Movies Like Il était une guerre

If you liked Il était une guerre (1959), a drama movie directed by Louis Portugais, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
2
Adieu Philippine (1962)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Michel is a young technician in the fledgling TV industry and is due for military service in two months at the time of the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are inseparable best friends, and aspiring actresses, who…
3
What Maisie Knew (2013)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new…
4
A Single Girl (1995)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A young Parisian must make major decisions about pregnancy, a job, and her boyfriend.
5
The Passengers of the Night (2022)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself…
6
The Son (2002)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
7
Young Mothers (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Housed in a shelter for young mothers, Jessica, Perla, Julia, Ariane, and Naïma, all of whom have grown up in difficult circumstances, struggle to obtain a better life for themselves and their children.
8
Sergio (2020)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
9
La Belle Équipe (1936)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Five unemployed workers win 100,000 Francs in the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
10
Head Against the Wall (1959)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
An aimless young man is committed to a psychiatric hospital by his father in an attempt to cure him of his delinquent tendencies.
11
Shepherds (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
A young Montreal advertising executive, converted to a Provençal shepherd, has various misadventures with a civil servant who has cavalierly quit her job.
12
Skin (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
13
De Gaulle: Liberté (2026)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Part two of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.
14
Chaos (2001)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady…
15
Outlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
★ 7/10Also drama
A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.
16
The Long Absence (1961)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Therese, a café owner, mourns the mysterious disappearance of her husband sixteen years earlier. A tramp arrives in the town and she believes him to be her husband. But he is suffering from amnesia and she tries to…
17
Colonel Chabert (1994)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
When Colonel Chabert returns from the war, he discovers that he has lost everything.
18
Night of the Kings (2021)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A young man is sent to "La Maca," a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new "Roman" and must tell a…
19
The Minister (2011)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Transport Minister Bertrand Saint-Jean is awoken in the middle of the night by his head of staff. A bus has gone off the road into a gully. He has no choice but to go to the scene of the accident. Thus begins the…
20
The Last Woman (1976)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Psychological drama of the compelling relationship between a young French engineer and the girl he takes into his home after his wife has left him with their baby son.