If you want to see another film that uses the same technique -a film that moves back in time in a triptych of pivotal days- but sequentially you can watch Jia Zhangke's Mountains may depart.
In Ash is Purest white, film director Jia Zhangke uses the same narrative technique : going backwards in time to the most important moments of main female protagonist.
Peppermint Candy shares the same structure and tone as Cities of Last Things. In the Korean film, major events in Korean history influenced his central character’s tortured soul.
Both movies portray life segments of melancholic, lonely and thirsty for love cops and have the same artistic and intriguing noir vibes, with stunning neon-textured cinematography and magnificent night shoots across city streets.