Movies Like The Lonely Whale

If you liked The Lonely Whale (2019), a movie directed by Zhang Yunhe, 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
Unknown (2006)
★ 6.2/10
Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.
2
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
★ 7.1/10
Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect.
3
Memento (2000)
★ 8.2/10
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term…
4
Birth of the Dragon (2017)
★ 5.8/10
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.
5
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
★ 6.1/10
A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself and into a chaotic adventure of amnesia and…
6
Protector (2026)
★ 8.4/10
Nikki's life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child.
7
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
★ 8.1/10
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and…
8
Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984)
★ 7.9/10
The Official Golden Harvest tribute to the Master of the Martial Arts Film, Bruce Lee.
9
The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
★ 7/10
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
10
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.
11
Code 46 (2003)
★ 6.2/10
In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria…
12
The Sense of an Ending (2017)
★ 6.3/10
A man becomes haunted by his past and is presented with a mysterious legacy that causes him to re-think his current situation in life.
13
The Father (2020)
★ 8.1/10
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
14
Sleep, My Love (1948)
★ 6.3/10
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
15
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
★ 6.8/10
Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.
16
Moon the Panda (2025)
★ 6.5/10
Due to his poor academic performance, twelve-year-old Tian is sent to live with his grandmother in the remote mountains of Sichuan. Far from the hustle and bustle of the city, he finds himself immersed in nature and…
17
The Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018)
★ 6.8/10
Jake Carter and another former Marine, Luke Trapper, join forces to rescue a young kidnapped girl from a gang of international criminals.
18
Wonderstruck (2017)
★ 6.1/10
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.
19
The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
★ 6.6/10
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
20
Man with No Past (2025)
★ 6.5/10
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that…