Movies like Afghan Luke (2011)
The best movies like Afghan Luke (2011) are Lions for Lambs (2007), Civil War (2024) and The Outpost (2020). If Afghan Luke hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFull Metal Jacket (1987)8.1/10 from 11,933 votes
- NewestLee (2024)Released 2024
Lions for Lambs (2007)
Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCivil War (2024)
In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outpost (2020)
A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack. The Battle of Kamdesh, as it was known, was the bloodiest American engagement of the Afghan War in 2009 and Bravo Troop 3-61 CAV became one of the most decorated units of the 19-year conflict.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDarfur (2009)
American journalists in Sudan are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRedacted (2007)
A fictional documentary discusses the effects the Iraq war has had on soldiers and local people through interviews with members of an American military unit, the media, and local Iraqis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Private War (2018)
One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalvador (1986)
In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Killing Fields (1984)
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2019)
When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlatoon (1986)
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrothers (2009)
When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFull Metal Jacket (1987)
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Pirates of Somalia (2017)
After an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime. Hooking up with a local fixer, he attempts to get embedded with the local Somali pirates, only to quickly find himself in over his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLone Survivor (2013)
Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFatherland (1994)
Fictional account of what might have happened if Hitler had won the war. It is now the 1960s and Germany's war crimes have so far been kept a secret. Hitler wants to talk peace with the US president. An American journalist and a German homicide cop stumble into a plot to destroy all evidence of the genocide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShock and Awe (2017)
A group of journalists covering George Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the presidents claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan Down (2016)
When a U.S. Marine returns home from Afghanistan, he finds that the place he once called home is no better than the battlefields he fought on overseas. Accompanied by his best friend, he searches desperately for the whereabouts of his estranged son and wife. In their search, the two intercept a man carrying vital information about his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder Fire (1983)
Three U.S. journalists get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLee (2024)
The true story of photographer Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood Diamond (2006)
An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed countrywide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVelvet Goldmine (1998)
Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEarth and Ashes (2004)
Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir must tell Murad that the rest of their family were all killed in a recent bomb attack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fremont (2023)
Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her twenties drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kite Runner (2007)
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Passenger (1975)
David Locke is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman, Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Road to China (1983)
A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)
Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. When a documentarian discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, his resulting short film brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAgatha (1979)
England, 1926. An American journalist looks for mystery writer Agatha Christie when she suddenly disappears without explanation, leaving no trace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDogging: A Love Story (2009)
An aspiring Gordie journalist drops his inhibitions to research the UK's North East outdoor sex scene. He meets a certain girl in a car park, and the totally unexpected happens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Afghan Luke and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Afghan Luke?
The closest matches to Afghan Luke are Lions for Lambs (2007), Civil War (2024) and The Outpost (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Afghan Luke?
Start with Lions for Lambs (2007), the closest match to Afghan Luke.
What is the highest-rated movie like Afghan Luke?
Full Metal Jacket (1987), rated 8.1/10 by 11,933 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Afghan Luke?
Lee (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Afghan Luke?
Yes: Lions for Lambs (2007), Civil War (2024) and The Outpost (2020).
How are movies similar to Afghan Luke chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Afghan Luke, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.