Movies Like Present Tense
If you liked Present Tense (2023), a drama and romance movie directed by Haotian Guan, 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
Summer Palace (2007)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and romanceYu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.
- 2
Her Story (2024)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and romanceWang Tiemei, a single mother, loses her job and moves, befriending neighbor Xiaoye who appears cheerful but is depressed. Their bond grows as Tiemei navigates relationships with her ex-husband causing trouble.
- 3
Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and romanceThe daughter of a right-winger, schoolgirl Jing Qiu is sent to the countryside for reeducation, and tasked to help write a textbook. There she meets Lao San, a young soldier with a bright future ahead. Despite the…
- 4
Life in a Year (2020)
★ 8.2/10Also drama and romanceA 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
- 5
Time Is Up (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also romance and dramaVivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
- 6
Viva La Vida (2024)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and romanceA young woman who needs a kidney transplant wants to marry someone who will be able to donate a kidney, and meets a young man who has a brain disease.
- 7
Newness (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and dramaIn contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
- 8
Nobody Has to Know (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romanceAfter a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
- 9
Game of Love (2022)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and dramaFollows Vivien and Roy as their love story continues and leads them to Roy’s childhood home in Sicily to prepare for the sale of the family estate. During the visit, a mysterious woman arrives and befriends Vivien…
- 10
Mountains May Depart (2015)
★ 7/10Also drama and romanceThe life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
- 11
Fire with Fire (1986)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and romanceA tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison…
- 12
Return to Dust (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and romanceHumble, 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…
- 13
Blind (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and romanceA novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
- 14
1 Mile To You (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and romanceAfter a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in…
- 15
Nine Lives (2005)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and romanceCaptives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
- 16
Not Easily Broken (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romanceA car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
- 17
Ashes in the Snow (2018)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and romanceThe coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her…
- 18
Purple Hearts (2022)
★ 8/10Also romance and dramaAn aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
- 19
Wander Darkly (2020)
★ 6/10Also romance and dramaNew parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.
- 20
See You Soon (2019)
★ 5.9/10Also romance and dramaA U.S. soccer star suffers a career-threatening injury in the run-up to the World Cup, and during his recovery, embarks on an epic romance with a Russian single mom.