Movies Like Light in the Frame
If you liked Light in the Frame (2025), a drama and romance movie directed by Li Chunyu, 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
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…
- 5
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.
- 6
Not Easily Broken (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romanceA car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
- 7
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.
- 8
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.
- 9
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.
- 10
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.
- 11
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.
- 12
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…
- 13
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.
- 14
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.
- 15
The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and romanceA failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
- 16
Maria's Lovers (1984)
★ 6/10Also drama and romanceA World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
- 17
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.
- 18
The Lost Husband (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romanceTrying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
- 19
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.
- 20
Hear Me (2009)
★ 7.4/10Also romance and dramaA delivery boy falls for a young girl who is hearing impaired. Comparing themselves with water birds and trees, together they are going to break the barrier and pursuit their dreams and take their relationship to the…