Movies like The Lowlife 2017
If you like "The Lowlife" you are looking for captivating, independent film and melancholic movies about / with porn actress, japanese schoolgirl, female protagonist, sex work, adult film industry, erotica and relationships 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).
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The Lowlife (2017)
225
Original name: 最低。
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Based on a 2016 novel by Mana Sakura, “The Lowlife” shows the stories of three women who work in Japan’s adult video industry .
Style:
captivating, independent film, melancholic, contemplative
Plot:
porn actress, japanese schoolgirl, female protagonist, sex work, adult film industry, erotica, relationships, women, life, family relations, mother daughter relationship, social problems, sexuality, realism, exploitation, character study, taboo, housewife, intimacy, city life, identity, branding iron, slice of life, teenager, youth ...
Place:
tokyo, japan
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Lowlife
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out captivating, psychological, melancholic and emotional films with plots about slice of life, relationships, female protagonist, identity, character study, friendship and coming of age mostly in Drama genres. Some movies like The Lowlife: Perfect Days (2023), Demolition Girl (2019), Daughters (2020), Tokyo Noir (2004), My Name Is Baghdad (2020). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
100K
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, Germany
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, lighthearted, existential ...
Plot:
janitor, uncle niece relationship, bicycle, restaurant, photograph, tree, very little dialogue, bachelor, meaning of life, living alone, architecture, job ...
Time:
2020s
Place:
japan, tokyo, asia
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A high-school girl who lives in a rural town in Japan struggles to define her own way in life. To help her impoverished family she works as a video fetish performer which leads to problems for her and her family with a criminal underworld.
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, tense, emotional ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, desperation, high school, poverty, problem, teenage life, life is a bitch, social problems, teenager, money problems, japanese girl, female protagonist ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
japan
Similarity:
59%
224
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Two women are flat-mates and friends in Tokyo. One is an event manager and the other works in the world of fashion marketing. The result shows that one is pregnant one day. The woman decides to give birth out of wedlock. It is a major decision, ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, emotional, melancholic ...
Plot:
friendship, pregnancy, east asian woman, women, relationships, female protagonist, neighbor, girl next door, couple relations, pregnant woman, neighbor neighbor relationship, female friendship ...
Place:
tokyo, japan
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
In this excursion into Tokyo's dark side, a sexually repressed woman finds liberation by turning tricks at night a sex worker is taken by surprise when her ex drops by and a sex blogger finds strange kinship with a loner.
Style:
realistic, serious, sincere, touching, erotic drama ...
Plot:
couples, city life, lifestyle, singleness, strong female presence, prostitute, female sexuality, prostitution, sex work, loneliness, isolation, sexually liberated ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
tokyo, japan, asia
Similarity:
53%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A film from the skater world of São Paulo, where it is women who call the shots. Bagdá is surrounded by self-confident role models in her family. However, outside on the streets, in the venues and clubs, the old machismo continues to dominate. ...
Style:
light, captivating, independent film
Plot:
skateboard, coming of age, family relations, friendship, lifestyle, relationships, teenage life, lifestyle change, friends, drastic change of life, changing lives, skater ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Nagisa is transgender. She grew up in Hiroshima as a man, but now lives in Shinjuku, Tokyo as a woman. Due to an incident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, who is a distant relative. Ichika has been neglected by her mother ...
Style:
sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, melancholic ...
Plot:
trans woman, transgender, transsexuality, motherhood, family drama, desire for fame, character study, lgbtq, relatives, relationships, instinct, transsexual ...
Place:
japan, tokyo
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Kaoru Fukazawa is a manga artist. His manga series was published for eight years, but has now finished. He doesn't have any ideas for his next work. His situation seems bleak, with his editor seeming to not care about him anymore and his ...
Style:
entertaining, captivating, dramatic, melancholic, bleak ...
Plot:
infidelity, desperation, relationships, prostitute, secret, job, life, business, melancholy, writer's block, loneliness, downfall ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Unable to accept being dumped by her colleague, Takako quits her job and moves into the used bookstore owned by her uncle, Satoru, in Jinbocho. Despite her initial lack of interest in novels, Takako is slowly drawn into the world of books as she ...
Style:
contemplative, reflective, psychological, captivating, thrilling ...
Plot:
bookstore, workplace, dumped, personal growth, slice of life, changing lives, relationships, lifestyle change, library, relationship problems, life, librarian ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Rei Iwatsuki moved from her hometown Kōchi to Tokyo to pursue her dreams. On arrival, she found a job as a waitress in a restaurant and met guitarist Ryuuji Shintani. Ryuuji liked her voice and invited her to join his band as the vocalist, The ...
Style:
captivating, emotional, intercultural, melancholic, period piece ...
Plot:
friendship, dream, girlfriend, female friendship, relationships, lifestyle, girlfriend girlfriend relationship, friends, family relations, relationship vs career, group of friends, best friend ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
tokyo, new york
Similarity:
41%
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:
38%
138
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
TV show
Story:
Since working as an adult film star and escort since his early twenties, Ryan Crosby, aka Rod Driver, has had a pretty easy life when you think about it. But what happens when you hit forty and the clients aren't calling as much as they used to ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, contemplative, melancholic ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, porn star, adult film industry, self discovery, career change, personal growth, character study, introspection, sex work, changing lives, lifestyle change, believe in yourself ...
Time:
2010s
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
Yuko Morimiya is a high school student and she lives with her stepfather Morimiya. Morimiya is her third father. Her mother, Rika, is a free spirited person and has remarried several times. She disappeared from Yuko's life at a certain point. ...
Style:
captivating, psychological, emotional, tear jerker
Plot:
relationships, stepfather, family drama, family secret, female protagonist, family relations, parents and children, family problems, daughter, lifestyle, kids and family, family life ...
Time:
2020s
Place:
japan
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Mishima Kiko was exploited by her own family. When she was little, her mother neglected her. After her mother remarried, Kiko was abused mentally and physically by her mother, stepfather, and younger stepbrother. She didn't belong to this ...
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological, melancholic, heartbreaking ...
Plot:
domestic abuse, abuse, trauma, domestic violence, neglect, bullying, dysfunctional family, social problems, life is a bitch, traumatic past, violence, family problems ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Patrick Kong-produced look at promotion girls mildly serves his devotees – which, all things considered, does account for something. Closer to PG-13 than PG, if you're looking for a ratings guide.
Style:
captivating, thrilling, psychological, realistic, emotional ...
Plot:
money, urban setting, multiple storylines, looking for love, society, social problems, female protagonist, social issues, women, city life, life, relationships ...
Place:
china, hong kong
Similarity:
34%
424
Genre: Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A Japanese porno actor, HIV positive, commits suicide. Natsumi, a popular porno actress who has often worked with him, learns that she is also HIV positive and becomes desperate. She receives mysterious post cards at times from Taiwan, and decides ...
Style:
psychological, thrilling, captivating, emotional, art house ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
suicide, hiv, porn actor, hiv positive, porn actress, illness, porn star, investigation, private investigation, life is a bitch, uncover truth, desperation ...
Place:
taiwan
Similarity:
32%
107
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
"Girls" follows four beautiful women and depicts the troubles found in their love lives and work place. Yukiko Takigawa (Karina) works at a big advertising firm and has a good looking boyfriend. Seiko Takeda is married and has no children. ...
Style:
emotional, realistic
Plot:
women, friendship, female friendship, gossip, relationships, workplace, single mother, dating, fashion, motherhood, career, slice of life ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
This enticing period melodrama depicts a long-suffering woman's relationship with her brilliant but self-destructive writer husband in postwar Tokyo. Based on a semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by Osamu Dazai, the story centers less on the ...
Style:
semi autobiographical, psychological, thrilling, captivating, melancholic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
family relations, male female relationship, writers, female protagonist, alcoholism, marital strife, character study, man-woman relation, family problems, social problems, family life, dysfunctional family ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
japan, tokyo
Similarity:
32%
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:
32%
Movie in collections
465
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Malu — a mercurial, unemployed actress living with her conservative mother in a precarious house in a Rio de Janeiro slum — tries to deal with her strained relationship with her own adult daughter while surviving on memories of her glorious ...
Style:
emotional, thrilling, psychological, captivating, melancholic ...
Plot:
female protagonist, mother daughter relationship, character study, motherhood, family drama, poverty, family problems, family relations, social problems, relationship problems, kids and family, problem ...
Place:
rio de janeiro, brazil
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Twenty-year history of Ewelina, who along with her husband decides to play a porn film. Orgasm, of which she experiences on the set during filming, the reaction of her husband, Piotr, and experiences of other women in the industry completely ...
Style:
captivating, controversial, sensual, intense, independent film ...
Plot:
sex scene, young couple, relationships, lack of money, porn star, sex, couple relations, family relations, shame, money problems, family problems, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Place:
poland, warsaw poland
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Eli has four children, an unemployed husband and a job with an almost impossible commute. Vale is single and makes ends meet by working in clubs as a dancer. Tied by a profound emotional bond of true sisterhood, the two women's lives are two ...
Style:
captivating, thrilling, psychological, melancholic, independent film
Plot:
friendship, female friendship, social issues, struggle, sisterhood, everyday life, girlfriend girlfriend relationship, life, women, female protagonist, girlfriend, lifestyle ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
italy, rome italy
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Based on an award winning novel, It's Only Talk is about the life of Yuko, a 35 year old woman. She is single and unemployed, and suffers from manic depression. The movie begins with Yuko moving to Kamata Town.
Style:
melancholic, existential, realistic
Plot:
loneliness, manic depression, mental illness, character study, alienation, identity, intimacy, social isolation, relationships, bipolar disorder, medication, midlife crisis ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Drama
Country: Romania
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Larisa is 16 and lives in a city by the sea. It's a small city, where gossip and news spread fast. It's a city where your image and influence, "manelele", money and power are all that matters. And Larisa… wants it all. And even ...
Style:
sexy, disturbing, captivating, serious
Plot:
ambition, group of friends, teenager, teenage girl, party, rape, angst, friendship, friendship between girls, coming of age, female protagonist, fall in love ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
romania
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A story of four women who take belly dancing lessons to escape from their lives.
Style:
captivating, comedy drama, emotional, realistic, uplifting
Plot:
women, family relations, belly dancer, belly dancing, housewife, dancer's life, kids and family, lifestyle, dancehall girl, coping, relationships, parents and children ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
hong kong, east asia
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Sofia, recently separated, takes her daughters to a small coastal town. Each one in their own universe, live the interlude as a challenge to free themselves and face their fears.
Style:
psychological, suspense, disturbing, captivating, emotional ...
Plot:
separation, relationships, mother and daughter, mother daughter relationship, family problems, family relations, dysfunctional family, social problems, relationship problems, breakup, life is a bitch, family life ...
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Sisterhood portrays a current reality in Japan, showing the vision and lives of different people, such as a nude model, a music artist, a student and other diverse individuals who give their opinions in front of the camera.
Style:
social, captivating, independent film, reflective, experimental ...
Plot:
society, everyday life, gender, musician, model, student, interview, real life, realism, ordinary people, social issues, social relations ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A timid young woman who lives with her domineering mother accepts an Adult Video scout's offer to "become somebody else" by performing in porn videos. As she rises in popularity, the boundaries between her two lives begin to ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, atmospheric, captivating, erotic ...
Plot:
porn industry, alienation, suicide, stalking, japanese woman, porn actress, sex work, popularity, self discovery, employer employee relationship, interview, jealousy ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
28%
297
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Trapped in her anemic career and love relationship, a 30-year-old TV commercial director returns to her countryside home in the company of a free-spirited friend. In a bittersweet reunion with an alienated family, her childhood memories of freedom ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, poetic, melancholic ...
Plot:
female protagonist, japanese woman, relationship vs career, family relations, lifestyle change, problem, changing lives, career, relationship problems, thirty something, life is a bitch, homecoming ...
Place:
japan, tokyo
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Story:
Brazilian native Priscilla Paredes is intent on staying in Montreal, despite the expiration of her student visa. Out of desperation, she takes a job as an exotic dancer at the Elixir, a downtown strip club, where she meets Milagro, a headstrong ...
Style:
emotional, independent film, art house, multicultural
Plot:
strip club, lesbian, survival, female protagonist, sex work, poverty, working class, immigration, friendship, desperation, realism, female empowerment ...
Place:
montreal, quebec
Similarity:
27%
326
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
When sex worker Tess falls pregnant, she has to fight to keep her past from swallowing her whole.
Style:
disturbing, suspense, captivating, emotional, independent film ...
Plot:
pregnancy, afrikaans, female protagonist, sex worker, prostitute, motherhood, sex work, unwanted pregnancy, troubled past, changing lives, prostitution, unplanned pregnancy ...
Place:
africa, south africa
Similarity:
27%
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