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Flavors of Youth poster

Movies that feel likeFlavors of Youth (2018)

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.

If you loved Flavors of Youth, the closest films we have are 20th Century Girl (2022), The Way He Looks (2014) and Y Tu Mamá También (2001). All three share Flavors of Youth's romantic and tender feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is House of Hummingbird (2019).

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If Flavors of Youth hit the spot, these will too

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

Common ground in both: friendship and growing up

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: friendship

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.

Y Tu Mamá También poster
Y Tu Mamá También
2001 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 90%★ 7.7drama · romance

One thread runs through both: growing up

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Past Lives poster
Past Lives
2023 · dir. Celine Song
🍅 95%★ 7.8drama · romanceRent or buy

Romantic where it counts, tender underneath

After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.

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

Common ground: anime

The difference: Easier on the warmth than Flavors of Youth

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.

Devdas poster
Devdas
2002 · dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
★ 7.6drama · romance

Contemplative and wistful in the same breath

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.

The Garden of Words poster
The Garden of Words
2013 · dir. Makoto Shinkai
★ 7.4animation · drama · romance

Animation built on romance, twice over

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.

I Want You poster
I Want You
2012 · dir. Fernando González Molina
★ 6.7drama · romance

Both are built on the same subject: young love

After two years away, Hache returns to Barcelona seeking a fresh start. Falling for Gin while facing unresolved feelings for Babi, he must confront love, loss, and who he's becoming.

A Silent Voice: The Movie poster
A Silent Voice: The Movie
2016 · dir. Naoko Yamada
★ 8.2animation · drama · romance

Both lean on warmth more than on romance

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

House of Hummingbird poster
House of Hummingbird
2019 · dir. Kim Bora
🍅 98%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

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.

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

Romance with a pulse of tenderness, in both cases

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.

Little Women poster
Little Women
2019 · dir. Greta Gerwig
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama · romanceHulu

Wistful drama 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 Flavors of Youth’s defining feeling.