Movies Like Desert of Namibia

If you liked Desert of Namibia (2024), a drama movie directed by Yoko Yamanaka, 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 Girl in the Book (2015)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
2
Nobody Knows (2004)
★ 8/10Also drama
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
3
MOTHER (2020)
★ 7/10Also drama
Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little…
4
3 Women (1977)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.
5
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
★ 7/10Also drama
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
6
The Sea of Trees (2016)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.
7
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract…
8
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.
9
Before I Fall (2017)
★ 7/10Also drama
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her…
10
Belfast (2021)
★ 7/10Also drama
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a…
11
Sakuran (2006)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
12
Last Breath (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Seasoned deep-sea divers battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.
13
To the Ends of the Earth (2019)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
A young Japanese woman named Yoko finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.
14
The Sound of Silence (2019)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
15
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
16
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he…
17
Killer's Kiss (1955)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The…
18
Escaflowne: The Movie (2000)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Gaea is a mythical realm ruled by sword and sorcery and immersed in blood and violence. Thrust into a conflict she doesn't quite understand, Hitomi Kanzaki helps aid the young Prince Van as they embark upon a journey…
19
Interiors (1978)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment…
20
Ran (1985)
★ 8/10Also drama
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.