Best movies like Dream of Illumination
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Noboru (Yuya Takagawa) runs a real estate agency in a provincial city. He is cold-blooded when it comes to make a sale. His daughter is high school senior Nana (Sara Shida). Nana has continuously changed schools due to her father's work. She has lived in the same city for the past 4 years, which has been the longest span for her. Nano hopes to stay there, but her father wants her to go to Tokyo. -AsianWiki.
IMDB Rating: 1.1
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Dream of Illumination (2017):
Similar in 88%
The Tale of Iya (2013)
Plot Summary:
It was summer when a stranger from Tokyo arrived at “Iya”, where the riches of nature still abound. This young man, named Kudo, was willing to live his new, self-sufficient life. He was exhausted by city life, and believed this beautiful land would give him some rest. On the contrary, the reality was not as easy as he thought. There was a confliction between a local construction company and a group of nature conservationists. Farmers are trying to save their harvests from harmful animals such as deer and monkeys. People are fighting for their own purposes: to get their job, to save the environment, or to survive.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 363
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 169 min
Plot tags: silent, exciting, touching, captivating, contemplative, silent film
Similar in 88%
Girl (2012)
Plot Summary:
"Girls" follows four beautiful women and depicts the troubles found in their love lives and work place. Yukiko Takigawa (Karina) works at a big advertising firm and has a good looking boyfriend. Seiko Takeda is married and has no children. She works at a large real estate company. Yoko Kosaka is a single woman working at a historic stationary company. Takako Hirai is a single mother who works for a car manufacturer.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 103
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Cherry Orchard: Blossoming (2008)
Plot Summary:
Remake of a hit film from 1990, "The Cherry Orchard" which Nakahara himself directed, based on a popular comic book from Akimi Yoshida. The story takes place at a prestigious girls high school where everyone is oppressed with rules. One girl who just transferred to this school finds a long lost script of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" which was banned from school 11 years ago. Breaking strict school rules and boundaries, she and her friends decide to perform the play. With sentiment, love and passion, the girls cherish the moment of their life before taking the next step towards adulthood.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 89
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Kanazawa Shutter Girl (2018)
Plot Summary:
The girls are good friends at junior high school. Three of them seem to adjust and move forward upon entering high school, but the fourth of them is not having a seamless time of it. High school is not comfortable and the transition is full of memories, nostalgia and yearning. This is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl and also a camera. Kanazawa Shutter Girl picks up inspiration from the manga, and the subsequent movie, called Tokyo Shutter Girl and is helmed by one of its predecessor's's directors.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Demon Covered in Scars (2017)
Plot Summary:
Mai (Rika Adachi) is a high school student. She attends a new school and there she meets her classmate Shino (Manami Enosawa). Shino was bullied by Mai's friends back in their middle school days. Table have now turned.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating
Similar in 89%
Forget Me Not (2015)
Plot Summary:
Takashi Hayama (Nijiro Murakami) is a third year high school student. He falls in love with Azusa Oribe (Akari Hayami) at first sight and they begin to date. One day, Azusa tells Takashi "people who meet me, forget about me several hours later." Takashi doesn't believe Azusa, but by chance he realizes that he forgot about Azusa. So he won't forget Azusa, Takashi begins to leave a note for himself and Azusa.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 574
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, stylized, semi serious, teen
Similar in 83%
The Lowlife (2017)
Plot Summary:
Based on a 2016 novel by Mana Sakura, “The Lowlife” shows the stories of three women who work in Japan’s adult video industry.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 190
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 76%
My Last Love (2017)
Plot Summary:
Bong-yong Kim is one of a modest Korean dad who struggles to survive from the work place without any time to get along with his family. He has to work over than he had to, since the boss treat him like his servant – drink late every night, drive the boss to his home. His wife, Hwayeon, blames him for his indifference to family, and twins in puberty, Woo-joo and Dal-nim, also in trouble with their father. The late child ‘Byeol-nim’ is his only one who acts charm and shows cuteness to him.. MY LAST LOVE, when every family member starts to share with caring each other at last….
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 70
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining
Similar in 86%
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young man fights for his freedom after he is accused of groping a girl on train.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Tokyo University Story (2006)
Plot Summary:
Murakami Naoki is the most intelligent student at his high school, but he can't stop obsessing over a girl named Mizuno Haruka. He finally asks her out, and to his surprise, she accepts. After several months of a loving yet obviously doomed romance, it comes time for them to take the entrance exams for Tokyo University. What will happen to their relationship if only one of them is accepted?.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 35
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: manga
Similar in 81%
Hibiki (2018)
Plot Summary:
One day, literature magazine “Mokuren” receives a manuscript script for novel “Otogi no Niwa” by Hibiki Aku, a sensitive 15-year-old girl with a talent for writing.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 488
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, unusual plot structure, melancholic, semi serious, whimsical, weird
Similar in 88%
Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016)
Plot Summary:
A terminally ill single mother is determined to reconcile her splintered family.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, captivating, melancholic, disturbing, inspirational, comedy drama, crying, detective
Similar in 84%
Harmful Insect (2001)
Plot Summary:
13-year-old Sachiko is about to encounter the most difficult moments in her young life. Her father abandons her and her mother attempts to commit suicide by slashing her wrist. Her teacher, whom she relies on heavily, leaves for northern Japan to take another job. Other students start to gossip about Sachiko and her former teacher. Sachiko then drops out of school and attempts to find herself.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 938
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, controversial, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Until the Break of Dawn (2012)
Plot Summary:
High school student Ayumi is trained by his grandmother to act as a "tsunagu," an intermediary for people who want to reach the dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Love & Pop (1998)
Plot Summary:
Pretty Tokyo teen Hiromi Yoshii (Asumi Miwa) and her girlfriends struggle with rivalries, clothes and boyfriends, just like any other high school clique. But out for kicks and blind to the consequences, the girls of Love & Pop hide a dirty little secret. From phone booths and street corners, in department stores and restaurants, the girls practice enjo-kosai or "compensated dating" -- arranging liaisons with older men drawn to their evident nubile charms and schoolgirl uniform innocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: disturbing, offbeat, serious, realistic, witty, sexual, sexy
Similar in 79%
Sundome 2 (2008)
Plot Summary:
A teenage girl transfers to a new high school. She and a boy in the class join the same school club and during one of the activities she confides in him that she was previously a male. Later admitting that the sex change was a lie, she agrees to date him as a form of apology. On their first date, however, he finds himself handcuffed by her class-mate.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 46
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, manga
Similar in 76%
About the Pink Sky (2011)
Plot Summary:
High school student Izumi Kawashima, whose daily routine is rating newspaper articles, finds a wallet containing a large sum of cash. Instead of returning the wallet to its owner, Izumi decides to lend a substantial portion of the money to a middle-aged male acquaintance. She eventually returns the wallet to its owner, a wealthy high-school boy named Koki, who notices the missing money, and as compensation, asks Izumi to do something for his friend - to create a newspaper that brings happiness to its reader.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, offbeat, sexy, hot
Similar in 75%
March Comes in Like a Lion 2 (2017)
Plot Summary:
The time spent between professional Shogi player Kiriyama and his three stories helps to heal his wounds. As he prepares to secure another win in an upcoming tournament, the father who left the three sisters appears and disturbs the peace.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, crying, weeping, entertaining
Similar in 83%
The Furthest End Awaits (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set at the edge of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with its beautiful scenic views, the film revolves around two women from different backgrounds who develop a friendship, and how they begin to influence and change each other’s lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sexy
Similar in 80%
Dear Friends (2007)
Plot Summary:
High school student Rina has a bad attitude and thinks that friends are something that you use when you need them. She doesn't have any real relationships and is not even on good terms with her parents. Rina is the clubbing queen and could get any guy she wants with her stunning looks. One day, Rina suddenly collapses and her world falls apart. She finds out that she has cancer. The only one who starts to support her is her classmate Maki. Maki tells that they were friends in primary school even though Rina doesn't remember. Maki wants to get close to Rina and help her like Rina had helped Maki when she had hard times.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, sexy
Similar in 77%
Tokyo Shutter Girl (2013)
Plot Summary:
The movie Tokyo Shutter Girl, based on the comic series by Kenichi Kiriki, consists of three separate works by three separate directors, each set in Tokyo. It is about three Japanese schoolgirls in a photo club.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 39
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: anthology, sexual
Similar in 85%
Drucker in the Dug-Out (2011)
Plot Summary:
The movie is about Minami Kawashima, a high school girl who becomes the manager of her school's baseball team in place of her hospitalized friend, Yuki Miyata. She tries to lead the team to the National High School Baseball Championship by learning strategies from the business book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by Peter Drucker, which she mistakenly bought.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 72
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, psychological, uplifting
Similar in 84%
Sundome New (2017)
Plot Summary:
Hideo's a nerd and a virgin, and he's probably going to stay that way. But when a hot new girl joins his class, he falls for her hard.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing, manga
Similar in 85%
Hyouka: Forbidden Secrets (2017)
Plot Summary:
Energy-conservative high school student Houtarou Oreki ends up with more than he bargained for when he signs up for the Classics Club at his sister's behest—especially when he realizes how deep-rooted the club's history really is. Begrudgingly, Oreki is dragged into an investigation concerning the 45-year-old mystery that surrounds the club room. Accompanied by his fellow club members, the knowledgeable Satoshi Fukube, the stern but benign Mayaka Ibara, and the ever-curious Eru Chitanda, Oreki must combat deadlines and lack of information with resourcefulness and hidden talent, in order to not only find the truth buried beneath the dust of works created years before them, but of other small side cases as well.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 248
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing, anime
Similar in 87%
A Cappella (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set in the year 1969 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Kyoko Noma is a loving female high school student who takes part in campus protests. One day, she meets university student Wataru Domoto in the tea cafe Mubansou ("A Cappella"). Kyoko falls in love with him, but they get involved in an incident that leads to a shocking ending.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 109
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, unusual plot structure, captivating, suspense, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Haruko Azumi Is Missing (2016)
Plot Summary:
Haruko Azumi is a 28-years-old woman. She is a single and works at an office. One day, she suddenly disappears on a typical street with retail stores lined up. After her disappearance, her missing person poster is spread across the city.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 327
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: light, humorous, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 89%
Tokyo Family (2013)
Plot Summary:
In this film director Yoji Yamada bows down before his teacher and role model. Yamada was assistant director on Yazujirō Ozu’s Tōkyō monogatari, a moving family portrait set after the Second World War. In his remake, Yamada has made very few departures from Ozu’s masterpiece in order to update the story of ageing couple Shukichi and Tomiko to present day Japan. Once again, the pair decides to leave their quiet lives in the country to pay a visit to their children and grandchildren in Tokyo. Once there, they discover that neither their oldest son, a doctor named Koichi, nor their eldest daughter Shigeko - who runs a beauty parlour - has time for them: both are too busy attending to their everyday concerns. Even the youngest son went his own way. The old couple feel lonely and bewildered in the fast-paced metropolis.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, psychological, captivating, sentimental, serious, crying
Similar in 84%
A Gentle Breeze in the Village (2007)
Plot Summary:
Based on a popular manga, the film is a tender coming-of-age love story set deep in Japan's countryside. When eighth grade cool guy Hiromi transfers from Tokyo to a small elementary/middle school with only six kids enrolled, wholesome and honest Soyo becomes enthralled with his sophisticated world.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing, romantic
Similar in 79%
Schoolgirl Complex (2013)
Plot Summary:
At an all female high school, a senior of the radio club becomes fascinated with the club's newest member. As graduation nears and the summer heat rises, so does the sexual tension between the girls.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, erotic
Similar in 77%
Saki Achiga-hen: Episode of Side-A (2018)
Plot Summary:
Sequel movie to the live-action Saki TV series.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, sincere, unusual plot structure, suspense, contemplative