Best movies like The Day He Arrives
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like The Day He Arrives (2011):
Similar in 86%
Visitors (2009)
Plot Summary:
Hong Sang-Soo’s Lost in the Mountains (South Korea, 32min) the visitor is the supremely self-centred Mi-Sook, who drives to Jeonju on impulse to see her classmate Jin-Young – only to discover that her friend is having an affair with their married professor, who Mi-Sook once dated herself. The level of social embarrassment goes off the scale. In Naomi Kawase’s Koma (Japan, 34min), Kang Jun-Il travels to a village in rural Japan to honour his grandfather’s dying wish by returning a Buddhist scroll to its ancestral home. Amid ancient superstitions, a new relationship forms. And in Lav Diaz’ Butterflies Have No Memories (Philippines, 42min) ‘homecoming queen’ Carol returns to the economically depressed former mining town she came from – and becomes the target of an absurd kidnapping plot hatched by resentful locals. Serving as his own writer, cameraman and editor, Diaz casts the film entirely from members of his crew and delivers a well-seasoned mix of social realism and fantasy. —bfi.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, realistic, stylized
Similar in 75%
Night and Day (2008)
Plot Summary:
Kim Seong-nam travels to Paris to escape an arrest, leaving his wife behind in Korea. After he arrives, he meets an ex-girlfriend and is introduced to a small community of Korean artists.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, touching, captivating
Similar in 83%
The Woman Who Ran (2020)
Plot Summary:
While her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends on the outskirts of Seoul. They make friendly conversation, as always, but there are different currents flowing independently of each other, both above and below the surface.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, melancholic, independent film, aesthetic, weird, complex
Similar in 76%
Everything is Wonderful (2017)
Plot Summary:
Set in New York, the film tells the story of the friendship between two European immigrants; Maria and Lena during one intense week, as they struggle to find happiness and test the limits of their freedom.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Greece
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, independent film
Similar in 77%
In Another Country (2012)
Plot Summary:
A three-tiered story centered on a trio of French tourists visiting the same seaside resort.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: contemplative, semi serious, clever, humorous, realistic, anthology, eros, offbeat, student film
Similar in 75%
The Power of Kangwon Province (1998)
Plot Summary:
Recently separated lovers (Baek Jong-hak, Oh Yun-hong) have a series of close encounters at a popular mountain retreat.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 997
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, experimental, sexual, crying, sexy
Similar in 78%
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)
Plot Summary:
Actor Gyung-soo (Kim Sang-kyung) is passed over for a part and decides to leave Seoul and visit a friend. His friend tells him the legend of the "Turning Gate," which foreshadows future events. During his visit, Gyung-soo meets Myung-sook (Ye Ji-won), a girl who quickly falls for him. After a night of passion, he boards the train back for Seoul and meets a married woman who claims to know him. Gyung-soo thinks he may be in love with her, but perhaps he's chosen the wrong woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, humorous, semi serious, poetic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 78%
Tale of Cinema (2005)
Plot Summary:
In Seoul, the paths of two men and one woman intersect and move apart from one another, centering around their love for cinema. A suicidal student meets a young woman who decides to follow him in his fatal gesture. Coming out of a cinema, Tongsu, an unsuccessful filmmaker, spots a beautiful young woman, and recognizes her : she is the main actress in the film he has just seen. The life of this wavering and distressed young man strangely echoes the one of the young man from the beginning.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, South Korea
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, stylized, independent film, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Cafe Seoul (2009)
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
Similar in 75%
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 90%
Ha Ha Ha (2010)
Plot Summary:
Over drinks, two friends agree to swap fond memories of their recent trips to the same seaside town. As the stories unfold in flashback, we realize their accounts take place at the same time—and with the same people—in this potent swirl of chance encounters, nostalgia, heartbreak and grace from Korea’s highly regarded auteur.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: emotional, light, humorous, captivating, sex comedy, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 85%
Oki’s Movie (2010)
Plot Summary:
A love story between a middle aged professor, a young female student who prepares a movie and a student/filmmaker who drinks too much.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: captivating, humorous, semi serious, psychological, sentimental, anthology, touching, realistic
Similar in 86%
Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000)
Plot Summary:
Wealthy Jae-hoon meets attractive writer Soo-jung through their mutual friend, filmmaker Young-soo. While Jae-hoon tries to pursue a romance with Soo-jung, things get complicated when it becomes apparent that Young-soo also has feelings for the young woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, romantic comedy, clever, black and white
Similar in 77%
Daytime Drinking (2008)
Plot Summary:
Hyuk-Jin has just broken up with his girlfriend and decides to take a trip to Jeongseon in the province of Gangwon-do. The next day, his friends are too hung over to get up, so Hyuk-Jin makes his way to his destination alone. A trip of opportunity takes a cruel and unexpected turn as misunderstanding and crossed paths occur over and over again.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 582
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: semi serious, humorous, realistic, sentimental, light, offbeat
Similar in 76%
A Matter of Heart (2009)
Plot Summary:
Garage owner Angelo and big-time film producer Alberto find themselves occupying neighbouring beds in a Rome hospital after suffering heart attacks. Alberto is a gregarious joker - and chain smoker - who has a strong effect on the impressionable Angelo. However, as one of the men's condition deteriorates, the other becomes more deeply involved in his personal life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 875
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 88%
Woman on the Beach (2006)
Plot Summary:
Stymied by writer's block while crafting his latest script, director Kim Jung-rae persuades his friend Won Chang-wook to drive him to a beach resort—where he promptly becomes involved with Chang-wook's girlfriend. Abandoning her and taking up with another woman, Jung-rae winds up creating enough drama to inspire his writing.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, touching, emotional, semi serious, serious, gloomy, sexual, sexy
Similar in 84%
Our Sunhi (2013)
Plot Summary:
Sunhi from the Department of Film stops by the school one day to get a letter of recommendation from Professor Choi to leave to the US. She expects him to write her a nice one since he took favor to her. She runs into two men from the past she's never met in a long time; Moon-soo, a recently turned movie director and senior director Jae-hak.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, captivating, sincere, romantic, sentimental, witty, talky, semi serious
Similar in 87%
Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
Plot Summary:
A story about a mentally ill man wrongfully accused of murder and his relationship with his lovingly adorable 6 year old daughter.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, semi serious, sad, sincere, feel good, bad ending, crying, psychological, psychological thriller
Similar in 82%
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 82%
Woman Is the Future of Man (2004)
Plot Summary:
As the first snow falls in Seoul, two old friends reunite; one is a successful college professor, and the other, a struggling filmmaker recently returned from the United States. After their reminiscences, they finally decide to go in search of the young woman each had romanced years earlier.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea, France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, emotional, romantic comedy, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Two Bits (1995)
Plot Summary:
It's a hot summer day in 1933 in South Philly, where 12-year old Gennaro lives with his widowed mom and his ailing grandpa, who sits outside holding tight to his last quarter, which he's promised to Gennaro and which Gennaro would like to have to buy a ticket to the plush new movie theater. But grandpa's not ready to pass on the quarter or pass on to his final reward: he has some unfinished business with a woman from his past, and he enlists Gennaro to act as his emissary.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, independent film, anamorphic, cult classic, serious, realistic, thought provoking, feel good
Similar in 89%
With Friends Like These (2007)
Plot Summary:
When Black Kelly gets back from New York, she discovers that more has changed than just her hair color while she's been away. Frederic found himself a girlfriend and plans to move. Kurt and Blonde Kelly live together with their one-year-old child. And Patrick's gone. Reunited with the old gang, Black Kelly realizes that life went on during her absence and that things will never be the same.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, semi serious, humorous, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 88%
Man in the Chair (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of an aspiring young filmmaker's encounter with a grumpy fount of movie lore.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, sincere, cult classic, masterpiece
Similar in 85%
Foreign Letters (2012)
Plot Summary:
A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier's personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
All Together (2011)
Plot Summary:
Five old friends decide to move in together as an alternate to living in a retirement home; joining them is an ethnology student whose thesis is on the aging population.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, sentimental, realistic
Similar in 81%
Hello Lonesome (2010)
Plot Summary:
Lonely since his wife left him and alienated from his daughter, a cantankerous voice-over artist strikes up an unlikely friendship with his regular deliveryman. Many suburbs away, an elderly widow loses her license to drive and turns to her wry younger neighbor for nostalgic cuddles and comfort. Meanwhile, a young urban sports fanatic meets a girl online and unexpectedly falls in love, though the trials the couple endure prove even more unexpected. Adam Reid's enchanting, compassionate debut weaves together the worlds of six lonely individuals as they negotiate the age-old process of giving and receiving love. It isn't easy, and it never happens the way they expect it, but for these isolated souls, there's an oddball magic in the way they make connections they never imagined.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 313
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, humorous, semi serious, psychological, independent film, touching
Similar in 86%
The Outlander (2005)
Plot Summary:
It is the early 20th century. A stranger arrives in the small, rural community and disrupts the lives of its inhabitants. The man, who refuses to give his name, is dubbed The Outlander. A traveller who disdains conventional behaviour and parochialism, The Outlander disturbs the villagers' complacency and scandalizes the community; he also elicits admiration and gains a woman's love. He ultimately leaves in the same manner he had arrived, but not before he has helped the villagers open their eyes to the larger world beyond their village.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 406
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, sentimental, touching, realistic, serious
Similar in 85%
Nobody's Daughter Haewon (2013)
Plot Summary:
Haewon, a college student, wants to end her secret affair with her professor, Seongjun. Feeling depressed after bidding farewell to her mother who is set to immigrate to Canada the next day, Haewon seeks out Seongjun again after a long time. That day, they run into her classmates at a restaurant and their relationship gets revealed. Haewon gets more agitated and Seongjun makes an extreme suggestion to run away together… Haewon dreams often. Her dreams will be compared to her waking life, but none can be denied as being a part of her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, serious, psychological, sexy, sincere, thought provoking, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 86%
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 82%
Guilty Hearts (2006)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of this drama's six separate stories, a variety of couples struggle with the infidelity, dishonesty and heartbreak that plagues their varied pasts. In overcoming their challenges, these diverse individuals embrace a brighter future.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 818
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic