Movies Like Life on a String

If you liked Life on a String (1991), a drama movie directed by Chen Kaige, 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 Power of the Dog (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.
2
One Second (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
3
Gigi & Nate (2022)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
4
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
5
Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
6
I Walk the Line (1970)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Henry Tawes, a middle-aged sheriff in a rural Tennessee town, is usually the first man to criticize others for their bad behavior. Miserable in his marriage, Henry falls in love with teenage seductress Alma, who is the…
7
The Miracle Worker (2000)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Devoted teacher Anne Sullivan leads deaf, blind and mute Helen Keller out of solitude and helps integrate her into the world.
8
Home Run (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
9
Anne of Green Gables (2016)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and…
10
Train Dreams (2025)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
11
Wonderstruck (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
12
Mr. Tree (2011)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Teased by hallucinations, Shu, a slacker living in a rural village, struggles with an ever-loosening grip on reality. Yet when one of his visions manifests as real, his fellow villagers come to regard him as a…
13
Buddha Mountain (2011)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
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.
14
The Padre (2018)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-old girl intent on reuniting with her…
15
Johnny Belinda (1948)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
16
Won't Back Down (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for…
17
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.
18
Black Dog (2024)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Released from jail, Lang returns to his hometown in Northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new…
19
Marvellous (2014)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Dramatisation of the true story of the life of Neil "Nello" Baldwin. Born with a mild learning disability but without the burden of social embarrassment & how his inexhaustible ability to see the good in any…
20
Hands of Stone (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.