Best movies like Cafe Seoul
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Jun, a Japanese freelance reporter, discovers hidden gem of Korean traditional bakery "Moran-dang" by chance in the middle of the city of Seoul, while covering stories of the city. Moran-dang takes him back to his memory of childhood and urges him to stay there for more stories. One day, Moran-dang is vandalized by construction villains in town who maliciously try to take the spot of the bakery and the owner and chef, Sang-Woo gets hands injured. When Moran-dang is in danger of closing, little brother Sang-Hyuk returns home after drifting apart. As Jun inspires Sang-Hyuk to restore his family tie and the secret recipes, Sang-Hyuk and Jun are connected in friendship to save Moran-dang.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, South Korea
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, uplifting, serious
Best tv shows and movies like Cafe Seoul (2009):
Similar in 84%
4:30 (2005)
Plot Summary:
"4:30" traces the relationship between Xiao Wu, an eleven year old Chinese Boy and his tenant Jung, a thirty-something Korean man. Told entirely from the perspective of the boy, Xiao Wu, this story of two very different characters is less about friendship than about a shared experience and appreciation of solitude. "4:30" starts with Xiao sneaking to the room of Jung in the early hours of the morning, and stealing from the Korean man. Just as getting intoxicated is a habit for Jung, who only staggers back to his rented room when drunk, soon stealing for Xiao Wu becomes equally as compulsive. We soon realize that Jung's true intention for staying in Singapore is suicide. It is only through Xiao's encounter with Jung failing in his bid to die that he begins to understand his true fascination with Jung.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Drama
Country: Singapore, Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, captivating, offbeat, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Cafe (2011)
Plot Summary:
When tragedy strikes the community surrounding a cafe in West Philadelphia, the cafe's regulars come to realize how intertwined their lives truly are.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, uplifting, serious, realistic, spiritual, independent film
Similar in 89%
10 to 11 (2009)
Plot Summary:
10 to 11 is the story of a passionate collector Mithat and the concierge of the building, Ali. For Mithat Istanbul is as vast as his collections and for Ali is nothing more than a few blocks around the building. When the neighbors decide to have the building rebuilt with the fear of earthquake and the wish for a more valuable house, Mithat's most challenging struggle to save his collections begins. The building becomes the common destiny of these two men living alone. Their relationship that begins with the collaboration to save the continuity of the collections changes track with Mithat's handing Istanbul over to Ali and ends when they involuntarily change each other's fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey, France, Germany
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, contemplative, psychological, captivating, sad, touching, serious
Similar in 75%
Sukitomo (2006)
Plot Summary:
Drama following a young boxer Tomokazu and his relationship with his best friend Yoshiko and sister Misao as while he's training for an important match. His sister and friend have always been there for him, supporting him, but Tomokazu is about to find out that not everything is as simple as it may seem.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 111
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: romantic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Ramen Shop (2018)
Plot Summary:
Masato is a young ramen chef in the city of Takasaki in Japan. After the sudden death of his emotionally distant father, he chances upon a suitcase of memorabilia and a red notebook – filled with musings and old photos – left behind by his Singaporean mother who died when he was just ten years old. Acting on a hunch, he takes off for Singapore with the notebook, hoping to piece together the story of his life, as well as that of his parents.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Singapore, Japan, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, emotional, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Hill of Freedom (2014)
Plot Summary:
A Japanese man arrives in Korea to find his old lover. While he stays at a guest house, he encounters various people.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 66 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, non-linear, cerebral
Similar in 75%
Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog (2004)
Plot Summary:
As a Labrador puppy, Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu and Mitsuko Nii, who work as volunteers, training guide dogs (seeing eye dogs). When he grows to an adult dog, he is taken to a guide dog school, by a friendly, yet firm trainer Satoru Tawada. Although Quill is a little slower than the other dogs at the school, he seems to have an unusual 'empathy' and remarkable patience with his trainers. Tawada decides that Quill would be the ideal guide dog for Mitsuru Watanabe, but Wanatabe, a lonely and ill-tempered middle aged man, isn't as enthusiastic - he would "would rather sleep than be dragged around by a dog.". From here, the story is narrated by Wanatabe's daughter, Mitsuko, and slowly, Wantanbe is rehabilitated, venturing into the outside world, and learning, not only to trust other humans, but the animal at his side who guides him.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, uplifting, sentimental, emotional, sincere, captivating, tear jerker, serious, realistic, tearjerker
Similar in 84%
The Day He Arrives (2011)
Plot Summary:
Sang-Joon is a professor in the film department at a provincial university. He goes to Seoul to meet his senior, Young-Ho, who works as a film critic. Sang-Joon stays in a northern village in Seoul for 3 days.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, touching, realistic, black and white, poetic, crying
Similar in 78%
Return to Ithaca (2014)
Plot Summary:
Sun is setting on Havana. Five friends are gathered to celebrate the return of Amadeo after 16 years of exile in Madrid.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 832
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, contemplative, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, talky, weird
Similar in 77%
Beastie Boys (2008)
Plot Summary:
Two friends are involved in the male escort business. One starts an honest relationship with one of his clients. The other cheats on his girlfriend and has his many scams catch up to him.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, touching, bleak, sexual
Similar in 87%
Something's Cooking (2007)
Plot Summary:
A small group of amateur cooks and kitchen guests discover exactly why some refer to the kitchen as the "heart of the house".
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 361
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, emotional, captivating, touching, serious, sexual, sexy
Similar in 84%
X/Y (2014)
Plot Summary:
As Mark, Jen, Sylvia, and Jake navigate through their emotionally-arrested states, X/Y reveals the honest and wanton desire we all have to connect with someone and what is at stake when that connection fades.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 693
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, sexy, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, erotic
Similar in 82%
Aliyah (2012)
Plot Summary:
Paris 2011. Alex is 27. He's lives off dealing and pays the debts of his brother, Isaac, who after being his support has now become dead weight. When his cousin announces he's going to open a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Alex imagines he can join him and change his life. Set on emigrating, Alex has to find money, leave his beloved Paris, end his complicated love life, drop his destructive brother and find his way.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 567
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, captivating, emotional, touching, serious, contemplative
Similar in 85%
The White Angel (2007)
Plot Summary:
Beyaz Melek’ filmi; bir aşkın öyküsüdür.Bu aşk öyküsü, iki insanın birbirine duyduğu aşk değil, bir grup insanın hayata ve birbirlerine duyduğu aşkın ve sevginin hikayesidir.Filmde, doğudan batıya, mekteplisinden köylüsüne, gencinden yaşlısına sevginin her türlü motifi hem duygusal hem de esprili bir dille anlatılır.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, captivating, sentimental, serious
Similar in 75%
A Family (2010)
Plot Summary:
Ditte owns a gallery, has a loving boyfriend and her dream job in New York is within reach. But Ditte is also the youngest generation of the famous bakery dynasty, Rheinwald, and when her beloved, but dominating father comes down with a serious illness, Ditte is faced with the grueling decision: To pursue her own dreams, or to continue the legacy of her family.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, sincere, realistic, sexy
Similar in 86%
Women or Children First (2002)
Plot Summary:
Tom, a Spaniard, is married to Sylvie and lives a quiet but a bit boring life in the Britanny countryside (west of France). Trouble comes when Tom ex girlfriend reappears, asking for help, announcing him that she had a girl from him 9 years ago.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 264
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Spain
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, captivating, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Memories of Tomorrow (2006)
Plot Summary:
After being stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the prime of his life, a successful young businessman slips slowly away from his loving family.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 912
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, emotional, captivating, independent film, serious
Similar in 76%
Choking Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, serious, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Not Waving But Drowning (2012)
Plot Summary:
Not Waving But Drowning is a chronological look at growing up, formed from two different stories. The two sets of friends represent the American dilemma between what you have known and what you hope to know; the tear between longing for the past and the desire to explore.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 431
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, touching, captivating, sincere, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 86%
Time Of My Life (2012)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, 'Tot altijd' introduces us to a band of friends in the eighties, who spend their days enjoying their youth and turbulent (love) life. Years later, Thomas, a recent medicine graduate and Mario's closest friend, gets stuck between a rock and a hard place when he diagnoses Mario with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). Though not a fatal disease, it slowly consumes the patient's bodily functions and - in some cases - their minds. Mario becomes the leading spokesman for the action group "Waardig Sterven" ("Dignified Death") in support of the Belgian legalisation of euthanasia. Thomas does everything in his power to avoid losing his best friend, but also can't stand the sight of his continued degeneration.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 90%
Max & Lenny (2014)
Plot Summary:
Max and Lenny is the story of a friendship between two girls fighting for survival in a northern area of Marseille.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 51
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
A Touch of Spice (2003)
Plot Summary:
"A Touch of Spice" is a story about Fanis, a young Greek boy growing up in Istanbul, whose grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor. They both require... A Touch of Spice. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. 35 years later he leaves Athens and travels back to his birthplace of Istanbul to reunite with his grandfather and his first love. He travels back only to realize that he forgot to put a little bit of spice in his own life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, Turkey, France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, culinary, indie film, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Like You Know It All (2009)
Plot Summary:
Delightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 836
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, realistic, uplifting, emotional, semi serious, offbeat, humorous
Similar in 90%
Back to School Mom (2015)
Plot Summary:
Mary Thomas, a free-spirited musician, has spent the past two decades traveling the world, but at age 41 she decides to go back to college and finish her degree so that, for once, she can finally finish something she started. Back at her old university, she becomes close friends with her popular and charming "peer tutor" -- only to learn that he is actually the son she gave up 20 years earlier.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 162
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, touching, sincere, captivating
Similar in 82%
Degrassi Takes Manhattan (2010)
Plot Summary:
Film spin-off of Nickelodeon's popular teen program Degrassi.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 513
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious
Similar in 86%
Searching for the Elephant (2009)
Plot Summary:
A freelance photographer Hyun-woo seems to live an enviable life with a successful career. But his inside is torn apart from the sorrow of being deserted by his ex-girlfriend Mari. He even gets unclear about what’s really happening in reality and what’s delusion. One of Hyun-woo’s friend and a riding-high plastic surgeon, Min-seok is married to Soo-yeon, a sister of Hyun-woo. But he is always having affairs with the girls around him and doubts himself if he’s addicted to sex. Jin-hyuk, their longtime friend, is a financing specialist. And he is having a secret affair with Min-seok’s wife. He is willing to leave everything behind for the love. Three men, who look like the winners in life, are in fact struggling with their own sufferings that they desperately strive to keep undisclosed. The harder they try to get out of the agony, the more complicated and puzzled it gets.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 399
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic, erotic, dark, mind bending, contemplative, gloomy, weird
Similar in 75%
My Friend & His Wife (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two young men, Ye-joon and Jae-moon, have been close friends since doing military service together. Ye-joon has lately worked his way up to becoming a successful financier, while the unambitious Jae-moon has opted for a much less conspicuous route. He now works as a cook and is enjoying family life with his wife Ji-sook and their new-born son. Ji-sook tolerates her husband’s attachment to his friend, but everything changes after the tragic death of the child, caused by Ye-joon. Ji-sook was in Paris when the tragedy occurred and isn’t aware of the circumstances; she even starts an affair with Ye-joon when her husband is imprisoned after taking the blame for his son’s death. Relationships which were originally crystal-clear begin to grow distinctly cloudy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, touching, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Frailer (2014)
Plot Summary:
A woman diagnosed with terminal lung cancer gathers her three dearest friends together to make the most of the time she has left.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 104
Genere: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Norway
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 76%
A Time in Quchi (2013)
Plot Summary:
Bao stays with his grandfather for the summer and is shocked to see there are no modern appliances.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 130
Genere: Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, atmospheric, captivating, serious
Similar in 85%
Take Care of My Cat (2001)
Plot Summary:
The fashionable Hye-joo is focused on her career at a brokerage house. She's making a decent living, but her co-workers look down on her. Tae-hee is sick of living under the thumb of her domineering father. She spends her time doing volunteer work for a poet with cerebral palsy. Sullen Ji-young lives in poverty with her grandparents and struggles to find work. The girls, close friends in high school, find themselves drifting apart as their adult lives begin to take shape.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: lyrical, psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, erotic, atmospheric