Movies like The Gates of Heaven (1945)
The best movies like The Gates of Heaven (1945) are Corpo Celeste (2011), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Fatima (2020). If The Gates of Heaven hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWar Room (2015)7.9/10 from 613 votes
- NewestFive Seconds (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianCorpo Celeste (2011)Also in Italian
Corpo Celeste (2011)
After growing up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns to a city in southern Italy with her mother and older sister. Independent and inquisitive, she joins a catechism class at a local church. However, the games and religious pop songs she encounters there do not nearly satisfy her interest in faith. Struggling to find her place, Marta pushes the boundaries of the class, the priest, and the church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFatima (2020)
In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFive Seconds (2025)
Adriano is a middle-aged man living in a dilapidated villa in Tuscany, when a group of young idealistic students arrives to restore the villa's vineyards.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbraham (1993)
Rather than choosing a great leader or king, God chooses Abraham, an elderly shepherd from Mesopotamia, as the way to establish his Covenant with mankind... A man of great faith, Abraham continues to believe in God even when He seems to have abandoned him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWar Room (2015)
The family-friendly movie explores the transformational role prayer plays in the lives of the Jordan family. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, a middle-class couple who seemingly have it all – great jobs, a beautiful daughter, their dream home. But appearances can be deceiving. In reality, the Jordan’s marriage has become a war zone and their daughter is collateral damage. With the help of Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her family instead of against them. Through a newly energized faith, Elizabeth and Tony’s real enemy doesn’t have a prayer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Encounter (2010)
When five strangers with nothing in common come together at a remote roadside eatery, they place their orders with the diner's omniscient owner, who seems to know everything about them ... and is eerily reminiscent of Jesus Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Into the Light (2005)
In 1990s Palermo, Pino Puglisi is a priest from the neglected Brancaccio neighborhood dedicated in helping kids to get off the streets and creating an embracing place of hope and solidarity in his church, which means trouble for the local Mafia. He continues his solitary fight until the bitter end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brother's Keeper (2021)
Returning war veteran SFC Travis Fox has one more battle to fight – PTSD. Following an improvised explosive device attack that killed his best friend and their entire Ranger platoon, Travis returns to his hometown to settle the mysterious affairs of his late parents. In searching for answers, he uncovers a new obstacle and finds support from church counselor Tiffany Robertson. Slowly beginning to rediscover his faith in God, Travis uncovers a secret hidden by his friend Donnie that threatens his newfound faith, restores his guilt, and causes him to consider the unthinkable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMary Magdalene (2018)
In the first century, free-spirited Mary Magdalene flees the marriage her family has arranged for her, finding refuge and a sense of purpose in a radical new movement led by the charismatic, rabble-rousing preacher named Jesus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDo You Believe? (2015)
When a pastor is shaken by the visible faith of a street-corner preacher, he is reminded that true belief always requires action. His response ignites a journey that impacts everyone it touches in ways that only God could orchestrate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUmberto D. (1952)
When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Passion of the Christ (2004)
A graphic portrayal of the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa vita possibile (2016)
Anna and her son Valerio run away from a husband and a father who has destroyed the love of their family with beatings and anger. They seek refuge in Turin, with Carla, a lifelong friend, an actress and a woman who lives against the grain, who welcomes them, and with the example of her own experience, will show them the way to a just and possible rebirth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesus (1999)
Jesus, a carpenter living a simple life, discovers his destiny as the biblical Messiah.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shack (2017)
A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJichung's Diary (2025)
In Confucian Joseon, three pioneers risk everything for a forbidden faith—but can they survive the cost of their conviction?
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
Magdalena, Through Her Eyes (2016)
A woman caught in the shameful act of adultery; a social outcast ignored because of her loose lifestyle; a recluse shunned in society for 12 years because of a despicable illness; a widow mourning the loss of her only son. An ugly thread of shame, sorrow and hopelessness painfully weaves its way through each of these women's lives. Mary Magdalene passionately retells the details of Jesus' life - from birth, to death, and eventually to resurrection - and how His life continues on in the lives of those who follow Him....
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Christmas Holiday (1944)
A young femme fatale realizes that the man she married is an incorrigible wastrel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Best Man (1999)
After writing a soon-to-be bestselling novel, writer and committed bachelor Harper attempts to hide the fact that his saucy new book is loosely based on the lives and loves of his tight-knit group of friends. Harper is set to be best man at his friend Lance's wedding, and all his friends will be in attendance. When an advance copy of the book makes its way into the hands of his ex-flame, Jordan, Harper attempts to keep it under wraps.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Takes Wing (2009)
Belinda Simpson is now a doctor in a small Missouri town where an unknown plague is spreading fear and resentment amoung the townspeople. One local resident thinks the illness was spread from the town orphanage and wants to see it shut down. Belinda struggles to make sense of the disease and God's plan for the beleaguered town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove's Abiding Joy (2006)
The continued Westward journey of settlers Missie and Willie Lahaye. Their roots now firmly planted as they set up homestead in the far West, Missie begins to realize her passion for teaching as Willie cares for the couple's young daughter Kathy while expanding the family ranch with a little help from sons Jeff and Matthew. When the frontier railroad comes to town, the pleasure of a long-promised visit from Missie's father Clark is suddenly offset by the tragic death of young Kathy. As the untimely demise of their beloved daughter begins to drive an emotional wedge between Missie and Willie, the devastated father unexpectedly accepts an offer made by the powerful Samuel Doros to assume the role of town sheriff. Their faith shaken and their once close-knit bond suddenly torn asunder, Missie and Willie desperately attempt to bring their crumbling family back together as son Jeff faces a series of dangers while hopelessly falling for Doros' beautiful daughter Colette.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Alice is a withdrawn 12-year-old who lives with her mother and her younger sister, Karen, who gets most of the attention from her mother, leaving Alice out of the spotlight. When Karen is found brutally murdered in a church, suspicions start to turn toward Alice. But could a 12-year-old girl really be capable of such savagery?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Heart Set Free: Charles Wesley (2008)
A biography of Charles Wesley, father of the Weselyan Church, hymn writer, and preacher.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Obsession (1943)
Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.
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 The Gates of Heaven?
The closest matches to The Gates of Heaven are Corpo Celeste (2011), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Fatima (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Gates of Heaven?
Start with Corpo Celeste (2011), the closest match to The Gates of Heaven.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Gates of Heaven?
War Room (2015), rated 7.9/10 by 613 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Gates of Heaven?
Five Seconds (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like The Gates of Heaven?
Yes: Corpo Celeste (2011), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Five Seconds (2025).
How are movies similar to The Gates of Heaven chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Gates of Heaven, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.