Movies Like The Only Son

If you liked The Only Son (1936), a drama movie directed by Yasujirō Ozu, 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
Shoplifters (2018)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence…
2
Tokyo Story (1953)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't…
3
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.
4
MOTHER (2020)
★ 6.9/10Also 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…
5
An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.
6
Late Spring (1949)
★ 8/10Also drama
Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she…
7
Kabei: Our Mother (2008)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain…
8
Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape"…
9
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the…
10
The Insect Woman (1963)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps…
11
After the Storm (2016)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives…
12
Grave of the Fireflies (2005)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Hisako loses her home in Tokyo to Allied bombing. With her husband fighting somewhere in Asia, she and her two children evacuate to a suburb of Kobe, where they share a house with Hisako's cousin, Kyoko. Kobe is bombed…
13
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.
14
Repast (1951)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.
15
A Hen in the Wind (1948)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Tokiko patiently awaits her husband's return from WWII when her four-year old son falls ill. She takes him to the doctor but has no means of paying, so she resorts to prostitution. A month later, her husband returns to…
16
Tokyo Sonata (2008)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
The winds of change blow as a family grapples with unemployment, alienation, mistrust and a lack of communication. When a Japanese salaryman loses his job to outsourcing to China, it's simply the beginning of a series…
17
Maborosi (1995)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.
18
A Thousand and One (2023)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so…
19
Mildred Pierce (1945)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
20
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he…