Best movies like The Fifth Seal
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to The Fifth Seal? Impart your knowledge to direct others toward films and tv shows you've already seen that may also captivate them. Help increase the assembly of people bringing up videos amongst one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
In Budapest in 1944, a watchmaker, a book seller and a carpenter are drinking in a bar with the owner. They are joined by a stranger who asks a hypothetical question that will change their lives.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, political, political thriller, art house, existential
Best tv shows and movies like The Fifth Seal (1976):
Similar in 76%
Elysium (1987)
Plot Summary:
Film about the Holocaust. A Jewish family is allowed to keep the flat they have always lived in and to live a relatively normal life. One day their 10-year old son disappears. He has been sent to a deportation camp which seems like paradise except that the inmates are being used for medical experiments.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 49
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Hourglass (2007)
Plot Summary:
A story of a Jewish-Hungarian-Serbian family. The plot is centered about trying of an adult son to reconstruct his childhood dream of and memories. Looms, but a sunken world, the central European town with its figures, the way to experiencing deep and see a sensitive boy, his father, who by their fears that penetrate to the bone and the final humiliation of acting madness escapes and becomes a lonely, pathetic buffoon in the drama of life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 101
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Serbia, Hungary
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Twilight (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the last winter 1945 of WWII a group of captive German soldiers is brought to a remote Russian village, where widows, a child and a crippled are the only ones left. This is a military drama about those, who can love and forgive.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 253
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Germany, Russia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, heartbreaking, disturbing
Similar in 81%
That Summer of White Roses (1989)
Plot Summary:
World War II finally reaches a Yugoslavian lake, where a lifeguard shelters a refugee and her son.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, Yugoslavia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Hungarians (1978)
Plot Summary:
A group of landless Hungarian peasants accept work as migrant-laborers on a farm in northern Germany where the wages are good, and the wives and family are allowed to accompany them. Though it is in the midst of World War II, they are relatively well-off. However, they glimpse the treatment accorded to POWs and others who are not so gently treated, and at the conclusion of the year's harvest, they choose to return to Hungary and are quickly swept up in the tides of war. This film is part of a series of films by award-winning, well-respected director Zoltan Fabri who devoted much time and effort chronicling the struggle against fascism.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 353
Genere: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
My Way Home (1965)
Plot Summary:
In the final days of World War II, a young Hungarian is making his way home, through countryside full of the debris of war, when he is captures and imprisoned by Russians. Left in the custody of a young Russian soldier, the two youths form a friendship in spite of not speaking each other's language.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 770
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: political
Similar in 79%
Evening Bells (1986)
Plot Summary:
Trials and tribulations of a Croatian Communist intellectual in the turbulent years before, during and after WW2.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
The Garden of Redemption (1997)
Plot Summary:
A priest struggles with his religious beliefs as he sees his countrymen murdered in Nazi occupied Italy and as he becomes attracted to a woman operating in the resistance.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 377
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Two Half-Times in Hell (1961)
Plot Summary:
To celebrate Hitler's birthday, a soccer match is organized between the Germans and prisoners of war.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Sport, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, black and white
Similar in 86%
Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 370
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, touching, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
The 25th Hour (1967)
Plot Summary:
A Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The picture is based on real events. It includes Hungary's government in collaboration with the Nazis, the encroachment of Romania by Stalin's troopers, and other happenings.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, Italy, Yugoslavia
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
The Last Note (2017)
Plot Summary:
The execution of 200 Greek resistance fighters by the German occupiers on May 1st, 1944 in Kaisariani, as reprisal for the Greek Resistance ambush against Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Greece
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: touching, suspense, psychological, sincere, rough, political, social
Similar in 81%
My Honor Was Loyalty (2016)
Plot Summary:
Captain Ludwig Herckel a devoted and patriotic soldier of the SS Leibstandarte fights in every major conflict from the Eastern front to the battle of the bulge. Fiercely loyal to his country and his brothers in arms, loved by his men, Herckel will face his greatest battle yet when he discovers the truth about the Nazi regime.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, heartbreaking, suspense, disturbing, political thriller
Similar in 84%
Hanagatami (2017)
Plot Summary:
Spring, 1941. Sixteen-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 169 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, surreal, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Front in the Rear of the Enemy (1982)
Plot Summary:
A final episode in the trilogy about the Russian partisan's resistance during WWII. The film is set in 1944, when Russian partisans are making progress in their fighting against the Nazi occupation of Russia, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Lt. Colonel Mlynsky is now in charge of an international clandestine operation. He is the commander of the special group of partisan-fighters. Mlynsky is organizing the Russian, Polish and Czechoslovakian partisans to join forces for an attack behind the enemy lines.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 74
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags: patriotic
Similar in 80%
Shame (1968)
Plot Summary:
Ingmar Bergman's psychological study of how humans react in a situation of war. The film takes place on Gotland, where invasion forces arrives.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, art house, political, cerebral, bleak, biting, existential, allegory, spiritual, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Johnny the Partisan (2000)
Plot Summary:
After the 8th September 1943 north of Italy is occupied by Germans. Italian army collapsed and the soldiers are escaped to the mountains trying to set up a resistance. Many civilians did the same and Johnny, an English literature student, is among them. Johnny avoids to band together the red partisans (communists) and tries to be part of the azure bands (former regular soldiers). But in both cases he is deluded by the partisan bands and discovers that the partisan war is less poetic and genuine that he thought. At one point anyway the partisans free Alba from Germans. When the city falls again in German hands Johnny escape with Ettore and Pierre. But, one after another, German army and Italian fascists captures the partisans and Johnny will pass the winter alone and isolated. He then finds the way to participate to one of the last attack to occupants, in fact the war will be over two months later.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 324
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, exciting, bleak
Similar in 81%
Waiting for Anya (2020)
Plot Summary:
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Belgium
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 88%
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
Plot Summary:
Karl from Germany and Marcelo from France emigrated to Argentina and became brothers-in-law. Karl soon returned to Germany to serve in the army. Marcelo and his children Julio and Chichi became Argentinean citizens but later returned to Paris. Karl became a general with a son (Heinrich) in the SS and in WWII he got a high job within the occupation administration in France.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, retro, gay cinema, cult film
Similar in 80%
Strange Gardens (2003)
Plot Summary:
Lucien, 14, can’t understand why his father, a serious and respected teacher, makes a fool of himself by dressing up as a clown and giving a show. André, Lucien’s father’s best friend, feels for the teenager and decides to reveal something from their mutual past that will explain the reason for Lucien’s father’s strange behavior.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Pastorale 1943 (1978)
Plot Summary:
In a Dutch village during the German occupation, a small group of badly organized resistance fighters attempt to assassinate a collaborator.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 477
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, psychological, factual, rough, disturbing, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Conformist (1970)
Plot Summary:
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: political, art house, breathtaking, visual, neo noir, philosophical, cerebral, psychological, atmospheric, bleak
Similar in 75%
Stones for the Rampart (2014)
Plot Summary:
To be defeated and not be - a victory. This is the motto that life is guided by three young friends: Alek, Sophy and Rudy. Scouts, high school graduates high school in Warsaw drifting ambitious plans for the future broken through September 1939. Entering adulthood in a very dramatic times, which puts them a choice - to survive at any cost, or to join the fighting for a free homeland, risking everything. The boys brought up in patriotic homes, shaped by the ideals of scouting, they decide to fight. They become soldiers, and although every scrape with death, they can live a full life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Ascent (1977)
Plot Summary:
Two Soviet partisans leave their starving band to get supplies from a nearby farm. The Germans have reached the farm first, so the pair must go on a journey deep into occupied territory, a voyage that will also take them deep into their souls.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, sincere, philosophical, political, sad, contemplative, black and white, existential, patriotic
Similar in 88%
They Fought for Their Country (1975)
Plot Summary:
In July 1942, in the Second World War, the rearguard of the Russian army protects the bridgehead of the Don River against the German army while the retreating Russian troops cross the bridge. While they move back to the Russian territory through the countryside, the soldiers show their companionship, sentiments, fears and heroism to defend their motherland.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: heroic, tense, sentimental, rough, suspenseful, philosophical, political, suspense
Similar in 81%
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Plot Summary:
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 179 min
Plot tags: political, black and white, emotional, suspenseful, disturbing, sincere, tense, realistic, talky, philosophical
Similar in 87%
Hart's War (2002)
Plot Summary:
Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous eye of the Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 55000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, suspense, harsh, factual, rough, serious, sincere, emotional, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Son of Saul (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival trying to save from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: melancholic, compassionate, disturbing, cerebral, grim, sad, philosophical, historical drama, harsh, motivational
Similar in 76%
Ambush (1999)
Plot Summary:
It is the summer of 1941 and the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola is waiting for orders to go on the offensive. The platoon receives orders for a recon mission through the wilderness around the Lieksa lake to search for possible Russian defensive positions.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: War, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, intense, sincere, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, brutal, sex comedy
Similar in 88%
Unknown Soldier (2017)
Plot Summary:
The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Finland, Belgium, Iceland
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, novela, historical drama