Movies like Early Spring Story (1985)
The best movies like Early Spring Story (1985) are Fire with Fire (1986), Life in a Year (2020) and Not Easily Broken (2009). If Early Spring Story hooked you with its drama and romance, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseClosest Love to Heaven (2017)Also in Japanese
Fire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReally Love (2020)
A rising black painter tries to break into a competitive art world while balancing an unexpected romance with an ambitious law student.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight Mile (2002)
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWander Darkly (2020)
New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClosest Love to Heaven (2017)
When Ninon finds out that her neighbor and popular classmate Yuiji Kira only has one year to live, she decides to go out of her way and help him attain happiness on his remaining time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForever First Love (2020)
Paul travels the world to capture the perfect photographic moment. Amid the colour and chaos of a crowded Filipino market, destiny intervenes when Paul’s first love, Anna appears in his lens. The travellers spend the day exploring the beauty of a 16th century town and whilst passions reignite, their principles on relationships, religion and morality clash. The night they spend together will change everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadiance (2017)
The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Mile To You (2017)
After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Range Love (2014)
A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTime Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of the Country (2013)
With her husband jailed for Wall Street-based fraud, Faith has to leave behind her luxury life in New York to return home to North Carolina and the widower father and dutiful older sister she left behind. Together, they have to deal with the buried emotions of sudden death of Faith’s mother years ago, and learn to be a family again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRevenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019)
Rei is a college student in the midst of finding a job. She confesses her love to Mikio, a senior whom she admires. Mikio soon demands that she perform perverted acts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeavenly Forest (2006)
Amateur photographer Makoto and the homely but endearing Shizuru meet during their university entrance ceremony and become instant friends. Shy by nature, Makoto finds himself opening up around Shizuru, who is secretly in love with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Early Spring Story?
The closest matches to Early Spring Story are Fire with Fire (1986), Life in a Year (2020) and Not Easily Broken (2009). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Early Spring Story?
Start with Fire with Fire (1986), the closest match to Early Spring Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Early Spring Story?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Early Spring Story?
Gabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Early Spring Story?
Yes: Closest Love to Heaven (2017), Radiance (2017) and Close Range Love (2014).
How are movies similar to Early Spring Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Early Spring Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.