Movies Like The Refusal

If you liked The Refusal (1982), a drama movie directed by Mohamed Bouamari, 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 Stranger (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a quiet and unassuming employee in his early thirties, attends his mother's funeral without shedding a tear. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie, a work colleague. He quickly…
2
Poetical Refugee (2001)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Like a Candide dreaming of Eldorado, Jallel lands in France, hoping to try his luck. From encounter to encounter, hostel to social welfare group, Jallel will make his way through a Paris of outcasts. Although failing…
3
DNA (2020)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A woman has a close bond with her beloved Algerian grandfather, who protected her from a toxic home life as a child; his death triggers a deep identity crisis as tensions between her extended family members escalate…
4
Black Girl (1966)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Eager to find a better life abroad, a Senegalese woman becomes a mere governess to a family in southern France, suffering from discrimination and marginalization.
5
Caché (2005)
★ 7/10Also drama
As the host of a literary TV show, Georges begins receiving anonymously filmed videos of his family alongside cryptic, disturbing drawings, but as the tapes become increasingly intimate, they reveal a stalker who has…
6
The House by the Sea (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s…
7
Michou d'Auber (2007)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Set in France during the struggle for Algerian independence, Messaoud's mother is terminally ill and his father, needing to work long hours in the factory, can't look after him, so decides to put him and his older…
8
The Kick of Sirocco (1979)
★ 6/10Also drama
A shady Parisian tries to take advantage of a family of French-descended Algerians forced to move to France.
9
The Life of Jesus (1997)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Twenty-something Freddy is becalmed in a podunk French village where the only sign of life is the local amateur brass band and youth aimlessly roaming around the countryside on scooters. He has an intense sexual…
10
Manon (1949)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Port of Marseille, France, recently liberated from the German yoke. Caught as stowaways aboard a ship, Manon, a young woman who was accused of collaborating with the Nazis, and Robert, a freedom fighter who saved her…
11
Pickpocket (1959)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up…
12
La Cérémonie (1995)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.
13
La Haine (1995)
★ 8.1/10Also drama
After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously…
14
Days of Glory (2006)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
1943. They have never stepped foot on French soil but because France was at war, Said, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir enlist in the French Army, along with 130,000 other “indigenous” soldiers, to liberate the…
15
Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
In the seacoast town of Boulogne, antique furniture saleswoman Hélène lives with her stepson, Bernard, who's back from military duty in Algiers. An old lover of Hélène's comes to visit, Alphonse, with his niece…
16
Disgrace (2008)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect…
17
Code Unknown (2000)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A series of events unfold like a chain reaction, all stemming from a minor event that brings the film's five characters together. Set in Paris, France, Anne is an actress whose boyfriend Georges photographs the war in…
18
The Insult (2017)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.
19
The Swimming Pool (1969)
★ 7/10Also drama
Set in a magnificent villa near a sun-drenched St. Tropez, lovers Jean-Paul and Marianne are spending a happy, lazy summer holiday. Their only concern is to gratify their mutual passion - until the day when Marianne…
20
The Marchers (2013)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
In 1983, in France experiencing intolerance and racial violence , three young teens and the priest Minguettes launching a largely peaceful march for equality and against racism, over 1,000 km between Marseille and…