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Movies Like The Secret of the River

If you liked The Secret of the River (2018), a drama and romance movie directed by Zhang Rui, 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. 1Under the Hawthorn Tree

    Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010)

    ★ 7.8/10Also drama and romance

    The 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…

  2. 2Her Story

    Her Story (2024)

    ★ 7.6/10Also drama and romance

    Wang 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. 3Life in a Year

    Life in a Year (2020)

    ★ 8.2/10Also drama and romance

    A 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.

  4. 4Summer Palace

    Summer Palace (2007)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance

    Yu 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.

  5. 5Heart of the Country

    Heart of the Country (2013)

    ★ 6.2/10Also drama and romance

    With her husband jailed for Wall Street-based fraud, Faith has to leave behind her luxury life in New York to return home to North Carolina and the widower father and dutiful older sister she left behind. Together…

  6. 6Blind

    Blind (2017)

    ★ 6.1/10Also drama and romance

    A 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.

  7. 7The History of Love

    The History of Love (2016)

    ★ 6.4/10Also drama and romance

    The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.

  8. 8Return to Dust

    Return to Dust (2022)

    ★ 7.3/10Also drama and romance

    Humble, 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…

  9. 9Brotherhood of Blades

    Brotherhood of Blades (2014)

    ★ 6.7/10Also romance and drama

    In the late Ming Dynasty, three sworn brothers who serve as the imperial secret police are dispatched to hunt down Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch politician who had been forced to resign from his influential post and exiled…

  10. 10Nine Lives

    Nine Lives (2005)

    ★ 6.1/10Also drama and romance

    Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.

  11. 11Mountains May Depart

    Mountains May Depart (2015)

    ★ 7/10Also drama and romance

    The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.

  12. 12Maria's Lovers

    Maria's Lovers (1984)

    ★ 6/10Also drama and romance

    A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.

  13. 13Dirt Music

    Dirt Music (2020)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama and romance

    Georgie is slowly suffocating in a loveless marriage to fishing tycoon Jim Buckridge. Handsome poacher Lu is an irresistible symbol of the excitement she craves. A passionate affair follows that reveals the dark…

  14. 14Not Easily Broken

    Not Easily Broken (2009)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama and romance

    A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.

  15. 15Ashes in the Snow

    Ashes in the Snow (2018)

    ★ 6.4/10Also drama and romance

    The 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…

  16. 16Wander Darkly

    Wander Darkly (2020)

    ★ 6/10Also romance and drama

    New 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.

  17. 17Peter Ibbetson

    Peter Ibbetson (1935)

    ★ 7/10Also drama and romance

    When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project…

  18. 18Love Everlasting

    Love Everlasting (2016)

    ★ 7.4/10Also romance and drama

    Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.

  19. 19Remember

    Remember (2015)

    ★ 7.3/10Also drama

    With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

  20. 20The Secret: Dare to Dream

    The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance

    A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.

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