Movies Like Waiting for the Barbarians

If you liked Waiting for the Barbarians (2020), a drama and history movie directed by Ciro Guerra, 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 Secrets We Keep (2020)
★ 6/10Also history and drama
In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
2
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…
3
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and history
In 1971, Stanford's Professor Philip Zimbardo conducts a controversial psychology experiment in which college students pretend to be either prisoners or guards, but the proceedings soon get out of hand. Based on a true…
4
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…
5
Adam Resurrected (2008)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
After again attempting to commit murder, a Jewish man with a mysterious past and extraordinary intelligence, charisma, and body control returns to an insane asylum, where he makes a startling discovery.
6
The Wind and the Lion (1975)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and history
At the beginning of the 20th century an American woman is abducted in Morocco by Berbers, and the attempts to free her range from diplomatic pressure to military intervention.
7
Casualties of War (1989)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and history
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
8
Outlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
★ 7/10Also history and 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.
9
Beasts of No Nation (2015)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
Based on the experiences of Agu, a child fighting in the civil war of a West African country. Follows Agu's journey as he's forced to join a group of soldiers. While he fears his commander and many of the men around…
10
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
★ 7/10Also drama
The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills…
11
Papillon (1973)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
12
7 Women (1965)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and history
In a mission in China in 1935, a group of women are preyed on by Mongolian bandits, led by Warlord chief Tunga Khan.
13
Heaven & Earth (1993)
★ 6.6/10Also history and drama
In a small Vietnamese village torn apart by war, a young woman faces unimaginable horrors before deciding to escape to the city. There, she encounters a compassionate Marine who offers her hope and a chance at a new…
14
Firebrand (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, is named regent while the tyrant battles abroad. When the king returns, increasingly ill and paranoid, Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival.
15
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Muhammad Ali’s historic Supreme Court battle from behind closed doors. When Ali was drafted into the Vietnam War at the height of his boxing career, his claim to conscientious objector status led to a controversial…
16
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
★ 7.4/10Also history and drama
In war-torn colonial America, in the midst of a bloody battle between British, the French and Native American allies, the aristocratic daughter of a British Colonel and her party are captured by a group of Huron…
17
First They Killed My Father (2017)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and history
A 5-year-old girl embarks on a harrowing quest for survival amid the sudden rise and terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
18
Apocalypse Now (1979)
★ 8.3/10Also drama
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret…
19
The Last Emperor (1987)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and history
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and…
20
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and history
Korean War, April 1953. Lieutenant Clemons, leader of the King company of the United States Infantry, is ordered to recapture Pork Chop Hill, occupied by a powerful Chinese Army force, while, just seventy miles away…