Stories of male characters in conflict with state secrets during wartime. Similar color tone and same lead actress.

- Both movies are song titles from Western rock bands "The Smashing Pumpkins" and "The Beatles", and contain soundtracks by Radiohead.
- Both of them deal with loss and trials of youth.

Romance and family stories set in a Year-end/Yuletide season. Both have different segments and multiple leads.

Both LGBT-themed Hong Kong movies portraying financial struggles that lead to sexual transactions and complicated relationships.

Both horror stories that feature shamanistic rites and supernatural beliefs. One is to cast out a demon from a human body while the other is to prevent (the death of) an unmarried guy from becoming a vengeful ghost.

Both heartwarming stories of a male lead living alone who overcome loneliness with the help of a feline friend.

Both stories are about a girl who went back to her hometown years after Tohoku earthquake. Both girls met people who accompanied them as they reflect on the memories their loved ones left behind.

Both leads are talent wannabes that ended up as paid mourners. One is in traditional Chinese funeral that portrayed the job as loud wailing while the other is Japanese setting which was more on delicate manner.

The documentary featured the telephone booth in Otsuchi that was built a year before 2011 Tohoku earthquake. A resident of the town who set up the booth in a hilltop garden built it as a way to cope with a lost relative. After the catastrophe, it was opened to the public who need an outlet to deal with the tragic loss.

This place has inspired the film to follow the sentiments of the survivors. It's about a girl who lost her family went back to her hometown. Along the way, she met different people who shared the same bereavement, and when she discovered the booth, she expressed her struggles and how she realized the value of living.