Movies like Breaking with Old Ideas (1975)
The best movies like Breaking with Old Ideas (1975) are Sight (2023), One Second (2020) and Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998). If Breaking with Old Ideas hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMillennium Actress (2002)7.9/10 from 1,112 votes
- NewestJESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away) (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseOne Second (2020)Also in Chinese
Sight (2023)
Ming Wang is an impoverished Chinese prodigy who flees Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. When tasked with restoring the sight of an orphan in India, who was blinded by her stepmother, Wang must confront the trauma of living through the violent uprising in his youth, the Cultural Revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Second (2020)
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
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 thisYouth (2017)
A group of performing art troupe members each face their own trials and tribulations in Chengdu; from escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisEscape from Pretoria (2020)
South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlatform (2001)
China’s rapid changes from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, as seen through the lives of four performers in a theater troupe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSo Long, My Son (2019)
Two married couples adjust to the vast social and economic changes taking place in China from the 1980s to the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Dreams in China (2013)
Three Chinese friends build a successful English language school to help Chinese teenagers fulfil their dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUpstream (2024)
A moment of impulsiveness turns Gao Zhilei into a "stay-at-home" individual, but he never expected his life to take a turn in the opposite direction. A series of changes compel him to take on his responsibilities as the head of the family. When life's burdens hit hard, he must confront himself and start anew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaught by the Tides (2024)
Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.
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 thisBack to Back, Face to Face (1994)
Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Blue Kite (1994)
A young man recalls his childhood growing up in a poor alley in Beijing during the 1950s and 1960s.
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 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 thisCorto Maltese: The Secret Court of the Arcane (2002)
At the end of 1918 while civil war is raging on in Russia, antagonism is slowly spreading to the East, between the Oral mountains and Shanghai. Stuck between a desire to save what's left of the great Imperial Russia, and starting from a clean slate, old generals, secret organizations, and mercenaries attracted by gold, struggle to take advantage of the events. As Corto Maltese returns to Shanghai, he barely gets time to cross paths with his old friend/nemesis Rasputin, and escape a murder attempt before being contacted by members of a Chinese secret organization called "The Red Lanterns". In the heart of violent Manchurian horizons, Corto and Rasputin launch themselves into a fabulous treasure hunt, following the tracks of the mysterious armor-plated train of Kolchak. A steel monster spiked with canons and machine guns, this trains protects the counter-revolutionaries gold...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away) (2025)
North Carolina, 1971. When his community is ravaged by inexplicable disappearances, a reverend uncovers an extraterrestrial explanation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Yakiniku Dragon (2018)
Set in the 1970's in the Kansai region of Japan.. Yong-Gil is Korean, but he moved to Japan and settled down. He runs a small restaurant named Yakiniku Dragon. He is married and has three daughters: oldest daughter Jung-Hwa, middle daughter Yi-Hwa and youngest daughter Mi-Hwa. Oldest daughter Jung-Hwa is dating Tetsuo, but they break up. Middle daughter Yi-Hwa loves Tetsuo and marries him, but Tetsuo still loves her older sister and they divorce. Youngest daughter Mi-Hwa wants to become a singer, but she is in love with a married man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Water Margin (1972)
The corruption in the Sung Dynasty of 11th century China is so rampant that it inspires a band of Oriental Robin Hoods - the Honorable 108. Mountain bandits who nevertheless live by a scrupulous code of conduct, the Honorable 108 pledge to end the repression of the brutal overlords.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Penguin Lessons (2025)
In 1976, as Argentina descends into violence and chaos, a world-weary English teacher regains his compassion for others thanks to an unlikely friendship with a penguin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Curtain Closes (2012)
During a robbery attempt at the local cinema-plex in 1977, Shawn Davis reflects on the last three years of his life. Movies, cars, girls, college, drugs and personal life-changing decisions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Millennium Actress (2002)
Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBorder (1997)
Amidst the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a company of 120 Indian soldiers stationed at the border region of Longewala in Rajasthan must defend their post through the night against two thousand Pakistani troops armed with tanks. Based on the true events of the Battle of Longewala.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Old Daze (1995)
Ten years after their Upper Sixth, Bruno, Momo, Leon and Alain meet together in the waiting room of a maternity hospital. The father of the awaited baby is Tomasi, their best friend at that time, who died one month before due to an overdose. They remember their teenage, their laughs, their dreams, their stupid pranks... a description of the French youth in the middle of the seventies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisComrade Pedersen (2006)
A drama focused on Norwegian society in the 1970s, an era politically influenced by Marxism and Leninism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Breaking with Old Ideas?
The closest matches to Breaking with Old Ideas are Sight (2023), One Second (2020) and Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Breaking with Old Ideas?
Start with Sight (2023), the closest match to Breaking with Old Ideas.
What is the highest-rated movie like Breaking with Old Ideas?
Millennium Actress (2002), rated 7.9/10 by 1,112 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Breaking with Old Ideas?
JESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away) (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Breaking with Old Ideas?
Yes: One Second (2020), Youth (2017) and Buddha Mountain (2011).
How are movies similar to Breaking with Old Ideas chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Breaking with Old Ideas, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.