Best movies like Hamlet
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Hamlet (1964):
Similar in 90%
The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985)
Plot Summary:
A film version of a well-known Georgian folk-tale. A young boy has to be immured into the walls of a fortress in order to stop it from crumbling to pieces.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: art house, spiritual, surreal, contemplative, poetic, serious, stylized, gloomy, folk tale, weird
Similar in 78%
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 76%
Repentance (1984)
Plot Summary:
The day after the funeral of Varlam Aravidze, the mayor of a small Georgian town, his corpse turns up in his son's garden. Although it is secretly reburied, the corpse keeps returning until the police capture the local woman who is responsible. This woman says that Varlam should never be laid to rest since his Stalin-like reign of terror led to the disappearance of her family and friends.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: christian film, parody, captivating, manga, independent film, art film, dark comedy, thought provoking, bleak, serious
Similar in 76%
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 88%
Prince of the Himalayas (2006)
Plot Summary:
Set in ancient Tibet under the shadow of the Himalayas, the young prince Lhamoklodan learns of his father's mysterious death and returns to the Kingdom Jiaobo. Troubled by his mother's sudden remarriage to his uncle Kulo-ngam, he swears to find the truth of his father's death. His obsession of revenge overwhelms his spirit and shadows his love to Odsaluyang. When he points his sword at the new king, Queen Nanm finally tells her beloved son, Lhamoklodan, the true identity of his uncle. In the struggle to face his destiny and fight his demons, a new king is born.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 107
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere, serious, captivating, tragic ending, mystic
Similar in 75%
King Lear (2008)
Plot Summary:
Sir Ian McKellen gives a tour-de-force performance as Shakespeare's tragic monarch, in this special television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company production of one of the playwright's most enduring and haunting works.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 644
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
Plot Summary:
Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, Doctor Strange) plays the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. Now seen by over 900,000 people worldwide, the original broadcast returns to international cinemas to mark National Theatre Live’s 10th birthday. As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 217 min
Plot tags: light, atmospheric, epic, captivating, emotional, entertaining, melancholic, talky, intense
Similar in 78%
King Lear (2016)
Plot Summary:
Don Warrington stars as the tragic monarch in this acclaimed version of the Shakespeare play recorded at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 37
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Richard III (1983)
Plot Summary:
Richard Duke of Gloucester, youngest brother of King Edward IV, will stop at nothing to get the crown. He first convinces the ailing King that the Duke of Clarence, his elder brother, is a threat to the lives of Edward's two young sons. Edward has him imprisoned in the Tower of London; killers in Richard's pay then drown Clarence in a barrel of wine. When news of Clarence's death reaches the King, the subsequent grief and remorse bring about his death. Richard is made Lord Protector, with power to rule England while his nephew (now King Edward V) is still a minor. Before the young king's coronation he has his two nephews conveyed to the Tower, ostensibly for their safekeeping. Richard's accomplice, the Duke of Buckingham, then declares the two boys illegitimate and offers Richard the crown, which after a show of reticence he accepts. After Richard's coronation, he and Buckingham have a falling-out over whether or not to assassinate the two children.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 239 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
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 84%
King Lear (2018)
Plot Summary:
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, psychological, rough, independent film, period drama
Similar in 78%
Othello (1981)
Plot Summary:
Iago and a comrade-in-arms are outside the Venice home of Desdemona's father, who does not yet know that she has eloped with Othello. Iago confides to his friend -- who had hoped to marry Desdemona -- that he serves Othello to further his own ends. Venice needs Othello to protect its commercial interests in Cyprus where the Turkish fleet is headed. Desdemona insists on going to Cyprus, too. In Cyprus, Iago plots to convince Othello that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. A lot more than political ambition seems to be motivating Iago.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 480
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 195 min
Plot tags: depressing, atmospheric, rough, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 86%
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 83%
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 86%
Othello (1965)
Plot Summary:
The 1965 version of the Shakespeare play.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, clever, serious, emotional, realistic, vintage
Similar in 81%
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 83%
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 79%
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 Lonely Voice of Man (1987)
Plot Summary:
The film is Sokurov's feature film debut and is based on the novel The River Potudan by Andrei Platonov. It's a story about the lives of people in the Russian countryside in the beginning of the 20th century. The film was completed in 1979 as a graduation film, but was banned by the Soviet state and didn't premiere until 1987.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: poetic, spiritual, contemplative, avant garde
Similar in 77%
Nine Days of One Year (1962)
Plot Summary:
Two young scientists are exploring new fields of nuclear physics. Dmitry Gusev and Ilya Kulikov are good friends, but rivals in love. Dmitry marries Lyolya and they live happily together. Luck has it that he makes an important discovery. Unfortunately he exposes himself to radioactivity during the experiments. As a result he falls seriously ill. However Dmitry has a strong spirit. His will to live, the deep passion for his work and his strong love for mankind makes it possible for him to recover.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: spiritual
Similar in 88%
An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977)
Plot Summary:
At the dilapidated country estate of Anna Petrovna Voinitseva, a group of feckless Russian aristocrats whiles away a summer afternoon. Unbeknownst to their respective spouses, local schoolteacher Platonov and the wife of Anna's stepson, Sophia, are former lovers whose meeting revives both passion and regret. Thrilled to see each other, they are nevertheless haunted by the loss of their youthful ideals.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, spiritual, psychological, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky
Similar in 85%
Nostalgia (1983)
Plot Summary:
The Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to save them from the evils of the world. Seeing some deep truth in Domenico's act, Andrei becomes drawn to him. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia for his homeland and his longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, Soviet Union
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, philosophical, art house, cerebral, contemplative, poetic, black and white, visual, mind twisting, emotional
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 83%
Hamlet (1964)
Plot Summary:
A stage production of Hamlet filmed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 510
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 191 min
Plot tags: light, atmospheric, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic, breathtaking, melancholic, dramatic, affectionate, witty
Similar in 76%
Hamlet (2000)
Plot Summary:
Modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder in New York City.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: meditative, intense, psychological, cynical, serious, atmospheric, clever, fairy tale, spiritual, sweet
Similar in 84%
Royal Deceit (1994)
Plot Summary:
A Danish prince seeks revenge upon the villain who killed the king and his son to usurp the throne.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Netherlands, UK, Denmark, France, Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: costume drama, tense, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 78%
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 90%
Hamlet (1990)
Plot Summary:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, compassionate, bleak, psychological, serious, disturbing, costume drama, fairy tale, stylized
Similar in 90%
National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013)
Plot Summary:
Performing from within the walls of a deconsecrated Manchester church, Kenneth Branagh takes the lead role in this ambitious production of William Shakespeare's tragic tale of ambition and treachery.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, tense, atmospheric, period drama
Similar in 88%
Macbeth (1971)
Plot Summary:
A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: disturbing, visual, atmospheric, bleak, spiritual, existential, fairy tale, emotional, political thriller, controversial