Film

Ramen Shop

Name: Ramen Shop
Genre: Drama
Released: 2018
Cast: Takumi Saitoh, Seiko Matsuda, Jeanette Aw, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Mark Lee

Family drama

A quiet, food-centered film about a young Japanese ramen chef who travels to Singapore after his father's death, carrying his mother's journal. It's meditative rather than dramatic—more interested in the slow unfurling of family secrets through flavour and conversation than in plot mechanics. For anyone who finds cinema in small moments and believes that a bowl of noodles can hold a lifetime.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you are drawn to quiet family dramas where food carries the emotional weight, and you like watching a stranger's life unfold slowly through small rituals, meals and half-spoken regrets.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting or a clear sense of where things are going; this moves at an unhurried pace, and its emotional beats land softly rather than with big dramatic swings.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes of patience with long, still scenes and gentle observation. It rewards attention to details like a bowl being prepared or a glance held a beat too long.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Tampopo1985

A Japanese film that treats ramen as a path to self-discovery and human connection, mixing comedy, tenderness, and genuine philosophy about food and obsession.

But Deeply eccentric and formally playful in ways that can feel chaotic; it's more concerned with vignettes and mood than narrative momentum.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011

A documentary that finds profound beauty in mastery, repetition, and the pursuit of perfection through a single craft. Quietly philosophical about legacy and purpose.

But Entirely observational with minimal plot; if you need external conflict or dramatic stakes, you'll find the pace glacial.

Like Father2018

A tender film about reconciliation through shared meals and the unspoken language between parents and children. Similar quiet emotional register and faith in cooking as communication.

But The emotional journey is subtle and internal; if you prefer explicit character arcs and payoffs, this will feel thin.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Ramen Shop

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In the Mood for Love2000

Both films treat visual and sensory detail—especially domestic spaces and food—as the primary language of emotion. Both are about characters caught between homes, speaking through implication rather than confession.

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece about yearning and displacement uses food, colour, and space to convey what characters cannot say. Like Ramen Shop, it understands that the deepest feelings live in the spaces between words.

But Deliberately slow and formal; the beauty is abstract and requires patience. Some find it impossibly mannered and distant.

The Farewell2019

Centres on family secrets, cultural displacement, and the spaces between what's said and what's felt. Uses intimate moments to explore belonging and identity.

But More comedic and plot-driven than Ramen Shop; its approach to emotion is lighter and less contemplative.

Café Society2016

A bittersweet exploration of family, longing, and the gap between how we imagine our lives and how they unfold. Visually lush and emotionally restrained.

But Deliberately nostalgic and wistful; some find Woody Allen's tone insufferably self-pitying, and this film indulges it.

A Separation2011

An intimate family drama that trusts the audience to sit with moral ambiguity and unresolved pain. Shows how everyday conversations can contain everything.

But Entirely dialogue-driven and emotionally taxing; it builds tension through conversation rather than incident, which exhausts some viewers.

Shoplifters2018

A film about makeshift family, belonging, and how people construct meaning in small, ordinary interactions. Humanizing and deeply observed.

But The tonal shifts between comedy and tragedy can feel jarring; some find the sentimentality undermines the social critique.

Paterson2016

Celebrates the poetry in routine and the weight of small, ordinary failures. A meditation on art, purpose, and acceptance delivered through a bus driver's ordinary life.

But Virtually nothing happens; if you need forward momentum or external conflict, this patient, repetitive film will feel pointless.

Udon2006

Both are specifically about sons reconnecting with their identity through their mother's culinary legacy. Both use regional noodles as the literal and emotional centre of the story.

A Japanese film that weaves personal grief and family estrangement through the ritual of cooking and eating noodles. Quieter than it sounds, with genuine emotional weight beneath its food-film surface.

But Structurally meandering; it prioritises mood and digression over traditional narrative resolution, which tests patience.

Harakiri1962

Both films centre on a son processing his relationship to his father's memory and the culture that shaped him. Both use constraint and formality to express what cannot be spoken aloud, and both find profound humanity in that silence.

A severe, beautiful black-and-white film about family, honour, and the spaces where society fails individuals. Visually extraordinary and emotionally devastating—a completely different register, but shares the film's meditation on legacy and loss.

But Bleak and deliberately formal; it's a samurai film structured as tragedy, not comfort. Demands emotional and intellectual commitment.