Movies Like Idle Dream

If you liked Idle Dream (1981), a movie directed by Chen-Yi Chang, 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
Rip Girls (2000)
★ 6.3/10
A teen-age girl and her father come to an island on Hawaii, they find a closer relationship to each other and think about changing the island. During her adventures, Sydney finds friends, a new hobby with her fantastic…
2
You Cast A Spell On Me (2015)
★ 6.8/10
Despite agreeing to an arranged marriage to a childhood friend, a successful businessman tries to track down a beautiful woman that he met at a Halloween party.
3
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
★ 6.3/10
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set…
4
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
★ 7.1/10
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as…
5
Petals on the Wind (2014)
★ 6.6/10
This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.
6
Erin Brockovich (2000)
★ 7.4/10
A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses…
7
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
★ 6.8/10
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
8
Our Kind of Traitor (2016)
★ 6/10
A young Oxford academic and his attorney girlfriend holiday in Morocco. They bump into a Russian millionaire who owns a peninsula and a diamond watch. He wants a game of tennis. What else he wants propels the lovers on…
9
The Duke of Burgundy (2015)
★ 6.3/10
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more…
10
Buddha Mountain (2011)
★ 6.7/10
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
11
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…
12
Left-Handed Girl (2025)
★ 7.3/10
A mother and her two daughters move to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a vibrant night market, but family secrets and tradition test their fresh start.
13
The Golden Lotus (1974)
★ 7/10
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin…
14
He Said, She Said (1991)
★ 5.9/10
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions…
15
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
★ 7.5/10
A socialite marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her.
16
Return to Dust (2022)
★ 7.3/10
Humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage. They have to combine their strength and build a home to survive. In the face of much adversity, an…
17
I Can't Think Straight (2008)
★ 7.5/10
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla…
18
Hi, Mom (2021)
★ 7/10
Devastated after her mom's serious accident and grief-stricken because she hasn't become the daughter she wanted to be for her mother, a Chinese woman finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she…
19
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
★ 7.4/10
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
20
Mansfield Park (1999)
★ 6.7/10
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford.