Best movies like Medea
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Medea (1969):
Similar in 88%
The Tempest (1979)
Plot Summary:
Prospero, a potent magician, lives on a desolate isle with his virginal daughter, Miranda. He's in exile, banished from his duchy by his usurping brother and the King of Naples. Providence brings these enemies near; aided by his vassal the spirit Ariel, Prospero conjures a tempest to wreck the Italian ship. The king's son, thinking all others lost, becomes Prospero's prisoner, falling in love with Miranda and she with him. Prospero's brother and the king wander the island, as do a drunken cook and sailor, who conspire with Caliban, Prospero's beastly slave, to murder Prospero. Prospero wants reason to triumph, Ariel wants his freedom, Miranda a husband; the sailors want to dance.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: avant garde, independent film, atmospheric, offbeat, serious, experimental, surreal, stylized, sexual, sexy
Similar in 81%
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 83%
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 84%
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 90%
Antigone (1961)
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
Similar in 89%
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 79%
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 86%
Porcile (1969)
Plot Summary:
Two dramatic stories. In an undetermined past, a young cannibal (who killed his own father) is condemned to be torn to pieces by some wild beasts. In the second story, Julian, the young son of a post-war German industrialist, is on the way to lie down with his farm's pigs, because he doesn't like human relationships.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, experimental, erotic, art house, art film, cult classic, avant garde, atmospheric, clever
Similar in 77%
Wild Flower (1993)
Plot Summary:
The Benedetti family's wealth comes from gold stolen from the French army during the 18th century. When Jean (Michael Vartan), the lieutenant guarding the coins -- and lover of Elisabette Benedetti (Galatea Ranzi) -- is executed for a crime he did not commit, Elisabette curses the family. Bad luck travels from generation to generation. As the latest Benedettis tell their children about their eccentric grandfather, the children worry that the family curse will be passed on.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France, Germany
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, saga
Similar in 79%
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 77%
Green Snake (1993)
Plot Summary:
A mischievous snake who assumes human form interferes with the romance between her reptilian sister and a hapless man.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, serious, stylized, cult classic, allegory, cult film
Similar in 86%
Hercules and the Princess of Troy (1965)
Plot Summary:
Hercules (Gordon Scott) sets out to save the city of Troy from a horrible sea monster. Meanwhile, the city is threatened by a different kind of monster--a smarmy politician who will stop at nothing to seize the throne.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 297
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: exciting, epic, serious, suspenseful, stylized, campy
Similar in 81%
Prospero's Books (1991)
Plot Summary:
An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK, Netherlands, France, Italy, Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: experimental, surreal, psychedelic, epic, art house, non-linear, psychotronic, postmodern, cult classic, atmospheric
Similar in 76%
The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966)
Plot Summary:
A man and his son take an allegorical stroll through life with a talking bird that spouts social and political philosophy.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: surreal, road movie, mind bending, psychedelic, intellectual, spiritual, neorealism, mystic, thought provoking, clever
Similar in 85%
Cremaster 3 (2002)
Plot Summary:
CREMASTER 3 (2002) is set in New York City and narrates the construction of the Chrysler Building, which is in itself a character - host to inner, antagonistic forces at play for access to the process of (spiritual) transcendence. These factions find form in the struggle between Hiram Abiff or the Architect.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 182 min
Plot tags: surreal, mind bending, atmospheric, stylized, serious, thought provoking, psychedelic, disturbing, independent film, avant garde
Similar in 85%
Teorema (1968)
Plot Summary:
A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger (Terence Stamp) arrives, makes love to every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: surreal, allegory, erotic, disturbing, controversial, art house, mind bending, psychedelic, depressing, experimental
Similar in 77%
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Plot Summary:
Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas -- despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the savior of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt. As he is put to death on the cross, Jesus is tempted by visions of an ordinary life married to Mary Magdalene.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 164 min
Plot tags: controversial, psychological, biblical, epic, melancholic, talky, atmospheric, serious, spiritual, sincere
Similar in 85%
Lancelot of the Lake (1974)
Plot Summary:
Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the king is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: arthurian, spiritual, fairy tale, surreal, anthology, serious, realistic, gloomy, gothic, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Arabian Nights (1974)
Plot Summary:
The final part of Pasolini's Trilogy of Life series is rich with exotic tales of slaves and kings, potions, betrayals, demons and, most of all, love and lovemaking in all its myriad forms. Mysterious and liberating, this is an exquisitely dreamlike and adult interpretation of the original folk tales.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, History, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: erotic, sexy, semi serious, atmospheric, humorous, stylized, art house, sensual, disturbing, anthology
Similar in 76%
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Plot Summary:
A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first century Rome.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, art house, sexual, cult classic, erotic, philosophical, absurd, disturbing, controversial
Similar in 80%
The Odyssey (1968)
Plot Summary:
Odysseus' journey told in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. After fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus spends years trying to return home to Itaka.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 836
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, breathtaking, epic, heroic, scenic, fairy tale
Similar in 77%
Hercules (2005)
Plot Summary:
Hercules is a 2005 RHI Entertainment television miniseries, chronicling the life of the legendary Greek hero, Heracles, called Hercules in this series. It is most often aired on television as a two-part miniseries: the first part documents his early life in Tiryns and his desire and marriage to the lady Megara; the second part follows the more widely-recognised part of his life, in seeking redemption for the madness-induced murder of his family. The series incorporates Hercules's murder of his family—usually not included in modern interpretations of the character—and includes five of his twelve labors from Greek mythology. The series alters some of the elements of the myths including placing the giant Antaeus as his father while in Greek myths his father was the king of the gods, Zeus.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, serious, captivating, fairy tale, baroque
Similar in 80%
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 77%
The Odyssey (1997)
Plot Summary:
This lavish small-screen adaptation of Homer's ancient epic--replete with exotic Maltese and Turkish locations, state-of-the-art special effects, and many bronzed muscles gleaming with sweat--chronicles the voyage home of a Trojan hero, Odysseus, and includes many more scenes of his faithful, beautiful wife dodging leering suitors at home than Homer ever composed.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History
Country: UK, Italy, Germany, Turkey, USA
Duration: 176 min
Plot tags: epic, breathtaking, scenic, exciting, heroic, fairy tale, stylized, enigmatic, historical drama, dark fantasy
Similar in 81%
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Plot Summary:
The life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: biblical, christian film, spiritual, art house, bleak, stylized, black and white, fairy tale, philosophical, mysterious
Similar in 80%
Ring of the Nibelungs (2004)
Plot Summary:
In this swords-and-sorcery tale, good-hearted blacksmith Eyvind (Max von Sydow) hides away infant Prince Siegfried (played as an adult by Benno Furmann) after two malevolent kings murder his father. But a fiery meteor sent by the gods reveals Siegfried's destiny, sending him on the quest of a lifetime. To save a crumbling kingdom claim the heart of his true love (Kristanna Loken), he'll have to slay the nefarious dragon, Fafnir.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Germany, UK, South Africa, Italy
Duration: 184 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, epic, captivating, inspirational, atmospheric, saga, esoteric, historical drama, light
Similar in 76%
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
Similar in 76%
Immortals (2011)
Plot Summary:
Theseus is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion, who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 175000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA, Canada, UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: dark fantasy, exciting, stylized, epic, serious, heroic, entertaining, visual, visually stunning, fairy tale