Movies like Sabakan
If you like "Sabakan" you are looking for psychological, captivating and thrilling movies about / with friendship, island, childhood, coming of age, summer, friends and journey themes of Drama 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.
Sabakan (2022)
280
Original name: サバカン SABAKAN
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Nagasaki in 1986. Hisada, who lives with her affectionate parents and her younger brother, although there are many quarrels between couples, is a fifth grader who loves Yuki Saito and Exogini. Hisada decides to go to Boomerang Island to "see the dolphins" with Takemoto, whose house is poor and avoided by his classmates. Drowning in the sea, getting entangled in the Yankees, and having a lot of trouble, but as the friendship between the two deepens as a result of this adventure, a sad incident that presages farewell occurs.
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, emotional, melancholic, retro, tension, period piece
Plot:
friendship, island, childhood, coming of age, summer, friends, journey, sea, youth, loss, nostalgia, bittersweet, dolphins, tragedy, small town, realism, seaside, rite of passage, slice of life, trauma, intimate, bullying, poverty, classmate, humanity ...
Time:
80s
Place:
japan
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Sabakan
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out captivating, psychological, melancholic and thrilling films with plots about friendship, coming of age, bittersweet, slice of life, intimate, small town and youth mostly in Drama, Comedy and Romance genres. Some movies like Sabakan: Farewell, Kuro (2003), West Coast (2016), Daruchini Dwip (2007), Saimon & Tada Takashi (2018), Once Upon a Time in Euskadi (2021). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Based on a true story set in Matsumoto city, Nagano, during 1960s. A stray dog wanders into a high school's grounds. The dog, named Kuro, stays at the school and becomes a special friend to everyone.
Style:
tear jerker, emotional, psychological, thrilling, captivating ...
Audience:
family friendly, teen drama
Plot:
dog, friend, school, friendship, high school, loss, grief, bittersweet, animal, human dog relationship, problem, compassion ...
Time:
60s
Place:
japan
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Four inseparable teenagers in a small town in Brittany (France). As lifelong fans of the West Coast, they think are real gangstas. Together as a "gang", they are invincible, respected, fearless and nothing can reach them, certainly not the ...
Style:
disturbing, captivating, psychological, heartfelt
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
friendship, coming of age, small town, teenager, group of friends, teenage boy, grownups, adolescence, teenage life, lifestyle, juvenile delinquency, small town life ...
Place:
france, brittany
Similarity:
88%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Bangladesh
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
University students aspire to visit a beach named Saint Martin.
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, scenic, emotional ...
Plot:
beach, travel, friendship, island, sea, problem, friends, journey, slice of life, coming of age, youth, college life ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
74%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
High school senior Saimon is headed for college, and his buddy Tada Takashi will take over his family's factory. Takashi is fed up with being surrounded by guys and heads off with Saimon on a journey to find the love of his life. Takashi goes ...
Style:
captivating, thrilling, psychological, road movie, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
coming of age, high school, self discovery, male bonding, friendship, identity, youth, graduation, relationship problems, love affair, social problems, relationships ...
Similarity:
70%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Basque Country, Spain, 1985. Four teenage friends must face life and death, social upheaval and political violence as they try to enjoy their summer vacation.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological, emotional, dramatic ...
Plot:
friendship, adolescence, summer vacation, coming of age, youth, loss of innocence, teenage life, friends, group of friends, lifestyle, best friend, life is a bitch ...
Time:
80s
Place:
basque country, spain, iberian peninsula
Similarity:
68%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
A talented veteran actor, Mohan Kumar, is back on the big screen through a critically acclaimed film and those around him raise his hopes on great recognitions coming his way through the project. His path towards glory, however, isn’t easy.
Style:
captivating, semi serious, psychological, thrilling, sentimental ...
Plot:
friendship, driver, family relations, music fan, lifestyle, cultural icon, friends, relationships, male female relationship, loyalty, empathy, family drama ...
Place:
india
Similarity:
63%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Two young boys, Valerio and Christian, form a powerful friendship over the summer.
Style:
psychological, emotional, suspense, captivating, dramatic ...
Plot:
friendship, assassination attempt, terrorism, loss of innocence, family drama, coming of age, father son relationship, childhood, trauma, fear, friends, family problems ...
Time:
70s, 80s
Place:
rome italy
Similarity:
63%
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey, France, Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A chance meeting on a train in the Turkish countryside leads two women to a journey that shows them the importance of setting a path for one's life.
Style:
art house, psychological, captivating, thrilling, reflective ...
Plot:
train travel, journey, self discovery, multiple storylines, chance meeting, train, lifestyle, fate of humanity, everyday life, female bonding, intimate, slice of life ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
turkey
Similarity:
62%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 76 min.
Story:
During the first high school baseball game of the season, personal dramas play out within a group of high schoolers sitting in the crowd.
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, melancholic
Plot:
high school, japanese high school, baseball, youth, coming of age, support group, japanese school, problem, japanese girl, relationships, baseball team, schoolboy ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
60%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
One day, five kindergarten children suddenly disappear from a kindergarten in Tokyo, sending their teachers and parents into a panic. The five of them are connecting on trains and headed to an unfamiliar place for some purpose. Before their journey, ...
Style:
captivating, disturbing, melancholic, emotional, touching ...
Plot:
friendship, childhood, school, children, kindergarten, child, disappearance, friends, group of friends, high school friend, escapades, schoolboy ...
Place:
japan, tokyo
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A single mother receives a phone call saying her son had died from a shark attack in Hanalei Bay, Hawaii, where she now visits annually on her son’s death anniversary. One day, she meets two young Japanese surfers who tell her about a young ...
Style:
emotional, captivating, suspenseful, thrilling, psychological ...
Plot:
surfing, shark attack, single mother, grief, loss, social problems, animal attack, dangerous animal, shark, secret, mother and son, family problems ...
Place:
hawaii
Similarity:
53%
106
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A coming-of-age story in which a young boy resists the adult world and the inevitable loss of the joys of childhood.
Style:
melancholic, period piece
Plot:
coming of age, childhood, teenage girl, sexual awakening, island, summer vacation, grownups, adolescence, youth, children, first love, loss of innocence ...
Time:
80s
Place:
mediterranean sea
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Shota came to Tokyo to become an actor but has a side hustle in petty crime. On a trip back to his hometown in Wakayama he meets Takara, who is being assaulted by her father just sprung from prison. Soon they pair up and hit the road to escape.
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, captivating, thrilling, emotional ...
Plot:
retirement home, problem, relationships, male female relationship, love story, life is a bitch, actor's life, love interest, actor, couple relations, love affair, escape ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Álex and Cata, two young women who live on the outskirts of the city, a desolate place full of empty stores and ramshackle bars where dreams end up fading, have been preparing their escape all their lives.
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, emotional, bleak ...
Plot:
poverty, moral dilemma, escape, social realism, social problems, money problems, women, female protagonist, poor, lifestyle, dysfunctional family, choice ...
Time:
2020s
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
A vast wheat field, a straight road that has no end, a sky without a single building in sight – this is a town in the country where time comfortably passes by. But this former paradise is now being stirred up by a fight amongst its people over ...
Style:
thrilling, reflective, pastoral, poetic, melancholic
Plot:
friendship, father son relationship, coming of age, small town, youth, adolescence, lifestyle change, teenage boy, village, small village, village life, villager ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
japan
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama
Country: Iceland, Netherlands, Croatia, France
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
When the light breaks on a long summer’s day in Iceland. From one sunset to another, Una, a young art student, encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.
Style:
emotional, thrilling, psychological, captivating, contemplative ...
Plot:
secret, art student, grief, coming of age, loss, summer, female protagonist, relationships, life is a bitch, self discovery, beauty, intimate ...
Place:
iceland
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A group of friends attempt to successfully complete a list of tasks assigned to them as the "Shovel List" by their dead friend.
Style:
emotional, captivating, suspense, psychological, disturbing ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
friendship, friend, last wish, coming of age, loss, grief, problem, friends, loss of brother, bonding, bereavement, bittersweet ...
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
This is the story of two childhood friends - Lucas (a 16-year-old high-schooler) and Bert (a mechanic’s apprentice) - who flee the suffocating fish bowl that their killjoy families’ lives have become. Lucas, still quite immature, finds a “big ...
Style:
captivating, disturbing, melancholic, reflective, existential ...
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, youth, house, boredom, adolescence, teenager, teenage life, relationship problems, life is a bitch, escape, drifting ...
Similarity:
44%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Thailand
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Boss, an elusive bar owner living in New York, reunites with his estranged best friend, Aood, for a roadtrip in Thailand after Aood has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Style:
emotional, disturbing, psychological, captivating, reflective ...
Plot:
friendship, terminal illness, road trip, bucket list, mortality, fighting illness, friends, loss, reconciliation, bittersweet, relationships, last wish ...
Place:
thailand, new york, southeast asia
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
In Madrid, Spain, Lucía and Xiang, two nine-year-old Chinese girls, meet at the beginning of the school year.
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, realistic, tension
Plot:
child protagonist, asian, childhood, children, classmate, elementary school, schoolgirl, girl, schoolboy, high school life, relationships, youth ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A young man Tomoya Nagase and a girl Mayuko Fukuda both learn that they have an untreatable illness and are nearing death. When one reveals that they have never been to the ocean, they embark on a comical adventure to see the sea.
Style:
disturbing, captivating, psychological, tense, road movie ...
Plot:
friendship, unlikely friendships, mortality, cancer, terminal illness, adult child friendship, fighting illness, stolen money, friends, escapades, child illness, money ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
8-year old boy, Shimpei, who loves fishing and painting, lives with his beautiful mother, surrounded by nature. His mother, Satsuki, has a weak constitution and lost her husband years ago. She takes care of her son lovingly but sometimes strictly, ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, suspenseful, melancholic ...
Plot:
mother son relationship, bereavement, loss, family relations, male female relationship, love story, relationships, loss of mother, troubled past, single mother, love affair, tragic past ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
An eleven year-old girl's unconventional yet deeply loving relationship with her mother is harshly broken. Along her journey, including her quest to discover her father, she learns how to embrace every moment with determination and unrelenting ...
Style:
emotional, psychological, captivating, suspenseful, thrilling ...
Plot:
teenage girl, cancer, social problems, dysfunctional family, loss of mother, family drama, resilience, mother and daughter, coming of age, loss of family, teenage protagonist, illness ...
Similarity:
40%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Johnny, Elisabeth, and Ryan grew up best friends. Things change when Ryan asks Elisabeth to marry him, sending Johnny down a dangerous path.
Style:
captivating, realistic, sentimental, psychological, independent film ...
Plot:
love triangle, coming of age, best friend, obsession, adolescence vs adulthood, youth, filmmaking, friendship, love, rivalry, unrequited love, slice of life ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
An abandoned car is discovered near a camping ground and inside it is the body of an identified middle-aged man and a dog who seems to have died months later. This is the story of the life of the loving and faithful dog and his owner told from the ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, emotional, reflective ...
Plot:
dog, road trip, loyalty, social problems, human dog relationship, relationships, lifestyle, divorced father, relationship problems, coping, divorced man, owner dog relationship ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Takako's high school has a unique tradition. Every year, the school's 1000 students walk 80 kilometers in 24 hours. As this is her final year of high school, Takako decides to work up the courage to talk to her stepbrother You, whom she ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, captivating, sincere, reflective ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
classmate, high school, coming of age, self discovery, youth, adolescence, classmate classmate relationship, hiking, relationships, schoolboy, schoolgirl, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: Lithuania
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
A psychology postgraduate student escorts two patients and their nurse to a seaside psychiatric clinic. Along their journey, they break through each other's barriers, delve into the sources of their various traumas, and discover the lasting ...
Style:
road movie, captivating, suspenseful, thrilling, psychological ...
Plot:
mental illness, road trip, bipolar disorder, psychiatric hospital, sociology, problem, suicide attempt, journey, self discovery, trauma, character study, female protagonist ...
Place:
lithuania
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, Sweden, France
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A recovering alcoholic on a pilgrimage meets two young refugees who are trying to find their father. Their struggles during the trip from Poland to France will forever change their lives.
Style:
captivating, psychological, disturbing, suspense, emotional ...
Plot:
alcoholic, alcoholism, search for father, journey, social problems, lifestyle change, changing lives, redemption, recovery, refugee, family drama, personal growth ...
Place:
poland, france, eastern europe
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Hotel Hibiscus is the story of one very young energetic girl named Mieko and her internatioanl family who live in Okinawa. They live in a run down old hotel called Hotel Hibiscus with only one room for rent.
Style:
satirical, captivating, psychological, feel good, thrilling ...
Plot:
summer, family drama, child, workplace, satire, hotel manager, friendship, hotel, lifestyle, life, friends, coming of age ...
Place:
okinawa japan, japan
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
A chronicle of the last year of high school as two friends set out to make the ultimate senior video.
Style:
psychological, semi serious, thrilling, captivating, reflective ...
Plot:
coming of age, high school, friendship, slice of life, youth, grownups, satire, schoolboy, social problems, friends, high school life, school ...
Similarity:
37%
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