Movies like Vigil in the Night (1940)
The best movies like Vigil in the Night (1940) are Woman of Straw (1964), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and No Way Out (1950). If Vigil in the Night hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)8.4/10 from 11,966 votes
- NewestOutbound (2024)Released 2024
Woman of Straw (1964)
Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs, to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWitness for the Prosecution (1957)
An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNo Way Out (1950)
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlying Tigers (1942)
Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into World War II. Gordon must send his outnumbered band of fighter pilots out against overwhelming odds while juggling the disparate personalities and problems of his fellow flyers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney Back to Christmas (2016)
WWII has ended and Hanna is still grieving over her husband's disappearance. When the Christmas Comet appears for the first time in 70 years, Hanna is caught in a terrible storm and knocked unconscious. When she wakes up, she's in 2016.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Nurse (1931)
Lora Hart manages to land a job in a hospital as a trainee nurse. Upon completion of her training she goes to work as a night nurse for two small children who seem to be very sick, though something much more sinister is going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChronic (2015)
David is a nurse who works with terminally ill patients. Dedicated to his profession, he develops strong relationships with the people he cares for. But outside of work, it's a different story altogether.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Elephant Man (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLittle Women (1933)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiving (2022)
London, 1953. Mr. Williams, a veteran civil servant, is an important cog within the city's bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a devastating medical diagnosis forces him to take stock, and to try and grasp some fulfilment before it passes permanently beyond reach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracles from Heaven (2016)
When Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Mother's House (1967)
Seven children bury their mother and hide her death - until their long-lost father returns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrdinary Angels (2024)
Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf These Walls Could Talk (1996)
A powerful, intimate portrait of three women living in the same house during different eras who all face unplanned pregnancies. The vignettes follow a recently widowed nurse struggling to take control of her life in the early 50s, a mother of four balancing raising a family and maintaining a career in the 70s, and a student making a difficult decision with the help of one woman that will change the course of both their lives in the 90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhilomena (2013)
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell's Angels (1930)
As the Great War breaks out in Europe, English brothers Roy and Monte enlist in the Royal Flying Corps to fight for king and country, while their Oxford College friend Karl is ordered back to Germany. As a love triangle develops involving Monte, Roy, and Roy's girlfriend, Helen, the brothers' disparate personalities, and Monte's cowardice in the face of war soon threaten to compromise a top-secret bombing mission over German territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas in Angel Falls (2017)
Gabby Messinger, a Guardian Angel who has trouble following the rules and is known for meddling in the love live’s of others, is tasked by the Angel Michael to help the town of Angel Falls find its Christmas spirit again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (2014)
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cruel Sea (1953)
At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHimeyuri (2012)
The 30-minute film centers around a group of high school students who became nurses called Himeyuri and served during the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. The Himeyuri Alumnae Incorporated Foundation, which runs the Himeyuri Peace Museum in Okinawa, produced the film with the aim to convey the experiences of those high school students, many of whom lost their lives during the battle, to children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Atonement (2007)
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSense and Sensibility (1995)
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, learn that their prospects of marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. After Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his estate must pass on by law to his son. These circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters without a home and with barely enough money to live on. As Elinor and Marianne struggle to find romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status, they must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOutbound (2024)
A bedraggled young wanderer lives in a desolate world in complete isolation until reviewing their past choices forces them to call for help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bunker (2014)
Two isolated Canadian soldiers come to grip with a difficult order: launch a nuclear strike against the former USSR, some 25 years after the end of the Cold War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEdward Scissorhands (1990)
A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImmaculate (2013)
A man lives isolated in his grandmother's country-house in an attempt to recover from a tragic event involving his family. His lonely and silent days are spent with an unnameable hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Not Here to Be Loved (2005)
Jean-Claude Delsart, a 50 years-old bailiff, with his worn-out smile and heart, abandoned a long time ago the idea that life could give him pleasures. Until the day, he dares to push the doors of a tango lesson...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Vigil in the Night?
The closest matches to Vigil in the Night are Woman of Straw (1964), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and No Way Out (1950). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Vigil in the Night?
Start with Woman of Straw (1964), the closest match to Vigil in the Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Vigil in the Night?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), rated 8.4/10 by 11,966 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Vigil in the Night?
Outbound (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Vigil in the Night?
Yes: Woman of Straw (1964), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and No Way Out (1950).
How are movies similar to Vigil in the Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Vigil in the Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.