Movies Like The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)

The Time to Live and the Time to Die is a 1985 drama film from Hou Hsiao-hsien with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with A Brighter Summer Day and The Insect Woman.

Drama

A Brighter Summer Day

1991

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

8.2

MagicScore

The Insect Woman

1963

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

7.2

MagicScore

Priscilla

2023

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.

6.8

MagicScore

My Childhood

1972

The first part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an eight-year-old living on the breadline with his half-brother and sick grandmother in a poor mining village.

7.0

MagicScore

The Long Day Closes

1992

Bud is a lonely and quiet boy whose moments of solace occur when he sits in rapture at the local cinema, watching towering and iconic figures on the movie screen. The movies give Bud the strength to get through another day as he deals with his oppressive school environment and his burgeoning homosexuality.

7.2

MagicScore

Liberty Heights

1999

This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben's brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.

6.6

MagicScore

The Devil's Playground

1977

A powerful drama relating the intimate aspect of teenage boys and their priest/educators behind the walls of a religious institution where rigid discipline backfires natural feelings are deemed unnatural acts and human lives are controlled in the names of good intentions.

6.5

MagicScore

American Graffiti

1973

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

7.0

MagicScore

The Boy and the Heron

2023

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

7.4

MagicScore

#10

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

2022

A man narrates stories of his life as a 10-year-old boy in 1969 Houston, weaving tales of nostalgia with a fantastical account of a journey to the moon.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

The Fabelmans

2022

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

7.6

MagicScore

#12

The Hand of God

2021

In 1980s Naples, Italy, an awkward Italian teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

7.5

MagicScore

#13

To Live

1994

Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

8.1

MagicScore

#14

The Right Stuff

1983

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

The Butler

2013

A look at the life of Cecil Gaines, who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.

7.3

MagicScore

#16

Driving Miss Daisy

1989

The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.

7.2

MagicScore

#17

Flipped

2010

When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.

8.0

MagicScore

#18

Le Bal

1983

In a French nightclub, choreographed song and dance routines are performed, rather than a streamlined narrative. They tell the story of Parisian culture and politics from the 1920s—1980s. A disparate, anachronistic series of characters, including an ordinary waiter, a Nazi collaborator, resistance fighters, and 1960s student protestors gather to celebrate and satirize 20th century France's icons, demons, and social changes.

7.0

MagicScore

#19

The Irishman

2019

Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.

7.6

MagicScore

#20

Tommy

1975

After a series of traumatic childhood events, a psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.

6.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Time to Live and the Time to Die?

The top films similar to The Time to Live and the Time to Die by MovieMagicScore are A Brighter Summer Day (8.2), The Insect Woman (7.2), Priscilla (6.8). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Time to Live and the Time to Die worth watching?

The Time to Live and the Time to Die holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 105 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Time to Live and the Time to Die?

The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985) is a drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, starring Yu An-Shun, Tien Feng, Mei Fang.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Time to Live and the Time to Die?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like A Brighter Summer Day Movies like The Insect Woman Movies like Priscilla Movies like My Childhood Movies like The Long Day Closes Movies like Liberty Heights

About movies like The Time to Live and the Time to Die

This ranked list pairs The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985), a drama film from Hou Hsiao-hsien, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Yu An-Shun take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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