Movies Like Café Lumière

If you liked Café Lumière (2004), a drama movie directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, 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
Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for…
2
Perfect Days (2023)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on…
3
Little Forest: Winter/Spring (2015)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice…
4
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.
5
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…
6
Early Summer (1951)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
In postwar Tokyo, Noriko lives with her extended family. Although she enjoys her career and her social life, her more traditional family worries about her single marital status at the advanced age of 28. 40-year-old…
7
Sweet Bean (2015)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be…
8
Only Yesterday (1991)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
9
Sakuran (2006)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
10
The Sea of Trees (2016)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.
11
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"…
12
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…
13
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.
14
Tokyo Story (1953)
★ 8.1/10Also 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…
15
The Door into Summer (2021)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A pioneering roboticist awakens in 2025 after decades in cryosleep. To change the past and reunite with his adopted sister, he seeks a way back to 1995.
16
Midnight Diner (2014)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.
17
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.
18
To the Ends of the Earth (2019)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
A young Japanese woman named Yoko finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.
19
Hungry Hearts (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
20
Adopt a Highway (2019)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn…