Movies Like Cat and Salt, or Sugar

If you liked Cat and Salt, or Sugar (2022), a movie directed by 小松孝, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Garden of Words (2013)
★ 7.6/10
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two…
2
5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
★ 7.3/10
Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a…
3
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)
★ 8.1/10
Fleeing the war, the immortal Maquia, graced with eternal youth, finds a baby abandoned in the forest and decides to raise it as her own child, sparking a moving story between a mortal and a being who does not age.
4
When Marnie Was There (2014)
★ 7.9/10
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may…
5
Belle (2021)
★ 7.6/10
Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate…
6
Encanto (2021)
★ 7.6/10
The tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has…
7
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
★ 7.4/10
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to…
8
Turning Red (2022)
★ 7.3/10
Thirteen-year-old Mei is experiencing the awkwardness of being a teenager with a twist – when she gets too excited, she transforms into a giant red panda.
9
Crayon Shinchan the Movie: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back (2001)
★ 8.2/10
Shin-chan must rescue the adults of Kasukabe when they mysteriously abandon their responsibilities to relive their youth at the new 20th-century expo.
10
Dreams (1990)
★ 7.7/10
Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on…
11
A Page of Madness (1926)
★ 7.3/10
An elderly man visits his mentally ill wife in a psychiatric hospital. Years earlier, she had tried to drown their child and then take her own life. Crushed by guilt and powerless to change what has happened, he…
12
Call Me Chihiro (2023)
★ 7.2/10
An unapologetic former sex worker starts working at a bento stand in a small seaside town, bringing comfort to the lonely souls who come her way.
13
Fireworks (2017)
★ 6.6/10
Moshimo, Japan. The annual fireworks festival is about to take place and a group of schoolboys, arguing over whether they are round or flat when viewed from different angles, set out to find it out.
14
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
★ 7.5/10
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with…
15
The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
★ 7/10
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
16
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026)
★ 8.1/10
Iroha's life gets knocked off its orbit when Kaguya, a carefree runaway from the Moon, moves in and convinces her to perform in a virtual world together.
17
Her Blue Sky (2019)
★ 7.4/10
High school student Aoi Aioi lives with her elder sister, Akane, after a tragic accident took their parents away 13 years ago. Because Akane has since been taking care of her single-handedly, Aoi wants to move to Tokyo…
18
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
★ 7.5/10
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it…
19
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
★ 8.2/10
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
20
Paprika (2006)
★ 7.8/10
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from…