Movies like The Shanghai Spell
If you like "The Shanghai Spell" you are looking for sentimental, touching and serious movies about / with murder, teenage love, undercover, resistance, youth, family relations and parents and children themes of Drama and Mystery genre shot in Spain or France.
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.
The Shanghai Spell (2002)
521
Where to Watch
Original name: El embrujo de Shanghai
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: Spain, France, UK
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
A fourteen year old lad discovers his first love at the point of his pencil whilst drawing the portrait of a sickly but coquettish fifteen year old girl. In the neighbourhood an old freedom-fighter pits himself against bad types, a pretty cinema-ticket girl takes to the streets at night and a young anarchist dedicates himself to telling tall stories. Far away, in Shanghai, a hero of the Republic meets a beautiful femme fatal with oriental eyes. Reality and fiction become fused in an embrace.
Style:
sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, neo noir, realistic, fairy tale
Plot:
murder, teenage love, undercover, resistance, youth, family relations, parents and children, love and romance, teenage life, village, coming of age, bittersweet, infatuation, betrayal, anarchist, spanish civil war, boy, old man, girl, secret agents, village life, social relations, teenager, crazy, underground ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, post world war two, 40s
Place:
spain, barcelona, catalonia, china, barcelona spain
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Shanghai Spell
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, touching and captivating films with plots about coming of age, youth, family relations, parents and children, teenage life, teenager and love and romance mostly in Drama, Romance and Mystery genres. Some movies like The Shanghai Spell: 1st Love (2013), Booky's Crush (2009), Love is the Word (2013), The Bay Boy (1984), El Sur (1983). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
247
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Antoine, 13, spends the summer vacation with his parents in a rented cottage on an island in the middle of the Saint-Lawrence River. His neighbour, 17-year-old Anna, is an enigmatic and lively young woman. Antoine begins to experience the first ...
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, captivating
Plot:
coming of age, youth, teenage life, teenage love, family relations, parents and children, bittersweet, island, teenage boy, teenage girl, sexual awakening, oral sex ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
The Thomsons - parents Thomas and Francie, and children Willa, Arthur, Beatrice (nicknamed Booky) and Jakey - are a loving working class family living in the Depression era in Toronto. Arthur is showing aptitude in drawing, and although his parents ...
Style:
sentimental, touching, sincere, feel good, realistic ...
Audience:
family outing, girls' night
Plot:
youth, family relations, teenage life, teenage love, society, love and romance, working class, family life, parents and children, coming of age, first love, child ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century
Place:
canada, toronto ontario canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
94%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Love is the Word is a moving, romantic and funny coming-of-age drama about the magic of first love and the misery of first lost, set in 1978: the year 'Grease' hit the big screen.
Style:
serious, touching, realistic, sentimental, emotional ...
Plot:
coming of age, first love, love and romance, youth, family relations, first sexual experience, hopes, village, parents and children, teenager, older woman younger man relationship, age difference ...
Time:
20th century, 70s
Place:
holland
⇓ similarity ⇓
93%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A Roman Catholic teenage boy in Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia during the 1930s faces various growing-up problems: Should be become a priest? What should he do about the murder he witnessed, committed by a local cop and upstanding ...
Style:
sentimental, emotional, touching, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
coming of age, boy, murder, innocence lost, first sexual experience, bittersweet, suburban life, teenage love, siblings relations, homecoming, small town, forbidden love ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
nova scotia, canada, canada, nova scotia
⇓ similarity ⇓
93%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
The movie tells a melancholic story of a little girl who is living in a city in the north. She is fascinated by the secrets of the south which seem to be hidden in the personality of her father.
Style:
sad, art house, serious, realistic, psychological ...
Plot:
coming of age, children, family relations, family problems, traumatic childhood, surrealism, magic realism, teenager, bittersweet, dishonesty, youth, uncover truth ...
Time:
50s, 20th century
Place:
spain, iberian peninsula, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
91%
Also search:
Movies similar to The Empty Hours
3K
Genre: Drama
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, touching, sincere, sentimental, sweet ...
Plot:
racism, coming of age, teenage love, boxing, youth, society, fish out of water, parents and children, high school life, lgbtq, traumatic childhood, bittersweet ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story set in the Cotswolds during and immediately after the First World War.
Style:
realistic, captivating, serious, psychological, sentimental ...
Plot:
coming of age, world war one, village, childhood, youth, society, friendship, village life, teenager, military police, anti war, girl ...
Time:
1910s, 20th century, 1920s
Place:
england, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
Genre: Drama
Country: Latvia
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Raimonds, a 12 year old boy, falls into a world of petty crime while trying to stay out of trouble with his mother.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, captivating, entertaining
Audience:
teens
Plot:
coming of age, kids in trouble, childhood, juvenile delinquency, family relations, youth, single parent, parents and children, bittersweet, mother and son, boy, financial problem ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
latvia
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Sweden
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Ninni is sixteen and she lives in a beautiful mansion in the swedish countryside with her family.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, captivating
Audience:
teens
Plot:
family relations, teenage love, eccentric family, love and romance, fall in love, parents and children, countryside, teenage life, estate, bittersweet, youth, coming of age ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
sweden
⇓ similarity ⇓
77%
572
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A young victim of bullying at school realizes that even the adult world is dominated by fear similar to his own. He pays a high price when he decides to fight back.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, captivating
Plot:
coming of age, family relations, high school, teenage life, gang, self discovery, kids in trouble, bully, adolescence vs adulthood, parents and children, survival, youth ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
spain
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
Also search:
Movies like Breathe
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
This is the story of three sensitive teens who are forced to deal with violence at home, violence at school. It is a story of friendship, of love and hate, where the adolescents world is revealed as cruel and beautiful, a world where the desire to ...
Style:
touching, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
Plot:
teenage love, teenage life, friendship, buddies, youth, love and romance, graphic violence, family relations, coming of age, friends, violence, teenager ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
israel
⇓ similarity ⇓
73%
342
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
Style:
sincere, emotional, touching, serious, sentimental ...
Plot:
teenage life, parents and children, opposites attract, family relations, friends, immigrants, love and romance, introspection, youth, single parent, coming of age, friendship ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Margaret Lea, a young biographer, attempts to interview writer Vida Winter, whose health is deteriorating. Vida has previously denied access to the secrets of her life and childhood home. Vida tells her story to Margaret, helping Margaret to ...
Style:
gothic, captivating, touching, serious, disturbing ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
family relations, twins, family secret, writer's life, sister sister relationship, haunted by the past, childhood trauma, sibling relationship, writers, suspense, secret, female writer ...
Place:
england
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
An 8-year-old boy tracks down his father.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, emotional, captivating ...
Plot:
parents and children, family life, father and son, introspection, coming of age, haunted by the past, boyhood, bittersweet, family relations, father, family drama
Time:
21st century
Place:
spain, barcelona
⇓ similarity ⇓
68%
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Dorsvloer vol Confetti tells the story of young Katelijne, who grows up in a religious family in the countryside in Zeeland. Based on the novel by Franca Treur.
Style:
realistic, emotional, psychological, captivating, serious ...
Plot:
coming of age, teenage girl, farm, religions or cults, family relations, parents and children, society, village, village life, church, wedding, corporal punishment ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
belgium, netherlands
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Also search:
Movies similar to The Face on the Milk Carton
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain, Ireland
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Two lovers break the law and struggle to stay together when carnal obsession causes tempers to flare.
Style:
emotional, realistic, serious, psychological, captivating ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
rape, blackmail, haunted by the past, young lovers, family relations, youth, life is a bitch, teenager, love, kidnapping, coming of age, mad love ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, 21st century
Place:
spain
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
When he first enters the Montpellier Opera House, Victor knows nothing about music. Nor does he know his father, Samuel Rovinski, who is there to conduct Mahler’s 6th symphony. To change the course of his suddenly uncertain future, for Nadia his ...
Style:
realistic, sentimental, touching, emotional, captivating ...
Plot:
coming of age, parents and children, family relations, single parent, bittersweet, father son relationship, teenage boy, orchestra conductor, father son reunion, boy, father, boyhood ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france
⇓ similarity ⇓
66%
Genre: Drama
Country: Bulgaria, Israel
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
the story of two adolescents, Moni and Zhozho, who meet 17-year-old Zheni in 1943 and with whom both fell in love. The events that follow unfold while Bulgaria has to decide on the deportation of 11 343 Jewish citizens in Macedonia and Thrace.
Style:
emotional, captivating, suspenseful, touching, serious ...
Plot:
teenage love, on the run, fall in love, friendship, wartime life, holocaust, society, teenage life, love and romance, anti semitism, youth, coming of age ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
bulgaria
⇓ similarity ⇓
62%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Summer 1966. It's time to enjoy the summer holiday, total freedom. Teenage Élise discovers that the sudden departure of her mother completely disrupts the family. Her brother Coco seeks solace in the garage, building a super racing car. Her ...
Style:
sexy, emotional, serious, realistic, disturbing ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
family relations, coming of age, elderly lovers, youth, family life, estrangement, family problems, couples, love and romance, lifestyle, dysfunctional family, bittersweet ...
Time:
60s
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
62%
Genre: Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Bao stays with his grandfather for the summer and is shocked to see there are no modern appliances.
Style:
realistic, touching, atmospheric, captivating, serious
Plot:
friendship, coming of age, family relations, family problems, friends, parents and children, youth, elderly, village, countryside, school, boy ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
asia, taiwan
⇓ similarity ⇓
58%
Also search:
Movies similar to Jack
171
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil, Chile, France
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
A daily, familiar, sexual and emotional drama. Based on the character Serginho, the plot is based around various aspects of this "no longer a boy, not yet a man". We follow his day to day: the recently acquired role of man of the house, ...
Style:
serious, touching, emotional, realistic, bleak
Plot:
teenage life, dysfunctional family, parents and children, youth, family problems, child as adult, family relations, teachers and students, coming of age, lgbt, gay, boy ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Two teenage girls must come to terms with their stepfather when their mother is struck by illness.
Style:
touching, sentimental, emotional, sincere, realistic ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
teenage girl, single mother, stepfather, family relations, teenage love, teenage life, couples, estrangement, family problems, human nature, love and romance, youth ...
Time:
80s
Place:
georgia, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
690
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
After twenty years of broken bottles and empty hallways, Mort Gleason witnesses his nephew Moo being beaten while in a drunken stupor. The short contact with family brings Mort back to what are left of his senses and he returns to the last home he ...
Style:
sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sad
Plot:
family relations, single parent, youth, parents and children, haunted by the past, social relations, self discovery, suburbs, coming of age, teenage life, teenager, boat ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, illinois
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A strong, human tale about a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, but also an energetic story about teenage lust, pain and passion – about liberation and redemption.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, emotional, captivating ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens
Plot:
family relations, childhood, parenthood, haunted by the past, parents and children, teenage life, youth, coming of age, coping, orphan, troubled youth, traumatic childhood ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
norway
⇓ similarity ⇓
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
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 ...
Style:
atmospheric, realistic, sentimental, touching, serious
Plot:
friendship, friends, love affair, social relations, fall in love, village, village life, family relations, stranger, rivalry, love and romance, tolerance ...
Time:
20th century, 1910s
Place:
canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
Also search:
Films like The Thirteenth Tale
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
hree teenagers looking for adventure find more than they expected in this coming-of-age drama. High school seniors Wade (Jason James Richter) and Lorna (Kate Hudson) have spent all their lives in the small logging town of Calamus Grove, a ...
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, sentimental, talky
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
coming of age, interracial relations, culture clash, teenage life, love and romance, self discovery, on the road, small town, social misfits, youth, best friends, lifestyle ...
Time:
60s, 90s
Place:
oregon, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Coming-of-Age drama telling the story of the strong bond between Xavier and his little brother Jacques and their struggle to remain together despite all odds.
Style:
touching, realistic, serious, sentimental
Plot:
coming of age, youth, brother brother relationship, rebelliousness, forceful separation, summer, family relations, life turned upside down, countryside, boy, childhood, brother ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
988
Genre: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Norway
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Mikkel (17) lives a good life in Oslo were he has heaps of friends. When his mother gets a new job, Mikkel has to move to a small town and start all over. Here, snowboard is the big thing and to be accepted by the new kids, Mikkel has to go into ...
Style:
serious, realistic, captivating, sentimental, touching
Audience:
teens
Plot:
teenage love, teenage life, contests and competitions, love and romance, youth, rivalry, family relations, fall in love, sport, village, snowboard, contest ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
norway
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
With 1970s Germany in the background, this film depicts the story of a family from the “R.A.F. Terrorist” group and their search for a normal life and their inner self.
Style:
sentimental, serious, realistic, sincere, political ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens
Plot:
coming of age, grownups, family problems, family relations, youth, love and romance, teenage love, parent child relationship, puberty, fall in love, eccentric family, family in crisis ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
germany, portugal, europe, brazil
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
1K
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Although he is only ten years old, Jack is responsible for himself and his little brother Manuel and this fills him with pride. Their single mother works during the day and often goes out at night. There’s no father in sight. One day, Manuel burns ...
Style:
realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, serious ...
Plot:
boy, parents and children, young heroes, teenage life, self discovery, youth, child as adult, coming of age, family relations, life turned upside down, child care, brother brother relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
germany
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
Related movie lists
