feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Ne Zha (2019)

If you loved Ne Zha, the closest films we have are Ronal the Barbarian (2011), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021) and Tales from Earthsea (2006). All three share Ne Zha's dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 88% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Jiao Ziwhimsicaldreamlikeepicdread
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If Ne Zha hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Ne Zha 2 (2025)

Ronal the Barbarian poster
Ronal the Barbarian
2011 Β· dir. Kresten Vestbjerg Andersen
β˜… 6.5animation Β· adventure Β· fantasy

Whimsical and dreamlike in the same breath

The difference: Missing the dread of Ne Zha

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.

Feels alike?
New Gods: Nezha Reborn poster
New Gods: Nezha Reborn
2021 Β· dir. Zhao Ji
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.8animation Β· fantasy Β· action

Common ground in both: dragon and nezha

The difference: Not nearly as whimsical as Ne Zha

While living as an ordinary deliveryman and motor racing fan, Nezha encounters old nemeses and must rediscover his powers to protect his loved ones.

Feels alike?
Tales from Earthsea poster
Tales from Earthsea
2006 Β· dir. Goro Miyazaki
β˜… 6.3animation Β· fantasy Β· adventure

The same preoccupation in both: magic

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.

Feels alike?
Checkered Ninja poster
Checkered Ninja
2018 Β· dir. ThorbjΓΈrn Christoffersen
β˜… 7.1animation Β· comedy Β· adventure

Animation built on scale, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than Ne Zha does

A possessed Ninja doll teams up with a teenage boy to avenge the murder of a poor child factory worker.

Feels alike?
White Snake poster
White Snake
2019 Β· dir. Amp Wong
πŸ… 70%β˜… 7romance Β· animation Β· fantasy

One thread runs through both: donghua

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Ne Zha does

One day a young woman named Blanca is saved by Xuan, a snake catcher from a nearby village. As they set off an a journey to discover her real identity, the pair develop feelings for each other.

Feels alike?
Green Snake poster
Green Snake
2021 Β· dir. Amp Wong
β˜… 6.8animation Β· fantasy Β· action

Both keep coming back to the same thing: donghua

While trying to free her sister from Fahai's clutches, Xiao Qing winds up in a dystopian city and meets a mysterious man who can't recall his past life.

Feels alike?
Secret Magic Control Agency poster
Secret Magic Control Agency
2021 Β· dir. Alexey Tsitsilin
β˜… 6.2animation Β· comedy Β· fantasy

Common ground: magic

The Secret Magic Control Agency sends its two best agents, Hansel and Gretel, to fight against the witch of the Gingerbread House.

Feels alike?
The Painting poster
The Painting
2011 Β· dir. Jean-FranΓ§ois Laguionie
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.3fantasy Β· animation

Whimsical fantasy, and it commits to that

Three characters living in an unfinished painting venture out into the real world in search of their creator to convince him to finish his work.

Feels alike?
Big Fish & Begonia poster
Big Fish & Begonia
2016 Β· dir. Liang Xuan
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7animation Β· adventure Β· fantasy

Adventure with a pulse of dream logic, in both cases

Beyond the human realm, there is a magical race of beings who control the tides and the changing of the seasons. One of these beings, a young girl named Chun, seeks something moreβ€”she wants to experience the human world! At sixteen, she finally gets her chance and transforms into a dolphin in order to explore the world that has her fascinated. But she soon discovers that it's a dangerous place and nearly gets killed in a vortex. Luckily, her life is spared when a young boy sacrifices himself to save her. Moved by his kindness and courage, she uses magic to bring him back to life only to learn that this power comes at a serious price. On a new adventure, she’ll have to make her own sacrifices in order to protect his soul until it is ready to return to the human world.

Feels alike?
Kirikou and the Sorceress poster
Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998 Β· dir. Michel Ocelot
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.5fantasy Β· adventure Β· animation

Both lean on dread more than on animation

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

Feels alike?
Forbidden Empire poster
Forbidden Empire
2014 Β· dir. Oleg Stepchenko
β˜… 5.2thriller Β· adventure Β· mystery

Both are working the same pair: demon, dark fantasy

Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.

Feels alike?
Howl's Moving Castle poster
Howl's Moving Castle
2004 Β· dir. Hayao Miyazaki
πŸ… 88%β˜… 8.2fantasy Β· animation Β· adventure

Both are built on the same subject: demon

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.

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In the mood for more whimsical?

all whimsical movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Ne Zha’s defining feeling.