Movies like The Japanese Dog (2013)
The best movies like The Japanese Dog (2013) are Hoovey (2015), Love at First Sight (2023) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). If The Japanese Dog hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLove at First Sight (2023)7.2/10 from 748 votes
- NewestMy Mother's Wedding (2025)Released 2025
Hoovey (2015)
The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove at First Sight (2023)
Hadley and Oliver begin falling in love on a flight from New York to London, but when they lose each other at customs, can they defy all odds to reunite?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharlie St. Cloud (2010)
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. After high school classmate Tess returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring a promise he made four years earlier and moving forward with newfound love. As he finds the courage to let go of the past for good, Charlie discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Count of Monte-Cristo (1975)
Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Mother's Wedding (2025)
Three sisters return to their home for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. But the mother and daughters are forced to revisit the past and confront the future, with help from a colorful group of unexpected wedding guests.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sense of an Ending (2017)
A man becomes haunted by his past and is presented with a mysterious legacy that causes him to re-think his current situation in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPororoca (2018)
Cristina and Tudor have founded a happy family with their two children, Maria and Ilie. They are in their thirties and live an ordinary life in a nice apartment in a Romanian town, but one Sunday morning when Tudor takes his kids to the park, Maria disappears. Their lives abruptly change forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQueen Bees (2021)
Helen is an independent widow who moves into the Pine Grove Senior Community and discovers it’s just like high school – full of cliques and flirtatious suitors. What she initially avoids leads her to exactly what she has been missing: new friendships and a chance at love again with newcomer Dan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeparture (2016)
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoal! (2005)
Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bachelors (2017)
After the early death of his wife, a mourning father moves with his teenage son across the country for a private school teaching job. Their lives begin to transform due to two unique women, who help them embrace life and love again
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisObsession (1976)
A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
The original '70s TV family is now placed in the 1990s, where they're even more square and out of place than ever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJumper (2008)
David Rice is a man who knows no boundaries, a Jumper, born with the uncanny ability to teleport instantly to anywhere on Earth. When he discovers others like himself, David is thrust into a dangerous and bloodthirsty war while being hunted by a sinister and determined group of zealots who have sworn to destroy all Jumpers. Now, David’s extraordinary gift may be his only hope for survival!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDad (1989)
A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoll Flanders (1996)
The daughter of a thief, young Moll is placed in the care of a nunnery after the execution of her mother. However, the actions of an abusive priest lead Moll to rebel as a teenager, escaping to the dangerous streets of London. Further misfortunes drive her to accept a job as a prostitute from the conniving Mrs. Allworthy. It is there that Moll first meets Hibble, who is working as Allworthy's servant but takes a special interest in the young woman's well-being. With his help, she retains hope for the future, ultimately falling in love with an unconventional artist who promises the possibility of romantic happiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
When a celebrated TV show host returns to his hometown in the South, his family is there to remind him that going home is no vacation!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Japanese Dog?
The closest matches to The Japanese Dog are Hoovey (2015), Love at First Sight (2023) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Japanese Dog?
Start with Hoovey (2015), the closest match to The Japanese Dog.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Japanese Dog?
Love at First Sight (2023), rated 7.2/10 by 748 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Japanese Dog?
My Mother's Wedding (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Japanese Dog chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Japanese Dog, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.