Best movies like The Last Butterfly
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Stage mime Antoine Moreau is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for the children of Terezin, a "model" concentration camp, to convince the Red Cross observers that the camp is truly what it seems. Reluctant at first, Moreau slowly learns the true nature of the camp, including the meaning of the "transports" on which people leave. With a world-class orchestra (made up of people interned in the camp) and a cast of children, Moreau stages a show to end all shows.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 300
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Czechoslovakia, France, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, crying
Best tv shows and movies like The Last Butterfly (1991):
Similar in 76%
...and the Fifth Horseman Is Fear (1965)
Plot Summary:
A Jewish doctor helps a political fugitive during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: experimental, surreal, neo noir, expressionism, freeze frame
Similar in 80%
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%
Tea with Mussolini (1999)
Plot Summary:
Semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a circle of English and American women, before and during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: period piece, light, costume drama, sentimental, touching, realistic, retro, uplifting, political thriller, art house
Similar in 84%
Ithaca (2015)
Plot Summary:
In a small town in California's San Joaquin Valley, 14-year-old Homer Macauley is determined to be the best and fastest bicycle telegraph messenger anyone has ever seen. His older brother has gone to war, leaving Homer to look after his widowed mother, his older sister and his 4-year-old brother, Ulysses. And so it is that as spring turns to summer, 1942, Homer Macauley delivers messages of love, hope, pain... and death... to the good people of Ithaca. And Homer Macauley will grapple with one message that will change him forever - from a boy into a man. Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan's 1943 novel, The Human Comedy, ITHACA is the quintessential wartime tale of the Home Front. It is a coming-of-age story about the exuberance of youth, the sweetness of life, the sting of death and the modesty and sheer goodness that lives in each and every one of us.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, thought provoking, realistic, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 84%
Divided We Fall (2000)
Plot Summary:
In Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, a childless couple agree to hide a Jewish friend at great personal risk of discovery and execution.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: Czech Republic
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: surreal, compassionate, lyrical, uplifting, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, gloomy, light
Similar in 81%
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 78%
Naked Among Wolves (1963)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 827
Genere: Drama, War
Country: East Germany
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: deep, crying, inspirational, complex
Similar in 85%
Mother Night (1996)
Plot Summary:
An American spy behind the lines during WWII serves as a Nazi propagandist, a role he cannot escape in his future life as he can never reveal his real role in the war.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: political, political thriller, dieselpunk, independent film, uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 88%
The Accompanist (1992)
Plot Summary:
In Nazi-occupied Paris, a young accompanist named Sophie Vasseur gets a job with famed singer Irene Brice. As Irene's husband Charles, a businessman collaborating with the Nazis, wrestles with his conscience, Sophie becomes obsessed with Irene, taking on the role of maid as well as accompanist, living life vicariously through Irene's triumphs and affairs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 982
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance, War
Country: France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 80%
Salon Kitty (1976)
Plot Summary:
Kitty runs a brothel in Nazi Germany where the soldiers come to "relax". Recording devices have been installed in each room by a power hungry army official who plans to use the information to blackmail Hitler and gain power himself. A girl named Margherita discovers the little ploy and with Kitty's help plans to take on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: erotic, disturbing, sexy, controversial, intense, psychotronic, grindhouse, sensual, creepy, devastating
Similar in 78%
David (1979)
Plot Summary:
Although members of the Hitler Youth chant anti-Semitic paroles in front of his house during the Purim festival, Rabbi Singer is still profoundly convinced that Germany will stay a safe country for him, his family, and his fellow believers. But several years later, his son David is banned from going to school because he is a Jew. Shortly after, Rabbi Singer and his wife are deported. Now, young David also fears for his life. In constant fear of being detected, he tries to find a way to leave Germany.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Dara of Jasenovac (2020)
Plot Summary:
During the Nazi-occupied Ustasha regime "NDH" in former Yugoslavia during WWII, little girl Dara is sent to the concentration camp complex Jasenovac in Croatia also known as "Balkan's Auschwitz".
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Serbia
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, thought provoking, suspenseful, disturbing, sincere, touching, political, social
Similar in 83%
The Ninth Day (2004)
Plot Summary:
A drama loosely based on Jean Bernard's Nazi-era prison diary.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Germany, Luxembourg, Czech Republic
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, psychological, uplifting, realistic, contemplative, christian film, depressing, spiritual
Similar in 82%
Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
Plot Summary:
Fact based story about a former Greek Olympic boxer who was taken as a prisoner during World war II and placed in the Auschwitz prison camp. There he was permitted to survive as long as he fought for the amusement of his captors. His father and brother were also held as insurance that he would continue to fight.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Sport, War
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: disturbing, independent film, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crying, inspirational, odd
Similar in 90%
The Army of Shadows (1969)
Plot Summary:
Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: noir, visually appealing, art house, bleak, captivating, realistic, stylized, political, visual, sincere
Similar in 84%
All My Loved Ones (1999)
Plot Summary:
Told from the perspective of man reflecting on his childhood in Prauge in the early years of World War 2 and the eventual destruction of his family as the Nazis rise to power. The storyline focuses heavily on Jewish-Czech Silberstein family members. Drama was filmed on the real events as a tribute to Mr. Nicholas Winton, the British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport from German-occupied Czechoslovakia and likely death in the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 570
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 78%
Red Cherry (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, this horrifying tale follows two orphaned friends as they struggle to survive during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 745
Genere: Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, mesmerizing, saga, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 75%
My Mother's Courage (1995)
Plot Summary:
The deportation of 4000 Jews from Budapest to Auschwitz in July 1944, as told by George Tabori, and how the narrator's mother escaped it, owing to coincidence, courage and some help from where you'd least expect it.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 203
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Germany, UK, Austria, Ireland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, crying, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 90%
Goodbye, Children (1987)
Plot Summary:
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. He becomes the roommate of top student in his class. Rivals at first, the roommates form a bond and share a secret.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, West Germany, Italy
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sad, heartbreaking, christian film, depressing, art house, sentimental, touching, emotional, realistic, sincere
Similar in 89%
Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990)
Plot Summary:
Swedish account of Raoul Wallenberg, the man responsible for the largest rescue of Jews during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: Sweden, Hungary
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 85%
The Boat Is Full (1981)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier. They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn. They pose as a family: the deserter as husband, Judith as his wife, an old man from Vienna as her father, his granddaughter and the French lad, whom they beg to keep silent, as their children. Judith's teenage brother poses as a soldier. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who gets deported?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 686
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Switzerland, West Germany, Austria
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Fateless (2005)
Plot Summary:
An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Hungary, Germany, UK, Israel, France, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, disturbing, emotional, realistic, gloomy, retro, touching, educational, sad
Similar in 79%
The Aryan Couple (2004)
Plot Summary:
A WWII Drama about a German/Jewish industrialist who, in order to ensure his family's safe passage out of Germany, is forced to hand over his business to the Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, captivating, suspenseful, tense, realistic, gloomy, crying, freeze frame
Similar in 87%
The Tin Drum (1979)
Plot Summary:
Oskar is born in Germany in 1924 with an advanced intellect. Repulsed by the hypocrisy of adults and the irresponsibility of society, he refuses to grow older after his third birthday.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany, France, Poland
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: surreal, disturbing, controversial, art house, harsh, talky, realistic, clever, epic, serious
Similar in 78%
The Truce (1997)
Plot Summary:
Although liberated from Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, Levi did not reach Turin until October 19 of that year. After spending some time in a Soviet camp for former concentration camp inmates, he embarked on an arduous journey home in the company of Italian former prisoners of war from the Italian Army in Russia. His long railway journey home to Turin took him on a circuitous route from Poland, through Russia, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Germany.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: sincere, historical drama, uplifting, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 82%
Alone in Berlin (2016)
Plot Summary:
Berlin in June of 1940. While Nazi propaganda celebrates the regime’s victory over France, a kitchen-cum-living room in Prenzlauer Berg is filled with grief. Anna and Otto Quangel’s son has been killed at the front. This working class couple had long believed in the ‘Führer’ and followed him willingly, but now they realise that his promises are nothing but lies and deceit. They begin writing postcards as a form of resistance and in a bid to raise awareness: Stop the war machine! Kill Hitler! Putting their lives at risk, they distribute these cards in the entrances of tenement buildings and in stairwells. But the SS and the Gestapo are soon onto them, and even their neighbours pose a threat.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, France, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: period piece, enigmatic, heartbreaking, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, factual, retro, independent film
Similar in 79%
Female Agents (2008)
Plot Summary:
May 1944, a group of French servicewomen and resistance fighters are enlisted into the British Special Operations Executive commando group under the command of Louise Desfontaines and her brother Pierre. Their mission, to rescue a British army geologist caught reconnoitering the beaches at Normandy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, tense, suspense, retro, historical drama, bleak, captivating, beautiful
Similar in 86%
Resistance (2020)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of Jewish Boy Scouts who worked with the French Resistance to save the lives of ten thousand orphans during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, France, Germany, USA, China
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: costume drama, powerful
Similar in 89%
Jakob the Liar (1999)
Plot Summary:
In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out after curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, France, Germany
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sad, cult classic, sincere, uplifting, humorous, emotional, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, sentimental
Similar in 85%
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
Plot Summary:
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 239000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, sad, heartbreaking, sentimental, tear jerker, serious, crying, thought provoking, gloomy