Movies like How to Die (1972)
The best movies like How to Die (1972) are The History of Love (2016), Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) and Ship of Fools (1965). If How to Die hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
How to Die
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFirebird (2021)7.4/10 from 255 votes
- NewestKokoro: Heart of a City (2025)Released 2025
The History of Love (2016)
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvery Time We Say Goodbye (1986)
A Protestant World War II pilot and a Jewish girl fall in love in Jerusalem, even though their diverse backgrounds threaten to pull them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShip of Fools (1965)
A varied group of passengers aboard a ship bound for pre-WWII Germany represents a microcosm of early-1930s society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarrison's Flowers (2000)
1991. Harrison Lloyd, a renowned photojournalist covering the war in Yugoslavia, is reported missing. Sarah, his wife, convinced that he is not dead, decides to go to Bosnia to find him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirebird (2021)
At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a daring fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
A German soldier home on leave falls in love with a girl, then returns to World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrivate Peaceful (2012)
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear John (2010)
While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEdge of the City (1957)
A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this1 Mile To You (2017)
After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChinese Box (1997)
The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlesh and the Devil (1926)
When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKokoro: Heart of a City (2025)
Film anthology that assembles stories about heartbreak, friendship, first love and self-love involving modern and complex relationships in Mexico City, where different young and old people go through different stages of personal growth in a magical, loving, toxic and sometimes even surreal city, where it is just as easy to run into other characters who live similar situations, as it is to meet the love of your life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Perverted Adolescence (1974)
Professor Mirella Buzzati, recovering from a failed relationship that ended with a divorce from her husband, travels to Perugia where she has obtained a mathematics teaching position at a high school. Her hatred of men, evident during the train ride and in her interactions with male colleagues who quickly flock to her, quickly yields to the attractiveness of Alain, a student nicknamed "the dark and handsome" by the high school girls. He already has a relationship with Giorgina, a fellow student of the same age and a fanatical militant of "Lotta Continua." In an effort to win over her idol, Mirella becomes unscrupulous in her teaching, preaches political and sexual revolution; she earns the headmaster's rebukes, and heaps scathing criticism on her rival Giorgina. After a stint in Paris with a lesbian colleague, the professor resumes her attack and obtains Alain's physical performance, but not her love: the boy understands her well and deeply despises her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Gerry (2002)
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParty Monster (2003)
The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOut of Range (2016)
Jerin (Ajayaghosh), at crossroads with his stagnant love life; Subru Vishnu Unnikrishnan), fed up with his mom's argumentative nature; Sanjay (Sumith Samudra), all against his reckless job schedule; Aashiq (Askar Ali), annoyed with unending family obligations - are four friends with instability in their lives. On one decisive night, the four friends take an unusual oath, to quit using their mobile phones forever. From the next daybreak, the world around them turns upside down. Sacking, break-up, and resentment follows. After the initial chaos, they seem to enjoy the peace, ease, and all the joys. However, this is just the beginning of another story. A steely resolve for more adventure, more determination, more drama, and more blows. Will they live to tell the tale?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
So What (1988)
In a small town, high school students in their final year try to balance their studies while also playing together in a rock band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Buying the Cow (2002)
A commitment-averse man frantically hits the dating scene after his girlfriend starts pressuring him to pop the question.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisRed Blow (1974)
At the beginning of the war the Germans come to the mine Trepca in Kosovo and occupy it. Communist Party and the workers do not agree with that and under constant repression, beginning small diversions, which will be transferred in the conquest and liberation of the entire mine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Forgotten Pills (2010)
Four friends meet to take mysterious pills that cause instant amnesia at the stroke of midnight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Snipers Valley (2007)
Young Bundeswehr soldiers Tom and Charly are stationed in Kosovo with the KFOR peacekeeping force. Their mission is to secure peace. Although the brutal war between the enemy Serbs and Albanians is officially over, the hatred between people continues to smoulder. When Tom and Charly rescue the young Serbian Mirjana from the fatal shot of the young sniper Durcan, they get caught between all fronts. They lose their professional distance due to the resulting closeness to Mirjana - who has to learn that her father was a war criminal - but also to Durcan - whose entire family was wiped out. Soon they are entangled in a conflict about guilt, manipulation, love and revenge...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like How to Die and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like How to Die?
The closest matches to How to Die are The History of Love (2016), Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) and Ship of Fools (1965). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after How to Die?
Start with The History of Love (2016), the closest match to How to Die.
What is the highest-rated movie like How to Die?
Firebird (2021), rated 7.4/10 by 255 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like How to Die?
Kokoro: Heart of a City (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to How to Die chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside How to Die, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.