Movies Like The Chef of South Polar

If you liked The Chef of South Polar (2009), a drama and comedy movie directed by Shuichi Okita, 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
Kamome Diner (2006)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and comedy
On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites…
2
Sweet Bean (2015)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be…
3
Poor Cow (1967)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to…
4
Repast (1951)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.
5
Little Forest: Winter/Spring (2015)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice…
6
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.
7
Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for…
8
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
9
The Way to the Heart (2024)
★ 9.9/10Also drama and comedy
Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with…
10
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
11
The Kindness of Strangers (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter…
12
Foe (2023)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Henrietta and Junior farm a secluded piece of land that has been in Junior's family for generations, but their quiet life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger shows up at their door with a startling…
13
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and comedy
A story centered around an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant.
14
The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.
15
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and drama
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
16
Don't Think Twice (2016)
★ 6.4/10Also comedy and drama
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
17
The Giver (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
18
The Survivalist (2015)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened.
19
A Wrinkle in Time (2003)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Meg and Charles Wallace are aided by Calvin and three interesting women in the search for their father who disappeared during a government experiment. Their travels take them around the universe to a place unlike any…
20
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions…