Young Widow (2019)
Saryu runs a bar, and after her husband's death she ends up with his friend Tanaka, who was by her side to comfort her all along. Then one day, a Korean man named Min-gyu comes to the bar, and Saryu feels like she can open up to him, because he looks just like her late husband, Haruto. Min-gyu goes to her house one day and understands why she likes him after seeing Haruto's picture, and feels dear for her. Meanwhile, Tanaka, who is currently with Saryu, desires perverted things from Yui, who works at the bar... He tells her he killed his friend Haruto to have his wife. Yui takes revenge on Tanaka, as she thinks fondly of Saryu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Next Door Wife (2019)
Soo-jeong is from an ordinary family and moved to Seoul in her mid 20s to start working. She balanced office work and instructing yoga, and 3 years ago she married her husband, whom a student introduced her to. However, her husband starts verbally abusing her, and her cheerful personality hits rock bottom. After witnessing her husband's affair, she asks for divorce and she has to watch him be with someone else every night. She feels like killing herself every day. Then she meets Joo-hyeong, the man who lives upstairs...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Noraebang: Hot Women 2 (2019)
The special secret to a successful noraebang is revealed! The noraebang where Hee-jin works is for customers who want a call-girl. When they start turning around and leaving, Hee-jin decides to become a call-girl herself and even brings her friend Seong-hee in. Rumors of Hee-jin and Seong-hee's beauty and service quickly spread and more customers come. When they've made enough money, Hee-jin and Seong-hee decide to open their own noraebang and display a hidden special service.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Empty Room and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Empty Room?
The closest matches to Empty Room are One Million Yen Girl (2008), Effie Gray (2014) and Hounddog (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Empty Room?
Start with One Million Yen Girl (2008), the closest match to Empty Room.
What is the highest-rated movie like Empty Room?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 465 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Empty Room?
The Enforcer (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Empty Room?
Yes: One Million Yen Girl (2008), Intentions of Murder (1964) and Repast (1951).
How are movies similar to Empty Room chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Empty Room, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.