Movies like Kensuke's Kingdom

A feature-film shortlist from the cached Film Atlas engine. The interactive map may include more titles or newer results. These are similarity matches, not a guarantee of age suitability.

1. 

   01

   Kubo and the Two Strings

   Strong story similarity

   2016 · 102 min · Adventure · Animation · Family

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   Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Kubo and the Two Strings
2. 

   02

   The Boy and the Heron

   Strong story similarity

   2023 · 124 min · Animation · Drama · Fantasy

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   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."

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared themes: 1940s and world war ii
   • shared genre DNA

   Explore movies like The Boy and the Heron
3. 

   03

   Suzume

   Strong story similarity

   2022 · 122 min · Adventure · Animation · Drama · Fantasy

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   Suzume, 17, lost her mother as a little girl. On her way to school, she meets a mysterious young man. But her curiosity unleashes a calamity that endangers the entire population of Japan, and so Suzume embarks on a journey to set things right.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • a closely matched era

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4. 

   04

   Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog

   Genre overlap

   2020 · 93 min · Drama · Family · War

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   Follow the perilous journey to freedom when a young boy and his dog attempt to escape a concentration camp during World War II. Based on true events.

   Why it connects

   • shared genre DNA
   • a closely matched era

   Explore movies like Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog
5. 

   05

   Weathering with You

   Strong story similarity

   2019 · 112 min · Animation · Drama · Fantasy · Romance

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   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.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • similar audience response

   Explore movies like Weathering with You
6. 

   06

   Hunt for the Wilderpeople

   Strong story similarity

   2016 · 101 min · Adventure · Comedy · Drama

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   Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared genre DNA
   • similar audience response

   Explore movies like Hunt for the Wilderpeople
7. 

   07

   Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

   Strong story similarity

   2021 · 97 min · Animation · Comedy · Drama · Family

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   Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • a closely matched era

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8. 

   08

   Drifting Home

   Strong story similarity

   2022 · 121 min · Adventure · Animation · Fantasy

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   One fateful summer, a group of elementary school kids set adrift on an abandoned apartment building must look within themselves to find a way back home.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared genre DNA
   • a closely matched era

   Explore movies like Drifting Home
9. 

   09

   My Oni Girl

   Strong story similarity

   2024 · 112 min · Adventure · Animation · Family · Fantasy

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   A shy teenage boy's inability to say no is tested when a headstrong girl drags him on a mystical journey amid summer snow to find her missing mom.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • a closely matched era

   Explore movies like My Oni Girl
10. 

    10

    In This Corner of the World

    Shared themes

    2016 · 130 min · Animation · Drama · History · War

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    Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

    Why it connects

    • shared themes: 1940s and world war ii
    • similar audience response

    Explore movies like In This Corner of the World