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Movies like The Years of the Father

The best movies like The Years of the Father are Avanti! (1972), The Mass Is Ended (1985) and Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961). If The Years of the Father hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Avanti! (1972)

    A successful businessman travels to Italy to arrange for the return of his tycoon father's body, only to learn that dear old dad died with his longtime mistress.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  2. The Mass Is Ended (1985)

    Young Father Giulio returns to Rome, where he was born and raised, to replace a priest who has left the clergy to start a family. He is delighted to reunite with his loved ones, especially his mother, sister, and old friends. Once radical leftists like Giulio himself, the latter are now each coping in their own way with the defeat of the revolution. Soon, however, Giulio realizes that despite his best efforts, he seems unable to solve the problems troubling those around him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  3. Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961)

    Antonio goes to Rome to represent his fellow peasants, to request a highway that will be built in their region. But the guy is mastered by 'la dolce vita' and wastes the money entrusted to him for his mission. When Peppino is sent to to find out what happened, he lets himself be trapped by the gentle grip of 'la dolce vita'

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. L'immensità (2022)

    Clara and Felice struggle to raise their three children in 1970s Rome. The eldest, Andrea, is transgender and yearns for another life where he gets to live as the boy he knows himself to be. Clara instinctively strives to protect her son by escaping into their imaginations to defuse family tensions.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  5. Journey with Papa (1982)

    Armando is the daddy, Cristiano is the adult son. Each of them lives his life in a different way respect the other: Armando is an old play-boy and often he "buys" his women with his money; Cristiano is a shy guy who lives in a community with other guys like him. The movie proceeds showing us, ironically, the differences, the different ways to think, to act, to treat the women between father and son.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  6. The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)

    An anthology presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso: A husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair; a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them; and local men all seduce a promiscuous young woman, but when her father eventually reveals that she is underage, they all face prosecution for statutory rape.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. Caterina in the Big City (2003)

    When her social-climbing father is relocated from a one-horse town to his native Rome, 12-year-old Caterina enrolls in his old school, finding herself adrift in an environment where eighth-graders form friendships based on social class and their parents' political affiliations.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  8. The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

    Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  9. The Mayor of Rione Sanità (2019)

    Antonio Barracano is a respected figure among the Neapolitan underworld, keeping order and administering justice according to his own criteria, beyond the law. One day he's faced with a dilemma after a youth asks him permission to kill his father.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  10. The Marquis of Grillo (1981)

    In 18th-century Rome, impish aristocrat Onofrio del Grillo amuses himself by playing pranks on all sorts of people — his reactionary family and fellow nobles, the poors, the French occupiers trying to modernize society, and even the Pope himself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Ghostlight (2024)

    When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Bellissima (1952)

    Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. Three Floors (2021)

    Follows the lives of three families who live in a three-story building in a Roman neighbourhood.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  14. To Rome with Love (2012)

    Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  15. Romeo & Juliet (2013)

    In Verona, bad blood between the Montague and Capulet families leads to much bitterness. Despite the hostility, Romeo Montague manages an invitation to a masked ball at the estate of the Capulets and meets Juliet, their daughter. The two are instantly smitten but dismayed to learn that their families are enemies. Romeo and Juliet figure out a way to pursue their romance, but Romeo is banished for his part in the slaying of Juliet's cousin, Tybalt.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  16. Angels & Demons (2009)

    Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is recruited by the Vatican to investigate the apparent return of the Illuminati – a secret, underground organization – after four cardinals are kidnapped on the night of the papal conclave.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  17. Europa '51 (1952)

    A wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite is racked by guilt over the death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. In the Name of the Father (1971)

    In 1958 Angelo, a rich and spoiled boy, enters a religious school, where students are tired of its vice-rector, and the strict rules and old-fashioned teaching methods of priests. Soon, Angelo exerts strong leadership among his peers and incites turmoil among them, helped by intellectual Franco and shy Camma. They expel the prefect from the school, organize a Grand Guignol show, and disappear the corpse of an old professor.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Bad Tales (2020)

    In a small suburb on the outskirts of Rome, the cheerful heat of summer camouflages a stifling atmosphere of alienation. From a distance, the families seem normal, but it’s an illusion: in the houses, courtyards and gardens, silence shrouds the subtle sadism of the fathers, the passivity of the mothers and the guilty indifference of adults. But it’s the desperation and repressed rage of the children that will explode and cut through this grotesque façade, with devastating consequences for the entire community.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. I Love My Dad (2022)

    A hopelessly estranged father catfishes his son in an attempt to reconnect.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Years of the Father?

The closest matches to The Years of the Father are Avanti! (1972), The Mass Is Ended (1985) and Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Years of the Father?

Start with Avanti! (1972), the closest match to The Years of the Father.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Years of the Father?

The Marquis of Grillo (1981), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Years of the Father?

Ghostlight (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there Italian movies like The Years of the Father?

Yes: The Mass Is Ended (1985), Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961) and L'immensità (2022).

How are movies similar to The Years of the Father chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Years of the Father, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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