Best movies like Departures
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: sad, philosophical, psychological, touching, thought provoking, inspirational, atmospheric, emotional, contemplative, sentimental
Best tv shows and movies like Departures (2008):
Similar in 81%
Tokyo Sonata (2008)
Plot Summary:
Ryûhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) is keeping a secret from his wife, Megumi (Kyôko Koizumi), and his two teenage sons. Even though he leaves the house every day, he's not really going to work. He's going to an employment office. He recently lost his job due to outsourcing, but is determined to find another position, all while supporting an old friend who is also out of work. But when Megumi accidentally finds out Ryûhei's secret and doesn't tell him, her trust in him, and their marriage, suffers.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, Netherlands, Hong Kong
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: lyrical, talky, stylized, touching, serious, psychological, realistic, disturbing, poignant, atmospheric
Similar in 75%
Red Beard (1965)
Plot Summary:
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 185 min
Plot tags: black and white, cerebral, emotional, realistic, touching, existential, philosophical, psychedelic, spiritual, epic
Similar in 84%
Tony Takitani (2004)
Plot Summary:
Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. Being alone was normal since his mother died young and his father was always away with his jazz band. At school he studied art, but while his sketches are accurate and detailed they lack feeling. Used to being self-sufficient, Tony seems to find emotions illogical and immature. After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated by Eiko, a client who in turn is fascinated by high end fashion. Eiko is like an angel in Tony's daily existence, and for the first time in his life, he feels connected to the outside world. However, Eiko does have one fault: she's a clothing shopaholic. Eventually he marries her, and his life changes. He feels vibrantly alive and for the first time he understands and fears loneliness. But her obsession with designer clothes begins to worry him. When he asks her to economize, the consequences are tragic.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, psychological, sincere, realistic, depressing, sad, art house, existential
Similar in 79%
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Plot Summary:
Through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander, we witness the delights and conflicts of the Ekdahl family, a sprawling bourgeois clan in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Sweden.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 67000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, France, West Germany
Duration: 188 min
Plot tags: philosophical, disturbing, art house, visual, surreal, sincere, thought provoking, melancholic, visually appealing, intellectual
Similar in 83%
Maborosi (1995)
Plot Summary:
A young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant. Yumiko remarries and moves from Osaka to a small fishing village, yet continues to search for meaning in a lonely world.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: art house, atmospheric, contemplative, slow cinema, retro, aesthetic, psychological, serious, realistic, light
Similar in 87%
After the Wedding (2006)
Plot Summary:
A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, UK, Norway
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, melancholic, light, serious, contemplative, thought provoking, existential
Similar in 76%
Nostalgia (1983)
Plot Summary:
The Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to save them from the evils of the world. Seeing some deep truth in Domenico's act, Andrei becomes drawn to him. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia for his homeland and his longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Soviet Union
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, philosophical, art house, cerebral, contemplative, poetic, black and white, visual, mind twisting, emotional
Similar in 79%
The Eel (1997)
Plot Summary:
White-collar worker Yamashita finds out that his wife has a lover visiting her when he's away, suddenly returns home and kills her. After eight years in prison, he returns to live in a small village, opens a barber shop (he was trained as a barber in prison) and talks almost to no-one except for the eel he "befriended" in prison. One day he finds the unconscious body of Keiko, who attempted suicide and reminds him of his wife. She starts to work at his shop, but he doesn't let her become close to him.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, captivating, psychological, touching, independent film, atmospheric, offbeat, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Winter Light (1963)
Plot Summary:
A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, depressing, art house, emotional, black and white, cerebral, christian film, spiritual, existential
Similar in 89%
Be Sure to Share (2009)
Plot Summary:
Shiro’s struggle with his father’s cancer and impending death leads to a realization that he must communicate his love and admiration for him before it’s too late. A series of flashbacks reveals their relationship over time, and the trouble Shiro faced connecting to his strict father who was also his teacher and soccer coach. With a consuming secret of his own, Shiro, now in his late twenties and about to get engaged, must eventually learn how to share the pain of it with his loved ones.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, contemplative, psychological, sentimental, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Poetry (2010)
Plot Summary:
Grandmother Mi Ja works part-time as a caretaker, and struggles to raise a teen grandson by herself. Despite her tough situation, she speaks softly, dresses fashionably, and approaches the world with child-like curiosity. Enrolling in a poetry class, she endeavors to capture life in verse form, but her simple dream of completing a poem is stalled by the early signs of Alzheimer's disease and the heavy financial and emotional burden of her grandson's shocking wrongdoing.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea, France
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, realistic, lyrical, sentimental, captivating, sad, art house, existential
Similar in 89%
The Island (2006)
Plot Summary:
Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, cerebral, breathtaking, meditative, thought provoking, serious, dramatic, realistic, spiritual
Similar in 87%
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Plot Summary:
A drop-out from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil-rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: road movie, serious, realistic, thought provoking, captivating, cynical, cerebral, cult classic, philosophical, existential
Similar in 82%
Courageous (2011)
Plot Summary:
As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners are confident and focused. They willingly stand up to the worst the streets have to offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift further and further away from them. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a new found urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children? COURAGEOUS is the fourth release of Sherwood Pictures, the movie making ministry of Sherwood Church in Albany, Georgia.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: christian film, uplifting, inspirational, realistic, sentimental, feel good, melancholic, sincere, sad, emotional
Similar in 86%
Paris, Texas (1984)
Plot Summary:
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama
Country: West Germany, France, UK, USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: road movie, surreal, touching, atmospheric, emotional, bleak, lyrical, visual, philosophical, art house
Similar in 90%
Amour (2012)
Plot Summary:
Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, France, Germany
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: philosophical, reflective, sad, sincere, art house, emotional, depressing, compassionate, breathtaking, disturbing
Similar in 77%
The Visitor (2007)
Plot Summary:
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, depressing, touching, emotional, independent film, philosophical, psychological, sad, offbeat, social
Similar in 90%
Still Walking (2008)
Plot Summary:
Twelve years after their beloved eldest son, Junpei, drowned while saving a stranger's life, Kyohei and Toshiko welcome their surviving children home for a family reunion. Younger son Ryota still feels that his parents resent that he isn't the one who died; his new wife, Yukari, is awkwardly meeting the rest of the family for the first time. Daughter Chinami strains to fill the uncomfortable pauses with forced cheer.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, sincere, touching, realistic, philosophical, thought provoking, disturbing, poignant, art house
Similar in 80%
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Plot Summary:
Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, disturbing, psychological, sincere, intense, poignant, realistic, sad, slow cinema
Similar in 86%
Babel (2006)
Plot Summary:
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 314000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico, France
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: emotional, atmospheric, non-linear, sincere, bleak, depressing, art house, touching, breathtaking, melancholic
Similar in 78%
Life as a House (2001)
Plot Summary:
When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, sincere, sad, inspirational, tear jerker, realistic, feel good, captivating
Similar in 86%
Reign Over Me (2007)
Plot Summary:
A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 99000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, depressing, sincere, inspirational, heartbreaking, compassionate, feel good, tear jerker, psychological
Similar in 90%
Hide Away (2011)
Plot Summary:
A successful businessman attempting to resurrect his life buys and boards a dilapidated sailboat.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, emotional, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, independent film
Similar in 80%
Nebraska (2013)
Plot Summary:
An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 122000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: road movie, black and white, depressing, humorous, touching, realistic, meditative, emotional, melancholic, witty
Similar in 80%
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Plot Summary:
This South Korean film takes place on an isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: philosophical, atmospheric, melancholic, meditative, spiritual, art house, touching, stylized, scenic, lyrical
Similar in 78%
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Plot Summary:
Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 250000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: melancholic, emotional, touching, depressing, sad, independent film, crying, compassionate, bleak, heartbreaking
Similar in 87%
Rain Man (1988)
Plot Summary:
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 538000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: road movie, sincere, uplifting, touching, inspirational, emotional, psychological, captivating, clever, social
Similar in 83%
The Chorus (2004)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1940's France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: France, Switzerland, Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, uplifting, emotional, sentimental, feel good, educational, realistic, epic, art house
Similar in 83%
Pay It Forward (2000)
Plot Summary:
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, inspirational, motivational, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, tear jerker, sad, thought provoking
Similar in 76%
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Plot Summary:
Amidst her own personality crisis, southern housewife Evelyn Couch meets Ninny, an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in Whistle Stop, Alabama in the 1920s.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 80000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: feel good, sentimental, touching, captivating, inspirational, sad, tear jerker, heartbreaking, emotional, realistic