Movies Like Rome: Free City

If you liked Rome: Free City (1946), a drama movie directed by Marcello Pagliero, 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
Shoeshine (1946)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Two shoeshine boys in postwar Rome, Italy save up to buy a horse, but their involvement as dupes in a burglary lands them in juvenile prison; the experience take a devastating toll on their friendship.
2
Dogman (2018)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his…
3
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief…
4
The Big Fake (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Toni Chichiarelli arrives in Rome with the dream of becoming a painter, but his talent leads him elsewhere — from art galleries to state secrets. Between art, crime, and power, his signature ends up everywhere — even…
5
Angel of Evil (2010)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Set in Italy in the 1970s, VALLANZASCA is the true story of the Italian underworld’s most infamous outlaw. A criminal by age 9, Renato Vallanzasca grew up to become the country’s most notorious mobster before the age…
6
They Call Me Jeeg (2016)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Exposed to radioactive waste, small-time crook Enzo gains super-strength. A misanthropic, introverted brute, he uses his powers for personal gain until he meets Alessia, a mentally ill girl who believes Enzo is the…
7
Titus (1999)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
8
Umberto D. (1952)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small…
9
On My Skin (2018)
★ 8/10Also drama
The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime and mysteriously found dead during his detention. In one week's time, a family…
10
The Roof (1956)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Under provincial Italian law at the time, once a roof is erected, the occupants cannot be evicted from a building. This film follows the efforts of a family to erect the roof on a house overnight so that a newlywed…
11
Misunderstood (2014)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Rome, 1984, Aria is nine-year-old girl. On the verge of divorce, Aria's infantile and selfish parents are too preoccupied with their careers and extra-marital affairs to properly tend to any of Aria's needs. While her…
12
Bitter Rice (1949)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the…
13
Nostalgia (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Felice returns to his native Rione Sanità in Naples to look after his dying mother, having lived abroad for the last forty years. Here he discovers that his old friend Oreste has become a notorious crimeboss.
14
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.
15
Following (1999)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious…
16
Oedipus Rex (1967)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name…
17
A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.
18
The Scent of the Night (1998)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A former policeman turns full-time robber and goes on a downward spiral of crime in 1970s Rome.
19
The Enforcer (2022)
★ 7/10Also drama
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to…
20
Accattone (1961)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.