History backdrop

History movies

Period pieces that transport you back in time, recreating the events and figures that shaped our past.

Subgenres include: Historical Event, Biographical History, Political History.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

541. Rabbit-Proof Fence

Adventure Drama History Exploration Adventure Historical Drama
7.4

20021h 34min

Australia, United Kingdom

Director: Phillip Noyce

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

Themes

Colonial control, Family separation, Forced removal, Survival under oppression, Resilience and endurance, Betrayal and coercion

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Count of Monte Cristo

542. The Count of Monte Cristo

Adventure Drama History Action Thriller
7.7

20022h 11min

Ireland, United States

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a fellow inmate and plots his revenge, cleverly insinuating himself into the French nobility.

Themes

Revenge and consequences, Deception and betrayal, Loyalty under pressure, Social mobility, Wealth as weapon, Infiltration into high society

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Black Hawk Down

543. Black Hawk Down

Action War History Military Action Modern Conflicts
7.7

20012h 25min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Ridley Scott

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

Themes

Famine tension, Gunfight dynamics, Ambush risk, Helicopter crash consequences, Prisoner of war risk, Militia pressure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Charlotte Gray

544. Charlotte Gray

Drama History Romance War Historical Drama
6.4

20012h 1min

Australia, Germany

Director: Gillian Armstrong

This is a drama set in Nazi-occupied France at the height of World War II. Charlotte Gray tells the compelling story of a young Scottish woman working with the French Resistance in the hope of rescuing her lover, a missing RAF pilot. Based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Deception and trust, Resistance under occupation, Duty beyond love, Women in wartime leadership, Secret networks and risk, Survival and sacrifice

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Lost Battalion

545. The Lost Battalion

History Drama War TV Movie Historical Event
7.0

20011h 32min

United States

Director: Russell Mulcahy

Fact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I.

Themes

Army hierarchy under stress, Immigrant workers, Duty vs endurance, World war i class tension, Frontline isolation, Communication under fire

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Caramuru: Brazil Reinvented

546. Caramuru: Brazil Reinvented

Comedy Romance History
6.5

20011h 25min

Brazil

Director: Guel Arraes

Diogo Álvares, a Portuguese map illustrator, reaches the Brazilian coast, after his caravel sinks. He is saved by the Indian chief Itaparica and his two daughters, Paraguaçu and Moema. They call him Caramuru and together they engage in a happy love triangle. But the chance to return to Portugal arises, and it is clear this amoral arrangement cannot last.


The Cat's Meow

547. The Cat's Meow

Drama Mystery Thriller Crime History
6.4

20011h 54min

Germany, United Kingdom

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Semi-true story of the Hollywood murder that occurred at a star-studded gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924.

Themes

Deception and reputation, Ambition and risk, Power dynamics under glamour, Blackmail pressure, Gossip economy, Loyalty versus self-interest

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Grey Zone

548. The Grey Zone

Drama War History Historical Drama World War II
7.0

20011h 48min

United States

Director: Tim Blake Nelson

The story of Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando — one of the thirteen consecutive "Special Squads" of Jewish prisoners placed by the Nazis in the excruciating moral dilemma of assisting in the extermination of fellow Jews in exchange for a few more months of life.

Themes

Deception as tactic, Survival under oppression, Collective resistance under threat, Moral compromise under coercion, Accountability after war, Loyalty vs betrayal under duress

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Warrior

549. The Warrior

History Drama Action War Historical Event
7.1

20012h 35min

South Korea, China

Director: Kim Sung-soo

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.

Themes

Loyalty under threat, Duty under tyranny, Homeland longing, Exile as constraint, Slavery and coercion, Battle as disruption


Platform

550. Platform

Drama History
7.3

20012h 35min

Director: Jia Zhangke

China’s rapid changes from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, as seen through the lives of four performers in a theater troupe.