Movies like Paula: A História de uma Subversiva (1979)
The best movies like Paula: A História de uma Subversiva (1979) are I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017), The Last Castle (2001) and Iron Jawed Angels (2004). If Paula: A História de uma Subversiva hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 228 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Castle (2001)
A court-martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Operative (2019)
A young Western woman is recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLand of the Blind (2006)
A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSalting the Battlefield (2014)
David Hare concludes his trilogy of films about MI5 renegade Johnny Worricker with another fugue on power, secrets and the British establishment. Johnny Worricker goes on the run with Margot Tyrell across Europe, and with the net closing in, the former MI5 man knows his only chance of resolving his problems is to return home and confront prime minister Alec Beasley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lords of Discipline (1983)
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisConfirmation (2016)
Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had sexually harassed her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Crooked Somebody (2018)
An attention-seeking psychic is kidnapped and tries to use the situation to boost his popularity.
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 thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPurple Dictatorship (2020)
Yeda, the green-faced woman, sells homemade bread to support the house where she lives with her sick husband. Through the context of green-faced people, we know the reality of those who live on the fringes of a purple-faced society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Colour of His Destiny (1987)
Teenager and his Chilean parents live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in exile, after his brother is killed by the military government in Chile. Years later, still haunted by the past, he undergoes a crisis when he learns his cousin had been arrested in Santiago, and quarrels with his family when he decides to know his country and the details of his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Girls (2014)
Four lucid grandmothers tell their story forgotten by history: the militancy and resistance of the young women of the leftist youth against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Azor (2021)
Yvan De Wiel, a private banker from Geneva, is going to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, the object of the most worrying rumors, who disappeared overnight. Between hushed lounges, swimming pools, and gardens under surveillance, a remote duel takes place between two bankers who, despite different methods, are the accomplices of a discreet and merciless form of colonization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoira (2019)
Germán is Argentine by birth, but has lived in Spain for thirty years with his wife Rosa and his daughter Lucía. On the day of the young woman's birthday, he receives a phone call that will force him to confront his past in a violent way. This Argentine exile then has to deal with the terrible experiences he experienced during the Argentine dictatorship while overcoming his current family problems.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Salvador (1986)
In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPassaporte Memória (2025)
Marcelo was taken to Paris, where he has lived since he was 12. After the sudden death of his mother in 1992, he returns for the first time to the place where he was born. As he walks through the city of his childhood, a series of memories unfolds, revealing a story of friendship torn apart by tragedy and the social tensions that marked Brazil in the 1960s, leading him to question his identity and his place in the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Esmeralda Bay (1989)
A priest secretly leads rebels in their struggle against the corrupt military dictatorship of the Central American country of Puerto Santo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Standard (1989)
Five bricklayers work to construct and subsequently demolish a monument under the direction of a pseudo-architect. As they toil, the workers succumb to distractions and base desires, effectively dismantling the myths of national identity and cultural foundations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Reflection of Power (2015)
This film is a rare glimpse into one of the most secret places of the world, Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Slowly, an unexpected natural phenomena devours this strange city. But the city's atmosphere of eternal celebration never changes no matter how obvious the nearing end is. The people keep absurdly demonstrating the same preset patriotic behaviour.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Paula: A História de uma Subversiva?
The closest matches to Paula: A História de uma Subversiva are I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017), The Last Castle (2001) and Iron Jawed Angels (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Paula: A História de uma Subversiva?
Start with I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017), the closest match to Paula: A História de uma Subversiva.
What is the highest-rated movie like Paula: A História de uma Subversiva?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 228 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Paula: A História de uma Subversiva?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Paula: A História de uma Subversiva chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Paula: A História de uma Subversiva, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.