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Movies that feel like The Garden of Words (2013)

If you loved The Garden of Words, the closest films we have are 5 Centimeters per Second (2007), The Spectacular Now (2013) and Weathering with You (2019). All three share The Garden of Words' contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 12 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.

Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches.

7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Makoto Shinkaicontemplativeromantictenderwistful
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If The Garden of Words hit the spot, these will too

5 Centimeters per Second poster
5 Centimeters per Second
2007 · dir. Makoto Shinkai
7.4animation · romance · drama

Makoto Shinkai directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a cold city.

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The Spectacular Now poster
The Spectacular Now
2013 · dir. James Ponsoldt
🍅 92%7comedy · drama · romance

Both are working the same pair: alcoholism, growing up

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than The Garden of Words does

Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.

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Weathering with You poster
Weathering with You
2019 · dir. Makoto Shinkai
🍅 92%7.5animation · drama · fantasy

The same hand behind both of them: Makoto Shinkai

The difference: Missing the wistfulness of The Garden of Words

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if taking its cue from his life. After many days of solitude, he finally finds work as a freelance writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then, one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.

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Blue Is the Warmest Color poster
Blue Is the Warmest Color
2013 · dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
🍅 88%7.6romance · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: high school student

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

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House of Hummingbird poster
House of Hummingbird
2019 · dir. Kim Bora
🍅 98%7.4drama

Common ground: teacher student relationship

The difference: Not nearly as tender as The Garden of Words

14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, and exploring young love.

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The Way He Looks poster
The Way He Looks
2014 · dir. Daniel Ribeiro
🍅 93%7.9drama · romance

Both are built on the same subject: growing up

Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.

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Devdas poster
Devdas
2002 · dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
7.5drama · romance

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

In 1900s India, Calcuttan zamindar Devdas Mukherjee — unable to marry his lover — takes up alcohol and the company of a courtesan to alleviate the pain.

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The Virgin Suicides poster
The Virgin Suicides
2000 · dir. Sofia Coppola
🍅 80%7.2drama · romance

Tender and wistful in the same breath

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

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A Walk to Remember poster
A Walk to Remember
2002 · dir. Adam Shankman
🍅 30%7.3drama · romance

Contemplative drama in both cases

When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.

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Flavors of Youth poster
Flavors of Youth
2018 · dir. Joshua
🍅 83%6.6animation · romance · drama

Animation built on romance, twice over

The rigorous city life of China, while bustling and unforgiving, contains the everlasting memories of days past. Three stories told in three different cities, follow the loss of youth and the daunting realization of adulthood. Though reality may seem ever changing, unchangeable are the short-lived moments of one's childhood days. A plentiful bowl of noodles, the beauty of family and the trials of first love endure the inevitable flow of time, as three different characters explore the strength of bonds and the warmth of cherished memories. Within the disorder of the present world, witness these quaint stories recognize the comfort of the past, and attempt to revive the neglected flavors of youth.

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20th Century Girl poster
20th Century Girl
2022 · dir. Bang Woo-ri
🍅 86%7.4romance · drama

Tender romance, and it commits to that

In 1999, a teen girl keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her deeply smitten best friend – then she gets swept up in a love story of her own.

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Little Women poster
Little Women
2019 · dir. Greta Gerwig
🍅 95%7.8drama · romance

Drama with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Garden of Words’ defining feeling.