Movies like Oil for the Lamps of China (1935)
The best movies like Oil for the Lamps of China (1935) are Train Dreams (2025), Executive Suite (1954) and The Nest (2020). If Oil for the Lamps of China hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThere Will Be Blood (2007)8.1/10 from 7,888 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
Train Dreams (2025)
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExecutive Suite (1954)
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice-presidents vie to see who will replace him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunder Bay (1953)
Shrimpers and oilmen clash when an ambitious wildcatter begins constructing an off-shore oilrig.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod's Not Dead (2014)
After he refuses to disavow his faith, a devout Christian student must prove the existence of God or else his college philosophy professor will fail him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThere Will Be Blood (2007)
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeatwave (2022)
A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPromised Land (2012)
A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlash of Genius (2008)
In this David vs. Goliath drama based on a true story, college professor Robert Kearns goes up against the giants of the auto industry when they fail to give him credit for inventing intermittent windshield wipers. Kearns doggedly pursues recognition for his invention, as well as the much-deserved financial rewards for the sake of his wife and six kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNormal (2003)
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam (2020)
A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
Tom Rath is a suburban father and husband haunted by his memories of World War II, including a wartime romance with Italian village girl Maria, which resulted in an illegitimate son he's never seen. Pressed by his unhappy wife to get a higher-paying job, Rath goes to work as a public relations man for television network president Ralph Hopkins. Drawn into poisonous office politics, Tom finds he must choose his career or his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beautiful Game (2024)
A group of advocates to end homelessness organize an annual tournament for homeless people to compete in a series of football matches known as The Homeless World Cup.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSometimes a Great Notion (1971)
Hank Stamper and his father, Henry, own and operate the family business by cutting and shipping logs in Oregon. The town is furious when they continue working despite the town going broke and the other loggers go on strike ordering the Stampers to stop, however Hank continues to push his family on cutting more trees. Hank's wife wishes he would stop and hopes that they can spend more time together. When Hank's half brother Leland comes to work for them, more trouble starts.
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 thisLucky (2017)
Follows the journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off-the-map desert town. He finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Bus (2021)
Widower Tom, on the recent passing of his wife Mary, uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O'Groats in Caithness to Land's End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. It's an incident-fuelled nostalgia trip and his encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon. Tom is totally unaware and to his surprise on arrival at Land’s End he’s greeted as a celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in China (1991)
In late 19th-century Canton, legendary hero Wong Fei-Hung battles foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China. When Aunt Yee returns from America totally westernised, Wong assumes the role of protector. This proves difficult when his martial arts school and local militia become involved in fierce battles with foreign and local governments. As violence escalates, even Aunt Yee has to question her new western ideals, but is it possible to fight guns with Kung Fu?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Corner (1997)
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mosquito Coast (1986)
An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTonight and Every Night (1958)
Orphan He Yongnian was brought up by Zheng Mu, the owner of a small shop, and he was childhood sweetheart with Zheng's daughter Jingqin. Yongnian and Jingqin's love roots have been planted early, Jingqin helps everywhere, and Yongnian is very grateful. After Yongnian graduated, he was appreciated by the boss of the trading company, Leung. Jingqin's mother and daughter supported him. Boss Leung's daughter Dai Ni is attracted by Yong Nian and starts pursuing him. Yongnian's heart is attached to Jingqin, but he is afraid of offending Dai Ni, so he reluctantly entertains. Seduced by Dai Ni, Yongnian gradually yearns for a higher life, ignoring Zheng's mother and daughter...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Local Hero (1983)
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNora Prentiss (1947)
Quiet, organised Dr. Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings, they become heavily involved, and Talbot finds himself faced with the choice of leaving Nora or divorcing his wife. When a patient expires in his office, a third option seems to present itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Forever Young (2018)
From World War, to revolution and ultimately rebirth, Forever Young is the story of four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history. Each generation faces its own unique set of challenges. Up against corporate corruption, the trials and tribulations of the cultural revolution, and one's duty to nation in time of war, they are faced with choosing their individual paths through history. But as the challenges and turmoil of each generation may differ as time changes, what was learned in the past cannot help but effect the choices that are made in the future as it is passed down from generation to generation. And that is the universal message that being true to yourself is precious. It is the source of strength that empowers one to become the person they want to be, to march forward as far as their hearts desire, into the future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Electric Shadows (2005)
For no apparent reason, a mute young woman assaults a youth who delivers water on his bicycle, injuring him and ruining his bike. Surprisingly, she asks him to feed her fish while she is in custody. Her tiny apartment, he discovers, is a shrine to his favorite escape, the movies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Adolf Factor (2019)
After hearing from his daughter an anecdote related to a child named Benito, Stefano decides to get a Hitler-style mustache, which will bring trouble to work and family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lan Yu (2001)
A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Oil for the Lamps of China?
The closest matches to Oil for the Lamps of China are Train Dreams (2025), Executive Suite (1954) and The Nest (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Oil for the Lamps of China?
Start with Train Dreams (2025), the closest match to Oil for the Lamps of China.
What is the highest-rated movie like Oil for the Lamps of China?
There Will Be Blood (2007), rated 8.1/10 by 7,888 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Oil for the Lamps of China?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Oil for the Lamps of China?
Yes: Train Dreams (2025), Executive Suite (1954) and The Nest (2020).
How are movies similar to Oil for the Lamps of China chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Oil for the Lamps of China, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.