Movies like Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village (1982)
The best movies like Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village (1982) are Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023), Cardboard Boxer (2016) and F.I.S.T. (1978). If Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCharm City Kings (2020)7.8/10 from 508 votes
- NewestPerfect Share House (2025)Released 2025
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023)
After a Vietnamese woman dies in a car crash in Saigon, her brother-in-law and her young son transport her body back to the former’s hometown in rural Vietnam, where they plan to give her a funeral.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisMy Neighbor Adolf (2022)
South America, 1960. A lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbor is none other than Adolf Hitler. Not being taken seriously, he starts an independent investigation to prove his claim, but when the evidence still appears to be inconclusive, Polsky is forced to engage in a relationship with the enemy in order to obtain irrefutable proof.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beautiful Country (2004)
After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.
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 thisMindwalk (1991)
On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Jack, a failed presidential candidate, Tom, a poet and Sonia, a physicist, engage in an intellectual conversation about politics, philosophy and life over the course of a single day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergio (2020)
A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBat★21 (1988)
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)
Muhammad Ali’s historic Supreme Court battle from behind closed doors. When Ali was drafted into the Vietnam War at the height of his boxing career, his claim to conscientious objector status led to a controversial legal battle that rattled the U.S. judicial system right up to the highest court in the land.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasualties of War (1989)
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwakening (2008)
Carsten is dating Melissa, who introduces him to her parents. On a camping trip with Melissa's family, Carsten finds that he shares a secret with Melissa's father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Club (1980)
The club buys a talented young player, Geoff, for a record sum of money. The team members do not like their new star and friction develops immediately. Game after game is lost until Geoff begins to realize that there is more at stake than just his own career.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fatso (1980)
Dominick DiNapoli is a man who loves food and is overweight as a result. After an obese cousin dies due to health problems, Dominick's sister Antoinette sets out to help him lose weight. Although he has a hard time trying to slim down, Dominick finds inspiration when he meets and falls for shop owner Lydia. Can he get up the courage to ask her out, or will he go back to the comfort of overeating?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lords of Flatbush (1974)
Set in 1958, the coming of age story follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, shoot pool, get into street fights, and hang out at a local malt shop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCosh Boy (1953)
Roy Walsh is a brash and enterprising thug who bullies his friends into subservience. He and his gang assault and rob people on the street, but things get increasingly dangerous when their behavior escalates to larger crimes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Men of War (1994)
Nick Gunar is a burnt-out, jaded and hard-up former mercenary who is having a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. At the end of his rope, he is hired by the Nitro Mine Corporation to strong-arm the natives of a South China Sea island into giving up their rights to its valuable mineral resources. Nick loathes the thought of another mission, but this seemingly easy job will earn him enough money to get back with his estranged family. He recruits some of his former mercenary buddies to help him with the job. The island people refuse to give up their land and Nick decides to help them fight the greedy corporation that hired him. As greed and treachery begin to unravel, Nick's band of mercenaries choose sides.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Leaning Tower (2006)
A middle-aged mental patient suffering from a split personality travels to Italy where his two personalities set off all kinds of confusing developments.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Perfect Share House (2025)
Four strangers live-stream a staged “perfect” share-house romance until a sexual-assault scandal exposes manipulation, trauma, and the collapse of their performed identities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pretty Evil (2023)
Trouble comes in heels, sass and irresistible eyes. Her name…? ESINDA
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village are Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023), Cardboard Boxer (2016) and F.I.S.T. (1978). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village?
Start with Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023), the closest match to Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village?
Charm City Kings (2020), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village?
Perfect Share House (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Time in Vu Dai Village, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.