Movies like Hamlet
The best movies like Hamlet are National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), Hamlet (1948) and Salomé (2013). If Hamlet hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHamlet (1948)7.4/10 from 306 votes
- NewestThe Winter's Tale (2025)Released 2025
National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHamlet (1948)
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaked Harbour (2012)
In a multicultural suburb of Helsinki, a bullied Russian immigrant decides to fight back, a young woman dreams of superstardom at any cost, and a junkie couple schemes their way out of debt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHamlet (2009)
David Tennant stars in a film of the Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Shakespeare's great play. Director Gregory Doran's modern-dress production was hailed by the critics as thrilling, fast-moving and, in parts, very funny.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO.G. (2018)
Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Winter's Tale (2025)
Blinded by jealousy, King Leontes falsely accuses his pregnant wife of infidelity, setting into motion a series of catastrophes that will destroy his wife and son and leave his infant daughter abandoned to the elements on a distant island. Sixteen years later, the king receives an unlikely chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Iago (TBA)
A short film reimagining Othello through the perspective of Iago not as a secondary villain, but as the hidden center of the tragedy. Humiliated and overlooked, he experiences rejection and an inner fracture that slowly transforms into cold, calculated revenge. Iago moves like a shadow, subtly guiding words, glances, and actions, dismantling the trust between Othello and Desdemona. The film is built around key highlights of his manipulation quiet interventions that lead to catastrophe. It is less a story about jealousy than about a wounded ego turned into a weapon, and a man who destroys a world while remaining unseen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Julius Ceasar (1964)
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 they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lügen kann die Wahrheit (TBA)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Acting Coach Nightmare (2024)
It's been years since her husband passed away, and Lisa's life finally has a solid foundation again--she has a high power job, a stable relationship with her longtime boyfriend Mark, and her teenage daughter, Sienna, is excelling in life. That is, until Sienna expresses her desire to become an actress.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
VENOM (TBA)
VENOM is an experimental contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, exploring love, rivalry, identity, and the destructive forces that surround young people searching for connection. Set against the intensity of modern relationships and social expectations, VENOM follows two individuals drawn together by an undeniable connection while caught in a world shaped by conflict, desire, and the consequences of inherited hatred. Blurring the lines between romance and tragedy, the film examines how love can become both salvation and destruction. Through a stylized visual language and emotionally charged performances, VENOM transforms a classic story of forbidden love into a raw exploration of obsession, vulnerability, and the choices that define us.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Happiest Day (TBA)
Married under the shadow and guidance of a religious cult, Ercan and Nesrin discover both love and the lies enveloping their lives as they get to know one another. However, the truth they reach brings an irreversible, tragic reckoning rather than healing their relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Scenes from the Life of an Actress (2020)
Maria-Eleonora is an actress. During a film premiere she leaves the screening hall and crashes her car into the concrete wall of a parking lot, killing herself. Her longtime friend and aspiring film director Peter try to find out the reasons behind this dramatic act and interviews her relatives, colleagues, closest friends. He adds to the interviews video footage that he himself shot during their life together and some film scenes in which Maria-Eleonora took small supporting parts. Thus, Peter creates the film "Scenes from the life of an actress". Peter learns that everyone has a story about what happened, but no one really knew the deceased actress. Peter didn't knew her too.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pluto (2025)
In an era when humans coexist with AI, Pluto is a human-like AI psychiatrist who has a stronger brain power. He can detect human emotions which bring positive emotions to his clients. However, he is confused about what real emotion is. When he develops feelings for his free-spirited client, he loses his ability and is expelled from the AI community while being on a road that leads to a new humanity...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hamlet?
The closest matches to Hamlet are National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), Hamlet (1948) and Salomé (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hamlet?
Start with National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), the closest match to Hamlet.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hamlet?
Hamlet (1948), rated 7.4/10 by 306 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hamlet?
The Winter's Tale (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Hamlet chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hamlet, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.