Movies Like Once Upon a Time in China

If you liked Once Upon a Time in China (2019), a movie directed by Liu Shujuan and Wu Lixiao, 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
Railroad Tigers (2016)
★ 6.1/10
A railroad worker in China in 1941 leads a team of freedom fighters against the Japanese in order to get food for the poor.
2
Upstream (2024)
★ 6.8/10
A moment of impulsiveness turns Gao Zhilei into a "stay-at-home" individual, but he never expected his life to take a turn in the opposite direction. A series of changes compel him to take on his responsibilities as…
3
A Touch of Sin (2013)
★ 7.2/10
Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her…
4
The Island (2005)
★ 6.7/10
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly…
5
The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
★ 7.7/10
When her husband is kicked in the groin by the village head, Qiu Ju, a peasant woman, despite her pregnancy, travels to a nearby town, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats and find justice.
6
Tow (2026)
★ 6.7/10
Amanda Ogle is a woman living in her aging Toyota Camry on the streets of Seattle. When her car is stolen and impounded, she’s thrust into a relentless legal battle against an indifferent system. What begins as a fight…
7
Mr. Church (2016)
★ 7.4/10
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
8
Eat Pray Love (2010)
★ 6.2/10
A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".
9
Taipei Story (1985)
★ 7.4/10
A young woman urgently seeks to navigate the maze of contemporary Taipei and find a future. She hopes that her boyfriend Lung is the key to the future, but Lung is stuck in a past that combines baseball and traditional…
10
A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)
★ 7.9/10
James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.
11
The Brutalist (2024)
★ 6.9/10
When an innovative modern architect flees post-war Europe, he is given the opportunity to rebuild his legacy. Set during the dawn of the modern United States (in Pennsylvania), his wife joins him, and their lives are…
12
Fearless (2006)
★ 7.5/10
After going through a series of tragic events in his life, martial arts master Huo Yuanjia returns to Tianjin and must fight four international soldiers, in order to safeguard his nation's pride.
13
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
★ 7.5/10
During the Qing Dynasty, a fishmonger is killed by the reigning Manchu government for supporting the anti-government movement; his son manages to escape to Shaolin Temple, where he plans to learn its secretive brand of…
14
Train Dreams (2025)
★ 7.3/10
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.
15
Scarecrow (1973)
★ 7/10
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
16
Lighting Up the Stars (2022)
★ 7.4/10
Having been released after serving his sentence, a funeral director accidentally crosses paths with a girl which brings about an unexpected change in his attitude towards life.
17
Hi, Mom (2021)
★ 7/10
Devastated after her mom's serious accident and grief-stricken because she hasn't become the daughter she wanted to be for her mother, a Chinese woman finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she…
18
Equilibrium (2002)
★ 7.1/10
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
19
Life of a King (2013)
★ 7.3/10
The true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids…
20
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
★ 7.2/10
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.