Best movies like Antigone
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In Thebes in ancient Greece, King Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother Jocasta, having two sons - Eteocles and Polyneices - and two daughters - Ismene and Antigone. King Oedipus dies a beggar in the exile after gouging out his own eye, and Eteocle agrees to reign in Thebes in alternating years with Polynices. However, he refuses to resign after the first year and Polynieces raises an army and attacks Thebes, and they kill each other. The ruler of Thebes Creon decrees that Eleocles should have an honorable burial while the body of the traitor Polyneices should be left on the battlefield to be eaten by the jackals and vultures. However, Antigone, who was betrothed to Creon's surviving son Haemon, defies Creon's orders and buries her brother. When Creon is reported of the attitude of Antigone, he sentences her to be placed in a tomb alive. Antigone hangs herself in the tomb and Haemon tries to kill his father first and then he kills himself with his sword.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 876
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Antigone (1961):
Similar in 87%
Electra, My Love (1974)
Plot Summary:
Reminiscent of the latter works of Bela Tarr, Miklos Jancso's "Beloved Electra" is comprised of a series of extremely slow and extremely long takes (there are just eight principal shots, each lasting an entire reel of film). More contemplative music video than conventional film, "Beloved Electra" is based on "Oresteia", a Greek myth written by Aeschylus, an ancient tragedian. The film stars Mari Toriocsik as Electra, a tortured woman who serves as a kind of metaphor for the people of Hungary and their historic suffering. She roams Jancso's landscape with a melancholic face, angry at Aegisztosz for conspiring with her mother to kill Agamemnon, her father.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 976
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 81%
Phaedra (1962)
Plot Summary:
A retelling of the Greek myth of Phaedra. In modern Greece, Alexis's father, an extremely wealthy shipping magnate, marries the younger, fiery Phaedra. When Alexis meets his stepmother, sparks fly and the two begin an affair. What will the Fates bring this family? Alexis's roadster and the music of Bach figure in the conclusion.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, France, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: emotional, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 77%
The House of Bernarda Alba (1987)
Plot Summary:
After the death of her husband Bernarda Alba puts her daughters under a rigurous mourning which does not even allow them to leave the house.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, vintage
Similar in 81%
Iphigenia (1977)
Plot Summary:
The Greek army is about to set sail to a great battle, but the winds refuse to blow. Their leader, King Agamemnon, seeks to provide better food, but accidentally slays a sacred deer. His punishment from the gods, the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized, gloomy, tragic
Similar in 79%
Electra (1962)
Plot Summary:
Living in exile after the death of their father, the grown children of a murdered and usurped king converge to exact eye-for-an-eye revenge.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: retro, spiritual, epic, rough, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Trojan Women (1971)
Plot Summary:
The women of Troy face enslavement after the fall of their city.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Greece, UK, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: epic, independent film, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 76%
Oedipus Rex (1967)
Plot Summary:
In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Edipo (Oedipus), and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Edipo that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Morocco
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, psychedelic, spiritual, epic, neorealism, tense, atmospheric, bleak, serious
Similar in 84%
Medea (1988)
Plot Summary:
It is an adaptation of the Greek tragedy Medea from Euripides, a version where the Gods willing and intervations are absent. Medea is the tragic character that after helping Jason in the Voyage of the Argonauts (myth says that she has even sacrificed her own brother for Jason's success), she gets from him only betrayal, as he arranges to marry the King's of Corinth daughter. The king decides to exile Medea, as she is a danger for his daughter happiness, but Medea asks from him just a day… before she goes outside the borders. That day Medea gets her revenge….
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: serious, spiritual, art house, mythical, visual, sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 85%
King Lear (1970)
Plot Summary:
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: spiritual, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Hamlet (1964)
Plot Summary:
Shakespeare's 17th century masterpiece about the "Melancholy Dane" was given one of its best screen treatments by Soviet director Grigori Kozintsev. Kozintsev's Elsinore was a real castle in Estonia, utilized metaphorically as the "stone prison" of the mind wherein Hamlet must confine himself in order to avenge his father's death. Hamlet himself is portrayed (by Innokenti Smoktunovsky) as the sole sensitive intellectual in a world made up of debauchers and revellers. Several of Kozintsev directorial choices seem deliberately calculated to inflame the purists: Hamlet's delivers his "To be or not to be" soliloquy with his back to the camera, allowing the audience to fill in its own interpretations.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, fairy tale, philosophical, spiritual, visually appealing, black and white, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Hamlet (2015)
Plot Summary:
From its sell-out run at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre comes a film version of this unique and critically acclaimed production of Hamlet with BAFTA-nominee Maxine Peake in the title role. This ground-breaking stage production, directed by Sarah Frankcom, was the Royal Exchange's fastest-selling show in a decade.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 129
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 184 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, serious, captivating, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Medea (1969)
Plot Summary:
Based on the plot of Euripides' Medea. Medea centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: spiritual, fairy tale, psychedelic, epic, surreal, neorealism, fantasy adventure, cult classic, serious, talky
Similar in 79%
Hamlet (2009)
Plot Summary:
David Tennant stars in a film of the Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Shakespeare's great play. Director Gregory Doran's modern-dress production was hailed by the critics as thrilling, fast-moving and, in parts, very funny.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Japan, USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, emotional, stylized, crying, sincere, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 82%
Hamlet (1969)
Plot Summary:
Tony Richardson's Hamlet is based on his own stage production. Filmed entirely within the Roundhouse in London (a disused train shed), it is shot almost entirely in close up, focusing the attention on faces and language rather than action.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 849
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, psychological, tense, atmospheric, serious, independent film
Similar in 75%
A Story of David: The Hunted (1960)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Bob McNaught. King Saul of Israel is jealous of the fame and adoration of David, who long ago slew Goliath and brought victory to Saul's armies. Now Saul, egged on by his Edomite counselor Doeg, attempts to have David killed. Saul's son, and David's best friend, Jonathan, conspires to help David, who is reluctant to fight back against his own people the Israelites.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Israel
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, biblical
Similar in 87%
Duel of Champions (1961)
Plot Summary:
A Roman nobleman, Horatius leads an imperial legion during the long and bloody war between the Romans and the Albans. A desperate arrangement is agreed on how to settle the war. Three valiant brothers are chosen from each side to fight one last fierce and bloody duel.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 343
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Italy, Yugoslavia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious
Similar in 88%
Moses the Lawgiver (1974)
Plot Summary:
Story of Moses. Originally a TV Miniseries recut for theaters.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 560
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Italy
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: biblical, epic, atmospheric, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Saul and David (1964)
Plot Summary:
David of Bethlehem slays the giant and becomes a rival to King Saul.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 110
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Italy, Spain
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, gloomy, christian film
Similar in 82%
The Lion of Thebes (1964)
Plot Summary:
Fleeing Troy in the wake of its destruction, fair-faced Helen and her faithful protector Arion run into the pharaoh Ramses, who sets his sights on Helen -- and is subsequently murdered. Now it's up to Arion to save Helen from those who wish her dead.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 236
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, atmospheric, epic, serious, captivating, stylized
Similar in 80%
Hamlet (2000)
Plot Summary:
To be or not to be, etc.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 178 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, emotional, stylized, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, reflective
Similar in 87%
King Lear (1970)
Plot Summary:
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 925
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Denmark
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: sad, independent film, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, talky
Similar in 90%
King Lear (1983)
Plot Summary:
An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters and rejects his one loving, but honest one.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 853
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, talky
Similar in 88%
The Trojan Horse (1961)
Plot Summary:
Guerra di Troia (AKA: Trojan Horse) is a 1961 historical drama film set in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War. The film focuses primarily on the exploits of the Trojan hero Aeneas during this time. The film was directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starred Steve Reeves as Aeneas and John Drew Barrymore as Odysseus. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 622
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Italy, France, Yugoslavia
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, campy
Similar in 88%
My Friend & His Wife (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two young men, Ye-joon and Jae-moon, have been close friends since doing military service together. Ye-joon has lately worked his way up to becoming a successful financier, while the unambitious Jae-moon has opted for a much less conspicuous route. He now works as a cook and is enjoying family life with his wife Ji-sook and their new-born son. Ji-sook tolerates her husband’s attachment to his friend, but everything changes after the tragic death of the child, caused by Ye-joon. Ji-sook was in Paris when the tragedy occurred and isn’t aware of the circumstances; she even starts an affair with Ye-joon when her husband is imprisoned after taking the blame for his son’s death. Relationships which were originally crystal-clear begin to grow distinctly cloudy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, touching, gloomy
Similar in 89%
St. Peter (2005)
Plot Summary:
Saint Peter, a reluctant but passionate leader, from the crucifixion of Jesus to his own. The film's first half dramatizes the New Testament's "Acts": early fear, the renewal of Pentecost, Saul's conversion, the decision to baptize pagans, and the Apostles' dispersal. In the second half, an aged Peter goes to Rome to join Paul, arriving on the day of Paul's arrest. Paul's death brings a crisis to Rome's Christians and to Peter; lessons from Jesus's teachings guide his decision to stay. Events within the fictive household of Persius, a Roman aristocrat, capture the upheaval that Christian teachings bring to the Eternal City.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 574
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 197 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, emotional, biblical, christian film, contemplative
Similar in 77%
The Centurion (1961)
Plot Summary:
Protests break out in Corinth against Roman domination, injuring Caius Vinicius, a Roman centurion. He's rescued by Hebe -- daughter of the anti-Roman governor, Critolaus -- who's being unsuccessfully wooed by the governor's second-in-command, the villainous Diaeus. Smitten, Hebe sends the handsome Roman to recuperate at the home of Callicrates, a political moderate. Artemide, wife of Callicrates, also falls for Caius Vinicus but when he spurns her, she has him arrested and imprisoned. Hebe then agrees to marry Diaeus if he will spare the Roman's life but Caius Vinicius is soon freed by Callicrates and his allies, just as a Roman army arrives to battle Corinthian forces.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 147
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980)
Plot Summary:
Hamlet comes home from university to find his uncle married to his mother, and his father's ghost haunting the battlements and scaring the watch. Then his father's ghost directs him to seek revenge.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 653
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 210 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Hamlet (1996)
Plot Summary:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 242 min
Plot tags: stylized, costume drama, atmospheric, captivating, serious, period piece, epic, fairy tale, sad, visually appealing
Similar in 82%
Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, a historical drama that attempts to bring an epic visual style to the Bard's original stage play. The story concerns Marc Antony's attempts to rule Rome while maintaining a relationship with the queen of Egypt (Hildegarde Neil), which began while Antony was still married. Now he is being forced to marry the sister of his Roman co-leader, and soon the conflict leads to war.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, Spain, Switzerland
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 81%
Troy (2004)
Plot Summary:
In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnom to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 561000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Malta, UK
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, heroic, realistic, period piece, rough, serious, stylized, factual, costume drama