Movies like Dolls 2002

If you like "Dolls" you are looking for surreal, emotional and melancholic movies about / with obsession, regret, love, culture clash, philosophy, suicide attempt and disfigurement themes of Drama and Romance genre shot in Japan.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Dolls (2002)
 7.5
 17K
Dolls (2002)
Original name: ドールズ
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min.
Story: Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif -- specifically, the kind practiced in Bunraku doll theater performances -- opening each section of his film with a story provided by the puppets and their masters, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno), a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter. He initially agrees, causing the unstable Sawako to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. When he leaves his new bride at the altar to save Sawako, however, he realizes that she's so incapable of caring for herself that she needs to be tied to him with a red rope. Inextricably bound, the two wander through Japan, encountering others along the way who have similarly overlooked love for other, more fleeting pleasures: fame, power, money.
Style: surreal, emotional, melancholic, lyrical, romantic, atmospheric, sentimental, bleak, intellectual, depressing ...
Plot: obsession, regret, love, culture clash, philosophy, suicide attempt, disfigurement, love and romance, mental illness, blind character, renewed love, melancholy, multiple storylines, elopement, bittersweet, car accident, moving, asian, eternal love, doll, suicide, sadness, pop star, puppet, identity ...
Time: year 2002, 21st century, contemporary
Place: japan, east asia, asia, india, tokyo
Keyword: retrospective, dreams, eye candy

Movie in categories

japan movies
3136
surreal movies
4450
obsession movies
6405
emotional movies
6204
regret movies
596
love movies
14399
philosophy movies
1643

Most similar movies to Dolls

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, touching, realistic and romantic films with plots about love and romance, couples, love, fall in love, bittersweet, couple relations and love story mostly in Drama, Romance and Crime genres. Some movies like Dolls: Norwegian Wood (2010), 3-Iron (2004), The Bow (2005), Fireworks (1997), The Sea Is Watching (2002). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 6.3
 12K
Norwegian Wood (2010)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min.
Story: Set in the 1960's, high school student Toru Watanabe loses his only friend Kizuki after he commits suicide. Toru, now looking for a new life, enters a university in Tokyo. By chance, Toru meets Kizuki's ex-girlfriend Naoko in the ...
Style: romantic, artsy, visually appealing, melancholic, sentimental ...
Plot: suicide, teenager, japanese school, love story, coming of age, young man, young lovers, love triangle, introspection, self discovery, haunted by the past, sex ...
Time: 60s, 20th century
Place: tokyo, east asia, asia, japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.9
 58K
3-Iron (2004)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Japan
Duration: 88 min.
Story: A young man, whose only possession is a motorcycle, spends his time riding around the city looking for empty apartments. After finding one, he hangs out for a while, fixing himself something to eat, washing laundry or making small repairs in return. ...
Style: lyrical, contemplative, surreal, romantic, philosophical ...
Audience: date night
Plot: golf, loneliness, motorcycle, relationships, abusive husband, jealousy, love triangle, art, love story, love, existentialism, destiny ...
Time: year 2004, y2k, 21st century
Place: korea, east asia, south korea, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.1
 12K
The Bow (2005)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Japan
Duration: 90 min.
Story: On a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a child. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday. They live a quiet and secluded life, renting the boat to day fishermen and practicing strange ...
Style: serious, realistic, contemplative, captivating, spiritual ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: older man younger woman relationship, isolation, love affair, confined, age difference, love triangle, couple relations, fall in love, couples, sailing, boat, sea ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south korea
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.7
 33K
Fireworks (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story: A police officer leaves the force in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into a depression, he makes questionable decisions.
Style: bleak, art house, lyrical, bloody, emotional ...
Plot: yakuza, gangster, police, dying, samurai, loss, death, couple relations, life is a bitch, love and romance, loss of loved one, loss of partner ...
Time: 20th century, year 1997, 90s
Place: japan, tokyo, asia, mount fuji
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
Movie in collections
The Sea Is Watching (2002)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min.
Story: Based on Akira Kurosawa's final unproduced script, this Edo-period drama takes place almost entirely inside an ocean-village brothel. O-Shin is a young brothel worker who one night helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the ...
Style: serious, sentimental, realistic, touching, captivating ...
Plot: samurai, friendship, prostitute, couple relations, hopes, looking for love, couples, fall in love, village life, village, unfulfilled love, rescue ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
Heavenly Forest (2006)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 116 min.
Story: The story begins with Makoto Segawa, a freshman at Meikei University. On the day of his university entrance ceremony, Makoto meets a fresh-faced, quirky girl named Shizuru. Makoto has a complex which causes him to shy away from contact with other ...
Style: realistic, serious, sincere, emotional, touching ...
Audience: date night
Plot: photography, student life, fall in love, love triangle, love and romance, young lovers, youth, couple relations, university, photograph, couples, dating ...
Place: japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
 6.0
 14K
At First Sight (1999)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story: A blind man has an operation to regain his sight at the urging of his girlfriend and must deal with the changes to his life.
Style: romantic, touching, emotional, contemplative, serious ...
Plot: blindness, blind character, disability, winter, happy ending, love, bittersweet, meme, cognitive science, visual impairment, disabled character, christmas ...
Time: year 1999, 90s, 20th century
Place: new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
A Scene at the Sea (1991)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 101 min.
Story: When deaf garbage man Shigeru (Kurôdo Maki) finds a broken surfboard on one of his runs, it piques his curiosity, even though he has no experience with surfing. So he repairs the board and, with loyal girlfriend Takako (Hiroko Oshima), who also is ...
Style: light hearted, contemplative, serious, realistic, touching ...
Plot: deaf, surfing, mute or deaf, beach, thoughtful, love, teenager, mental disorder, love letter, outsider, reconciliation, disability ...
Time: year 1991, 90s
Place: japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Movie in collections
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (2010)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 124 min.
Story: Diving to save a camera from a fall down a flight of stairs, high school junior Naomi Sukuse wakes with no memory of the last four years. Naomi must remember who she was and figure out who she wants to be in this story of love and second chances.
Style: contemplative, sentimental, emotional, captivating, sincere ...
Audience: teens, date night, teen drama
Plot: high school, memory loss, teenage love, love triangle, self discovery, fall in love, social relations, youth, society, couples, amnesia, love and romance ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, usa, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Crying Out Love in the Center of the World (2004)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min.
Story: While searching for his fiancee Ritsuko, Sakutarou rediscovers through flashbacks the void deep within him caused by the events from his high school days.
Style: touching, realistic, serious, sentimental, sad ...
Plot: haunted by the past, love affair, teenage love, teenage life, hopes, youth, couples, slice of life, first love, memory, illness, terminal illness ...
Time: year 1986, 21st century
Place: japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: China, France, USA, Hong Kong
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Elizabeth has just been through a particularly nasty breakup, and now she's ready to leave her friends and memories behind as she chases her dreams across the country. In order to support herself on her journey, Elizabeth picks up a series of ...
Style: sentimental, atmospheric, road movie, psychological, touching ...
Plot: road trip, love and romance, love story, travel, loneliness, waitress, cross country, passion, on the road, bittersweet, self discovery, melancholy ...
Time: year 2007, 21st century
Place: usa, tennessee, china, new york, memphis ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, France
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A melancholy story about the love between a woman and a man who live in the same building and one day find out that their husband and wife had an affair with each other. More and more the two meet during their daily lives as they determine that they ...
Style: art house, atmospheric, melancholic, visually stunning, artsy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: loneliness, adultery, infidelity, forbidden love, marriage, love affair, unrequited love, love, newspaper, food, tragedy, betrayal ...
Time: 60s, 2000s, y2k, year 2000, 20th century ...
Place: hong kong, japan, china, east asia, shanghai ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
 6.6
 63K
Like Crazy (2011)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story: A British college student falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa.
Style: sincere, romantic, heartbreaking, emotional, touching ...
Audience: teens, date night, chick flick, girls' night
Plot: long distance relationship, fall in love, love story, forceful separation, relationships, couples, bittersweet, immigration, love, parents, love and romance, couple relations ...
Time: year 2011, 21st century
Place: united kingdom, usa, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
 7.9
 11K
Love Letter (1995)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min.
Story: When exchanging letters two women discover new things about a deceased man they used to know.
Style: romantic drama, independent film, anamorphic, retro, sweet ...
Audience: date night, girls' night
Plot: true love, time travel, strong female character, asian, slice of life, loneliness, love story, erotica, asian prostitute, friendship, high school, mountain ...
Time: 90s
Place: japan, hokkaido
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
A Moment to Remember (2004)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 117 min.
Story: A young couple's love is tested when Sun-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.
Style: touching, realistic, romantic, sincere, sad ...
Audience: date night, chick flick
Plot: love affair, memory loss, alzheimer's disease, love story, couple relations, love, love and romance, asian, class differences, memory, father daughter relationship, resentment ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south korea, korea, east asia, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Yi Yi: A One and a Two... (2000)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan, Japan
Duration: 173 min.
Story: Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries.
Style: touching, art house, philosophical, depressing, lyrical ...
Plot: midlife crisis, first love, existentialism, wedding, children, dysfunctional family, coma, lovers reunited, love, photography, ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship, marital crisis ...
Time: 2000s, 90s
Place: japan, taipei, east asia, asia, tokyo ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Reconstruction (2003)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Late one evening Alex suddenly abandons his girlfriend, Simone, to pursue the beautiful Aimee. In his encounter with Aimee time and place dissolve for him and he becomes a stranger to Simone, to whom he cannot return.
Style: surreal, psychological, mind bending, romantic, philosophical ...
Plot: love story, love affair, couples, cheating wife, unfaithful wife, adultery, loneliness, existentialism, imagination, art, depression, life turned upside down ...
Time: year 2003, 21st century
Place: denmark, copenhagen
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 6.9
 37K
Love Story (1970)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When ...
Style: emotional, touching, sentimental, romantic, sad ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, girls' night, teens
Plot: love, fall in love, tragedy, death, college, love story, cancer, tragic love, ice hockey, graduation, young love, class differences ...
Time: 70s, 60s, 20th century
Place: new york, massachusetts, paris france, boston, harvard university
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Movie in collections
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: In the massive city of Tokyo, Kumiko, a twenty-nine year old, lives in utter solitude. She works a dreadful, dead-end job under an awful boss, is intimidated by her well-off peers, and nagged incessantly by her overbearing mother who is exasperated ...
Style: depressing, surreal, art house, melancholic, emotional ...
Plot: treasure, language barrier, mental illness, treasure hunt, character study, alone in the world, survival, self discovery, obsession, female protagonist, map, delusion ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, minnesota, tokyo, east asia, north dakota ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 143 min.
Story: An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche ...
Style: stylized, sentimental, bad ending, romantic, emotional ...
Audience: chick flick, teens, date night, girls' night, adult
Plot: obsession, high society, social differences, love triangle, loneliness, love story, millionaire, unfulfilled love, love and romance, love, destructive relationship, infidelity ...
Time: 1920s, year 2013, 90s, 1900s, 2010s ...
Place: new york, usa, los angeles, long island, midwest
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
 7.3
 1K
Lost in Time (2003)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Sui Wai lost her fiance Ah Man in a car accident. With the obligations of life sitting heavy on her shoulders, she lives on only to find herself confiding in her beloved through a phone call. Dai Fai. a mini-bus driver who witnessed Ah Man's ...
Style: touching, serious, emotional, sentimental, sincere ...
Plot: starting over, fall in love, love affair, love and romance, coping, couples, hopes, workplace, bittersweet, workplace romance, strong female presence, dealing with death ...
Time: 21st century
Place: china, asia, hong kong
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
I Give My First Love to You (2009)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min.
Story: As a child Takuma is diagnosed with a heart condition that requires care from a cardiologist. He soon becomes friends with his doctors young daughter Mayu while being treated at the hospital. One day Mayu overhears her father saying that Takumas ...
Style: touching, sincere, suspense, sentimental, uplifting ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: terminal illness, first love, teen romance, japanese girl, love, hopes, tragedy, breaking up with girlfriend, illness, siblings, superhero, love story ...
Place: japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
 6.9
 8K
Air Doll (2009)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min.
Story: An "air doll" suddenly come to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be ...
Style: surreal, serious, bleak, semi serious, touching ...
Plot: toys, sex doll, female robot, fall in love, sexy brunette, hopes, innocence lost, imaginary, human nature, creator, objects come to life, doll ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, tokyo, asia, east asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Movie in collections
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.
Style: atmospheric, melancholic, intellectual, bad ending, sincere ...
Plot: chess, asperger's syndrome, obsession, prodigy, genius, relationships, eccentricity, loneliness, love story, mentally unstable, supportive spouse, contests and competitions ...
Time: 1920s, 20th century
Place: italy
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
One in a Hundred Thousand (2020)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Rino Sakuragi (Yuna Taira) is a high school student. She is good friends with Ren Kiritani (Alan Shirahama) who attends the same high school. They have been close since their middle school days. Rino holds special feelings for Ren Kiritani, but she ...
Style: emotional, talky, melancholic, psychological, romantic
Plot: japanese schoolgirl, japanese girl, slim, youth, lovers, couples, young lovers, teenager, love, couple relations, fall in love, relationships ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
 7.0
 165K
One Day (2011)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 107 min.
Story: A romantic comedy centered on Dexter and Emma, who first meet during their graduation in 1988 and proceed to keep in touch regularly. The film follows what they do on July 15 annually, usually doing something together.
Style: sentimental, romantic, sad, emotional, touching ...
Audience: date night, chick flick, girls' night, teens
Plot: love, love story, love and romance, best friends in love, friendship, male female friendship, couples, ambition, opposites attract, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, relationships, divorce ...
Time: 80s, 2010s, 90s, 20th century, 2000s ...
Place: iran, scotland, paris france, london
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
 6.6
 732
Lost Paradise (1997)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min.
Story: The tragic tale of two lovers whose passion burns so intensely it destroys them.
Style: sexy, art house, serious, realistic, sexual ...
Plot: extramarital affair, affair, love, midlife crisis, bittersweet, unfulfillment, love and romance, dishonesty, couples, infidelity, unfulfilled love, tragic love ...
Time: 90s
Place: japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
 7.4
 3K
Go (2001)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school ...
Style: serious, sentimental, sincere, touching, sweet ...
Plot: racism, boxing, coming of age, teenage love, youth, society, fish out of water, parents and children, high school life, lgbtq, traumatic childhood, misfit ...
Time: 21st century
Place: japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
Last Life in the Universe (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Thailand, Japan, Netherlands
Duration: 112 min.
Story: An obsessive-compulsive Japanese librarian living in Bangkok spends most of his days contemplating suicide in his lifeless apartment. His life changes when he witnesses the death of Nid, seconds before he was about to jump off a bridge. This brings ...
Style: surreal, atmospheric, lyrical, psychological, serious ...
Plot: suicide attempt, suicide, friendship, self discovery, melancholy, perfectionist, loneliness, relationships, opposites attract, existentialism, couples, destiny ...
Time: 2000s, year 2003
Place: japan, thailand, east asia, bangkok thailand, asia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
 6.7
 18K
Restless (2011)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: A powerful and emotional coming of age story, this remarkable tale is told with honesty and originality that will leave audiences moved. In the film, two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and ...
Style: serious, offbeat, psychological, touching, atmospheric ...
Audience: teens, date night
Plot: terminal illness, sadness, teenage love, love, cancer, coming of age, hospital, death, funeral, brain tumor, teenager, illness ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
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