Movies like Vanitas (2017)
The best movies like Vanitas (2017) are The Young One (1960), Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013) and Home Run (2013). If Vanitas hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJosee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)8.2/10 from 646 votes
- NewestIf You had Stayed (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseAnimal Crossing: The Movie (2006)Also in Japanese
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 thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnimal Crossing: The Movie (2006)
Ai, a self-reliant girl who moves to Animal Village and works at Nook's Cranny, gradually becomes part of the community with guidance from its residents and embarks on a quest to plant pine trees for a Winter Festival miracle after finding a message in a bottle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Without Hope (2025)
A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisTrue Colors (1991)
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
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 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 thisMemories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down (2019)
This anthology film, whose Chinese title begins with a romantic name for human excrement, premiered internationally at Rotterdam and won Best Screenplay from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. A variety of Hong Kong people wrestle with nostalgia when facing an uncertain future. Their stories give way to a documentary featuring a young barista turned political candidate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)
With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTrain Dreams (2025)
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf You had Stayed (2026)
After a tragic choice leads him to the brink, a disillusioned artist named Michael awakens on a mysterious beach. a liminal space where lost souls come to confront their pasts. Guided by Bob, a charismatic yet enigmatic caretaker, Michael embarks on a surreal journey through the pivotal moments of his life: love, heartbreak, and devastating loss. As he confronts hidden truths and unspoken regrets, Michael is faced with one profound question: Was it worth it, and what would life be like if he had stayed?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
56 Days (2024)
Eva is going through a troubled time in her life. After a breakup and amid professional uncertainty, she discovers an unwanted pregnancy. Faced with obstacles, she tries to continue her routine, hoping that the problem she doesn't want to deal with will resolve itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Wild Bird in Heaven (2024)
Troubled by the death of her brother a young girl and her best friend run away from their convent school for an afternoon. After burying a dead bird the young girl realizes she must look inward for the will and the courage to carry on. production, direction, animation, and story by Jenny Nirgends stop-motion, 2024, 6:33
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blue Thermal (2022)
Tamaki becomes a captive of the vast beauty of the skies from the moment Kuramochi takes her under his wing and up for a flight in a glider.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ali Ali (2025)
In a quiet Rajasthani village, young Ali clings to his cricket bat as his friends chase it. What starts as playful mischief reveals a film crew struggling to finish their shoot, blurring childhood and the fragile magic of cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Saturday Class (2025)
The short film tells a slice-of-life story set in a family-run Chinese bakery, exploring parenting philosophies and the pressures faced by the younger immigrant generation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kamome Diner (2006)
On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Vanitas?
The closest matches to Vanitas are The Young One (1960), Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013) and Home Run (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Vanitas?
Start with The Young One (1960), the closest match to Vanitas.
What is the highest-rated movie like Vanitas?
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 646 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Vanitas?
If You had Stayed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Vanitas?
Yes: Animal Crossing: The Movie (2006), One Million Yen Girl (2008) and Female Yakuza Tale (1973).
How are movies similar to Vanitas chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Vanitas, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.