Movies like My Dear Friend (2018)
The best movies like My Dear Friend (2018) are Safe Haven (2013), B for Busy (2021) and Caught by the Tides (2024). If My Dear Friend hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFlipped (2010)8.0/10 from 3,475 votes
- NewestCaught by the Tides (2024)Released 2024
- In ChineseB for Busy (2021)Also in Chinese
Safe Haven (2013)
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisB for Busy (2021)
A divorced, retired painting teacher from Shanghai falls in love with a woman who is also divorced. The involvement of his ex-wife and a student of his makes the whole thing complicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCaught by the Tides (2024)
Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarolina (2003)
A young woman escapes her wildly eccentric family in search for a life of normalcy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTaipei Story (1985)
A young woman urgently seeks to navigate the maze of contemporary Taipei and find a future. She hopes that her boyfriend Lung is the key to the future, but Lung is stuck in a past that combines baseball and traditional loyalty that leads him to squander his nest egg bailing her father out of financial trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnd So It Goes (2014)
Nobody likes self-centered realtor Oren Little, and he prefers it that way. He's deliberately mean to anyone who crosses his path and wants nothing more than to sell one final house and retire. His life turns upside-down when his estranged son drops off a granddaughter he never knew existed. Suddenly left in charge of her and with no idea how to take care of a child, he pawns the girl off on his neighbor, Leah -- but he eventually learns how to open his heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best of Me (2014)
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this20 Once Again (2015)
A visit to the photographer's returns the physical looks of a 70-year-old grandmother back to her 20s. Things get even stranger when his grandson asks her to join his band, and his best friend begins to fall for her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Merry Christmas Wish (2022)
Janie, a rising marketing executive living in The Big Apple, returns to her hometown of Woodland Falls when her Great-Uncle Randall passes away. Randall has even arranged for his farmhand, Dylan to help at the event, which is being held in the farm’s sprawling barn. Aware that her Manhattan boyfriend is anxious for her to return to the city so the pair can jet off to a previously planned holiday on the beach, Janie begins to feel an unexpected emotional tug about living life in a more authentic, meaningful way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTim (1979)
Handsome but backward gardener Tim Melville has a new woman in his life. She is Mary, his widowed employer, a woman who had given up on love until she had found Tim. At first they are friends. But soon they become lovers, as Mary, drawn to Tim's innocence and magnetism, begins to teach him all about life - and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarlet (2012)
An unlikely friendship forms between 21 year-old Jane and the elderly Sadie after Jane discovers a hidden stash of money inside an object at Sadie's yard sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Souls at Night (2017)
Addie Moore and Louis Waters, a widow and widower, have lived next to each other for years. The pair have almost no relationship, but that all changes when Addie tries to make a connection with her neighbour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlipped (2010)
When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSo Young 2: Never Gone (2016)
A wealthy young man pursues a young woman of modest means, but circumstances often separate them as the years pass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)
During the Cultural Revolution, two young men are sent to a remote mining village where they fall in love with the local tailor's beautiful granddaughter and discover a suitcase full of forbidden Western novels.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHer Story (2024)
Wang Tiemei, a single mother, loses her job and moves, befriending neighbor Xiaoye who appears cheerful but is depressed. Their bond grows as Tiemei navigates relationships with her ex-husband causing trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAround the Bend (2004)
A tale of four generations of men, all of whom have had their offspring at a young age: a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a father in his twenties and a son who is about 7 years old. When the oldest member passes away, the trio heads out on the road together in the Southwest to search out an old family secret that connects to their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHave Dreams, Will Travel (2007)
West Texas, in the 1960's. A tale of two 12-year-olds who embark on an adventure to find new parents in order to escape their unhappy and emotionally unsatisfying family life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Blossoms (2017)
Violet is a chemist who is carrying on the legacy of her Belgian family's perfume company by recreating her late father's secret formula.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Joy Luck Club (1993)
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like My Dear Friend?
The closest matches to My Dear Friend are Safe Haven (2013), B for Busy (2021) and Caught by the Tides (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after My Dear Friend?
Start with Safe Haven (2013), the closest match to My Dear Friend.
What is the highest-rated movie like My Dear Friend?
Flipped (2010), rated 8.0/10 by 3,475 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like My Dear Friend?
Caught by the Tides (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like My Dear Friend?
Yes: B for Busy (2021), Caught by the Tides (2024) and Taipei Story (1985).
How are movies similar to My Dear Friend chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside My Dear Friend, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.