Best movies like Hamlet
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Hamlet (1996):
Similar in 75%
Othello (1986)
Plot Summary:
Having previously staged Verdi's 1887 opera Otello at the Met and La Scala, filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli committed his production to film in 1986. Starring as the fatally jealous Moor of Venice is Placido Domingo, who had also headlined Zeffirelli's 1976 La Scala staging (production on the film was briefly interrupted while Domingo participated in the rescue operations following the Mexico City earthquake). While Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona and Justino Diaz as Iago perform their own singing, Zeffirelli's Cassio--played by real-life European prince Urbano Barberini--is dubbed by Ezio de Cesare. The director made several cuts in the original libretto and score in order to accommodate the film's two-hour time limit, but these excisions are done with taste and discretion. Because of the excessive violence in the third act--two murders, a suicide, a superficial throat-slashing--Otello was released with a PG rating.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 607
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Netherlands, Italy, USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, stylized, serious, captivating, realistic, light, inspirational, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic
Similar in 75%
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 81%
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 88%
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%
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 80%
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 85%
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 85%
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 88%
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Plot Summary:
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Italy, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sexy, period piece, talky, melancholic, stylized, tense, romantic, political, costume drama, visually stunning
Similar in 86%
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 84%
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 81%
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%
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 76%
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in a seaside resort in the Caucasus, the story centers on n'er do well, Laevsky (Andrew Scott) and his illicit relationship with his mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott). Laevsky has convinced Nadya to leave her husband for him, but now wants to abandon her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 718
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, psychological, period piece, serious, stylized, period drama
Similar in 77%
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 75%
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 87%
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 76%
Vanity Fair (2004)
Plot Summary:
Beautiful, funny, passionate, and calculating, Becky is the orphaned daughter of a starving English artist and a French chorus girl. She yearns for a more glamorous life than her birthright promises and resolves to conquer English society by any means possible. A mere ascension into the heights of society is simply not enough. So Becky finds a patron in the powerful Marquess of Steyne whose whims enable Becky to realise her dreams. But is the ultimate cost too high for her?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK, India
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, emotional, melancholic, stylized, serious, realistic, romantic, witty, satirical
Similar in 87%
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 77%
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 78%
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 78%
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 86%
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 79%
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Plot Summary:
Director Franco Zeffirelli's beloved version of one of the most well-known love stories in the English language. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love against the wishes of their feuding families. Driven by their passion, the young lovers defy their destiny and elope, only to suffer the ultimate tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Italy
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: romantic, sweet, colorful, period piece, emotional, costume drama, atmospheric, erotic, sad, romantic drama
Similar in 80%
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Plot Summary:
In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 241000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Mexico, Australia
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: romantic, stylized, visual, sexy, emotional, period piece, visually stunning, atmospheric, tense, depressing
Similar in 88%
Flesh+Blood (1985)
Plot Summary:
A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble lord who decides not to pay them by kidnapping the betrothed of the noble's son. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Netherlands, Spain, USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: intense, atmospheric, sexy, captivating, realistic, erotic, dark, offbeat, emotional, dark fantasy
Similar in 90%
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
Similar in 83%
Macbeth (2015)
Plot Summary:
Feature film adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish play about General Macbeth whose ambitious wife urges him to use wicked means in order to gain power of the throne over the sitting king, Duncan.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: bleak, atmospheric, stylized, visually stunning, dark fantasy, psychological, suspense, enigmatic, tricky, captivating
Similar in 75%
Henry V (1989)
Plot Summary:
Gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, exciting, costume drama, atmospheric, serious, rough, captivating, stylized, breathtaking
Similar in 88%
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