Movies Like The Chess Player

If you liked The Chess Player (1938), a drama and history movie directed by Jean Dréville, 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
Munich - The Edge of War (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and history
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
2
Radium Girls (2020)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
3
Stavisky... (1974)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and history
Biarritz, 1933. Charm and talent assist small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French politics. But when his great scam involving millions is exposed, he brings the…
4
Adventures of a Mathematician (2021)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and history
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and…
5
Ararat (2002)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and history
Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.
6
Panther (1995)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.
7
The Edge of the Blade (2023)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
In 1887, at a time when duels are in vogue in Paris, Clément Lacaze and Marie-Rose Astié meet. He's a charismatic master of arms; she's a feminist, far ahead of her time. Clément gets caught in a spiral of violence and…
8
Seeking Justice (2011)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
After his wife is assaulted, a husband enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score.
9
The Rays and Shadows (2026)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and history
Jean and Otto, a French newspaperman and a young German Francophile, are fighting for peace in Europe. Jean’s daughter, Corinne, is launching a brilliant acting career in the film world, but war breaks out and France…
10
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher (2022)
★ 6.2/10Also history and drama
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
11
Giant (2026)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and history
Follows Prince Naseem Hamed from his humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership…
12
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and history
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and…
13
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and history
A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
14
Julia (1977)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and history
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
15
Oslo (2021)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
The true story of negotiations between implacable enemies — the secret back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis, Palestinians and one Norwegian couple that…
16
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and history
In the 16th century in the Cévennes, a horse dealer by the name of Michael Kohlhaas leads a happy and prosperous family life. When a lord treats him unjustly, this pious, upstanding man raises an army and puts the…
17
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and history
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him…
18
Curiosa (2019)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and history
A passionate love story set against a backdrop of sexual freedom, loosely based on the relationship between 19th century authors Pierre Louÿs and Marie de Régnier.
19
Austerlitz (1960)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and history
A return to the life of the Little Corporal with a dramatisation of the decisive 1805 conflict between French forces and the armies of Austria and Russia. An epic reconstruction of the battle of Austerlitz, where…
20
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and history
Japan, 1944. Trained for intelligence work, Hiroo Onoda, 22 years old, discovers a philosophy contrary to the official line: no suicide; stay alive whatever happens; the mission is more important than anything else…