Movies Like The Scarlet Letter

If you liked The Scarlet Letter (1927), a drama and history movie directed by Victor Sjöström, 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
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and history
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
2
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and history
William Franklin is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United States only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric…
3
The Baby of Mâcon (1993)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and history
In 17th-century Tuscany, a church play is performed for the benefit of young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the…
4
Spotlight (2015)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and history
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
5
Novitiate (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
In the early 1960s, during the Vatican II era, a young woman training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, sexuality and the changing church.
6
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.
7
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…
8
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)
★ 6.3/10Also history and drama
The extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers as the female Christ.
9
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the…
10
Madame X (1966)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Holly Parker, the wife of a wealthy diplomat, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who has been romantically pursuing her. She is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity in order to save the…
11
Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
12
Mansfield Park (2007)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Fanny 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
13
The Ledge (2011)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
A thriller in which a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist who shares an apartment with a gay friend escalates into a lethal battle of wills.
14
The Color Purple (2023)
★ 7/10Also drama
A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of…
15
Flowers in the Attic (2014)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
16
The Crucible (1996)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
17
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
18
Changeling (2008)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her…
19
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
20
Small Things Like These (2024)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit…