Movies Like The World
If you loved The World's Drama storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.
★ Top Picks
Caught by the Tides
Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.
One Second
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
Upstream
A moment of impulsiveness turns Gao Zhilei into a "stay-at-home" individual, but he never expected his life to take a turn in the opposite direction. A series of changes compel him to take on his responsibilities as the head of the family. When life's burdens hit hard, he must confront himself and start anew.
Black Dog
On the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the Olympic Games, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog. These two lonely souls embark on a journey together.
Fast Girls
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Hear Me
A delivery boy falls for a young girl who is hearing impaired. Comparing themselves with water birds and trees, together they are going to break the barrier and pursuit their dreams and take their relationship to the next level.
Sky
A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.
Hungry Hearts
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
More Movies Like The World
So Long, My Son
Two married couples adjust to the vast social and economic changes taking place in China from the 1980s to the present.
Dirt
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
TalhotBlond
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Step Up: Year of the Dance
Two young people from different social classes put aside their differences and come together to form a dance group and win a championship in China.
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Come Sunday
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Eye for an Eye
A highly trained and exceptionally deadly swordsman looks for revenge after being caught in the middle of a power struggle that results in the assassination of an innocent woman's family.
Under the Hawthorn Tree
The daughter of a right-winger, schoolgirl Jing Qiu is sent to the countryside for reeducation, and tasked to help write a textbook. There she meets Lao San, a young soldier with a bright future ahead. Despite the class divide and parental disapproval, romance blooms against turbulent times.
American Dreams in China
Three Chinese friends build a successful English language school to help Chinese teenagers fulfil their dreams.
Brotherhood of Blades
In the late Ming Dynasty, three sworn brothers who serve as the imperial secret police are dispatched to hunt down Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch politician who had been forced to resign from his influential post and exiled from Beijing. The brothers return successfully from their quest, only to find that their task was but the beginning of a strange conspiracy.
Tigertail
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Love in Taipei
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Why These Movies Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with The World (2004): Drama themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of The World.
See full details for The World (2004)