Movies like Shrill Cries of Summer (2008)
The best movies like Shrill Cries of Summer (2008) are The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002), As the Gods Will (2014) and Black Butler (2014). If Shrill Cries of Summer hooked you with its drama and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNights of Cabiria (1957)8.0/10 from 893 votes
- NewestFujiko (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseThe Happiness of the Katakuris (2002)Also in Japanese
The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002)
The Katakuri family has just opened their guest house in the mountains. Unfortunately their first guest commits suicide and in order to avoid trouble they decide to bury him in the backyard. Things get way more complicated when their second guest, a famous sumo wrestler, dies while having sex with his underage girlfriend and the grave behind the house starts to fill up more and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAs the Gods Will (2014)
High school student Shun Takahata is bored. Bored with the day-to-day monotony of school and life, he prays for change, for something exciting. Suddenly, he and his classmates are forced to play deadly children's games and facing terrifying creatures from a talking Daruma doll to a sharp-clawed lucky cat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Butler (2014)
Set in the year 2020, following her supposed death, a young woman returns as the son of her noble family to precede the family's prestigious company, with a demon at her side to avenge her parent's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnmyoji (2001)
During a dark time in the Heian period, when evil forces threaten the kingdom, the emperor relies on the onmyōji to keep the supernatural forces in line. But as political events become highly charged, friction within the order leads to betrayal. Now, Seimei, a talented member of the clan, must face down his master, Dōson, in the hopes of restoring peace to the kingdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKuroneko (1968)
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRape Zombie: Lust of the Dead 2 (2013)
A strange virus turns 90% of the world population into Lust eating Zombies. However, in Akihabara, Japan, some males were found to be uninfected. These men team up with the Zombies to go after the flesh and blood of surviving young women to fill their lust. The women survivors must fight to survive in an apocalyptic Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWerewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012)
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNeedful Things (1993)
A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Transfiguration (2016)
When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Was Born, But... (1932)
Brothers Keiji and Ryoichi move to a new neighborhood in the Tokyo suburbs after their father, an office clerk, is promoted. The boys join the local gang as lowly new kids and emerge as natural leaders after defeating a bully. While visiting the home of their father's boss, the brothers witness the ridicule their father endures to please his superior. Angry and embarrassed, the boys find their naive ideas about power being challenged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBest Wishes to All (2024)
A young woman's visit to her grandparents' home leads to the discovery of what's brought them happiness, a revelation that will lead her to question her choices, sanity and reality itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyond the Boundary: I'll Be Here – Future (2015)
The battle is over, and they can go about their normal lives now... or so they thought. With no time to rejoice after miraculously saving Mirai from Beyond the Boundary, Mirai lost all her memories. Akihito, now a high school senior, starts to avoid Mirai thinking it’s for the better. Not aware of Akihito’s feelings, Mirai tries to get closer to Akihito. Then, someone who knows of Mirai appears in front of the two. With Akihito’s troubles in vain, Mirai once again sets forth on a battle that forces her to look within.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThings Change (1988)
Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHiruko the Goblin (1991)
A school was built on one of the Gates of Hell, behind which hordes of demons await the moment they will be free to roam the Earth. Hiruko is a goblin sent to Earth on a reconnaissance mission. He beheads students in order to assemble their heads on the demons' spider-like bodies. Hieda, an archaeology professor, and Masao, a haunted student, investigate the gory deaths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCaged (2021)
An African American male is imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement after being found guilty of murdering his wife, as he's haunted by internal demons and his dead wife, and pushed to the breaking point by an abusive female guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGlory to the Filmmaker! (2007)
Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJuniper (2021)
When a self-destructive teenager is suspended from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother as a punishment, the crazy time they spend together turns his life around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLate Autumn (1960)
A woman and her daughter are each forced to contend with an increasing pressure to marry, particularly from three men who knew her late husband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHula Girls (2006)
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSanta Sangre (1989)
A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNights of Cabiria (1957)
Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKabei: Our Mother (2008)
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFujiko (2026)
Subjected to harsh treatment by her husband Jiro’s family, Fujiko is devastated when Mari is kidnapped by Jiro’s relatives. With the help of her own mother, Chiyo, Fujiko regains her child. Against the advice and judgment of those around her, she chooses to raise Mari as a single mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blood and Bones (2004)
In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuilty Crown: Lost Christmas (2012)
In 2029, Scrooge escapes from a research facility where he had been confined as an experimental subject. His body was remodeled by genetic manipulations and he uses his psychic power to kill the chasers. One day, he meets another experimental subject called Carol. When three psychic chasers hunt down the two, Carol asks Scrooge to use his right arm to extract a weapon from her body.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kud Wafter (2021)
The Little Busters’ outing went off peacefully, and now that the summer holidays have started, most baseball team members have gone home. Among the few still around are Riki Naoe and Kudryavka “Kud” Noumi. However, Masato has caused quite a bit of damage to the boys’ dormitory by hitting it awkwardly with a baseball, so it is now underwater. A new place to stay is needed, so the boys are unceremoniously put up with the girls. However, not everyone will be able to enjoy the luxury of a bed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Scent of Incense (1964)
After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Shrill Cries of Summer and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shrill Cries of Summer?
The closest matches to Shrill Cries of Summer are The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002), As the Gods Will (2014) and Black Butler (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shrill Cries of Summer?
Start with The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002), the closest match to Shrill Cries of Summer.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shrill Cries of Summer?
Nights of Cabiria (1957), rated 8.0/10 by 893 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shrill Cries of Summer?
Fujiko (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Shrill Cries of Summer?
Yes: The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002), As the Gods Will (2014) and Black Butler (2014).
How are movies similar to Shrill Cries of Summer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shrill Cries of Summer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.