Movies Like A Violent Desire for Joy
If you liked A Violent Desire for Joy (2018), a drama and history movie directed by Clément Schneider, 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 Song of Bernadette (1943)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaIn 1858 Lourdes, France, adolescent peasant Bernadette has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the Massabielle grotto - the townspeople assume this lady to be the Virgin Mary. Pompous government officials think the girl…
- 2
Silence (2016)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and historyIn the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
- 3
No Chains, No Masters (2024)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and history1759, Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean. The island is controlled by French settlers and the deported slave population live in fear while toiling in the sugar cane plantations. Unlike her disillusioned father Massamba…
- 4
Chouans ! (1988)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and historyDirected by Philippe de Broca, the film recounts a bloody episode of the French Revolution. 1793, the Terror . In Vendée and in Bretagne, the chouans are revolting against the young Republic and fight for the monarchy…
- 5
The Sower (2017)
★ 6/10Also dramaIn 1852, the mountain village in Provence where Violette lives is brutally deprived of all its men after the repression of the republicans ordered by Napoleon III. Women spend months in total isolation, desperate to…
- 6
La Cérémonie (1995)
★ 7.3/10Also dramaSophie, 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.
- 7
The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and historyVillage of Artigat, southern France, summer 1542, during the reign of Francis I. Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols marry. A few years later, accused of having committed a robbery, Martin suddenly disappears. When…
- 8
The Rays and Shadows (2026)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and historyJean 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…
- 9
Mansfield Park (2007)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaFanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford
- 10
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
★ 7.7/10Also drama and historyYoung sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
- 11
Les Misérables (1982)
★ 7/10Also drama and historyIn 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the…
- 12
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
★ 7.5/10Also dramaAn inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor…
- 13
Quills (2000)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaIn early 19th-century France, the Marquis de Sade is confined to an asylum where his forbidden writings continue to circulate beyond its walls. As the authorities tighten control, a clash unfolds between the Marquis’…
- 14
Goya's Ghosts (2006)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and historyPainter Francisco Goya becomes involved with the Spanish Inquisition after his muse, Inés, is arrested by the church for heresy. Her family turns to him, hoping that his connection with fanatical Inquisitor Lorenzo…
- 15
Outlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
★ 7/10Also history and dramaA 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
Of Gods and Men (2010)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and historyA group of Trappist monks reside in the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, where they live in harmony with the largely Muslim population. When a bloody conflict between Algeria's army and Muslim Jihadi insurgents…
- 17
Curiosa (2019)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and historyA 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.
- 18
The Emperor of Paris (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also dramaParis, France, early 19th century. The legendary convict François Vidocq lives in disguise trying to escape from a tragic past that torments him. When, after an unfortunate event, he crosses paths with the police…
- 19
Fatima (2020)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaIn 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World…
- 20
Madame Bovary (1991)
★ 6.2/10Also dramaIn 19th-century France, doctor's wife Emma Bovary seeks to escape her dull provincial life through various extramarital affairs and extravagant spending, leading to tragic consequences.