Movies like Hanagatami (2017)
The best movies like Hanagatami (2017) are The History of Love (2016), Private Peaceful (2012) and Dear John (2010). If Hanagatami hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 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
- NewestThe Last Rifleman (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseClosest Love to Heaven (2017)Also in Japanese
The History of Love (2016)
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrivate Peaceful (2012)
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear John (2010)
While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaptain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
When a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during World War II, his fiancée falls in love with the local Italian commander.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
A German soldier home on leave falls in love with a girl, then returns to World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuite Française (2015)
France, 1940. In the first days of occupation, beautiful Lucile Angellier is trapped in a stifled existence with her controlling mother-in-law as they both await news of her husband: a prisoner of war. Parisian refugees start to pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' own homes. Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno von Falk, the handsome and refined German officer staying with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and leads them into the tragedy of war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
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 thisThe Last Rifleman (2023)
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
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 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 thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossession (2002)
Maud Bailey, a brilliant English academic, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel La Motte. Roland Michell is an American scholar in London to study Randolph Henry Ash, now best-known for a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to La Motte, they follow a trail of clues across England, echoing the journey of the couple over a century earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You in Valentine (2016)
Kennedy Blaine, a Californian girl, inherits a ranch in the small town of Valentine in Nebraska. Before she sells the property, she decides to spend the summer in her house and learn more about her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPure Country 2: The Gift (2010)
Three angels bestow the gift of song to a young girl, who must follow a series of rules in order hold on to it during her rise to fame and fortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlbino (2016)
Yashima is a woman who works as a plumber. She is also uncomfortable with her own sexuality. One day she visits a home for a job and meets Kyu. Yashima senses Kyu's eyes watching her. They become intimate, but a dark secret is soon revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Hana & Alice (2004)
Two teenage best pals attracted to the same boy end up scrambling his life after he walks into a door and is knocked unconscious.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNana 2 (2006)
Two girls with the same name but very different personalities share an apartment in this sequel to Nana. The rising fame of Nana Osaki's band, the Black Stones, is beginning to take a toll on the best friends' relationship. Meanwhile, Nana Komatsu struggles to make sense of her love triangle with Black Stones' guitarist Nobu and rival group Trapnest's bassist Takumi.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNana (2005)
Two girls named Nana meet on a train to Tokyo. Nana K. aims to reunite with her boyfriend and Nana O. hopes to make it big in the music business. Despite their differences, the pair hit it off and become roommates.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008)
Four years have passed since that emotional marriage proposal at Tsukushi Makino's high-school prom, and Tsukasa Dōmyōji announced his engagement to Tsukushi to the entire world. At an engagement dinner between their families, Dōmyōji's mother, who has been strongly against their relationship before, presents Tsukushi a tiara, which is estimated to be worth roughly 10 billion yen, as a token of their engagement. But that night, the tiara is stolen by somebody! Then, Dōmyōji and Tsukushi travel around the globe to Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and even a deserted island to get the tiara back—the legendary tiara that has been believed to "bring eternal love." In the meantime, where and what are the "F4" fellows, who have just gone separate ways, doing now?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNobody Knows (2004)
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNew Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi the Fugitive (1963)
After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi on the Road (1963)
Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hanagatami?
The closest matches to Hanagatami are The History of Love (2016), Private Peaceful (2012) and Dear John (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hanagatami?
Start with The History of Love (2016), the closest match to Hanagatami.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hanagatami?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hanagatami?
The Last Rifleman (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Hanagatami?
Yes: Closest Love to Heaven (2017), Albino (2016) and Hana & Alice (2004).
How are movies similar to Hanagatami chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hanagatami, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.