Best movies & TV Shows like Simple Days

A Shanghai journalist finds spiritual comfort on assignment for a posh magazine in Nepal in Teng Huatao's gorgeously shot feature - part travelogue, part quest tale.

In 1930, two sisters from the countryside, the serious Zhang Lan (Ruan Lingyu) and the frivolous Zhang Tao graduate from the secondary school where their mother Zhang Jie serves as principal. They both love their cousin Zuo, but have ambitions other than marriage. Their lives change dramatically when both attend university in Shanghai and encounter modern urban life and rapidly changing society. The film also depicts the emergence of Chiang Kai-shek's 1934 New Life Movement. Lianhua Film Studio did the film to appease the Nationalist Party which accused it of primarily presenting left-wing films, which was true.

The story of a father's tireless love for his autistic son. A terminally ill father's attempt to teach his autistic son the necessary life skills to survive on his own before he passes away. It is also a poignant tribute to the infinite love that parents have for their children and their unending desire to take care and look after them to their best abilities, no matter the struggle, no matter the effort.

Shay is a young African-American college student whom is forced to take a year off from school to return to her hometown where she struggles with her anger and insecurity when she's forced to confront her alcoholic mother, Nona, whom is currently in AA and a churchgoer, over her entire childhood of abuse and neglect which Shay is both unwilling and unable to let go of.

In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.

Birdee Pruitt has been humiliated on live television by her best friend, Connie, who's been sleeping with Birdee's husband, Bill. Birdee tries starting over with her daughter, Bernice, by returning to her small Texas hometown, but she's faced with petty old acquaintances who are thrilled to see Birdee unhappy -- except for her friend Justin. As he helps Birdee get back on her feet, love begins to blossom.

When ambitious New York attorney Sam is sent to Shanghai on assignment, he immediately stumbles into a legal mess that could end his career. With the help of a beautiful relocation specialist, a well-connected old-timer, a clever journalist, and a street-smart legal assistant, Sam might just save his job, find romance, and learn to appreciate the beauty and wonders of Shanghai.

Set four years after the first movie, Lin Xiao, Lily, Nan Xiang, and Ruby, confront opportunities and challenges as their school days come to an end.

A group of single moms are brought together in the aftermath of an incident at their children's school.

Mary Ann Taylor loves the comforts of her hometown in Mercury, Texas. She has a steady job as a waitress in her father's diner, yet she can't help but feel unfulfilled by a life of pouring coffee and grilling hamburgers. Mary Ann's real passion is photography, but pursuing her dream of becoming a photographer means leaving Mercury behind.

Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and blames on her sister Tao Lan, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence. After 17 years in jail, Tao Lan is escorted by a guard only to find her home long demolished. The two go to the new address of her ageing parents, and the guard becomes witness to the family's difficult reunion.

Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.

Eternal Wave 密战 is a Chinese film set during the anti-Japanese occupation era starring Aaron Kwok, Zhao Li Ying and Zhang Han. It follows the main protagonist Lin Xiang who is a spy working underground to reestablish what was destroyed ruing the Battle of Shanghai. He meets a simple yet patriotic young lady who becomes his partner as they infiltrate the enemy as a couple. Apart from that, they cross paths with Liang Dong, a man whose motives are unclear.

The young adult life of Hong Yunsheng, nicknamed Little Brother, is seen as somewhat of a failure by those that know him. A Chinese national, he stowed away on a boat to the United States, where he worked as a dishwasher in the restaurant of a family from his hometown back in Fujian province. After two years in the States and after fathering an illegitimate child there named Fusheng, the child's mother Xuhui who is the restaurateur's daughter, he was deported back to China. Since, he has been floundering in life, which has caused a rift between himself and his older brother, who, with his wife, operate a street front diner and can't have children of their own. Little Brother relies on his new girlfriend, a woman he barely knows named Wu Ruifang who is a performer in a touring opera troupe, for emotional support. Despite Little Brother being the local poster boy for not stowing away, his friend named Monkey tried to do the same, but died on the voyage over due to exposure to toxic ..

An aged father and his younger, mentally challenged son have been working hard every day to keep the bathhouse running for a motley group of regular customers. When his elder son, who left years ago to seek his fortune in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns one day, it once again puts under stress the long-broken father-son ties. Presented as a light-hearted comedy, Shower explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition.

A traumatic event sends a musician back to her hometown in an effort to reunite with the daughters she abandoned. To do so, she must confront her abusive ex-husband, from whom she fled years ago.

Oliver Watson has never been luckier: he is a successful advertising executive, shares a marriage of eighteen years with Sarah and has three loving kids: 17-year-old Ben, 15-year-old Melissa, and 9-year-old Sam. His perfect life suddenly falls apart when his wife Sarah announces that she wants to enter a graduate school 200 miles away from home, as she regrets that she gave up her bohemian protester's life and promising writing career to become the wife of a conservative traditionalist. Oliver unsuccessfully tries to save his marriage, until Sarah announces that she is seeing someone else. The children start acting out as a reaction and life is complicated by the death of Oliver’s mother and accepts a job in L.A. where he falls in love with Charlotte Sampson. Life again challenges Oliver when Charlotte is offered her dream job on Broadway.

The film follows Xu Lai, a former artist whose dreams were dashed when the responsibilities of life set in. With his life now revolving around his wife Cai Bo who is obsessed with having children, the quirks of his eccentric family and his mediocre, ordinary existence, Xu Lai hopes to reconnect with his first love Yang YIi on an upcoming vacation. However, his hopes are dashed when he finds himself wrapped up in a murder investigation that proves truth is often stranger than fiction.

In 1899, Lord Kang must decide which of his three sons will take over his family's Chinese banking empire. When circumstances dictate that he appoint his unreliable youngest son, family bonds are pushed to the limit as father and son clash in a climate of political turmoil. Winner of the Special Jury Award at the 2009 Shanghai International Film Festival.

A couple on the brink of divorce decides to keep their marital woes a secret as they help their daughter plan her wedding. As the two work together on the happy occasion, they soon discover that their own marriage might just be worth saving.

In 1948, four young girls, daughters of Shanghai's elite, attending college in America find themselves unable to return after the Communists take Shanghai.

This semi-autobiographical dark comedy starring Tig Notaro follows her as she returns to her hometown after the sudden death of her mother. Still reeling from her own declining health problems, Tig struggles to find her footing with the loss of the one person in her life who understood her. All while dealing with her clingy girlfriend and her dysfunctional family.

On New Year’s Day in 1949, female accountant Huang Li Wen returns to her hometown Shanghai in order to commemorate her husband and comrade’s death. As a Communist agent, she is ordered to obtain valuable information for the Communist Party and aid them in their quest for liberation. During her mission, Li Wen is reunited with her family members and becomes acquainted with the streetwise Qiao Zhi Cai and his younger twinbrother Qiao Li Jie, who turns out to be a key player in Huang Li Wen’s mission.

Bit-part actress, Wen Xiao Nuan, is hired to play An Ning Wen Hua's CEO, Ye Fei Mo's, secret admirer in order to earn funds to support the Huang Mei Opera group back in her hometown. The two fall in love while pretending to be lovers.

During the 1990s, the Lu siblings grew up together in a Shanghai longtang. This is a story that spans over 20 years and follows how they came from nothing, yet made something out of themselves at a time when the Shanghai economy and capital markets were turbulent and unpredictable. Lu Jiang Tao began to lose himself as he gained wealth. His sense of adaptability in an increasingly pragmatic society opens many doors for him, but his indifference towards crossing lines sets him on a destructive path. His lover and younger sister become tools that he uses for his own purposes and riches brought them nothing but despair. As the eldest brother, Lu Hai Bo always had a strong moral compass. He values his family, having good faith and business ethics. In the cutthroat world of business, the siblings learn to overcome their differences to achieve success.

Set against the backdrop of massive economic growth in the 1990s, the story follows A Bao, a self-made millionaire and his journey from being a young opportunist with a troubled past to accumulating dazzling wealth in the city of Shanghai. It also follows his entanglement with four women who represent the pursuits of his life: adventure, honour, love and innocence.

It tells the story of Hua Man Tian, the son of a wealthy and powerful family, who finds himself in an unwanted love triangle between a princess and his childhood lover, whom he truly loves. When his childhood lover is accused of treason, she uses magic to switch faces with the princess but their problems get deeper when the magic wears off quickly.

After ten years of knowledge and choice, after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Lin Nansheng has grown into a true Communist Party member. And at the critical moment of the War of Liberation, he made outstanding contributions to the party and the country.

A pair of post-90s besties have chosen very different paths in life. Upon graduation, one stayed in Shanghai to focus on her career while the other returned to their hometown to get married. In recent years, they encounter unprecedented difficulties. For many years, Yuan Ge has been married to her job and hasn't bothered investing in relationships.

Pan Yan is a trainee lawyer of Rongke Law Firm. He and Shu Yinan, Zuo Na, and Zhu Xin Xin, who entered Rongke's internship at the same time, encountered confusion when they first entered the workplace. During the internship, they are exposed to various types of litigation commissions. As trainee lawyers, they can neither undertake the litigation entrusted by the client, nor determine the direction and strategy of the litigation, but they all hold the original intention of respecting the law, and conscientiously prepare materials and make suggestions for each litigation. Growing pains are not only in the workplace, but also in the family. How to handle the relationship with their parents is also exhausting. In the end, under the guidance and help of Lan Hong and Du Fei Yu, senior partners of the law firm, and after frank communication with their parents, they all grew up.

A story of the rebellious son Gong Ziyu and spy Yun Weishan, who yearns for her freedom. Gong Ziyu lost his father and brother overnight, and was appointed as the head of the family but soon notices this power brought him into a dangerous situation. Yun Weishan is sent to him as a sleeper agent and now she has to choose between freedom and love.

A story about a socialite in Shanghai whose family falls to ruin and starts on a journey to become a spy. Lu Han Zhi's fate is intertwined between two men from opposing sides of a war. Gao Chen who appears to be a traitor to his country is actually a Communist spy. Han Shou Min who appears to be a patriot and used to be a top spy of the Kuomindang is treading on a path of no return after being betrayed by his own comrades. Caught in a dangerous and increasingly complication situation, Lu Han Zhi grows from a mere socialite to an impassioned revolutionary.

Chen Mo Bai regarded racing as a lifelong dream since he was a child and longed to one day represent China in the "Super Formula" arena. But in the eyes of Chen Mo Bai's family, this was an unsafe and unreliable joke until he met Shen Xi, an engineer who was also obsessed with realizing her dream in life. Shen Xi's rigor and professionalism make Chen Mo Bai believe that his dream can be brought into reality. But at this moment, Shen Xi is at the darkest moment in her life. The confusion of her career and the departure of her family have plunged her into the abyss.

Academy Awards best screenplay nominee Hui-Ling Wang's first television screenplay after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Set in the Republican-era Shanghai, Gu Man Zhen works as an assistant in a factory, while Gu Man Lu works at a nightclub to support the family. Gu Man Zhen falls in love with the wealthy Shen Shi Jun, a young engineer who happens to be engaged. Gu Man Lu marries the lustful Zhu Hong Cai, though is unable to prevent him from hankering after her younger sister. Gu Man Zhen and Shen Shi Jun meet again a decade later when both are married and try not to let societal expectations ruin their prospects for happiness.