Movies Like A Shyness for the Real Thing

If you liked A Shyness for the Real Thing (1995), a movie directed by Fujirō Mitsuishi, 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
Close Range Love (2014)
★ 7.4/10
A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.
2
Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
★ 5.8/10
Charlie is a clumsy waiter in a cheap cabaret, suffering the strict orders from his boss. He meets a pretty girl in the park and tries to impress her by pretending to be an ambassador. Unfortunately she has a jealous…
3
Imprint (2006)
★ 6.8/10
An American journalist travels through 19th-century Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
4
My Date with Drew (2005)
★ 5.9/10
Ever since the second grade when he first saw her in E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Brian Herzlinger has had a crush on Drew Barrymore. Now, 20 years later he's decided to try to fulfill his lifelong dream by asking her…
5
Miller's Girl (2024)
★ 6.3/10
A talented young writer embarks on a creative odyssey when her teacher assigns a project that entangles them both.
6
The Rewrite (2014)
★ 6/10
An Oscar-winning writer in a slump leaves Hollywood to teach screenwriting at a college on the East Coast, where he falls for a single mom taking classes there.
7
The Kissing Booth (2018)
★ 7.2/10
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
8
The Best of Me (2014)
★ 7.5/10
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
9
Elegy (2008)
★ 6.3/10
Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual…
10
The Souvenir (2019)
★ 6.1/10
A shy but ambitious film student falls into an intense, emotionally fraught relationship with a charismatic but untrustworthy older man.
11
My Mom Jayne (2025)
★ 8/10
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and…
12
Beastly (2011)
★ 6.3/10
A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.
13
Original Sin (2001)
★ 6.2/10
A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.
14
After (2019)
★ 7.1/10
Tessa Young is a dedicated student, dutiful daughter and loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart. Entering her first semester of college, Tessa's guarded world opens up when she meets Hardin Scott, a mysterious…
15
Oh Lucy! (2018)
★ 6.7/10
A lonely, chain-smoking office lady in Tokyo falls for her teacher when she decides to take English lessons. When her teacher disappears, she sets out on a journey to find him.
16
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
★ 7.1/10
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
17
Tokyo Decadence (1992)
★ 6/10
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that…
18
Empire Records (1995)
★ 6.6/10
The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try to stop the store from being absorbed by a large chain.
19
Dismissed (2017)
★ 6.5/10
A straight-edged teacher finds trouble when an honors student is willing to do anything to get an A.
20
Our Wife (1931)
★ 7.1/10
Oliver is making plans to marry his sweetheart Dulcy with Stan as his best man, but the plans are thwarted when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie and forbids the marriage. The couple plan to elope, and run away to…