Movies like Beauty 2009
If you like "Beauty" you are looking for historical drama, sentimental and poignant movies about / with kabuki, coming of age, bittersweet, ritual, getting home, mentor protege relationship and stage play 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.
Beauty (2009)
Original name: Beauty うつくしいもの
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Set in a small Nagano village in the 1930s, the film follows Hanji, a young boy captivated by a local kabuki performance. Inspired by Yukio, Hanji learns kabuki with Utako. As they grow, they become skilled actors, performing in a final kabuki before World War II. After the war, Hanji returns to revive kabuki and restore the community’s spirit. In the 1980s, as he nears death, the villagers organise a final performance in his honour, where he performs “Tenryu Koishibuki” for Yukio.
Style:
historical drama, sentimental, poignant, melancholic, reflective, nostalgic
Plot:
kabuki, coming of age, bittersweet, ritual, getting home, mentor protege relationship, stage play, loneliness, reconstruction, performance, return home
Time:
1930s, 80s
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Beauty
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, reflective, poignant and emotional films with plots about bittersweet, coming of age, loneliness, slice of life, nostalgia, intimate and character study mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like Beauty: Flight of a Bird (1989), Forever Young (2018), The Useless Girl (1982), Footsteps (2006), Antaratma (2025). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
Polyot Ptitsy has been given the gift of seeing his deceased brother, but when a new love interest is in trouble he must choose between saving a life or continuing to see his brother everyday.
Style:
melancholic, poignant, romantic drama, reflective, art house
Plot:
bittersweet, regret, love triangle, observatory, tragedy, family bonds, haunting, love, getting home, husband wife relationship, destiny, cameraman ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
moscow russia, soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
From World War, to revolution and ultimately rebirth, Forever Young is the story of four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history. Each generation faces its own unique set of challenges. Up against corporate corruption, the ...
Style:
historical drama, family saga, period piece, emotional, poignant ...
Plot:
coming of age, chinese history, cultural revolution, identity, legacy, bittersweet, moral dilemma, nostalgia, soul searching, resilience, memory, corruption ...
Place:
china
Similarity:
80%
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A teenage girl considered by everybody as "difficult" is sent to the village to live with her grandfather.
Style:
heartfelt, poignant, melancholic
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
character study, family drama, personal growth, stuttering, female protagonist, coming of age, alienation, empathy, village life, isolation, bittersweet, rebirth ...
Time:
80s
Place:
soviet union, ussr
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
At the end, the only love which lasts is the love that has accepted everything, every disappointment, every failure and every betrayal, which has accepted even the sad fact that in the end there is no desire as deep as the simple desire for ...
Style:
emotional, poignant, melancholic, reflective, realistic ...
Plot:
relationships, elderly man, loneliness, retirement, family drama, bonding, aging, friendship, companionship, daughter, widower, bittersweet ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
74%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Bangladesh
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
A young man struggles with his past and sense of justice, and a girl who brings hope enters his life. The lingering question remains—can love change him, or will his past stand in the way?
Style:
romantic drama, poignant, sensitive, melancholic
Audience:
adult
Plot:
loneliness, unrequited love, heartbreak, soul searching, obsession, love triangle, coming of age
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
71%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The film tells the story of a small community on a small island in Okinawa, Japan. Especially it focusses on the story of a grandma named Nabbie, but although it's her story told in the film's centre there are some young people, the ...
Style:
emotional, reflective, melancholic, tropical, wistful
Plot:
family drama, island, slice of life, memory, bittersweet, nostalgia, small town life, peace, getting home, intimate, family secret, homecoming ...
Place:
okinawa japan
Similarity:
71%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Set in an old folks home, senior citizen Weller Martin (Hume Cronyn) has the disease of Old Age, meets an old woman named Fonsia Dorsey (Jessica Tandy) who's diabetic. They both discuss issues such as society, the hospitals, money, families, ...
Style:
melancholic, realistic
Plot:
retirement home, character study, competition, loneliness, regret, isolation, bitterness, humiliation, bittersweet, single, social commentary, diabetes ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with ...
Style:
art house, melancholic, reflective, poignant
Plot:
winter, grief, mourning, nostalgia, bittersweet, loneliness, loss, character study, memory, regret, aging, family tragedy ...
Place:
japan, hokkaido
Similarity:
65%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
In 1930’s British India, sixteen-year-old Indira finds herself torn between true love, her duty to follow through with an arranged marriage, and the powerful allure of a mysterious guru. Through her heartbreaking journey to self-discovery, ...
Style:
historical drama, sweet, sentimental, touching, uplifting ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
coming of age, teenage girl, patriarchy, women, self discovery, female empowerment, feminism, life is a bitch, couples, couple relations, dishonesty, love ...
Time:
1930s
Similarity:
65%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
The beginning shows Hungary devastated by the war and the postwar reconstruction with its communist government. Our hero (played first by Dániel Erdély and later, as a young man, by András Bálint) is clearly determined to find out what he can ...
Style:
melancholic, period piece, historical drama, reflective
Plot:
boy, mother son relationship, father figure, coming of age, family drama, character study, loss of innocence, father, bittersweet, moral ambiguity, little boy, elementary school ...
Time:
1940s, year 1966, post world war two
Place:
hungary, budapest
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
An aging sci-fi writer is challenged by his caretaker to write about the life of a common man. Reluctantly, he begins the story of Kannan, an auto rickshaw driver, and his family—only to discover that ordinary life holds unexpected depth and drama.
Style:
contemplative, reflective, poignant, emotional, melancholic
Plot:
slice of life, humanism, working class, resilience, realism, domestic drama, sacrifice, bittersweet, creative block, tamil
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
The 1930s. Sidner's mother Solveig dies in a very unfortunate bicycle accident involving some cows. Sidner, his sister and his father Aron move to Sunne to work at a hotel. Aron tries hard to leave the sweet memories of his wife behind him but ...
Style:
reflective, poignant, melancholic, poetic, art house ...
Plot:
mourning, loss of spouse, memories, widower, bittersweet, pen pal, ghost, small town, hotel, small town life, literary, fatherhood ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
new zealand, eastern europe
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A Sort of Homecoming tells the story of Amy, a New York news producer who thought she left her high school experiences long in the past. She unexpectedly returns to Louisiana at the request of her high school debate coach. Their strained reunion ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, captivating, reflective, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
getting home, childhood memory, memories, debate, teenage life, teenager, memory, teenage girl, schoolgirl, problem, school, personal growth ...
Place:
new york
Similarity:
58%
25
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
The piano tuner Ota is still in mourning for the loss of his beloved wife. He would like to go on, but he can’t find the beach where his wife wanted her ashes to be scattered. While helping his friend Kojima with his antique shop, Ota meets the ...
Style:
poignant, melancholic, reflective, atmospheric, existential
Plot:
loss, grief, memory, quest, puppet, nostalgia, healing, bittersweet, road trip, friendship, antique shop, forgiveness ...
Similarity:
58%
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Anand, in the travel back to his home to reunite with his friends , looks back at his life in 8 chapters, trying to find an answer to the question of “What’s happiness / Am I happy?
Style:
poignant, contemplative, emotional, melancholic, philosophical ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
friendship, introspection, slice of life, self discovery, personal growth, road trip, getting home, homecoming, nostalgia, bittersweet, flashback, acceptance ...
Similarity:
56%
19
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A meeting in the middle of Tokyo between Jan, a middle age French photographer who is living his life carelessly, and Flare, a 17 years old runaway girl with a complicate family background. Charmed by Jan’s works, a budding of love soon developed ...
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, art house, sensual, intercultural ...
Plot:
coming of age, loneliness, bittersweet, family conflict, self discovery, mature, sexual tension, urban, intimate, forbidden love, identity crisis, nightlife ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, filmed live in West End, London. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.
Style:
melancholic, poignant, existential, reflective, period piece ...
Plot:
introspection, literary, character study, monologue, bittersweet, family drama, regret, nostalgia, midlife crisis, unrequited love, jealousy, dark humor ...
Time:
19th century
Place:
west end london
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Mikhail Ulyanov is the Bergmanesque protagonist of the Russian Private Life. A government-appointed factory executive, Ulyanov is reduced to quivering confusion when he is dismissed. Recovering from this blow, he decides to review and realign his ...
Style:
poignant, melancholic, reflective, psychological, existential ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, loneliness, bureaucracy, humanist, middle aged, thoughtful, male protagonist, intimate, identity, bittersweet, aging, resilience ...
Time:
80s
Place:
soviet union, russia, ussr
Similarity:
53%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
LifeStories is a film about 6 short stories taking the audience through the lives of the protagonists. Oscillating between joy, companionship, loneliness, camaraderie, guilt and unadulterated love.
Style:
emotional, anthology, realistic, reflective, poignant ...
Plot:
slice of life, relationships, loneliness, love, empathy, bittersweet, intimate, everyday life, companionship, guilt, mature, regret ...
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
In 1980s China, the country is beginning to reform and workers who had been moved with their families to the provinces in the 60s now long to return to Shanghai. For one displaced family a conflict arises when their 19-year-old daughter finds love ...
Style:
realistic, emotional, serious, sentimental, melancholic ...
Plot:
coming of age, youth, forbidden love, family life, immigrant, life is a bitch, obsession, family relations, parents and children, family drama, female protagonist, young love ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
china, shanghai, asia
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The story of Ace Eli Walford, a 1920s stunt flyer who barnstorms around the country, taking his eleven-year-old son Rodger with him as he goes from town to town. The place is rural Kansas, and the time is midsummer in the early nineteen-twenties, ...
Style:
period piece, road movie, sentimental, melancholic, atmospheric
Plot:
aviation, father son relationship, small town, coming of age, loss of spouse, escapism, grief, road trip, bittersweet, loneliness, youth, pilot ...
Time:
1920s
Place:
kansas
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Story:
Aftermath the last final decision that affect every people's life around them. What is gonna happen to our beloved childhood friend?
Style:
romantic comedy, sentimental, feel good, realistic, melancholic
Plot:
friendship, second chance, proposal, travel, flashback, nostalgia, love triangle, young adult, heartwarming, coming of age, regret, bittersweet ...
Similarity:
51%
161
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
The movie tells the life story and friendship of five blacksmiths in town of Leninakan during the war and the years preceding it - as told by the son of one of the blacksmiths.
Style:
poignant, historical drama, melancholic, period piece, sentimental
Audience:
kids
Plot:
friendship, world war two, sacrifice, memory, nostalgia, tragedy, brotherhood, loss, mourning, working class, coming of age, small town life ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
armenia, soviet union, caucasus, ussr
Similarity:
50%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Iran
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
An artist's life who lives in a village of Kurdistan,Iran has been changed because his nephew enters to the village.
Style:
art house, contemplative, reflective, melancholic
Plot:
character study, solitude, loneliness, isolation, family reunited, introspection, slow burn, social realism, nostalgia, getting home, family secret, coming of age ...
Place:
kurdistan, iran
Similarity:
49%
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:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
The sierras of southern Brazil, 1963. The son of an French man and a Brazilian woman, Tony is a young man with a profound love of cinema and poetry. After graduating from college he returns to his small town in rural Brazil, to find out that his ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, reflective, melancholic, emotional ...
Plot:
search for father, teacher, father son relationship, coming of age, lifestyle, relationships, life is a bitch, family relations, school teacher, personal growth, family drama, identity ...
Time:
60s
Place:
brazil
Similarity:
48%
449
Genre: Drama
Country: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A panoramic view over society across ten unfortunate characters whose stories sometimes intertwine.
Style:
poignant, melancholic, sociological
Plot:
character study, slice of life, social commentary, empathy, urban, city life, working class, loneliness, bittersweet, intimate, alienation, moral ambiguity ...
Place:
bosnia herzegovina
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
"Listening Gabriel" it is a full of magic urban story about fear to the unknown, personal growth and love as the main force for live. Gabriel is a strange and solitary young boy who lives inside his own world. New in town, Sara is a ...
Style:
reflective, uplifting, poetic, melancholic, urban fantasy
Plot:
piano, love, personal growth, hopes, loneliness, coming of age, second chance, redemption, forgiveness, magic realism, isolation, violinist ...
Similarity:
47%
121
Genre: Drama
Country: Portugal
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
In this evocative story told ingeniously with minimal dialogue, men and women from various backgrounds and places each deal with the loss of a loved one.
Style:
poignant, melancholic, emotional, art house, contemplative ...
Plot:
grief, loss, loneliness, solitude, mourning, minimal dialogue, empathy, bereavement, memory, healing, intimate, soul searching ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Bulgaria
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Kalin (35) is a talented advertising specialist, weary of life. Bilyana (35) is a free spirit, still uncertain of what she wants. They grew up in Socialist Bulgaria, where they were part of a mad group of friends, for whom every day was a different ...
Style:
romantic drama, reflective, melancholic, sentimental, period piece ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, bittersweet, memory, character study, second chance, nostalgia, regret, slice of life, intimate, destiny, city life, reunion
Similarity:
46%
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