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Movies that feel like From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

If you loved From Up on Poppy Hill, the closest films we have are The Sea Inside (2004), After the Wedding (2006) and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013). All three share From Up on Poppy Hill's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.

🍅 87% Rotten Tomatoes7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Goro Miyazakicontemplativeromantic
Stream it:HBO Max
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If From Up on Poppy Hill hit the spot, these will too

The Sea Inside poster
The Sea Inside
2004 · dir. Alejandro Amenábar
🍅 85%8drama

The same preoccupation in both: romance

Ramón Sampedro is a ship mechanic and part-time poet left a quadriplegic following a diving accident. Ramón fought for 30 years for the legal right to end his own life. He develops close relationships with his long-term lawyer Julia and his friend Rosa, who tries to convince him that his life is worth living. Despite his situation, Ramón manages to inspire those around him to live life to the fullest.

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After the Wedding poster
After the Wedding
2006 · dir. Susanne Bier
🍅 87%7.7drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.

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Bhaag Milkha Bhaag poster
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
2013 · dir. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
🍅 71%8.2drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The true story of the "Flying Sikh" world champion runner and Olympian Milkha Singh who overcame the massacre of his family, civil war during the India-Pakistan partition, and homelessness to become one of India's most iconic athletes.

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Loveless poster
Loveless
2017 · dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
🍅 95%7.6drama

Animation with a pulse of romance, in both cases

Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page – even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears.

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Yi Yi poster
Yi Yi
2000 · dir. Edward Yang
8.1drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother is in a coma, his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank and his business partners make bad decisions.

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Rocky Balboa poster
Rocky Balboa
2006 · dir. Sylvester Stallone
🍅 78%7.1drama

Romantic animation in both cases

When he loses a highly publicized virtual boxing match to ex-champ Rocky Balboa, reigning heavyweight titleholder Mason Dixon retaliates by challenging the Italian Stallion to a 10-round exhibition bout. To the surprise of his son and friends, Rocky agrees to come out of retirement and face an opponent who's faster, stronger and thirty years his junior. Rocky takes on Dixon in what will become the greatest fight in boxing history!

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Floating Weeds poster
Floating Weeds
1959 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
🍅 96%7.9drama

One thread runs through both: post war japan

The difference: Made in the 1950s, in a different era of the craft

A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.

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Only Yesterday poster
Only Yesterday
1991 · dir. Isao Takahata
🍅 100%7.6animation · drama · romance

The same two preoccupations: based on manga, and anime

The difference: Leans harder into romance than From Up on Poppy Hill does

In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

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Bajirao Mastani poster
Bajirao Mastani
2015 · dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
🍅 67%7.3history · romance · drama

Both are built on the same subject: period drama

The difference: Sits closer to history than From Up on Poppy Hill does

Peshwa Bajirao married to Kashibai, falls in love with Mastani, a warrior princess in distress. They struggle to make their love triumph amid opposition from his conservative family.

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Saturday Night Fever poster
Saturday Night Fever
1977 · dir. John Badham
🍅 82%6.8drama

Both play drama straight

Tony spends his Saturdays at a disco where his stylish moves raise his popularity among the patrons. But his life outside the disco is not easy and things change when he gets attracted to Stephanie.

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I Want to Eat Your Pancreas poster
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
2018 · dir. Shinichiro Ushijima
8.1animation · drama · romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: anime

After his classmate and crush is diagnosed with a pancreatic disease, an average high schooler sets out to make the most of her final days.

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Black Narcissus poster
Black Narcissus
1947 · dir. Michael Powell
🍅 100%7.7drama

Both know what they want from drama

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.

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The best-reviewed films that share From Up on Poppy Hill’s defining feeling.