Best movies like Les Misérables
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In France during World War II, a poor and illiterate man, Henri Fortin (Jean-Paul Belmondo), is introduced to Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Misérables and begins to see parallels between the book and his own life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: epic, emotional, fairy tale, anthology, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, sentimental, sexy
Best tv shows and movies like Les Misérables (1995):
Similar in 75%
What War May Bring (2010)
Plot Summary:
A theater projectionist's daughter is involved in the Resistance in WWII, but she doesn’t share his political involvement & only believes in passion. She follows the men she loves unconditionally, suffering betrayal and hardship.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 744
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, epic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Madame Rosa (1977)
Plot Summary:
Madame Rosa lives in a sixth-floor walkup in the Pigalle; she's a retired prostitute, Jewish and an Auschwitz survivor, a foster mom to children of other prostitutes. Momo is the oldest and her favorite, an Algerian lad whom she raises as a Muslim. He asks about his parents; she answers evasively. As she ages and takes fewer children, Momo must do more for her; as money is tight, he tries to earn pennies on the street with a puppet. He's a beautiful man-child, and Madame Rosa makes him promise never to sell himself or become a pimp. A film editor, Nadine, befriends him, and his father appears as well. Madame Rosa reaches her last days in fear of hospitals, and Momo must act.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 89%
My Friend Victoria (2014)
Plot Summary:
Aged eight, Victoria spends a night in the home of a wealthy white family; years later, she encounters them again and her life is changed forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 347
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013)
Plot Summary:
In the 16th century in the Cévennes, a horse dealer by the name of Michael Kohlhaas leads a happy and prosperous family life. When a lord treats him unjustly, this pious, upstanding man raises an army and puts the country to fire and sword in order to have his rights restored.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Germany
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, action adventure, period drama
Similar in 86%
Here Below (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a nun who betrayed a network of Resistance fighters after having a passionate but doomed love affair with a priest during the Second World War.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 89%
King of the Hill (1993)
Plot Summary:
Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, heartbreaking, serious, depressing, sentimental, atmospheric, sad, grim, mind twisting
Similar in 79%
The Blind Sunflowers (2008)
Plot Summary:
Ourense, Spain, 1940. Every time that Elena locks the door, she locks her secrets. Her husband Ricardo spend years hidden in his house with his children (Elenita and Lorenzo), trying to dodge persecution. Salvador, a priest confused after battling in the front, returns to seminary in Ourense.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, disturbing, sincere, bleak, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of Bishop T.D. Jakes' self-help novel, chronciling a woman's struggle to come to terms with her legacy of abuse, addiction and poverty.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, independent film, realistic
Similar in 81%
A Simple Heart (2008)
Plot Summary:
Unable to forget her first love, Félicité, a simple and kind maid, devotes herself completely to her new master, Mathilde Aubain. As the passing of time doesn't heal her wounds, she gives love to all those who surround her: Mathilde's children, her nephew Victor. But fate seems to always deny her from any love in return. Still she tries to find someone who'll accept her unconditional love.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 342
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, touching, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Friends of Jesus: Thomas (2001)
Plot Summary:
When Jesus is taken off the cross at Golgotha, THOMAS arrives there. Like most of the other disciples, he had worriedly taken refuge with friends in Jerusalem after Jesus's arrest. After Jesus's burial, the disciples decide to leave Jerusalem quickly, but Thomas refuses to leave Jesus' body behind, as he fears that the tomb may be desecrated.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: biblical, captivating, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 86%
The Amazing Grace (2006)
Plot Summary:
John Newton is captain of a slave ship moored off the coast of Nigeria. He stands at a crossroads in his life, his morality and religion at odds with the brutality of his chosen profession. Stepping ashore, he starts on a journey of redemption that will end in tragedy but prove the catalyst for greater achievements. A local anthem sung in adversity by the slaves whom he captures punctuates the film. It will be the inspiration for Newton's redemption and for his writing of the hymn Amazing Grace.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 125
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Nigeria, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, epic
Similar in 75%
Uranus (1990)
Plot Summary:
After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist, and he pushes back.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: anthology, psychological, clever, serious, realistic, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
One Day You'll Understand (2008)
Plot Summary:
A man endeavors to collect memories of his grandparents who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Germany, Israel
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 84%
An Ordinary Execution (2010)
Plot Summary:
During the last days of Stalin's reign, a doctor (Marina Hands) tries to go unnoticed in a society of mutual dread where a neighbour or colleague might "denounce" you to the authorities at any moment.But tales of her healing touch have spread and one night she is taken away, not to the infamous Lubyanka prison, but to the Kremlin to attend the ailing Comrade Stalin himself. Uncle Joe (André Dussollier), an old man racked with pain but still as watchful and deadly as a snake.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 583
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, tense, sincere, bleak, contemplative, adaptation directed by original author
Similar in 85%
Is Paris Burning? (1966)
Plot Summary:
The title is Adolf Hitler's question to his chief of staff Alfred Jodl on the eve of the liberation of Paris (August 25): the military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, had been ordered to destroy Paris rather than let it fall undamaged into the hands of the Allies, but von Choltitz disobeyed.The film follows historical events as U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, head of the Allied invasion, refuses to divert troops to liberate Paris. His hand is forced by the French military leader, Philippe Leclerc, and by a Resistance uprising in the city. Von Choltitz keeps details of the uprising from the German high command in an effort to save the city being destroyed in retaliation. The film follows his turmoil as a soldier and as the man who doesn't wish to be seen by history as the cause of a beautiful city's destruction.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France, USA
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: harsh, factual, tense, suspense, serious, emotional, captivating, suspenseful, retro, informative
Similar in 89%
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Plot Summary:
Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the rock opera of the same name, based on the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus. The film was directed by Norman Jewison. Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson were nominated for two 1974 Golden Globe Award for their portrayals of Jesus and Judas, respectively.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama, History, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: stylized, talky, intense, cult classic, surreal, controversial, emotional, christian film, biblical, lyrical
Similar in 89%
St. Michael Had a Rooster (1972)
Plot Summary:
Sentenced to life imprisonment for illegal activities, Italian International member Giulio Manieri holds on to his political ideals while struggling against madness in the loneliness of his prison cell.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 849
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 78%
The Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000)
Plot Summary:
In 1850, on the isolated French island of Saint-Pierre, a murder shocks the natives. Two fishermen are arrested. One of them, Louis Ollivier, dies in custody. The other, Neel Auguste, is sentenced to death by the guillotine. The island is so small that it has neither a guillotine nor an executioner. While those are sent for Auguste is placed under the supervision of army Captain.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, compassionate, atmospheric, sincere, touching, intense, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Les Miserables (1978)
Plot Summary:
Jean Valjean, convicted of stealing bread, is hounded for decades by the relentless and cruel policeman Javert.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, social, tense, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 80%
Les Misérables (1982)
Plot Summary:
The story of Jean Valjean, a Frenchman convicted of minor crimes, who is hounded for years by an unforgiving and unrelenting police inspector, Javert.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany
Duration: 220 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, nostalgic
Similar in 75%
Nina's House (2005)
Plot Summary:
Starting in 1944 in the wake of the Liberation and continuing into the '60s, 'houses of hope' were established to lend a semblance of continuity to youngsters orpahaned by the war. Nina's Home takes place between September 1944 and January 1946 in an orphanage housed in a chateau outside Paris. At the outset, the country residence is run by Nina who has a core population of French Jewish children whose parents are probably dead. Food is scarce. News of the Concentration Camps hasn't hit yet, but some months later, a contingent of youths arrive form the liberated camps. The children are a disparate, wild, damaged group and conflicts ensue. Nina's challenge is to help them make their first delicate moves toward the future and in the process restore all of them, including herself, to life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 237
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, bleak, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Cet amour-l? (2001)
Plot Summary:
Cet Amour-là is an intimate portrait of a legendary love affair. Set against the beauty of the Breton seaside, it is also a film that revels in the insights that Marguerite Duras' writing affords.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, sentimental, sincere, serious, captivating, clever, realistic, talky, gloomy
Similar in 76%
A Butterfly Kiss (2011)
Plot Summary:
Billie and Louis have the good fortune of loving each other passionately and of having a family. But then one day terrible news turns their existence and that of their friends' upside down. Marie, a famous actress who is Billie's friend and confidant, redoubles her determination to give life, while Alice, her nurse, fighting for freedom, maintains that life 'is here and now and in the moment.' A film about love, hope, and the conviction that the force of life, despite the toughest tests, will always gain the upper hand.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 174
Genere: Drama
Country: France, UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, psychological, captivating, serious, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Fort Saganne (1984)
Plot Summary:
In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Viceroys (2007)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 386
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Italy, Spain, Germany, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, atmospheric, epic, serious, emotional, realistic, saga
Similar in 86%
The Kautokeino Rebellion (2008)
Plot Summary:
Religious and cultural reawakening inspires rebellion in a 19th century Norwegian village.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, realistic, esoteric, bleak
Similar in 76%
Miral (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Israel, Italy, India, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, emotional, stylized, inspirational, breathtaking, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 81%
Army of Crime (2009)
Plot Summary:
This gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a woodworker and political activist who led an immigrant laborer division of the Parisian Resistance on 30 operations against the Nazis in 1943. The Nazis branded the group an Army of Crime, an anti-immigrant propaganda stunt that backfired as the team's members became martyrs for the Resistance.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, sincere, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Saviors in the Night (2009)
Plot Summary:
Drama, based on the book "Retter in der Nacht", in which Marga Spiegel tells her memories: In Westfalia of 1943 Marga Spiegel, her husband and her daughter are about to be deported. Yet westfalian farmers help the jewish family, grant Marga and her daughter refuge under false names and hide her husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak
Similar in 77%
Les Misérables (1998)
Plot Summary:
Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: touching, costume drama, sincere, dramatic, epic, period piece, emotional, clever, fairy tale, social