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Movies like The Days of Water (1971)

The best movies like The Days of Water (1971) are Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), The King of Havana (2015) and I Am Cuba (1964). If The Days of Water hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)

    In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident, Sergio chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana. He finally meets Elena, a young girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  2. The King of Havana (2015)

    Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  3. I Am Cuba (1964)

    A study in contrasts set in and around Havana that explores Cuba's 1959 revolution: a young woman's fascination with the excess of an American-owned casino leads to her downfall in the eyes of her street vendor boyfriend; a tenant farmer revolts the only way he knows how, attacking the land he works; university students gain first-hand knowledge of political upheaval; and, in the hills outside the city, the members of a poor peasant family are patriotically swept up into the burgeoning revolt.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  4. Fatima (2020)

    In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  5. Utama (2022)

    In the Bolivian altiplano, Virginio and Sisa, an elderly Quechua couple who have lived a quiet life for years, face an impossible dilemma during an unusually long drought: resist or be defeated by the hostile environment and the relentless passage of time.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  6. The Girl in the Book (2015)

    The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  7. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)

    Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  8. ma ma (2015)

    After finding a lump in one of her breasts, Magda goes to visit her doctor who gives her bad news: she needs a mastectomy, preceded by severe chemo treatments. While she ponders this ill fortune at a soccer game where her son Dani participates, she attracts the attention of talent scout Arturo, who is looking for talented young players to enroll them in the junior leagues.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  9. Fast Girls (2012)

    A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  10. The Fugitive (1947)

    Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  11. The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)

    In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  12. The 7th Day (2004)

    Isabel Jimenez is a teenager witnessing a horrible feud between her own family and the Fuentes family, a feud involving broken hearts, property disputes and a mysterious fire that destroyed the Fuentes house. Isabel's uncle is murdered by Jeronimo Fuentes, who later tries to stab her father. After Jeronimo dies in jail, Isabel must look outside of her family for the truth, learning from the village idiot that her father may have set fire to the Fuentes home.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  13. Sunshine State (2002)

    A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  14. Won't Back Down (2012)

    Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  15. Salomé (2013)

    After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  16. I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)

    The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  17. Hurry Sundown (1967)

    A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. The Young One (1960)

    A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. Camino (2008)

    A religious organization interferes with the life of a terminally ill girl.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. Holy 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

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  21. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)

    In pre-revolution Cuba, Katey Miller is about to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of a parent-approved suitor, Katey is drawn to the sexy waiter, Javier, who spends his nights dancing in Havana's nightclubs. As she secretly learns to dance with Javier, she learns the meanings of love, sensuality and independence.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  22. Tania (TBA)

    GDR 1961: Tamara Bunke, daughter of Jewish exiles from Argentina, not only falls for the political goals of the rousing revolutionary Che Guevara during a state visit. She also meets Ulises Estrada, the commandant of Che's team. Ignited by the fire of the revolution, she gets involved in a diabolical espionage deal with the Stasi in order to cheat her way out of Cuba. In Cuba, she ends up caught between all fronts: under the watchful eye of the Stasi, which expects results from her, but in reality solely dedicated to Che's revolution, Tamara allows herself to be trained as a double spy by Che's troops. At the same time, her honest love grows for Commandante Ulises, who eventually gives her the choice of following her personal happiness and going into hiding rather than following Che's plans to liberate South America, which by now he considers a suicide mission. An unresolvable, deeply tragic conflict that ends fatally for Tamara in the battle of Bolivia's Rio Grande..

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  23. Eau de la vie (1994)

    Catherine is taken to dine at "Eau de la vie" an opulent cafe known for its unusual entertainment. Her business associates Grant and Sarah intend to initiate her into their sordid society and strip her of her innocence. Catherine must choose from a small group of performers who will entertain the diners for the evening. She selects a young attractive man unaware that the finale of the evenings entertainment will end in his dead. To save the young man she has chosen, Catherine is driven to fight for her own life but oblivious to her struggle the other diners believe it is all part of the evening's entertainment Catherine has to stand alone. They say that evil triumphs when good people do nothing. Eau de la vie is a dark tale of hedonism and individual courage.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  24. Havana (1990)

    During the revolution, a high-stakes gambler arrives in Cuba seeking to win big in poker games. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with the wife of a Communist revolutionary.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  25. Che: Part Two (2008)

    Seven years after his triumph in Cuba, Che winds up in Bolivia, where he tries to ignite the same revolutionary fires as before.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  26. The Lost City (2005)

    In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  27. Fallen Gods (2008)

    In the manner of a well run Greek tragedy, leaving aside one of its components, dragging in its passing narrative certainty by the viewer that violent death is the hallmark of so much misfortune purifier, Los Dioses Rotos crowns the very successful arrival of Ernesto Daranas to the feature domains and with it, the team that accompanied him, including the actors.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  28. Sergio and Sergei (2018)

    In 1991, the USSR is falling apart and Cuba enters its hardest economic crisis. Sergio, a professor of Marxism who can't provide for his family, and Sergei, a Soviet cosmonaut stranded in the Mir space station, share a common passion: amateur radio. Through this hobby, both men will be able to help each other in facing the dramatic changes of their countries.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  29. Amistad (1997)

    In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  30. Tokyo Story (1953)

    The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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Like The Days of Water and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Days of Water?

The closest matches to The Days of Water are Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), The King of Havana (2015) and I Am Cuba (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Days of Water?

Start with Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), the closest match to The Days of Water.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Days of Water?

Tokyo Story (1953), rated 8.1/10 by 1,290 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Days of Water?

Utama (2022) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there Spanish movies like The Days of Water?

Yes: Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), The King of Havana (2015) and I Am Cuba (1964).

How are movies similar to The Days of Water chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Days of Water, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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