Movies like Song of the Phoenix (2016)
The best movies like Song of the Phoenix (2016) are One Second (2020), Caught by the Tides (2024) and Gigi & Nate (2022). If Song of the Phoenix hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTo Live (1994)8.3/10 from 440 votes
- NewestParis Paris (2026)Released 2026
- In ChineseOne Second (2020)Also in Chinese
One 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 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 thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2020)
In the Chinese town of Fuyang, four brothers go about their day-to-day lives, their destinies shaped by love and challenges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Carpetbaggers (1964)
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLighting Up the Stars (2022)
Having been released after serving his sentence, a funeral director accidentally crosses paths with a girl which brings about an unexpected change in his attitude towards life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Piano in a Factory (2011)
To fight for custody of his daughter who loves playing the piano, a steel factory worker decides to forge a piano from scratch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBethune: The Making of a Hero (1993)
True story of Norman Bethune, a medical doctor who fought for justice in China during Mao's rise to power.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Longcheng Mystery Case (TBA)
This tells events of the 26th year of the Ganlu era, during which the Emperor Long Aotian of the Ye Dynasty fell seriously ill. Suddenly, Lu Sha, the deputy leader of the secret guards, died, triggering widespread panic in the court.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paris Paris (2026)
Three men—from China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Palestine—live together in a squatted apartment in a seemingly abandoned building in Paris. The group is bound together by their shared experience of life in exile and the fleeting nature of their possessions, relationships, and sense of home, but the temporary safe space is threatened by outside forces and events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
To Live (1994)
Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDrifting (2019)
Yan is an illegal second child born during the One-Child policy. To avoid government punishment, Yan's parents hid their oldest daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan struggles with his gender identity and being treated as an outcast in a conservative society. His sole escape is drifting his father's old taxi through abandoned parking lots.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (2009)
When barbarian hordes threaten her homeland, the brave and cunning Mulan disguises herself as a male soldier to swell the ranks in her aging father's stead. The warrior's remarkable courage drives her through powerful battle scenes and brutal wartime strategy. Mulan loses dear friends to the enemy's blade as she rises to become one of her country's most valuable leaders — but can she win the war before her secret is exposed?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Message (2009)
After a series of assassinations in Nanking, a Japanese spy master gathers a group of suspects in a mansion, then a tense cat-and-mouse game erupts as the Chinese agent tries to keep his or her identity a secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Amazing Panda Adventure (1995)
Far from home in the lush bamboo forests of China, ten-year-old Ryan Tyler, with the help of a young girl, goes on a wonderful journey to rescue a baby panda taken by poachers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMillennium 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 thisJohn Rabe (2009)
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Song of the Phoenix and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Song of the Phoenix?
The closest matches to Song of the Phoenix are One Second (2020), Caught by the Tides (2024) and Gigi & Nate (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Song of the Phoenix?
Start with One Second (2020), the closest match to Song of the Phoenix.
What is the highest-rated movie like Song of the Phoenix?
To Live (1994), rated 8.3/10 by 440 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Song of the Phoenix?
Paris Paris (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Song of the Phoenix?
Yes: One Second (2020), Caught by the Tides (2024) and Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2020).
How are movies similar to Song of the Phoenix chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Song of the Phoenix, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.