Movies like Play it, Boogie-Woogie (1981)
The best movies like Play it, Boogie-Woogie (1981) are If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016), Intentions of Murder (1964) and Manji (1964). If Play it, Boogie-Woogie hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhisper of the Heart (1995)7.9/10 from 2,402 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseIf Cats Disappeared from the World (2016)Also in Japanese
If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016)
A postman learns that he doesn't have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil then appears in front of him and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with ex-friends, ex-lovers, relatives and colleagues who will be sincerely sad when he dies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIntentions of Murder (1964)
The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManji (1964)
The four principals in a love affair collide when jealousy, blackmail and suicide enter the picture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSakuran (2006)
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaboo (1999)
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
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 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 thisFemale Yakuza Tale (1973)
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Decadence (1992)
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLook Back in Anger (1959)
A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Fist (1995)
A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Romance, LLC (2019)
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Family (2013)
An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhisper of the Heart (1995)
Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: "Seiji Amasawa."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Lower Depths (1957)
Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMay We Chat (2014)
Three troubled young girls will do anything to escape their stifling lives - even if it means turning to drugs and prostitution. Set in the generation of smartphones and web 2.0, the technology may have made communication easier than ever, but cautionary tales of misunderstood youths remain as relevant as they were two decades ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
First (2019)
A teen girl’s experiences online and IRL blur together in this quietly inventive short by Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew. Through an ingenious use of subtitles, Durand and Chew seamlessly toggle between the banalities of young life and the fizzy, yearning commentary running beneath those same experiences when shared online.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz (2018)
Every night at 10, Kolkata tunes into radio to listen to 'Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz' - an episodic series of unrequited love stories hosted by RJ Alfaz who, despite his tremendous following, prefers staying detached and anonymous. Among his many fans is the boisterous Archana, a girl working at a creative agency – which designs branded memes. She is leukodermic but lives life to the fullest. They meet; or rather talk, for the first time over a misplaced call, when Archana accidentally dials Alfaaz's number, while trying to connect with her latest blind date. Thus begins an interesting relationship between two unlikely characters, one overly compensating, but in denial of her present, and the other buried under a dark secret of his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Asha Black (2014)
Five people get murdered in Malaysia and the cop who investigates the crime finds out that they have a common Facebook friend — Asha Black. Meanwhile, a young man from India comes to the country to meet Asha, after she befriends him on Facebook.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Why Wild Girls (1994)
Three female room-mates fall in and out of love and chase the wrong men. Through their relationships they learn a lot about life, love and their own personalities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
All the Songs We Never Sang (2023)
Rebellious teenager Natsumi arrives from Tokyo on a small provincial island in search of the treasure left by her deceased mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Horny Ones (TBA)
Tamara is spending a lonely New Year’s Eve working in a 24/7 gym when she receives an unexpected photo in her Instagram DM just before midnight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Yes, God, Yes (2017)
Fifteen-year-old Alice has always been a good Catholic, but when an innocent AOL chat turns unexpectedly racy, she finds herself suddenly obsessed with sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Stone (2025)
After losing his job, Ved Purohit spirals into frustration until an unexpected encounter with Robin Roy changes everything. A feel-good comedy-drama shot on a smartphone. Released on YouTube in two parts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Letter from Astronauts (2026)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Play it, Boogie-Woogie?
The closest matches to Play it, Boogie-Woogie are If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016), Intentions of Murder (1964) and Manji (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Play it, Boogie-Woogie?
Start with If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016), the closest match to Play it, Boogie-Woogie.
What is the highest-rated movie like Play it, Boogie-Woogie?
Whisper of the Heart (1995), rated 7.9/10 by 2,402 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Play it, Boogie-Woogie?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Play it, Boogie-Woogie?
Yes: If Cats Disappeared from the World (2016), Intentions of Murder (1964) and Manji (1964).
How are movies similar to Play it, Boogie-Woogie chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Play it, Boogie-Woogie, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.