Movies like The Assault (1986)
The best movies like The Assault (1986) are Soldier of Orange (1977), Black Book (2006) and Winter in Wartime (2008). If The Assault hooked you with its war and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Pianist (2002)8.4/10 from 10,620 votes
- NewestLost Transport (2022)Released 2022
Soldier of Orange (1977)
The lives of Erik Lanshof and five of his closest friends take different paths when the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940: fight and resistance, fear and resignation, collaboration and high treason.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Book (2006)
Israel, 1956: Jewish teacher Rachel Stein rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz. It brings back memories of her experiences in the Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. In September 1944, Rachel's hiding place is bombed by Allied troops; she makes contact with a resistance member and joins a group of Jews to be smuggled across the Biesbosch to the freed South Netherlands. Only Rachel escapes a massacre by patrol Germans, and is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers, whose son is captured trying to smuggle weapons. Kuipers asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze, a mission that she will soon learn that the boat attack wasn't a coincidence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWinter in Wartime (2008)
During World War II in the freezing winter of 1944-45 the western Netherlands are in the grip of a famine. Many people move east to provide for their families. Fourteen year old Michiel can't wait to join the Dutch resistance, to the dismay of his father, who, as mayor, works to prevent escalations in the village.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHamsun (1996)
Knut Hamsun is Norway's most famous and admired author. Ever since he was young he has hated the English for the starvation they caused Norway during WWI. When the Germans occupy Norway 9 April 1940 he welcomes them and the protection they can give from Great Britain. He supports the national socialist ideals, but opposes the way these ideals are turned into action - that Norwegians are jailed and executed. His wife Marie travels in Germany during the war as a sign of support from Knut and herself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Lost Transport (2022)
In the spring of 1945, a train deporting hundreds of Jewish prisoners gets stranded near a small German village occupied by the Red Army. Condemned to each other and in a context of deep mistrust, desperation and revenge, an unexpected friendship emerges between Russian sniper Vera, village girl Winnie and Jewish-Dutch woman Simone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
The Forgotten Battle (2021)
During WWII's crucial Battle of the Scheldt, the lives of a glider pilot, a Nazi soldier and a reluctant Resistance recruit tragically intersect.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmy of Shadows (1969)
Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRiphagen the Untouchable (2016)
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1944, during World War II. Andries Riphagen, a powerful underworld boss, has made his fortune by putting his many criminal talents at the service of the Nazi occupiers. But the long battle is about to end and the freedom fighters, who have been persecuted and murdered for years, are abandoning their hideouts to mercilessly hunt down those who have collaborated with the killers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Counterfeiters (2007)
The story of Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch, who was coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Island on Bird Street (1997)
Alex is an 11-year old boy who, during WWII, hides in the Jewish ghetto from Nazis after all his relatives have been sent to the concentration camp. The movie portrays the ghetto through his eyes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Resistance Banker (2018)
In the occupied Netherlands during World War II, banker Walraven van Hall is asked to use his financial contacts to help the Dutch resistance. With his brother Gijs, he comes up with a risky plan to take out huge loans and use the money to finance the Resistance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHet Bombardement (2012)
A thrilling love story between the young boxer Vincent and the German Eva, who soon has to marry with the middle-aged Dirk to save her family. While the war starts in the Netherlands their impossible love inflames. May 14, 1940, the day that the centre of Rotterdam is bombed and the young lovers lose sight of each other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
The Crossing (2020)
One day, just before Christmas in 1942, Gerda's and Otto's parents are arrested for being part of the Norwegian resistance movement during the Second World War, leaving the siblings on their own. Following the arrest, they discover two Jewish children, Sarah and Daniel, hidden in a secret cupboard in their basement at home. It is now up to Gerda and Otto to finish what their parents started: To help Sarah and Daniel flee from the Nazis cross the border to neutral Sweden and reunite them with their parents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpetters (1980)
Amateur dirt-bikers Rien and Hans–and their mechanic Eef–each fall in love with Fientje, a young woman who, with her brother Jaap, works a concession stand at the races. Everyone seeks a better life: Fientje wants out of the business and away from Jaap; and Rien and Hans aim to make their marks as pro racers, like their hero, Gerrit Witkamp.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrozen Silence (2012)
Russian front, winter 1943. Soldier Arturo Andrade and Sergeant Fernando Espinosa are commissioned to investigate a mysterious murder while the Spanish Blue Division of the German Army endures the fierce counterattack of the Red Army.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEscape from Sobibor (1987)
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pianist (2002)
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSecrets of War (2014)
Tuur and Lambert are best friends. But the war is closing in and is about to change their lives forever. Tuurs dad joined the resistance and even his big brother seems so be part of it. Lamberts family on the other hand choose to obey the Germans. Then a new girls from the city shows up, befriending the boys but telling her secret to only one of them. A choice that separates the boys and ultimately gets her in trouble.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSonny Boy (2011)
Waldemar Nods, a young man from Suriname, meets the older Dutch woman Rika van der Lans and they fall in love. In pre-WWII Netherlands they could not be more different. The one black, the other white, 17 years between them and on top of that Rika already has four children with another man. They love each other, but then Rika appears to be pregnant.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe East (2021)
A young Dutch soldier deployed to suppress post-WWII independence efforts in the Netherlands’ colony of Indonesia finds himself torn between duty and conscience when he joins an increasingly ruthless commander’s elite squad.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharacter (1997)
In pre-WWII Holland, the penniless, illegitimate son of a powerful bailiff sets out to become a lawyer as he spends a lifetime struggling to prove his worth to his relentlessly spiteful father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAu Revoir les Enfants (1987)
Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwin Sisters (2002)
1920s Germany. Two sisters aged six years, no sooner see their remaining parent buried when they are torn apart. Lotte goes to live with her upper middle class Dutch aunt in Holland, Anna to work as a farm hand on her German uncle's rural farm. The World War II impacts each of their lives and finally in old age they meet again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMax Manus: Man of War (2008)
Max Manus is a Norwegian 2008 biographic war film based on the real events of the life of resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96), after his contribution in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The story follows Manus through the outbreak of World War II in Norway until peacetime in 1945.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Devil Strikes at Night (1957)
Hamburg, Germany, 1944, during World War II. A serial killer terrorizes the city. When it seems clear that the local police are unable to catch him, forces as dark and terrible as the criminal himself become involved in the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
The 4th Man (1983)
A writer whose lover is a woman widowed three times begins to suspect she may be responsible for her husbands' deaths.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlodder (1986)
A low-class antisocial family ends up in a rich upper-class neighborhood and causes all sorts of trouble.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmsterdamned (1988)
A mysterious diver hiding in Amsterdam's canal system embarks on a rampage of gruesome murders, terrifying city officials and leaving few clues for the city's best detective, who doesn't suspect that both his new girlfriend and twelve-year-old daughter may be closer than he is to finding the killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSimon (2004)
A mild-mannered gay dentist and a womanizing bar owner rekindle their unlikely friendship when, upon meeting by chance after a decade apart, the latter turns out to be severely ill.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Assault and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Assault?
The closest matches to The Assault are Soldier of Orange (1977), Black Book (2006) and Winter in Wartime (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Assault?
People who watched The Assault most often go on to Soldier of Orange (1977), Black Book (2006) and Winter in Wartime (2008).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Assault?
The Pianist (2002), rated 8.4/10 by 10,620 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Assault?
Lost Transport (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Assault chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Assault, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.