Films like The Notebook
12 picks with a similar feel
What defines The Notebook, going by its Boxlist taste profile: Emotional and grounded: a slow-paced romantic drama. Best if you like stories that hit hard. Its strongest markers on Boxlist are themes of culture clash, unlikely connections and love against the odds, plus tags such as tears, dementia and class.
Here are 12 films with a similar feel, ranked by how closely they match that profile. Treat them as picks to try, not a definitive list.
Based on The Notebook (2004).
- 1
Film7.7
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of culture clash and unlikely connections. Common ground: secret love, love of one's life.
- 2
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
Film7.7Heavier option
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of culture clash and unlikely connections. Common ground: secret love.
- 3
Past Lives (2023)
Film7.7More intricate
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of culture clash and unlikely connections.
- 4
Collateral Beauty (2016)
Film7.3Heavier option
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
- 5
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Film6.8
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
- 6
Five Feet Apart (2019)
Film8.4
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
- 7
Before Sunrise (1995)
Film7.9
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of love against the odds.
- 8
Three Steps Above Heaven (2010)
Film7.8Faster-paced
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
- 9
An Education (2009)
Film6.9
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
- 10
Top Gun (1986)
Film7.0
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional, with themes of culture clash and unlikely connections. Common ground: secret love.
- 11
Closer (2004)
Film6.8
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and slow-burning, with themes of culture clash and unlikely connections. Common ground: secret love.
- 12
Midnight Sun (2018)
Film7.8Warmer in tone
Why it's like The Notebook: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of unlikely connections and love against the odds.
Boxlist compares The Notebook with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point. Ratings are TMDB audience scores out of 10.
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Take the taste testQuestions
- What should I watch if I like The Notebook?
- Picks with a similar feel include The Bridges of Madison County, Memoirs of a Geisha, Past Lives and Collateral Beauty. Each shares part of The Notebook's taste profile, themes or tags; the full list has 12 films.
- How are these films like The Notebook chosen?
- Boxlist compares The Notebook with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point.