Movies like Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio (2020)
The best movies like Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio (2020) are I Remember Mama (1948), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Hammett (1982). If Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Cameraman (1928)7.8/10 from 460 votes
- NewestThe Voyeurs (2021)Released 2021
I Remember Mama (1948)
Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisHammett (1982)
Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Lapse (2014)
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this13 Going on 30 (2004)
After total humiliation at her thirteenth birthday party, Jenna Rink wants to just hide until she's thirty. Thanks to some magic wishing dust, Jenna's prayer has been answered. With a knockout body, a fabulous wardrobe, an athlete boyfriend, a dream job, and superstar friends, this can't be a better life. But soon Jenna realizes that adult life isn’t as easy as she hoped for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Earth (1937)
China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Christmas Creek (2018)
As Christmas approaches, Amelia Hughes, a career-focused Chicago app developer lacking in holiday spirit, returns to her small hometown of Christmas Creek to rediscover the meaning of Christmas. There, she reunites with her childhood best friend Mike and her estranged uncle Harry, whose mysterious rift with Amelia’s father divided her family during the holiday season when she was a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Life (1979)
A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Telegraph Hill (1951)
Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPecker (1998)
A Baltimore teenager who picks up a second-hand camera starts snapping his way to stardom, soon turning into a nationwide sensation, with a fateful choice between his life and his art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNude (2017)
NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Voyeurs (2021)
When Pippa and Thomas move into their dream apartment, they notice that their windows look directly into the apartment opposite – inviting them to witness the volatile relationship of the attractive couple across the street. But what starts as a simple curiosity turns into full-blown obsession with increasingly dangerous consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife with Father (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChina Girl (1987)
Teenage lovers Tony and Tyan-Hwa tip the balance of power in New York's Little Italy and Chinatown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing Like a Dame (2018)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cameraman (1928)
A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923)
When Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean, she decides to leave for Paris on her own. After spending a year in the city as a mistress of the wealthy Pierre Revel, she is reunited with Jean by chance. This leaves her with the choice between a glamorous life in Paris, and the true love she left behind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRomeo Must Die (2000)
Two warring gang families (one African-American, the other Chinese) maneuver for bragging rights to the Oakland, California docks. Han Sing and Trish O'Day uncover a trail of deceit that leaves most of the warring factions dead... or worse!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Vivian Maier (2014)
Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
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 Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio?
The closest matches to Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio are I Remember Mama (1948), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Hammett (1982). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio?
Start with I Remember Mama (1948), the closest match to Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio.
What is the highest-rated movie like Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio?
The Cameraman (1928), rated 7.8/10 by 460 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio?
The Voyeurs (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio?
Yes: I Remember Mama (1948), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Hammett (1982).
How are movies similar to Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Vanishing Chinatown: The World of the May’s Photo Studio, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















