Movies like Sand Chronicles (2008)
The best movies like Sand Chronicles (2008) are It Feels So Good (2019), The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) and Newness (2017). If Sand Chronicles 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 ratedGabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020)8.3/10 from 1,569 votes
- NewestYour Fault: London (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseIt Feels So Good (2019)Also in Japanese
It Feels So Good (2019)
When it rains it pours. Kenji divorced his wife, lost his job and his old squeeze Naoko is getting married back home in the north of Japan, specifically in Akita. He returns there in order to attend her wedding. Naoko surprises him by proposing that they have sex again. The one night stand is the new beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020)
Professor Gabriel Emerson finally learns the truth about Julia Mitchell's identity, but his realization comes a moment too late. Julia is done waiting for the well-respected Dante specialist to remember her and wants nothing more to do with him. Can Gabriel win back her heart before she finds love in another's arms?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
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 thisLove Me Love Me (2026)
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRevenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019)
Rei is a college student in the midst of finding a job. She confesses her love to Mikio, a senior whom she admires. Mikio soon demands that she perform perverted acts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHis Motorbike, Her Island (1986)
Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city wandering the Japanese countryside, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. When Miyo proves herself a biker prodigy, Ko begins to fear she's destined to crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisMy Tomorrow, Your Yesterday (2016)
Takatoshi Minamiyama majors in art at an university in Kyoto. On the train to the school, he sees Emi Fukuju and falls in love with her at first sight. Gathering up all his courage, he speaks to her. They begin to date and enjoy happy days together, but Emi reveals her secret to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSay 'I Love You' (2014)
Mei Tachibana is a high school student. Due to a traumatic incident when she was a kid, Mei has been unable to make friends or have boyfriends. By mistake, Mei then injures the most popular male student named Yamato Kurosawa. Somehow, Yamato Kurosawa likes Mei Tachibana and tells everyone unilaterally that Mei is his friend. One day, Yamato Kurosawa saves Mei Tachibana from a stalker by kissing her. From that kiss, their love story begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPride and Prejudice (1940)
In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSylvie's Love (2020)
When a young woman meets an aspiring saxophonist in her father’s record shop in 1950s Harlem, their love ignites a sweeping romance that transcends changing times, geography, and professional success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisStrobe Edge (2015)
Ninako Kinoshita has never been in love until an encounter with the school's most popular boy, Ren Ichinose, leads the two to befriending each other. Ren's patient and kind personality is a far cry from his unapproachable idol status at school, and soon Ninako falls in love with him. However, she must cope with the fact that he already has a long-time girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Fault: London (2026)
Nick and Noah are both embarking on life-changing adventures that are threatening to pull them apart—Nick in business with his father and Noah starting a fresh chapter at Oxford University. Now living separate lives, and meeting new people, they find themselves entangled in temptations, rivalries, and betrayals and their bond is tested like never before. As secrets unravel and temptation rises, they must fight to hold onto each other—or risk losing everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUndead Lovers (2024)
Rino believes that "the man of her destiny" is Jun who always disappears from her whenever she feels their love for each other. In their lifetime, they meet many times and Rino is 100% focused on him every time. These encounters and separations are repeated in many circumstances. What could be the miraculous result of her persistent love for him?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
What Did You Eat Yesterday? New Year's Special 2020 (2020)
One day, Shiro's all-time favorite idol Mami Mitsuya suddenly appears right in front of him! Even though this meeting left him excited, his partner Kenji ends up unhappy. Moreover, the appearance of a new partner and Shiro's work situation have led to the relationship between the two changing...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Blue Thermal (2022)
Tamaki becomes a captive of the vast beauty of the skies from the moment Kuramochi takes her under his wing and up for a flight in a glider.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
An Indivisible Heaven (1985)
Noel struggles to accept his father's remarriage to Agnes and the arrival of his step-sister, Melody. The two grow up harboring a bitter hatred for each other. When their parents die, Noel becomes Melody's legal guardian, much to her dismay. Later, each now married, the two become business partners and eventually grow closer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Kids on the Slope (2018)
Two different students—a successful but aloof academic and a rebellious but kindhearted delinquent—form a friendship through their love of jazz music.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)
As Frank Castle searches for meaning beyond revenge, an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNoise (2022)
Shishikari is a remote island, which is behind the times. The island suffers from a decreasing population and declining industries. Keita Izumi (Tatsuya Fujiwara) begins to produce black fig on Shishikari Island. Because of his well received product, the island is close to receiving a 5 billion yen grant from the government, which is part of the goverment's policy to reinvigorate rural economy. The residents of the island are excited, but their peaceful days changes by the appearance of Mutsuo Komisaka. Keita Izumi and his friends Jun Tanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) and Rookie Police Officer Shinichiro Moriya are suspicious about him. One night, Keita Izumi's daughter goes missing. Due to that, Keita Izumi, Jun Tanabe and Shinichiro Moriya happen to kill Mutsuo Komisaka. They decide to hide Mutsuo Komisaka’s murder to protect the future of the island and their families. It turns out Mutsuo Komisaka was a psycho killer. Police officers come to Shishikari Island to catch Mutsuo Komisaka.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A-Girl (1993)
Sisters Mariko and May, along with Mariko's bad-tempered boyfriend, become involved with Ichiro, an arrogant, womanising male model.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Fairy King (1988)
Jack has moved to Hokkaido to get treatment for an illness, but he's lonely and unhappy. One night a man on a horse rides through his window to help him. For a reason he doesn't understand, Jack instantly knows the man's name and feels they've met somewhere before. The man, Cu Chulainn, tells Jack to open the moonlight shadow window, which leads him to Nymphidia, the world of Midsummer Night's Dream, whose inhabitants are waiting for a new Fairy King.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Chinpira (2000)
Osamu rescues a girl who was being chased by two punks and is soon mixed up with the Yakuza
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Sand Chronicles and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sand Chronicles?
The closest matches to Sand Chronicles are It Feels So Good (2019), The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) and Newness (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sand Chronicles?
Start with It Feels So Good (2019), the closest match to Sand Chronicles.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sand Chronicles?
Gabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020), rated 8.3/10 by 1,569 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sand Chronicles?
Your Fault: London (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Sand Chronicles?
Yes: It Feels So Good (2019), Revenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019) and His Motorbike, Her Island (1986).
How are movies similar to Sand Chronicles chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sand Chronicles, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.