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.

Eismayer

1. Eismayer

Drama History Romance
7.0
20221h 27min

Overview

Vice Lieutenant Eismayer is the most feared trainer and model macho in the Austrian Military and lives as a gay man in secret. When he falls in love with a young, openly gay soldier, his world gets turned upside down.


Strangeness

2. Strangeness

Comedy History Drama
6.7
20221h 43min

Overview

During a trip to Sicily in 1920, Luigi Pirandello meets two gravediggers-turned-playwrights rehearsing a play with their amateur dramatics. Pirandello takes an interest in the odd couple, having been suffering from writer's block while working on his eventual masterpiece, Six Characters in Search of an Author.


Call Jane

3. Call Jane

Drama History
6.5
20222h 1min

Overview

A married woman with an unwanted pregnancy lives in a time in America where she can't get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.


The Bohemian

4. The Bohemian

Drama History
6.7
20222h 21min

Overview

The year is 1764. For over a year, Josef has been leading a precarious life in Venice. He hopes to become an opera composer. The city, full of talented and already-established composers, seems closed to him. Looking for work as a violinist, he comes into the orbit of a rich young woman. Thanks to her, he gets the opportunity to play at salons. But his real opportunity arises when he becomes the lover of a libertine marquise. She teaches him worldly manners, rids him of signs of a provincial upbringing and introduces him to a hedonistic existence free from religious intolerance. Thus transformed, Josef gets an incan incredible commission: to write an opera for the San Carlo, Europe's largest theatre.


Till

5. Till

Drama History Historical Drama Historical Event
7.2
20222h 11min

Overview

The true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14 year old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.

Themes

Public accountability after violence, Racial bias in justice, Open casket exposure, Activism through tragedy, Civil rights momentum, Trial and testimony stakes

Available on

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

Overview

The imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights. Explore the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte and Anne; her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises.

Themes

Romance under scrutiny, Sibling influence on craft, Family pressure shaping ambition, Education shaping identity, Gendered artistic pursuit, Mentorship under constraint

Available on

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

All Quiet on the Western Front

7. All Quiet on the Western Front

War History Drama World War I Historical Drama
7.8
20222h 27min

Overview

Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

Themes

Patriotic fervor, Disillusionment with war, Illusion of heroism, Comradeship under stress, Reintegration anxiety, Horror of trench warfare

Available on

Netflix
Netflix Standard with Ads
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Lost King

8. The Lost King

Comedy Drama History
6.7
20221h 48min

Overview

An amateur historian defies the academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.


Argentina 1985

9. Argentina 1985

Drama History Crime Legal Drama
7.6
20222h 21min

Overview

In the 1980s, a team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time.

Themes

Transition to democracy under pressure, Collective legal effort under threat, Legal accountability under dictatorship, Professional risk and loyalty, Public testimony and scrutiny, Testimony as public record

Available on

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

The Woman King

10. The Woman King

Action Drama History Epic Action Historical Drama
6.9
20222h 15min

Overview

The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, and General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.

Themes

Arranged marriage pressure, Legacy and lineage, Warfare against slavers, Freedom and captivity, Female military leadership, Loyalty and disobedience

Available on

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