Movies like Quo Vadis? (1913)
The best movies like Quo Vadis? (1913) are The Sign of the Cross (1932), Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) and Barabbas (1961). If Quo Vadis? hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaul, Apostle of Christ (2018)7.6/10 from 427 votes
- NewestAmazing Grace: The Untold Story (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianBrother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)Also in Italian
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaul, Apostle of Christ (2018)
Luke risks his life to visit Paul in a Roman prison, where the apostle awaits execution under Nero. As Paul reflects on his past and the Christian community faces persecution, Luke resolves to record the story of the early church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarabbas (1961)
Epic account of the thief Barabbas, who was pardoned for his crimes and spared crucifixion when Pilate offered the Israelites a choice to pardon Barabbas or Jesus. Struggling with his spirituality, Barabbas goes through many ordeals leading him to the gladiatorial arena, where he tries to win his freedom and confront his inner demons, ultimately becoming a follower of the man who was crucified in his place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing of Kings (1961)
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKarol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005)
The life of the pope John-Paul II, from his youth as a writer, actor, and athlete in war-torn occupied Poland to his election as Pope at the age of 58.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Book of Daniel (2013)
Taken into slavery after the fall of Jerusalem in 605 B.C., Daniel is forced to serve the most powerful king in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar. Faced with imminent death, Daniel proves himself a trusted Advisor and is placed among the king's wise men. Threatened by death at every turn Daniel never ceases to serve the king until he is forced to choose between serving the king or honoring God. With his life at stake, Daniel has nothing but his faith to stand between him and the lions' den.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Robe (1953)
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVincere (2009)
The story of the descent into madness of Mussolini's secret first wife, Ida Dasler, who was seduced by his passion and vigor but blind to the fascist dictator's many flaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEsterno Notte - Prima Parte (2022)
The 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKarol: The Pope, The Man (2006)
This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. Focusing on the papacy of John Paul and the tremendous impact he had on the Church and the world, Karol: The Pope, The Man stars actor Piotr Adamczyk in a deeply moving portrayal of the beloved pontiff. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religions and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Also stars Raoul Bova (Saint Francis), Michele Placido (Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth) and Adriana Asti as Mother Teresa. The beautiful film score is by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIntolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRisen (2016)
Clavius, a powerful Roman military tribune, and his aide, Lucius, are tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to Jesus in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mattei Affair (1972)
Enrico Mattei helped change Italy’s future, first as freedom-fighter against the Nazis, then as an investor in methane gas through a public company, A.G.I.P., and ultimately as the head of ENI, a state body formed for the development of oil resources. On October 27, 1962, he died when his private airplane crashed during a flight to Milan. Officially, it is declared an accident, but many journalists explore other plausible reasons for Mattei's untimely death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdventures of a Mathematician (2021)
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuori (2025)
Rome. The 1980s. After the magnum opus The Art of Joy she has been working on for a decade is rejected by the Italian publishing world, writer Goliarda Sapienza commits a desperate theft that costs her her reputation and social position. Incarcerated in Italy’s largest female prison, she finds herself living alongside thieves, junkies, sex workers and revolutionaries. After her release, she continues to meet with these women and over the course of a sweltering summer, a life-changing relationship flowers – a relationship that will reawaken her the desire to live and to write.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOranges and Sunshine (2010)
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMary Magdalene (2018)
In the first century, free-spirited Mary Magdalene flees the marriage her family has arranged for her, finding refuge and a sense of purpose in a radical new movement led by the charismatic, rabble-rousing preacher named Jesus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulius Caesar (1970)
All-star cast glamorizes this lavish 1970 remake of the classic William Shakespeare play, which portrays the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, and the resulting war between the faction led by the assassins and the faction led by Mark Anthony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisDemetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
The story picks up at the point where "The Robe" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Story of Ruth (1960)
Ruth is one of two Moabite women who marry the sons of Elimelech and Naomi. When Elimelech and sons Mahlon and Chillion die, leaving Naomi a widow with two widowed daughters-in-law, Naomi decides to return to Israel. One daughter-in-law, Orpah, bids her goodbye. Daughter-in-law Ruth however says she will not desert her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIvan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot (1958)
This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet the Lion Roar (2014)
Uncover one of the greatest and darkest deceptions of our time - the conspiracy to cover up the Church's true identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Housewife, 49 (2006)
Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops - provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Julius Caesar (1953)
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but both have sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmazing Grace: The Untold Story (2025)
John Newton’s life is traced from his turbulent youth and years at sea to his conversion, ministry, and the first performance of the hymn “Amazing Grace” during the Great Awakening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)
Glaucus, a demobilized centurion returns home to Pompeii to find his father murdered by a gang of black-hooded Christian robbers that terrorizes the city and he decides to investigate the matter while the nearby volcano threatens to erupt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJob (2025)
Job pleads to God for an answer to his suffering and receives one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Quo Vadis??
The closest matches to Quo Vadis? are The Sign of the Cross (1932), Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) and Barabbas (1961). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Quo Vadis??
Start with The Sign of the Cross (1932), the closest match to Quo Vadis?.
What is the highest-rated movie like Quo Vadis??
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), rated 7.6/10 by 427 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Quo Vadis??
Amazing Grace: The Untold Story (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Quo Vadis??
Yes: Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005) and Vincere (2009).
How are movies similar to Quo Vadis? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Quo Vadis?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.