SimilarScreen
When Marnie Was There

When Marnie Was There

Promise we'll remain a secret, forever.

20147.91h 43m

Overview

Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Written by Joan G. Robinson, Masashi Ando, Keiko Niwa
Produced by Koji Hoshino, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Masami Hosokawa
Box Office0Revenue: $34.9M

Top Cast

Sara Takatsuki

Sara Takatsuki

Anna Sasaki (voice)

Kasumi Arimura

Kasumi Arimura

Marnie (voice)

Nanako Matsushima

Nanako Matsushima

Yoriko Sasaki (voice)

Susumu Terajima

Susumu Terajima

Kiyomasa Oiwa (voice)

Toshie Negishi

Toshie Negishi

Setsu Oiwa (voice)

Ryoko Moriyama

Ryoko Moriyama

Elderly Lady (voice)

Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Nanny (voice)

Hitomi Kuroki

Hitomi Kuroki

Hisako (voice)

Hiroyuki Morisaki

Hiroyuki Morisaki

Art Teacher (voice)

Takuma Otoo

Takuma Otoo

Neighborhood Association Officer (voice)

Themes & Keywords

friendshipbased on novel or bookimaginary friendflashbackphotographcalmanimepersonal diarypsychological

About When Marnie Was There

When Marnie Was There is a animation, drama, family, mystery film released in 2014 exploring themes of friendship, based on novel or book, imaginary friend, flashback, photograph, calm. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, it stars Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima. Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

Movies Similar to When Marnie Was There

Discover titles like When Marnie Was There — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to When Marnie Was There

If you enjoyed When Marnie Was There, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of When Marnie Was There.

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
26% Match

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.

Colorful
26% Match

Colorful(2010)

Movie7.2/10

Upon reaching the train station to death, a dejected soul is informed that he is lucky and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Kobayashi Makoto, who has just committed suicide. Watched over by a neutral spirit named Purapura, the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life was, before his time limit in Makoto's body runs out. He also has a number of other lesser duties he must complete, such as understanding what led Makoto to commit suicide in the first place and learning how to enjoy his second chance at life.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror
23% Match

Shy outcast Kokoro has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. When a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game, the teens must work together to uncover the mysterious connection that unites them. However, anyone who breaks the rules will be eaten by a wolf.

Animal Crossing: The Movie
23% Match

Ai, a self-reliant girl who moves to Animal Village and works at Nook's Cranny, gradually becomes part of the community with guidance from its residents and embarks on a quest to plant pine trees for a Winter Festival miracle after finding a message in a bottle.

Okko's Inn
22% Match

Okko's Inn(2018)

Movie7.2/10

12-year-old Oriko Seki, who lost her parents in a car accident, ended up living in her grandmother's Onsen Ryokan "Haru no Ya." With the ghost "Uribou" cohabitating with her and all the other odds, she ended up training to be a young female innkeeper. At first, she didn't like the training, but gradually felt her admiration for her title and began to train seriously. Thus, the growth of the young warrior Oriko begins.

Psychic School Wars
22% Match

It's a new school year at the local Junior High School i Kamakura. The school year starts off with a new transfer student Ryoichi Kyogoku who joins the 8th grade class. He has been ordered to join the school, and use his special gift of telepathy and take over their school. This boy who happens to be handsome, and be a charismatic person, gains popularity, and using his powers takes over the entire school, except for Seki. This begins a war to regain their freedom for their school and themselves.

A Silent Voice: The Movie
21% Match

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

The Case of Hana & Alice
21% Match

After transferring to Ishinomori Middle School, Tetsuko "Alice" Arisugawa overhears her classmates discussing a strange rumor. The previous occupant of her seat, a nondescript "Judas," is missing and presumed murdered. Amidst dealing with her mother's undesired meddling in her affairs and warding off her classmates' bullying, the troubled Alice starts to investigate the mystery surrounding Judas' disappearance. The trail of clues leads her to the house of her next-door neighbor, the quirky and reclusive Hana Arai.

Whisper of the Heart
21% Match

Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: "Seiji Amasawa."

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
20% Match

With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.

Fruits Basket -prelude-
20% Match

Kyoko, who couldn't believe anything in the world and lived a desolate life, meets Katsuya Honda, who has been assigned as an educational trainee. She is at the mercy of Katsuya, who is rude and has a strong habit, and she is gradually attracted to her. However, she is disowned by her parents in the wake of an incident with her bad fellow. It's a punishment that I've been doing as much as I like. Katsuya appears in front of Kyoko who thinks so...

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid
20% Match

Finally, the day of Mai's high school graduation has arrived. While Sakuta eagerly waits for his girlfriend, an elementary schooler who looks exactly like her appears before him. Suspicious, and for all the wrong reasons... Meanwhile, Sakuta and Kaede's father suddenly calls, saying that their mother wants to see her daughter. She was hospitalized because Kaede's condition had been too much for her to bear, so what could she possibly want now?

Belle
19% Match

Belle(2021)

Movie7.6/10

Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.