feelsalike.comSign in
Howl's Moving Castle poster

Movies that feel likeHowl's Moving Castle (2004)

Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

If you loved Howl's Moving Castle, the closest films we have are Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997) and Warriors of the Wind (1984). All three share Howl's Moving Castle's dreamlike and whimsical feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Ne Zha (2019).

🍅 88% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Hayao Miyazakidreamlikewhimsicalepiccozydread
11 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:HBO Max ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is Howl's Moving Castle streaming? →

If Howl's Moving Castle hit the spot, these will too

Porco Rosso poster
Porco Rosso
1992 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 7.7animation · adventure · fantasyMax

Miyazaki's flight and creeping fascism around a cursed, closed-off man

The difference: Sunlit and adult, offering wry romance in place of enchantment

In Italy in the 1930s, sky pirates in biplanes terrorize wealthy cruise ships as they sail the Adriatic Sea. The only pilot brave enough to stop the scourge is the mysterious Porco Rosso, a former World War I flying ace who was somehow turned into a pig during the war. As he prepares to battle the pirate crew's American ace, Porco Rosso enlists the help of spunky girl mechanic Fio Piccolo and his longtime friend Madame Gina.

Princess Mononoke poster
Princess Mononoke
1997 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 93%★ 8.3adventure · fantasy · animationMax

A curse that forces a young person into a war they never chose

The difference: Harsher and bloodier, with no cozy hearth to come home to

Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

Warriors of the Wind poster
Warriors of the Wind
1984 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 87%★ 8adventure · animation · fantasyMax

A young woman standing between armies and a poisoned world

The difference: Bleaker and more didactic, trading whimsy for ecological warning

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

Spirited Away poster
Spirited Away
2001 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 8.6animation · family · fantasyMax

A girl caught by a witch's spell inside a working magical building

The difference: Stranger and more frightening, held to a much stricter dream logic

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

Ponyo poster
Ponyo
2008 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 91%★ 7.6animation · fantasy · familyMax

Miyazaki at his softest, with the sea doing impossible things

The difference: Made for small children — no war, no weight, no ache

When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

Ne Zha poster
Ne Zha
2019 · dir. Jiao Zi
🍅 88%★ 7.3animation · fantasy · adventurePrime VideoPeacock

A cursed hero fighting the destiny everyone assumes for him

The difference: Loud, brash spectacle — the quiet Ghibli moments aren't here

A young boy is born as the reincarnation of a demonic power, into a society that hates and fears him. Destined by prophecy to bring destruction to the world, Nezha must choose between good and evil to see if he can change his fate.

My Neighbor Totoro poster
My Neighbor Totoro
1988 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 94%★ 8.1fantasy · animation · familyMax

Everyday life and magic sharing a room, with no fuss made of it

The difference: Plotless and calm — nothing at stake beyond a child's worry

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

Tales from Earthsea poster
Tales from Earthsea
2006 · dir. Goro Miyazaki
★ 6.3animation · fantasy · adventureMax

Hand-drawn Ghibli fantasy with a slow, wandering, melancholy pull

The difference: Colder and less charming; the magic never quite sparkles

As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.

Kiki's Delivery Service poster
Kiki's Delivery Service
1989 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
★ 7.8animation · family · fantasyMax

Miyazaki again — a young witch making her way with warmth and a bakery

The difference: Everyday stakes — no curse, no war, just growing up

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

Ronal the Barbarian poster
Ronal the Barbarian
2011 · dir. Philip Einstein Lipski
★ 6.5animation · adventure · fantasy

Both land dream logic and whimsy at once

The difference: Trades the comfort of Howl's Moving Castle for an angle of its own

Ronal is a young barbarian with low self-esteem, the polar opposite of all the muscular barbarians in his village. He's a real wuss. However, as fate would have it, responsibility for the tribe's survival falls on Ronal's scrawny shoulders, when the evil Lord Volcazar raids the village and abducts every living barbarian with the exception of Ronal, who is forced to go on a perilous quest to save his enslaved clan and thwart Volcazar’s plot to rule the world.

Return to Never Land poster
Return to Never Land
2002 · dir. Robin Budd
🍅 46%★ 5.8adventure · fantasy · animationDisney+

Wartime shadows brushing against a child's flight into fantasy

The difference: A modest Disney sequel — workmanlike beside Ghibli's craft

In 1940, the world is besieged by World War II. Wendy, all grown up, has two children; including Jane, who does not believe Wendy's stories about Peter Pan.

How to Train Your Dragon poster
How to Train Your Dragon
2010 · dir. Chris Sanders
🍅 99%★ 8.1fantasy · adventure · animationParamount+

The joy of flight and an unlikely bond forming against a war

The difference: Clearer and more conventional; nothing in it stays ambiguous

As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.

In the mood for more dreamlike?

all dreamlike movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Howl's Moving Castle’s defining feeling.