Movies like Aligarh (2016)
The best movies like Aligarh (2016) are Shattered Glass (2003), Radium Girls (2020) and Oranges and Sunshine (2010). If Aligarh 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 ratedBrokeback Mountain (2005)7.8/10 from 7,814 votes
- NewestGiant (2026)Released 2026
- In HindiIndia Is Ours (1950)Also in Hindi
Shattered Glass (2003)
Stephen Glass is a staff writer for the respected current events and policy magazine The New Republic and a freelance feature writer for publications such as Rolling Stone, Harper's and George. By the mid-90s, Glass' articles had turned him into one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington, but a bizarre chain of events - chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's September 1998 Vanity Fair article - suddenly stopped his career in its tracks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
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 thisOranges and Sunshine (2010)
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher (2022)
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisPanther (1995)
In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Month in the Country (1987)
A destitute WWI veteran is hired to help carry out restoration work on a medieval mural in a rural Yorkshire church. While living in the quiet village, he forms a close friendship with an archaeologist and begins to come to terms with his trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdventures of a Mathematician (2021)
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGiant (2026)
Follows Prince Naseem Hamed from his humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership, Naz’s unorthodox style, cocky persona, and sheer dominance in the ring propelled them to the top of boxing’s elite and unprecedented levels of global superstardom, all in the face of the rampant Islamophobia and racism of ’80s and 90’s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
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 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 thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny Minotaur (1971)
Johnny Minotaur is a lyrical explosion of taboos: incest, intergenerational desire, pansexuality and autoeroticism are a few of the issues Charles Henri Ford grapples with through mythopoeic, sensual imagery, recitations of his diaries and a philosophical debate featuring an impressive narration by such artists as Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Warren Sonbert and Lynne Tillman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
All About My Mother (1999)
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrokeback Mountain (2005)
In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndia Is Ours (1950)
Though times have changed, Ram still uses old ways of farming due to a drought in the village. His brother, Bala, goes to Bombay to earn his living. Mahadev, a Zamindar in the village, eyes Usha, the lover of Bala. Due to the drought, the crops fail in the village, and Shikh Sahib, a social worker, comes to help the farmers, and shows them new ways of farming. Ramu goes to Bombay to take a loan for cooperative farming and asks Bala to turn back to the village, but he refuses. [The film is a socio-economic study of post-independence India, blending documentary elements with narrative storytelling. The film is often described as a "simple story woven into the documentary design" and features actors like Prithviraj Kapoor and Dev Anand.]
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aakhari Decision (2010)
Aakhari Decision is a Bollywood action film directed by Deepak Bandhu and starring Anant Jog, Nagesh Bhonsle, Mushtaq Khan, Navni Parihar, Amar Sidhu, and Sumona Chakravarti. It was filmed in India and the United States.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Red Zone (TBA)
"Red Zone" is an International Feature Film in English language created by the Award Winning Film Maker Sunil Babbar. It is based on Buddhism. The film reflects the mysterious life journey of a revered Buddhist Monk, who wishes to achieve the Buddhahood in his present life, but falls down when a mysterious girl enters his life. Shot on the beautiful locales of Galle Fort in Sri Lanka, it presents the journey of two different persons belonging to two different Worlds, exhibiting their pains, agonies and their quest to achieve Buddhahood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aaj Aur Kal (1963)
An over-bearing oppressive emperor continues to preside over a region in post-independent India along with his subdued children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shukriyaa (1988)
Young and playful Neema's prank with a live electric wire kills her mother, and leaves her dad, Dayal, angered and devastated by Neema and his wife's death respectively. Dayal begins to resent his daughter so much so that he cannot stand the sight of her. Neema grows up to be nervous and insecure young woman, klutz-like, and terrified of her father. Things change for the better , when she meets the owner of a restaurant, Ajay Singh, and both fall in love w When Dayal comes to know of this, his anger knows no bounds, and he forbids her to ever see Ajay again. When Ajay finds out about Dayal's plan to marry Neema elsewhere, he is determined to marry Neema at all costs - and so is Neema, who now seems to have given up her timidity. What Neema does not know is that Ajay does not love her - all he is interested is humiliating and possibly killing Dayal - to set right a devastating incident that changed his life forever when he was a child. Will Ajay be able to carry out his deadly task?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ho Sakta Hai! (2006)
Mohan is a medical student who lives in the United States. One day, he receives a strange phone call from his grandfather asking him to come back to his native village in India. Once he arrives, he finds out that his brother and sister-in-law have mysteriously disappeared. Moreover, his little cousin Tanaji survived, but is behaving very strangely, he never speaks a word, gets up in the middle of the night, sometimes suddenly turns cold, and mistreats his toys. Mohan tries to solve the mystery, but fails to find a rational explanation for all the creepy things that happen. Everything points in the direction of the caretaker's wife, Parvati, who performs rituals of black magic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bulundi (1981)
A college professor agrees to teach the son of a gangster and becomes a pawn in a deadly game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Aligarh?
The closest matches to Aligarh are Shattered Glass (2003), Radium Girls (2020) and Oranges and Sunshine (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Aligarh?
Start with Shattered Glass (2003), the closest match to Aligarh.
What is the highest-rated movie like Aligarh?
Brokeback Mountain (2005), rated 7.8/10 by 7,814 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Aligarh?
Giant (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Aligarh?
Yes: India Is Ours (1950), Aakhari Decision (2010) and Aaj Aur Kal (1963).
How are movies similar to Aligarh chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Aligarh, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.