Movies like 1870 (1972)
The best movies like 1870 (1972) are Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), Fuori (2025) and 1900 (1976). If 1870 hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)8.2/10 from 915 votes
- NewestFuori (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianFuori (2025)Also in Italian
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)
Luke risks his life to visit Paul in a Roman prison, where the apostle awaits execution under Nero. As Paul reflects on his past and the Christian community faces persecution, Luke resolves to record the story of the early church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFuori (2025)
Rome. The 1980s. After the magnum opus The Art of Joy she has been working on for a decade is rejected by the Italian publishing world, writer Goliarda Sapienza commits a desperate theft that costs her her reputation and social position. Incarcerated in Italy’s largest female prison, she finds herself living alongside thieves, junkies, sex workers and revolutionaries. After her release, she continues to meet with these women and over the course of a sweltering summer, a life-changing relationship flowers – a relationship that will reawaken her the desire to live and to write.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1900 (1976)
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Two Popes (2019)
Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKarol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005)
The life of the pope John-Paul II, from his youth as a writer, actor, and athlete in war-torn occupied Poland to his election as Pope at the age of 58.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTitus (1999)
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKidnapped (2023)
The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVincere (2009)
The story of the descent into madness of Mussolini's secret first wife, Ida Dasler, who was seduced by his passion and vigor but blind to the fascist dictator's many flaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOutlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRadium Girls (2020)
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDemetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
The story picks up at the point where "The Robe" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRome, Open City (1945)
During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAdulterers (2016)
On a steamy New Orleans afternoon, Sam Deuprey decides to surprise his beautiful wife, Ashley, for their anniversary and comes home early. But Ashley is not alone in the bedroom. She and her lover, Damien are about to learn how far a jealous husband will go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roof (1956)
Under provincial Italian law at the time, once a roof is erected, the occupants cannot be evicted from a building. This film follows the efforts of a family to erect the roof on a house overnight so that a newlywed couple can have their own home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuburra (2015)
A gangster known as "Samurai" wants to turn the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas. All the local mob bosses have agreed to work for this common goal. But peace is not to last long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaiting 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccattone (1961)
A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts (2017)
The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves unable to depart... and, over the next few days, all of their elaborate societal pretenses and façades deteriorate as they are reduced to living like animals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Apparition (2018)
Jacques Mayano, a French journalist who has lived a traumatic experience, is recruited by the Vatican to be part of a task force that must investigate the veracity of a supernatural apparition allegedly happened in a small French village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Automobile (1971)
An ex-prostitute, feeling an emptiness in her life, decides to fill it by buying a car.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tre donne - 1943: Un incontro (1971)
This vehicle for the great actress Anna Magnani was one of the four made for Italian television and shown in 1971-1972 at the end of her career. The other three were "La sciantosa," "Correva l'anno di grazia 1870," and "L'automobile" and were all directed by Alfredo Giannetti.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Crossroads (2025)
Roman Catholic priest Anders has begun to doubt his role as a clergyman due to past misfortunes and experiences when the phone at the parish hall suddenly rings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Breaking Up in Rome (2021)
Aspiring writer Tommaso makes a living by penning the self-help column of a women's magazine. One day he receives a letter from a reader asking for advice on how to break up with her man: it is none other than Zoe, his partner of ten years, unaware of his pseudonymous side job. Tommaso can't believe his eyes and answers her in private to learn more.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUprising (2001)
In the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Jews rise against the Nazis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight on Earth (1991)
A quintet of cabbies in five cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
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 1870?
The closest matches to 1870 are Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), Fuori (2025) and 1900 (1976). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after 1870?
Start with Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), the closest match to 1870.
What is the highest-rated movie like 1870?
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), rated 8.2/10 by 915 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like 1870?
Fuori (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like 1870?
Yes: Fuori (2025), 1900 (1976) and Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005).
How are movies similar to 1870 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 1870, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.