Movies like Rope and Skin (1979)
The best movies like Rope and Skin (1979) are Female Yakuza Tale (1973), Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973). If Rope and Skin hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBrother (2000)7.1/10 from 558 votes
- NewestSister Swapping (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseFemale Yakuza Tale (1973)Also in Japanese
Female 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 thisSympathy for the Underdog (1971)
A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973)
Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Outsider (2018)
A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.
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 thisThe Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisICHI (2008)
Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)
Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Tribe (2014)
In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGraveyard of Honor (2002)
A barkeeper saves a yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However, his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
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 thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Rain (1989)
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975)
When Koryu's childhood friend Shurei is abducted by gangsters, the desperate young woman recruits a female martial artist and a tough-as-nails stranger to join her for a dangerous rescue mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi's Pilgrimage (1966)
Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into a village terrorized by a violent yakuza boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFemale Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBikini Bar: Delicious Service (2020)
Minzhu ran a bar, but the business was so bad that she lost all her store deposit, and the landlord kept pressing for rent. Seeing this, Meizhen decided to develop an innovative spirit and began to provide special services in a bikini. Soon, the bar's Business is booming….
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Brother (2000)
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoneymoon (1983)
The first soft core porn flick made in former Yugoslavia (today Croatia). It was a huge cause celebre for the participants and equally infamous for its innumerable shortcomings ranging from the lack of coherent plot-line to the most basic elements of film making. However, in time, it has gained a somewhat cult reputation. A priceless insight into an odd culture and its lax sexual mores and follies!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Bad Boss (1968)
The first in what would become Toei's most successful, longest-running bosozoku film series. It lasted from 1968 till 1972 through sixteen films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Isla: The Young Version (1996)
A story of an innocent young lass desperate to leave her homeland to escape her adoptive father's lustful desires.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lupin the 3rd: Goemon's Blood Spray (2017)
A yakuza boss hires Goemon Ishikawa, a modern day samurai, to protect him aboard his cruise ship casino. Everything goes sideways when the famous thief, Lupin the Third, tries to rob the vessel. Lupin's being hunted by a powerful and mysterious man: the so called “Ghost of Bermuda.” With Goemon's employer dead in the ensuing chaos, his honor is at stake, and the only way to preserve it is with blood. But this opponent is like no other, and to make things right, Goemon may need to sharpen not only his sword, but himself as well!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sex Files: Digital Sex (1998)
A pair of thieves break into an FBI warehouse and steal a virtual reality device that can record and replay sexual experiences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sister Swapping (2023)
Sisters Ji-soo and Ji-yeong decided to sell their used underwear due to financial difficulties. Perverted men offer to buy them at a higher price by asking these two sisters for shots of them wearing the underwear. Other men offer to pay even higher prices by demanding sex out of greater desire. As the sisters earn more money than expected, their service becomes more and more popular.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Purpose of Tutoring (2023)
Yeong-tak and Ha-na are stepsiblings who live with the support of their divorced adoptive parents. The two begin taking individual private lessons for their respective careers. Yeong-tak secretly gives his acting teacher Na-ri sleeping pills to covet her body, while Ha-na is busy seducing her physical education teacher Han-cheol. Meanwhile, Na-ri and Han-cheol run into each other at the stepsiblings' house, fall in love at first sight, and seek revenge on the two who offended them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Secret Desires of a Housewife (2004)
Cindy, a newlywed who's determined to do her part to contribute to the household income, together with her ultra-hot friend Heather, set up a web cam site in Heather's front room. As Heather tests the site, Cindy watches the hot action from her house. When Cindy's husband returns, things really get steamy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Rope and Skin and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rope and Skin?
The closest matches to Rope and Skin are Female Yakuza Tale (1973), Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rope and Skin?
Start with Female Yakuza Tale (1973), the closest match to Rope and Skin.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rope and Skin?
Brother (2000), rated 7.1/10 by 558 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rope and Skin?
Sister Swapping (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Rope and Skin?
Yes: Female Yakuza Tale (1973), Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973).
How are movies similar to Rope and Skin chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rope and Skin, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.