Best movies like Bloody Sunday
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Bloody Sunday? Use your insights to direct others towards tv series and movies you've watched that they may enjoy too. Help expand the group of people recommending videos to one another. We value your input!
Plot Summary:
The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Ireland, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: political, bleak, rough, captivating, disturbing, sincere, realistic, controversial, educational, philosophical
Best tv shows and movies like Bloody Sunday (2002):
Similar in 84%
The Battle of Culloden (1964)
Plot Summary:
Culloden is a 1964 docudrama written and directed by Peter Watkins for BBC TV. It portrays the 1746 Battle of Culloden that resulted in the British Army's destruction of the Scottish Jacobite uprising and, in the words of the narrator, "tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands". Described in its opening credits as "an account of one of the most mishandled and brutal battles ever fought in Britain", Culloden was hailed as a breakthrough for its cinematography as well as its use of non-professional actors and its presentation of an historical event in the style of modern TV war reporting. The film was based on John Prebble's study of the battle.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 69 min
Plot tags: philosophical, political, cerebral, rough, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, mockumentary, fake documentary
Similar in 84%
Nothing Personal (1995)
Plot Summary:
A raw depiction of the Belfast 'troubles' as savage tribal warfare. Set shortly after the 1975 cease fire, the film focuses on the tribulations of Kenny, Protestant leader of a group of Shankill Road Loyalists, and his one-time friend Liam, a Catholic.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 524
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Plot Summary:
In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Ireland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: political, bleak, brutal, factual, bloody, captivating, dramatic, period piece, realistic, sexy
Similar in 86%
Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
Plot Summary:
The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, talky, political, educational, tense
Similar in 88%
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
Plot Summary:
Follow a group of international journalists into the heart of the once cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo—now a danger zone of sniper and mortar attacks where residents still live. While reporting on an American aid worker who’s trying to get children out of the country, a British correspondent decides to take an orphaned girl home to London.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, harsh, brutal, heartbreaking, political, emotional, thought provoking, touching, serious
Similar in 84%
Omagh (2004)
Plot Summary:
The movie starts at the 1998 bomb attack by the Real IRA at Omagh, Northern Ireland. The attack killed 31 people. Michael Gallagher one of the relatives of the victims starts an examination to bring the people responsible to court.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, sincere, uplifting, bleak, crying, fake documentary
Similar in 82%
Breaker Morant (1980)
Plot Summary:
During the Boer War, three Australian lieutenants are on trial for shooting Boer prisoners. Though they acted under orders, they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff, who hopes to distance themselves from the irregular practices of the war. The trial does not progress as smoothly as expected by the General Staff, as the defence puts up a strong fight in the courtroom.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: political, tense, witty, factual, atmospheric, intense, rough, suspenseful, disturbing, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
Under Fire (1983)
Plot Summary:
Three U.S. journalists (Nick Nolte, Joanna Cassidy, Gene Hackman) get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, political, atmospheric, serious, emotional, suspenseful, political thriller, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 77%
April Captains (2000)
Plot Summary:
Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, thought provoking, realistic, inspirational, political
Similar in 78%
Che Guevara (2005)
Plot Summary:
When he is captured in Bolivia, the "Che" is conducted to prission, when he remembers his life facts, the revolution and the women.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 726
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, disturbing, serious, contemplative, crying, uplifting
Similar in 88%
Battle for Haditha (2007)
Plot Summary:
An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, sexy, touching
Similar in 88%
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Plot Summary:
What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. The organizers of the protest — including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale — were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and the trial that followed was one of the most notorious in history.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 190000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, India
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: political, factual, suspense, historical drama, thought provoking, serious, motivational, funny, philosophical, social
Similar in 84%
The Mauritanian (2021)
Plot Summary:
A detainee at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defense attorney for his release.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, suspense, tense, captivating, inspirational, serious, social, dramatic, disturbing, art house
Similar in 76%
Some Mother's Son (1996)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in a British prison, in which IRA prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. The film focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle to save the lives of their sons.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, bleak, psychological, sincere, uplifting, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, sexy
Similar in 85%
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)
Plot Summary:
Canadian Lt. General Romeo Dallaire was the military commander of the UN mission in Rwanda and this movie is personal and, all too true, story of his time there during the genocide of 1994. It is not quite as moving as the earlier Hotel Rwanda and is less geared to drama and emotional manipulation, but it is still grim and upsetting.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, rough, bleak, realistic, sad, sincere, political
Similar in 90%
Shooting Dogs (2005)
Plot Summary:
Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, sad, emotional, sincere, christian film, breathtaking, inspirational, depressing, epic
Similar in 85%
Sometimes in April (2005)
Plot Summary:
Debra Winger, Oris Erhuero and Idris Elba star in this drama framed by the Rwandan genocide.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Rwanda, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, sad, disturbing, inspirational, political, informative, bilingual
Similar in 78%
United 93 (2006)
Plot Summary:
A real time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, realistic, emotional, controversial, tense, political, rough, serious, disturbing, bleak
Similar in 88%
Michael Collins (1996)
Plot Summary:
Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Ireland
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: political, brutal, harsh, intense, factual, serious, captivating, dramatic, inspirational, costume drama
Similar in 76%
Lumumba (2000)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgium overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: France, Belgium, Germany, Haiti
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: political, realistic, serious, suspenseful, tense, sincere, thought provoking, contemplative, biting, sexy
Similar in 81%
Gettysburg (1993)
Plot Summary:
Summer 1863. The Confederacy pushes north into Pennsylvania. Union divisions converge to face them. The two great armies clash at Gettysburg, site of a theology school. For three days, through such legendary actions as Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge, the fate of "one nation, indivisible" hangs in the balance.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 271 min
Plot tags: epic, factual, realistic, serious, captivating, exciting, breathtaking, intense, period piece, patriotic
Similar in 81%
The Killing Fields (1984)
Plot Summary:
The Killing Fields tells the real-life story of a friendship between two journalists, an American and a Cambodian, during the bloody Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in 1975, which led to the death of 2-3 million Cambodians during the next four years, until Pol Pot's regime was toppled by the intervening Vietnamese in 1979.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, political, heartbreaking, emotional, tense, compassionate, serious, captivating, depressing
Similar in 85%
Endgame (2009)
Plot Summary:
The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, captivating, exciting, thought provoking, epic, realistic, political, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Che: Part One (2008)
Plot Summary:
The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: France, Spain, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: political, talky, intense, sincere, captivating, thought provoking, serious, heroic, realistic, cerebral
Similar in 87%
'71 (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young British soldier must find his way back to safety after his unit accidentally abandons him during a riot in the streets of Belfast.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, suspenseful, political, atmospheric, intense, rough, bleak, tense, realistic
Similar in 84%
Conspiracy (2001)
Plot Summary:
The historical recreation of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, in which Nazi and SS leaders gathered in a Berlin suburb to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Lead by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, this group of high ranking German officials came to the historic and far reaching decision that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated in what would come to be known as the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: political, factual, bleak, disturbing, atmospheric, intense, suspense, realistic, historical drama, non fiction
Similar in 85%
Catch a Fire (2006)
Plot Summary:
The true story of anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and particularly the life of Patrick Chamusso, a timid foreman at Secunda CTL, the largest synthetic fuel plant in the world. Patrick is wrongly accused, imprisoned and tortured for an attempt to bomb the plant, with the injustice transforming the apolitical worker into a radicalised insurgent, who then carries out his own successful sabotage mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France, UK, South Africa, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: tense, political, factual, emotional, harsh, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, realistic, intense
Similar in 75%
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Plot Summary:
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 417000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: realistic, epic, rough, captivating, suspenseful, intense, factual, brutal, disturbing, political
Similar in 89%
Che: Part Two (2008)
Plot Summary:
After the Cuban Revolution, Che is at the height of his fame and power. Then he disappears, re-emerging incognito in Bolivia, where he organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to start the great Latin American Revolution. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Spain, France, USA, Germany
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: political, inspirational, suspense, talky, factual, atmospheric, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 89%
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 368000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, South Africa, Italy, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, informative, rough, political, sad, depressing, inspirational, sincere, touching