Movies Like Not for Love

If you liked Not for Love (1980), a drama and romance movie directed by Lin Xiang, 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
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.
2
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.
3
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…
4
Not Easily Broken (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romance
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
5
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.
6
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.
7
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.
8
Nobody Has to Know (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
9
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.
10
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.
11
Gabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020)
★ 8.3/10Also romance and drama
The final part of the film adaption of the erotic romance novel Gabriel's Inferno written by an anonymous Canadian author under the pen name Sylvain Reynard.
12
Fire with Fire (1986)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and romance
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison…
13
Time Is Up (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also romance and drama
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
14
A Journal for Jordan (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and romance
Based on the true story of First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a soldier deployed to Iraq begins to keep a journal of love and advice for his infant son. Back at home, senior New York Times editor Dana Canedy revisits…
15
1 Mile To You (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and romance
After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in…
16
Newness (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and drama
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
17
Spring Fever (2010)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and romance
Hired to spy on a philandering husband, Luo Haitao soon becomes entangled in a clandestine affair with the other man. Along with Luo's girlfriend, they succumb to the delirium of drunken nights, but how long can their…
18
See You Soon (2019)
★ 5.9/10Also romance and drama
A U.S. soccer star suffers a career-threatening injury in the run-up to the World Cup, and during his recovery, embarks on an epic romance with a Russian single mom.
19
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…
20
Gabriel's Inferno (2020)
★ 8.4/10Also romance and drama
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the…