Film
Departures
A cellist loses his orchestra job and drifts, almost by accident, into work preparing the dead for cremation in a Japanese ritual most people never see. What sounds grim plays out as tender, often funny, and precise in its craft — hands washing, dressing, restoring dignity to bodies while the living nearby reckon with loss. Slow and contemplative, it rewards anyone willing to sit with grief rather than rush past it.
If you liked this
Still Walking2008
Kore-eda's quiet masterpiece follows one family reunion for a father's memorial, unfolding grief and old resentment through meals and small talk rather than speeches — the same patient tenderness that makes Departures work.
But Almost nothing happens on the surface; if you need plot momentum, the stillness will test your patience.
Shoplifters2018
Another Kore-eda family built from secrecy and grief rather than blood, finding warmth in the margins of Japanese society with the same unhurried compassion and eye for small domestic rituals.
But Its tenderness curdles into something much darker by the end — go in braced, not soothed.
The Farewell2019
A granddaughter returns to China to say goodbye to a dying matriarch who doesn't know she's dying — comedy and grief tangled together with the same gentle, unshowy grace as Departures.
But The central lie at its heart may frustrate viewers who expect the film to interrogate it harder.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Six Feet Under2001
Both take the unglamorous mechanics of preparing bodies for the dead and turn them into a lens on how the living carry on — one through hushed Japanese ritual, the other through a bickering LA family funeral business.
Five seasons of a family running a funeral home, mixing pitch-black comedy, sex, and sudden grief — it treats death with the same unflinching intimacy as Departures, just louder and far messier.
But It's a sprawling American soap opera by comparison — brasher, funnier, and nowhere near as serene as Departures' hush.
More like this (8)
A Man Called Ove2015
A suicidal, furious old widower gets pulled back into life by nosy neighbours — funnier and more sentimental than Departures, but built from the same idea that ritual and routine can heal grief.
But It leans hard into whimsy and coincidence where Departures stays understated; the sweetness can feel engineered.
Sunshine Cleaning2008no page yet
Two sisters start a crime-scene cleanup business and discover, almost by accident, a strange dignity in tidying up after other people's deaths — a scrappier American cousin to Daigo's story.
But Broader and more conventionally plotted, with a redemption arc that resolves more neatly than real grief usually does.
Tokyo Sonata2008no page yet
A salaryman hides his layoff from his family while quietly reinventing himself — the same unemployment shame and search for purpose that sends Daigo into undertaking, filtered through one household's slow unraveling.
But It's bleaker and more surreal in its final stretch, without Departures' consoling warmth.
Manchester by the Sea2016
A man returns home to bury his brother and finds grief he can't outrun — a colder, more American treatment of the same question Departures asks about facing death honestly.
But There's little of Departures' gentleness or humour here; this one sits in pain and doesn't let you go.
Amour2012
Haneke's unflinching portrait of an elderly couple facing decline together strips away every comfort Departures offers, asking what dignity in death actually costs when no ritual can soften it.
But It is genuinely harrowing and clinical rather than tender — not a film to watch for comfort.
The Bucket List2007no page yet
Two dying strangers tick off a list of last wishes — broad, crowd-pleasing, and much less interested in craft or ritual, but it shares Departures' faith that facing death can be oddly joyful.
But It's sentimental Hollywood machinery next to Departures' patience — charming, but nowhere near as honest.
Ikiru1952
Kurosawa's dying bureaucrat searching for meaning in his last months is the same story Departures tells in reverse — a man finding purpose by devoting himself, quietly and completely, to something that matters.
A government clerk learns he's dying and spends his remaining months trying to actually matter — it's the origin point for this kind of story, made with astonishing patience and heart.
But Black-and-white, over seventy years old, and slow by design — it demands a patience Departures asks for more gently.
The Loved One1965
Where Departures finds reverence in the rituals around death, this savage satire of the American funeral industry finds absurdity and greed — same subject, opposite instinct, and a useful jolt once Departures' tenderness starts to feel like the only way to see this world.
A vicious, very funny satire of Hollywood's funeral business, skewering the commercialisation of grief that Departures' quiet reverence stands in total contrast to.
But It's cynical and cartoonish where Departures is sincere — if you want more of that film's tenderness, this will feel like a slap.
People
Cast
Masahiro MotokiDaigo Kobayashi
Ryoko HirosueMika Kobayashi
Tsutomu YamazakiIkuei Sasaki
Kimiko YoYuriko Kamimura
Tetta SugimotoYamashita
Toru MinegishiYoshiki Kobayashi
Tatsuo YamadaTogashi
Yukari TachibanaRie Yamashita
Taro IshidaSonezaki
Directing
- 長濱英高Assistant Director
- Yojiro TakitaDirector
Writing
- Kundo KoyamaScreenplay
Production
- Takefumi YoshikawaCasting
- Yasuhiro MaseExecutive Producer
- Hideharu YamashitaLine Producer
- Ichirô NobukuniProducer
- Toshiaki NakazawaProducer
- Toshihisa WataiProducer
Recommended by
Kubo and the Two Strings, Ikiru, Tokyo Story, The Illusionist, The Cleaners, The Farewell, Corpse Bride, Wild Strawberries, Still Walking, Bleach, Death at a Funeral, In This Corner of the World, Truly Madly Deeply, An Autumn Afternoon, The Loved One, House, Providence, Move to Heaven, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God