Movies like Day One (2015)
The best movies like Day One (2015) are Jacknife (1989), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) and Waiting for Anya (2020). If Day One hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBirdy (1984)7.1/10 from 605 votes
- NewestCat's Eye (2025)Released 2025
Jacknife (1989)
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBehold a Pale Horse (1964)
Manuel Artiguez, a famous bandit during the Spanish civil war, has lived in French exile for 20 years. When his mother is dying he considers visiting her secretly in his Spanish home town. But his biggest enemy, the Spanish police officer Vinolas, prepared a trap at the hospital as a chance to finally catch Artiguez.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Ahead (1944)
A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry and Sergeant Ned Fletcher when they are called up to replace an infantry battalion that had suffered casualties at Dunkirk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFort Bliss (2014)
After returning home from an extended tour in Afghanistan, a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother struggles to rebuild her relationship with her young son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe One That Got Away (1957)
Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStop-Loss (2008)
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirdy (1984)
Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2019)
When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArarat (2002)
Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeal Team Eight: Behind Enemy Lines (2014)
Seal Team Eight must fight their way deep into Africa's Congo, decommission a secret uranium mine, and stop our most dangerous enemy from smuggling weapon's grade yellow-cake out of the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe War Below (2021)
During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisField of Lost Shoes (2015)
A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yellow Birds (2018)
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Rat (1965)
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has managed to establish a pretty good life for himself in the camp. King soon forms a friendship with an upper-class British officer who is fascinated with King's enthusiastic approach to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracle at St. Anna (2008)
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJarhead: Law of Return (2019)
Major Ronan Jackson, an accomplished fighter pilot for the Israel Defense Forces and son of a U.S. Senator, is shot down while flying through Syrian airspace. After miraculously surviving the crash, Jackson is taken captive by a group of Hezbollah militiamen. A squad of elite soldiers, led by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Torres, risk their own lives in the hopes of saving an ally they've never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Joke (2010)
A bunch of friends are celebrating the birthday of one of them when they decide to play a joke on him. None of them could imagine the consequences that would befall them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angst & Flesh (2019)
Elena loves Abel, she is drowning on the anguish of being, her subconscious manifests her urges; during the funeral misfortune sets in. Laceration and calm, devotion and fear, angst and flesh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dog (2017)
When Albin lands a much-wanted acting job, he doesn't hesitate to make it his top priority in life. But he's still not clear about what the job entails.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Success (2018)
Nils works with a comedy talk-show but doesn’t get the respect that he thinks he deserves. At a pitch meeting one of his ideas gets stolen by his colleague, Fabian. Everyone loves the idea, but no one except Nils realizes the fact that Fabian stole it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Ambulance Man (2005)
The Ambulance Man is a story about a paramedic who faces a difficult time at home, as he lives with an abusive partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Amour Océan (2022)
Jeanne, 17, enjoys the last days of summer before getting back to high school. One morning, with her little sister Camille, they decide to run away from the police station where they live with their father to see the ocean one last time. On the beach, Jeanne meets a young surfer. He’s handsome, she’s intrigued. Jeanne feels a strange desire invading her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Suppietij (1991)
The extremities of a middle-class being ramble on, reflecting poetically on the wretchedness of moderation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
De Civitate Rei (1993)
Costante dies and leaves his wife Torella his computer discovery. Torella entrusts the disk to her husband’s friend Gervasio, a lazy man scorned by his family. Twenty years later, Torella tries to get back the disk but Gervasio, who has become rich thanks to the discovery, agrees to go to court over it and comes away the winner. He therefore summons divine misfortune: he loses his third son, suffocated by wealth; kills his wife in a blind rage; and is executed by his first-born son who, after a violent panic attack and reckoning with his conscience, chooses life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fiorenzo (1995)
A man is sick and he doesn’t show himself. Three people don’t go to visit him and they show themselves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cat's Eye (2025)
A woman visits a personal stretcher, only to have unexpected objects pulled out of her body. A near silent witness statement to the reopening of invisible wounds in an abstract pursuit of healing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Day One?
The closest matches to Day One are Jacknife (1989), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) and Waiting for Anya (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Day One?
Start with Jacknife (1989), the closest match to Day One.
What is the highest-rated movie like Day One?
Birdy (1984), rated 7.1/10 by 605 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Day One?
Cat's Eye (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Day One?
Yes: Jacknife (1989), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) and Waiting for Anya (2020).
How are movies similar to Day One chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Day One, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.