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Movies like The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay (1966)

The best movies like The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay (1966) are Shoplifters (2018), Tampopo (1985) and Sweet Bean (2015). If The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Shoplifters (2018)

    In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. Tampopo (1985)

    In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. Sweet Bean (2015)

    The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. MOTHER (2020)

    Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)

    Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for pickling and preserving fish and sweet potatoes, Ichiko begins reaping rice and recalls her departure five years before.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. Crows Explode (2014)

    A month after Genji Takiya graduates, a new battle for supremacy at Suzuran All-Boys High School begins. Transfer student Kaburagi Kazeo combats Kagami Ryohei for the coveted top spot, amidst a brewing inter-school conflict with Kurosaki Industrial High.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. The Village (2023)

    In a once-scenic village now dominated by a vast trash disposal site, a young man yearns to break free from a cruel fate tying him to the very grounds.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  9. Repast (1951)

    In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  10. Bunny Drop (2011)

    Daikichi learns that his recently deceased grandfather has an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mother. The girl's name is Rin and she is just 6 years old. Everybody in Daikichi's family looks at the girl as an embarrassment and wants no part of her. Disgusted by his family's attitude, Daikichi decides to raise Rin by himself, even though he has no experience raising a child and is still single.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Midnight Diner (2014)

    A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Sing Sing (2024)

    Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. After the Storm (2016)

    Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (2021)

    Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

    The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

    Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  17. Brute Force (1947)

    Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. The Taste of Tea (2004)

    A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. Coco Chanel (2008)

    Fashion icon Coco Chanel, steeped in wealth and fame, still issues game-changing designs and collections. The audience is taken backwards in time to the woman's upbringing in an orphanage, and traces her path to ubiquity as it winds through poverty, wars, doomed romances, and rather glamorous betrayals.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Floating Clouds (1955)

    A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Japanese typist and promises to leave his wife. He doesn't and after the war, she turns up and the affair resumes.

    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 The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay?

The closest matches to The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay are Shoplifters (2018), Tampopo (1985) and Sweet Bean (2015). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay?

Start with Shoplifters (2018), the closest match to The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay?

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,834 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay?

Sing Sing (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there Japanese movies like The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay?

Yes: Shoplifters (2018), Tampopo (1985) and Sweet Bean (2015).

How are movies similar to The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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