Movies like SAYANG (2026)
The best movies like SAYANG (2026) are The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), Nine Lives (2005) and Return to Dust (2022). If SAYANG hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseReturn to Dust (2022)Also in Chinese
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Dust (2022)
Humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage. They have to combine their strength and build a home to survive. In the face of much adversity, an unexpected bond begins to blossom, as both Ma and Cao, uniting with Earth's cycles, create a haven for themselves in which they can thrive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHer Story (2024)
Wang Tiemei, a single mother, loses her job and moves, befriending neighbor Xiaoye who appears cheerful but is depressed. Their bond grows as Tiemei navigates relationships with her ex-husband causing trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Can't Think Straight (2008)
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThat Day, on the Beach (1983)
Two friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reunite. One is a successful concert pianist just back from a European tour and the other has just started a new business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMountains May Depart (2015)
The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe History of Love (2016)
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRip Girls (2000)
A teen-age girl and her father come to an island on Hawaii, they find a closer relationship to each other and think about changing the island. During her adventures, Sydney finds friends, a new hobby with her fantastic photography, and the truth about her mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Dog (2024)
Released from jail, Lang returns to his hometown in Northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new journey together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisBuddha Mountain (2011)
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeparate Tables (1958)
The lives of a disparate group of unfulfilled people converge at a small, seaside English hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoyfriends (1996)
Paul, Matt, and Will (in their 30s) have been friends for years. They converge at the seaside for the weekend, each with a boyfriend in tow. Paul is with Ben, his companion of five years: their relationship is on the rocks after months of Paul's moodiness since his brother Mark died. Matt brings Owen, whom he's dated for three months and wants to live with; to everyone else, they seem singularly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Starting his new job as an instructor at a New England school for the deaf, James Leeds meets Sarah Norman, a young deaf woman who works at the school as a member of the custodial staff. In spite of Sarah's withdrawn emotional state, a romance slowly develops between the pair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOcean Likes Me (Movie) (2022)
'Ocean Like Me' is a healing food romance between Han Ba Da, a young entrepreneur who dreams of starting an udon restaurant with a beach in the background but finds serving customers difficult. Ba Da then meets Tommy, a failed musician who returns to his hometown after wandering and has a new dream. Together, both of them step towards their dreams.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
See You (2024)
After his suicide, a teen ghost contacts his classmate through sign language, revealing the queer love and pain they were never allowed to voice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Moriqueta (2024)
Lucas is a 19 years old deaf animator who explores life through his sketchbook. He encounters a handsome young man at his favorite library, leading him to seek a creative way to communicate with him. He chooses to set aside his beliefs and insecurities to ask him out on a date.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
The Romantics (2010)
Alliances are tested when seven college pals reunite to watch two of their own say “I do” at a seaside wedding. But the maid of honor and the groom share a passionate history, and the bride isn’t the only one who’s wondering if it’s all in the past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeach Boys Special (1998)
Sakurai Hiromi (Sorimachi Takashi) and Suzuki Kaito (Takenouchi Yutaka) leave Diamond Head behind in search of "my ocean." Three months later, the two coincidentally find themselves staying on the same southern island overseas. Hiromi is in charge of the poolside bar at a large hotel, dating the heiress there, and living a glamorous life. Kaito works for a marine biologist, transporting dolphins to a landlocked country, living a wild life. When Kaito's work takes him to the island as well, they run into each other by chance. The two feel something is off about who they are now. Where is their "true ocean"? Makoto and Haruko now run the B&B back in Japan. One day, they win a trip to the island which will make the reunion complete.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Running Without Sound (2004)
Sean is deaf, a high school student and a cross country runner. He's also a closeted gay teenager who's just coming to terms with his sexuality and his attraction to a fellow team-mate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Project X (1987)
A young inductee into the military is given the task of looking after some chimpanzees used in the mysterious 'Project X'. Getting to know the chimps fairly well, he begins to suspect there is more to the secret project than he is being told.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like SAYANG?
The closest matches to SAYANG are The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), Nine Lives (2005) and Return to Dust (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after SAYANG?
Start with The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), the closest match to SAYANG.
What is the highest-rated movie like SAYANG?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like SAYANG?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like SAYANG?
Yes: Return to Dust (2022), Her Story (2024) and That Day, on the Beach (1983).
How are movies similar to SAYANG chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside SAYANG, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.