Movies like Pale Moon
If you like "Pale Moon" you are looking for atmospheric and period piece movies about / with embezzlement, midlife crisis, housewife, female protagonist, character study, loneliness and adultery themes of Drama genre shot in Japan.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Pale Moon (2014)
1K
Original name: 紙の月
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Daily, Rika Umezawa battles a nagging sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction. She works a tiring job, comes home to an unappreciative husband and has little opportunity to enjoy life. But things change when office gossip about affairs and embezzlement inspire Rika to do the unthinkable. Soon, Rika finds herself filling the void with a university student named Kota and the millions entrusted to her by clients. Is her newfound lifestyle the key to happiness? And if so, how long can it last?
Style:
atmospheric, period piece
Plot:
embezzlement, midlife crisis, housewife, female protagonist, character study, loneliness, adultery, secret life, bank clerk, moral ambiguity, ethical dilemma, seduction, romantic obsession, urban, identity crisis, materialism, class differences, feminist, asian, social satire, extramarital affair, scam, wife, husband wife relationship, psychological drama
Time:
90s, 1990s
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Pale Moon
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, period piece, art house and tense films with plots about character study, moral ambiguity, female protagonist, psychological drama, loneliness, urban and identity crisis mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Pale Moon: Fools (1970), Those Secrets (1992), Winner Take All (1975), Doctor Glas (1968), When the Heavens Fell (1972). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
175
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A horror-movie actor falls in love with the unhappily married young wife of an attorney.
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, detective, independent film
Plot:
love triangle, character study, midlife crisis, forbidden romance, jealousy, infidelity, adultery, unrequited love, bittersweet, loneliness, mature, obsession ...
Time:
year 1970
Place:
san francisco
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A wife and mother drifts back to her life as a call girl.
Style:
noir, serious, realistic, captivating
Plot:
call girl, prostitution, secret life, double life, female protagonist, domestic drama, mature, motherhood, character study, taboo, family conflict, shame ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
87%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
The chronicle of an average American housewife who just happens to be addicted to gambling.
Plot:
housewife, gambling addiction, obsession, female protagonist, domestic drama, character study, suburban life, secret life, gender roles, financial ruin, small town, women's issues ...
Similarity:
84%
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Doktor Glas finds himself attracted to a young woman, married to a corrupt clergyman. She's miserable in her marriage, so he agrees to help in anyway he can. But he is quickly torn between passion and morality. The story is based on the 1905 ...
Style:
melancholic, period piece, grim, noir, ambiguous ending ...
Plot:
ethical dilemma, obsession, forbidden love, character study, morality, adultery, guilt, desire, existential crisis, existentialism, sexual repression, romantic obsession ...
Time:
60s, 1900s, 20th century
Place:
stockholm sweden
Similarity:
78%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A psychotherapist's life is wrecked when her private life is exposed in a sensation magazine.
Style:
period piece
Plot:
tabloid journalism, scandal, privacy invasion, politician, female protagonist, betrayal, media manipulation, moral ambiguity, shame, ethical dilemma, societal hypocrisy, love triangle ...
Time:
70s
Place:
finland
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Drama
Country: India, UK
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Mr. Singh / Mrs. Mehta is a 2010 Hindi-language film starring Prashant Narayanan and Aruna Shields. It's directed by Pravesh Bhardwaj. The film is produced by Manu Kumaran and was released on June 24, 2010. Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta is directorial ...
Style:
romantic drama, sensual, independent film
Plot:
extramarital affair, infidelity, adultery, forbidden romance, love triangle, moral ambiguity, ethical dilemma, intimacy, passion, sexual tension, sexual awakening, realism ...
Place:
london
Similarity:
76%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Biker Click procures lovely willing young women for decadent millionaire playboy Kendall Harvey III. Kendall sets his sights on Peggy Johns as his next conquest, but the married and straight-laced Peggy turns down his proposal. However, after her ...
Style:
romantic drama, sensual, sex comedy, period piece, independent film
Plot:
adultery, seduction, sexploitation, temptation, manipulation, female objectification, infidelity, female protagonist, decadence, moral ambiguity, biker gang, glamour ...
Time:
60s
Similarity:
73%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Guillaume, a computer scientist in his thirties, has never managed to overcome his pathological shyness with girls. In desperation, he consults a seduction coach, but the course turns out to be a scam. Humiliated one too many times, Guillaume goes ...
Style:
romantic, captivating, romantic comedy, dark comedy
Plot:
love affair, love and romance, technology, love story, social anxiety, loneliness, dating, fraud, humiliation, manipulation, internet culture, scam ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
73%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A married woman lets her lover take naked pictures of her. The photos end up in possession of a man who starts blackmailing the couple.
Style:
erotic drama, period piece, art house, tension, suspense
Plot:
blackmail, adultery, infidelity, affair, nudity, love triangle, romantic obsession, marital crisis, jealousy, female protagonist, scandal, moral ambiguity ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A middle aged man, Ray Martin, faces a series of problems – his wife is cheating on him, his mistress wants to get married and Americans want to take over his toy business.
Style:
melancholic, independent film
Plot:
midlife crisis, family drama, character study, family crisis, infidelity, substance abuse, betrayal of trust, betrayal, adultery, extramarital affair, moral ambiguity, introspection ...
Time:
year 1982
Place:
australia
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A woman, scared by motherhood and her new born baby, runs away from her home and family to find a shelter at her upstairs neighbour's place.
Style:
melancholic
Plot:
isolation, loneliness, parent child relationship, female protagonist, family conflict, domestic drama, character study, hiding place, identity crisis, social realism, compassion, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
paris france, france
Similarity:
67%
231
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A young woman falls in love with a famous novelist and travels with him to his home in Southern Italy. There, her obsession with the memory of his dead wife begins to consume her.
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, art house, tense, moody
Plot:
obsessive love, obsession, character study, mediterranean, romantic obsession, loneliness, grief, female protagonist, jealousy, memory, tragic romance, mourning ...
Place:
southern italy
Similarity:
59%
336
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.
Style:
erotic, reflective, sexy, independent film
Plot:
extramarital affair, adultery, infidelity, marital crisis, housewife, character study, temptation, female protagonist, forgiveness, gender roles, personal growth, sexual awakening ...
Time:
70s, year 1971
Similarity:
55%
524
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Sonia arrives in Trinidad with her two children to join her husband Jo who is working as an oil engineer. On the surface she lives a life of luxury in a large houses with servants. The days are uneventful and blend together into an everlasting ...
Style:
serious, realistic, melancholic, atmospheric, existential ...
Plot:
family problems, couples, introspection, social relations, dishonesty, unfulfillment, crumbling marriage, children, female protagonist, alienation, loneliness, isolation ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
caribbean
Similarity:
55%
137
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Married for 20 years since the age of 15, Nina's husband suddenly decides to leave her.
Style:
melancholic, realistic, sensual, intense
Plot:
marital separation, midlife crisis, female protagonist, infidelity, adultery, abandonment, female sexuality, loneliness, self discovery, depression, middle aged woman, character study ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 72 min.
Story:
Makoto Toda was an earnest man who had lived an ordinary life, working as an ordinary company employee. He had built himself an average, but happy home along with his wife and his daughter. Things change however, when a new female recruit named Saya ...
Style:
tense, realistic, melancholic, dark, psychological thriller
Plot:
adultery, infidelity, extramarital affair, obsession, jealousy, seduction, sexual obsession, office romance, sexual tension, domestic drama, secret relationship, loss of control ...
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
A look at the urban society of the seventies. The story of Marta a young and pretty girl, who leaves her husband to search for her true identity. She doesn't quite know what she wants, but at least she knows what she's escaping from. Soon ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, melancholic, tense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
female protagonist, identity crisis, urban, character study, social commentary, escape, murder, social realism, loneliness, isolation, suspicion, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
70s
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A story about the generation of 1968.
Style:
black comedy, art house, reflective, serious, period piece ...
Plot:
irony, satire, character study, male friendship, moral ambiguity, bittersweet, identity crisis, midlife crisis, melancholy, nostalgia, social realism, urban ...
Time:
60s, 70s
Similarity:
49%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
One Saturday evening Rosa Priore is preparing a magnificent Sunday lunch for her family and their friends. By Sunday afternoon her life and marriage are in ruins.
Style:
realistic, period piece
Audience:
adult
Plot:
family drama, family relations, female protagonist, betrayal, family dinner, mature, character study, infidelity, midlife crisis, family secret, bittersweet, argument ...
Time:
year 1970
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
In an alternate present society where the state frees parents from the burden of raising children, a rule enforcer learns a shocking truth that sparks her rebellion.
Style:
tense, dark, bleak, political drama, tragic
Plot:
dystopia, rebellion, female protagonist, waking up, power struggle, ethical dilemma, conspiracy, identity crisis, claustrophobia, moral ambiguity, slow burn, intimate ...
Time:
near future
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Carmilla falls for her stepfather and seduces him. When he is killed in a car accident, she decides to take revenge against the driver, but this only leads to a deeper tragedy.
Style:
erotic drama, intense, dark, art house, period piece
Plot:
revenge, stepfather, seduction, car accident, tragedy, forbidden love, female protagonist, obsession, jealousy, love triangle, moral ambiguity, sexual awakening ...
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A husband and wife, who have not had sex in three years, both fall into extra-marital affairs.
Style:
captivating, romantic drama
Plot:
unfaithful wife, unhappy marriage, husband wife relationship, cheating, infidelity, marriage, love interest, family relations, male female relationship, sexual attraction, family problems, lovers ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Lithuania
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Following a traumatic experience, Gaile, a speech therapist, is incapable of feeling any emotion. However, while preparing a video presentation for a scientific conference, she sees herself on screen and is surprised to find suppressed sensations ...
Style:
art house, tense, psychological thriller, dark, noir ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
character study, obsession, female protagonist, alienation, manipulation, experimental narrative, identity crisis, self discovery, moral ambiguity, voyeurism, performance art, urban ...
Place:
lithuania
Similarity:
46%
Movie in collections
924
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 147 min.
Story:
After the collapse of their relationship, Kiwako abducts the 6-month old child of a man she was having an affair with. Raising the child as her own, it is four years before the authorities catch up with her and the young child.
Style:
psychological, captivating, emotional, intense, sad ...
Plot:
kidnapping, motherhood, relationship problems, parents and children, social problems, life is a bitch, family problems, abduction, family life, kidnapper, tragic past, family tragedy ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Françoise breaks up with Jacques after living with him for fifteen years. She's left alone with their three children, a lovely home, and her nursing job at a hospital. Françoise quickly refuses to assume responsibility for this new situation ...
Plot:
character study, single mother, self discovery, divorce, female protagonist, nightlife, introspection, realism, relationships, slice of life, independent woman, parenting ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Who is the mysterious stranger Cecilia met on the street? Why is he suspicious of everyone? She is happily married, has a lovely child and an interesting job: she has no motive to be troubled, but she decides to join him and to become his lover. She ...
Style:
tragic ending, melancholic, tense, suspenseful, art house ...
Plot:
mysterious stranger, years of lead, female protagonist, infidelity, adultery, marriage crisis, secret lover, betrayal, obsession, tragic romance, moral ambiguity, fate ...
Place:
naples italy, sicily
Similarity:
42%
76
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
An erotic thriller set in 1950 French Occupied Indo-China.
Style:
period piece, melancholic, art house, atmospheric, erotic drama ...
Plot:
marital strife, sexual tension, loneliness, forbidden romance, class conflict, moral ambiguity, political unrest, alienation, family conflict, betrayal, identity crisis, nationalism ...
Time:
1950s
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France, Belgium
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Hannah is the intimate portrait of a woman’s loss of identity as she teeters between denial and reality. Left alone grappling with the consequences of her husband’s imprisonment, Hannah begins to unravel. Through the exploration of her fractured ...
Style:
psychological, reflective, melancholic, realistic, atmospheric ...
Plot:
character study, female protagonist, grief, loneliness, isolation, coping, midlife crisis, identity crisis, mature, claustrophobia, small town, everyday life ...
Place:
italy
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
Rita, an ill-paid factory worker, is determined to make it as a model in New York City. She's an ordinary girl with an extraordinary body. She learns by watching other models, but she also knows that photographers will insist on gratifying ...
Style:
period piece, art house, sexploitation film
Plot:
sexploitation, female protagonist, corruption, voice over narration, drug use, exploitation, seduction, character study, urban decay, alienation, loneliness, tragedy ...
Time:
60s
Place:
new york
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 62 min.
Story:
The film reveals how and why a supposedly revolutionary Italian girl has in fact fallen prey to bourgeois ideology.
Style:
melancholic, period piece, political, social documentary, experimental ...
Plot:
female protagonist, class struggle, gender roles, identity crisis, alienation, moral ambiguity, character study, city life, bittersweet, coming of age, political intrigue, girl ...
Place:
italy
Similarity:
40%
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