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Movies like Ceylon (2014)

The best movies like Ceylon (2014) are Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), The One That Got Away (1957) and The Scarlet and the Black (1983). If Ceylon hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002)

    A little girl is told by her parents that she is adopted. Determined to find her birth mother, her family eventually agrees to take her to Sri Lanka, where they encounter the militant group known as the Tamil Tigers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. The One That Got Away (1957)

    Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

    Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. Waiting for Anya (2020)

    During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)

    A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. The Last Rifleman (2023)

    A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

    An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his Jewish heritage. Each of Israel's Arab neighbors has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country as soon as partition is granted. He is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

    In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  9. The War (1994)

    The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. The Boy in the Woods (2023)

    The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. When the Wind Blows (1986)

    With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Devotion (2022)

    The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. The War Below (2021)

    During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. The Man Who Never Was (1956)

    The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a British officer and outfitted with faked papers showing that the Allies were intending to invade occupied Greece. His body is put into the sea where it will ultimately drift ashore and the papers be passed along to German Intelligence.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. The Devil's Brigade (1968)

    At the onset of World War II, American Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is put in charge of a unit called the 1st Special Service Force, composed of elite Canadian commandos and undisciplined American soldiers. With Maj. Alan Crown leading the Canadians and Maj. Cliff Bricker the acting head of the American contingent, there is initial tension -- but the team comes together when given a daunting mission that few would dare to attempt.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. The Girl in the Book (2015)

    The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  17. Belfast (2021)

    Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. The Truth About Emanuel (2013)

    A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. I Am David (2003)

    A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. The House on Carroll Street (1988)

    A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  21. Johnny Mad Dog (2008)

    A cast of unknown performers are used in this drama about child soldiers fighting a war in an unnamed African country.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  22. Under Fire (1983)

    Three U.S. journalists get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  23. Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)

    Follow a group of international journalists into the heart of the once cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo—now a danger zone of sniper and mortar attacks where residents still live. While reporting on an American aid worker who’s trying to get children out of the country, a British correspondent decides to take an orphaned girl home to London.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  24. The Colt (2005)

    During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

  25. The Killing Fields (1984)

    New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  26. The Travelling Players (1975)

    A traveling theatre troupe tours the Greek countryside from 1939 to the early 1950s, staging “Golfo the Shepherdess”. As the years pass, its members endure persecution, betrayal, executions, and exile. Their personal stories become entangled with the country’s major historical events, in a seemingly endless cycle of violence and loss.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  27. Paradise Now (2005)

    Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  28. Gone with the Wind (1939)

    The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  29. Between Two Worlds (1966)

    The son of a newly rich industrialist becomes embroiled in a murder cover-up.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  30. Last Interview (2012)

    Mr. Baek, a job seeker, is vulnerable to sunlight. Despite his unusual illness, he is eager to get a job. Finally, today is Mr. Baek's last interview.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Like Ceylon and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Ceylon?

The closest matches to Ceylon are Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), The One That Got Away (1957) and The Scarlet and the Black (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Ceylon?

Start with Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), the closest match to Ceylon.

What is the highest-rated movie like Ceylon?

Gone with the Wind (1939), rated 7.9/10 by 4,537 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Ceylon?

The Last Rifleman (2023) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there Tamil movies like Ceylon?

Yes: Kannathil Muthamittal (2002).

How are movies similar to Ceylon chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ceylon, 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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