Movies Like Extraordinary Years

If you liked Extraordinary Years (1983), a movie directed by Yuan Yuehua, 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
Lust, Caution (2007)
★ 7.3/10
During World War II, a secret agent must seduce, then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man…
2
Superintelligence (2020)
★ 5.9/10
When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study the most average person on Earth, Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to…
3
Coming Home (2014)
★ 7.3/10
Lu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no…
4
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
★ 8/10
In 1920s China, 19-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.
5
Shanghai (2010)
★ 6.1/10
An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a…
6
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.
7
The Sleeping Dictionary (2003)
★ 6.6/10
In the 1930s, British officer John Truscott journeys to a remote village in colonial Malaysia to educate and Westernize the local Iban population. There, he's introduced to the lovely Selima. In keeping with tradition…
8
Frequencies (2013)
★ 6.6/10
The story of the forbidden relationship between a 'low born' boy and a 'high born' girl in an alternate reality where every person's relationships and life worth are determined by their innate 'frequencies'.
9
Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022)
★ 6.7/10
After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires. With her husband's consent, she seeks out other means of fulfilling her needs.
10
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
★ 7.4/10
Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo'…
11
The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
★ 7.6/10
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.
12
Yellow Earth (1984)
★ 7.2/10
A communist soldier is sent to a remote region of China in order to collect folk songs. Staying with a peasant family (a widower with two small children), he discovers a community whose way of life is completely alien…
13
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
★ 8/10
In an epic tale of theater, gender, love and class, two Beijing opera actors navigate political turmoil as their friendship evolves over decades.
14
The Last Emperor (1987)
★ 7.6/10
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and…
15
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
★ 7.2/10
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even…
16
The Painted Veil (2006)
★ 7.3/10
A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
17
Mārama (2026)
★ 6.3/10
1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers her horrific colonial heritage and is compelled to confront and destroy the titled Englishman who devastated her family.
18
Buddha Mountain (2011)
★ 6.7/10
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
19
Pegasus 2 (2024)
★ 7.2/10
Former champion driver Zhang Chi teaches at a driving school in troubled times, relying on his reputation to make ends meet. A failing automobile factory offers to sponsor Zhang Chi in the last Bayinbrook Rally.
20
To Live (1994)
★ 8.2/10
Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.