Traveling helps you expand your mind and see things from different perspective. Liz in Eat Pray Love travels to Bali, India and, Italy in search of herself, after feeling that she isn’t passionate about her life.
The movie is a quintessential one for all 20 something women and beyond, inspiring women go on a spiritual journey to find oneself. The movie not only assures us that It’s okay to be lost in life, but also gives us the courage to want more and pursue everything we want whether it be freedom, forgiveness or love.
movies like eat pray love
There are many movies/Netflix series similar to Eat Pray Love, reminding you that there’s so much to see and feel in life and to take ownership of yourself and pursuing a passionate life for yourself regardless of what the society says and how your life situation looks like at the moment.
In this post, I’ll share 13 Asian (Korean, Chinese and Japanese) movies that you’ll enjoy if you enjoyed Eat Pray Love. These will take you to different cities in Asia, and show you how people strive to find themselves in respective societies.
Romance
1. Hometown Chachacha (Netflix series/South Korea)
The series takes place in a small seaside town, completely different from the more known capital of South Korea, Seoul. The show is about two people who move back to their small hometown after their struggles of making it in Seoul. It's fun to see the contrast between Korea's cosmopolitan city and the cute little coastal town.
The story starts off extremely cheerful but gets really sad in the last couple of episodes. Get ready to cry your eyes out if you stick till the end. Spoiler's alerts: the two fall in love and accept their traumas and differences in the past.
2. Crazy rich Asians (Movie/Singapore)
OMG, i love Singapore... I just love love love the country, cosmopolitan AND tropical, what else can you ask for? If Singapore has not been on your radar or you just miss Singapore as much as I do, you need to watch this (I mean, if you haven't watch it already, where have you been?)
The movie is about a New Yorker, Rachel, visiting her boyfriend Nick's homeland, Singapore, where she finds out he is one of the country's wealthiest families. Watching this movie will please your eyes and ears; everything about this movie is beautiful, from the places on the island to the wedding.
3. Crash Landing on You (Netflix series/North and South Korea)
This series is about a thriving South Korean business-woman who ends up in North Korea while paragliding due to a tornado blowing her over to North Korea. A North Korean patrol officer finds her and helps her hide in a small town in North Korea.
The premise of Crash Landing on You was inspired by an actual event where a South Korean actress accidentally sailed to North Korea. If you are curious about how North Korean cities look, this series describes average North Koreans' lives realistically. The screenwriter hired a North Korean defector turned writer to help develop the series and it has been reported that the movie actually provides a glimpse of what it's like to live in the secluded country of North Korea.
4. Finding Mr. Right 2 (Movie/Macao)
The movie takes place in Macau, where Jiao works as a casino hostess. Over a few years, Jiao and Daniel send each other over 84 letters, each believing the other to be a Chinese person living in London.
Macao, a vibrant casino city now, was once a Portuguese colony, and the past influence of colonization is still visible in some parts of the city. I'm sure that you'll enjoy the love story set in Asia's vegas.
5. Memoir of Geisha (Movie/Kyoto)
Some say the movie is based on a real story, while some disagree. It's about a young girl who lives in a poor fishing village sold to a geisha house in Kyoto by her father in the late 1920s. She tries to escape, rebel, then changes her mind and begins to want to be a geisha.
6. Lost in translation (Movie/Tokyo)
John, an American movie star, visits Tokyo for an advertisement for a whiskey brand and meets an American girl, Charlotte, who is in Tokyo to accompany her photographer husband. John and Charlotte explore Tokyo together, both unhappy with marriage and going through a life crisis.
7. Love letter (Movie/Hokkaido)
This movie is SOO famous!! Love Letter is a beautiful love story set in Otaru, Hokkaido. The movie is about the story of a grieving woman who sends a letter to her fiance's childhood address. I'm planning to visit Hokkaido and eat hairy crab this summer so I'll def be re-watching this movie. Check out the city tourism board and I'll be posting about my trip to Hokkaido so stay tuned!
7. Us and Them Houlaide women (Movie/Beijing)
The movie is about two strangers who met on the train back home to Beijing, becoming friends. The story is told between the past and the present, merging to the present timeline to reconcile with the past.
Comedy
8. Taipei exchanges (Movie/Taiwan)
The movie is about two sisters who open a café in Taipei, which becomes a bartering location.
9. Eat drink man woman (Movie/Taiwan)
This is one of my favorite Taiwanese movie, and it shows the family dynamics as Taiwan opens up to different culture, globalization, with the contrast of Taiwanese traditional culture and American influence in 1990's. The movie is also famous for its culinary scenes so check it out if you're interested in Taiwan!
Thriller
10. Parasite (Movie/South Korea)
I wouldn't recommend a thriller movie on my blog since I hate those but I HAD TO add it for it's showing Seoul but also the cultural aspects.
Chances are, you've probably heard of this movie, if not watched already. This movie was everything everyone was talking about a couple of years ago. It became the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best picture.
The movie is about the Kim family, struggling in poverty, schemes to get hired by a wealthy Park family, later getting into trouble. With a shocking ending, the movie leaves you thinking about class conflict, social inequality, and wealth disparity which is prevalent in many capitalist societies, including Seoul.
In this movie, the Kim and Park families are a parasite to each other, Kim living off Park's wealth and Park depending on Kim's labor.
Action
11. The Thieves (Movie/HK)
The movie is about South Korean burglars joining a heist in Hong Kong. Nothing serious, it's a fun movie to watch while the actors run around the city stealing jewelries.
12. Assassination Amsal (Movie/Shanghai)
Assassination is a South Korean espionage action film with the 8th highest-grossing movie in Korean film history. If you are curious about East Asian history, you'll love this movie.
The movie is about a resistance fighter who tries to murder a pro-Japanese business person during Japan's rule over Korea.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed the list of Asian movies like Eat Pray Love. Although traveling was difficult for the past couple years due to the pandemic, watching these movies will expand your mind and help you experience secondhand what life is like in different countries and even living in different centuries. East Asian cities like Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo have been gaining more and more popularity over the past decade as well as all things Korean culture, so invite some friends over and watch them together!!
Let me know in the comment section below which movie you are looking forward to watching!
P.S. Are you traveling soon? Check out this post for my top trip planning websites recommendations!
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