Movies like History of Darkness (2025)
The best movies like History of Darkness (2025) are The Devils (1971), Nightwatching (2007) and Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012). If History of Darkness hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedVivre Sa Vie (1962)7.7/10 from 730 votes
- NewestCompulsion (2024)Released 2024
- In FrenchImmoral Tales (1974)Also in French
The Devils (1971)
In 1634 France, charismatic Father Urbain Grandier becomes the target of sexually depraved Sister Jeanne's accusations of witchcraft, which corrupt officials of church and state are all too happy to exploit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNightwatching (2007)
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoltzius & the Pelican Company (2012)
Hendrik Goltzius, a late-16th-century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints, seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (2012)
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImmoral Tales (1974)
Four erotic tales from various historical eras. The first, 'The Tide', is set in the present day, and concerns a student and his young female cousin stranded on the beach by the tide, secluded from prying eyes. 'Therese Philosophe' is set in the nineteenth century, and concerns a girl being locked in her bedroom, where she contemplates the erotic potential of the objects contained within it. 'Erzsebet Bathory' is a portrait of the sixteenth-century countess who allegedly bathed in the blood of virgins, while 'Lucrezia Borgia' concerns an incestuous fifteenth-century orgy involving Lucrezia, her brother, and her father the Pope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFunny Games (2008)
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVivre Sa Vie (1962)
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOriginal Sin (2001)
A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFright (1971)
Young babysitter Amanda arrives at the Lloyd residence to spend the evening looking after their young son. Soon after the Lloyds leave, a series of frightening occurrences in the gloomy old house have Amanda's nerves on edge. The real terror begins, however, when the child's biological father appears after recently escaping from a nearby mental institution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love to Hide (2005)
A young Jewish girl, Sara, is looking to escape the clutches of the Third Reich after seeing her parents and sister brutally slain by a smuggler who betrayed them while attempting to escape to England. Terrified, she is sheltered by her childhood friend Jean, a homosexual in a clandestine relationship with his lover Philippe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlesh + Blood (1985)
A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble Lord who cheated them by kidnapping his son's fiancée. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day of the Locust (1975)
Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCompulsion (2024)
Two women—Diana, a flamboyant and ruthless thief, and Evie, a seemingly innocent young woman with a troubled past—become embroiled in a series of horrific murders on the island of Malta.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirst Name: Carmen (1983)
A woman involved with a terrorist group becomes dangerously close to the police officer guarding the bank they plan to rob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenedetta (2021)
A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Romance (1993)
Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKilling Zoe (1993)
Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Rejects (2005)
The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like History of Darkness and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like History of Darkness?
The closest matches to History of Darkness are The Devils (1971), Nightwatching (2007) and Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after History of Darkness?
Start with The Devils (1971), the closest match to History of Darkness.
What is the highest-rated movie like History of Darkness?
Vivre Sa Vie (1962), rated 7.7/10 by 730 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like History of Darkness?
Compulsion (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like History of Darkness?
Yes: Immoral Tales (1974), Vivre Sa Vie (1962) and A Love to Hide (2005).
How are movies similar to History of Darkness chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside History of Darkness, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.