Movies like Zwölfeläuten (2001)
The best movies like Zwölfeläuten (2001) are The German Lesson (2019), The Young One (1960) and Come Sunday (2018). If Zwölfeläuten hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPersepolis (2007)7.9/10 from 2,276 votes
- NewestHarvest (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanThe German Lesson (2019)Also in German
The German Lesson (2019)
In a small North German village a drama played out during and shortly after the Second World War about duty versus individual conscience and morality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Neighbor Adolf (2022)
South America, 1960. A lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbor is none other than Adolf Hitler. Not being taken seriously, he starts an independent investigation to prove his claim, but when the evidence still appears to be inconclusive, Polsky is forced to engage in a relationship with the enemy in order to obtain irrefutable proof.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSand Castle (2017)
Set during the occupation of Iraq, a squad of U.S. soldiers try to protect a small village.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Road Dance (2022)
A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarvest (2025)
Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisWestern (2017)
A group of German construction workers set out for a foreign construction site in the Bulgarian province. The strange country awakens adventure feelings among the men. At the same time, they are confronted with their prejudices and mistrust. For two of the men, a nearby village becomes the stage for a competition for the recognition and favor of the village.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFarming (2018)
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dirty (1969)
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Aisles (2018)
Christian, a reclusive young man from Leipzig, gets a job working the night shift at a big-box store. He's trained to stocks goods and operate a forklift by Bruno, a wistful former truck driver, who introduces Christian to a colorful group of overnight workers, including Marion, with whom Christian develops a troubled infatuation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWyklęty (2017)
In the 1940s, a small band of underground paramilitaries attempt to fight back against the Soviet-backed security ministry in post-war Poland. Determined to fight for their country's future, the group goes to extreme lengths to make their voice heard.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Singing Water (2007)
Shortly after Ernst Richter, aka Enno, lost his job, his social situation began to change drastically. A supposed war is raging in Germany, and Enno tries to escape this grim reality by holing up in his house. One day, however, he is dispossessed of his property.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paranoia (1967)
A man is under the illusion he is a wanted war criminal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Savior (1998)
A hardened mercenary in the Foreign Legion begins to find his own humanity when confronted with atrocities during the fighting in Bosnia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParer's War (2014)
Parer's War is the true story of World War II frontline cameraman, Damien Parer, whose work won Australia’s first Oscar. His desperate efforts to return to the battlefield to capture what he believed was the ‘truth’ of war were thwarted by his own government. Caught between two worlds, his own personal demons almost cost him the woman he loved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Persepolis (2007)
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStar-Crossed Lovers (1962)
Magdalena and Michael have loved each other since they were children. But when the Nazis come to power, Michael rebels against the regime and is sentenced to fifteen years in a concentration camp. Magdalena, meanwhile, goes underground with the help of a friend and later immigrates to the Soviet Union. Michael, who has joined the Red Army, discovers on the way to Moscow that Magdalena is staying there. But when his plane lands, she is already on her way back to Germany. Michael hopes that one day, he and Magdalena will be reunited.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jacob the Liar (1974)
A Jewish ghetto in the east of Europe, 1944. By coincidence, Jakob Heym eavesdrops on a German radio broadcast announcing the Soviet Army is making slow by steady progress towards central Europe. In order to keep his companion in misfortune, Mischa, from risking his life for a few potatoes, he tells him what he heard and announces that he is in possession of a radio - in the ghetto a crime punishable by death. It doesn't take long for word of Jakob's secret to spread - suddenly, there is new hope and something to live for - and so Jakob finds himself in the uncomforting position of having to come up with more and more stories.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Adventures of Werner Holt (1965)
Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Kautokeino Rebellion (2008)
Religious and cultural reawakening inspires rebellion in a 19th century Norwegian village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Zwölfeläuten?
The closest matches to Zwölfeläuten are The German Lesson (2019), The Young One (1960) and Come Sunday (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Zwölfeläuten?
Start with The German Lesson (2019), the closest match to Zwölfeläuten.
What is the highest-rated movie like Zwölfeläuten?
Persepolis (2007), rated 7.9/10 by 2,276 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Zwölfeläuten?
Harvest (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Zwölfeläuten?
Yes: The German Lesson (2019), Western (2017) and In the Aisles (2018).
How are movies similar to Zwölfeläuten chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Zwölfeläuten, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.