Movies like 1945 (2022)
The best movies like 1945 (2022) are Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023), The Last Rifleman (2023) and Kaala (2018). If 1945 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 ratedPrimal: Tales of Savagery (2019)8.4/10 from 372 votes
- NewestThe Legend of Van Dorn (2026)Released 2026
- In TamilPonniyin Selvan: Part II (2023)Also in Tamil
Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023)
968 AD. The Pandyan assassins gather once again to destroy the Chola dynasty. Now the mighty Chola princes must fight the Pandyas, the Rashtrakutas and other Chola enemies who have joined forces. Also, at play are the rumours of Ponniyin Selvan’s death at sea, the powerful Pazhuvettarayar’s betrayal, and the tragic destiny of Aditha Karikalan, whose heart was long lost to the vengeful Nandini.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Rifleman (2023)
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKaala (2018)
Karikaalan consistently fights to keep the people of Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, safe from the clutches of mighty politicians and the land mafia don, Hari Dhadha.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPalestine 36 (2025)
Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is relentless. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe and some arriving with nefarious Zionist-colonial ambitions, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPadayappa (1999)
Padayappa, a mechanical engineer whose father gives up his property to his foster brother, and then dies of shock soon after. Neelambari initially loves Padayappa, but plans to humiliate him after his family humiliates her father. The rest of the plot deals with Padayappa overcoming all the obstacles placed by Neelambari.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
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 action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViswasam (2019)
A village ruffian, who settles disputes in his native, takes on a big shot when he tries to sort out the rough patch in his marriage after several years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSoorarai Pottru (2020)
Nedumaaran Rajangam "Maara" sets out to make the common man fly and in the process takes on the world's most capital intensive industry and several enemies who stand in his way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisViceroy's House (2017)
In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKodi (2016)
A young politician finds himself in a position where he has to contest against his girlfriend, who is ambitious. Circumstances force his look-alike twin to also get involved in this political battle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 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 thisRocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022)
The story of the great Indian rocket scientist, Shri Nambi Narayanan's life, a true patriot, who was turned into a villain in the blink of an eye after being falsely accused of treason.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell's Angels (1930)
As the Great War breaks out in Europe, English brothers Roy and Monte enlist in the Royal Flying Corps to fight for king and country, while their Oxford College friend Karl is ordered back to Germany. As a love triangle develops involving Monte, Roy, and Roy's girlfriend, Helen, the brothers' disparate personalities, and Monte's cowardice in the face of war soon threaten to compromise a top-secret bombing mission over German territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Birth of a Nation (1915)
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisZulu Dawn (1979)
In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsuran (2019)
A family from the underprivileged class is on the run after the teenaged son kills a rich man from the upper caste. Can the pacifist father be able to save his hot-blooded son?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Passage to India (1984)
Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmaran (2024)
A heroic true story of Major Mukund Varadarajan, an Indian Army officer who displayed extraordinary bravery during a counterterrorism mission in Kashmir’s Shopian district. The film captures his courage in protecting his nation and the devotion of his wife Indhu Rebecaa Varghese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrimal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Tales of Savagery features a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRaja Shivaji (2026)
Chronicles the rise of young Shivaji Bhonsale, who challenged the might of established empires to found the Maratha kingdom and lay the groundwork for 'Swarajya' (self-rule) during a turbulent period of Indian history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & history
Palace of Ambition (1957)
A nobleman bribes a maidservant to gain access to the palace and poison the crown prince. Another noble, loyal to the royal family, learns the of the plot and must learn the identity of the would-be assassin before he can succeed in throwing the country into chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
The Legend of Van Dorn (2026)
A brilliant but disgraced Civil War general gets a second chance in a quiet Tennessee town, but as his bold tactics win battles, a dangerous affair with a married woman, and her jealous husband’s vengeance, threatens to destroy him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Dead Men (2018)
Jesse Struthers and his brother Jake find themselves on the run after a band of men begin murdering their family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Gustav III:s äktenskap (2001)
At 30 years old King Gustav III has a number of great projects behind him already, but his most demanding in front of him - to consummate his marriage and put an heir on the throne. With both determination and anxiety the king begins his amorous battle to secure succession.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Sangamithra (TBA)
Set in the 8th century A.D., Sangamithra is the story of an Indian Princess and the trials and tribulations she undergoes so as to save her kingdom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Young Victoria (2009)
As the only legitimate heir of England's King William, teenage Victoria gets caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Victoria's mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who will become the love of her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Aspern Papers (2019)
A young writer tries to obtain romance letters a poet sent to his mistress.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Super Ninja Squad Inazuma!! SPARK (2007)
A year after the prequel's events, Jun is now producing a sequel to her original show and has the daughter of Magical TV's president as her female lead. However, Tsubame is unable to keep herself from helping those she feels are in need, and she is accidentally sent to the Edo period where she tries to befriend a ronin shinobi. Hosomatsu and Kankichi are trying to find out who is killing all of daimyo, but Kaguya is traveling with Tojiro, so they are down one member as Inazuma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like 1945 and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like 1945?
The closest matches to 1945 are Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023), The Last Rifleman (2023) and Kaala (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after 1945?
Start with Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023), the closest match to 1945.
What is the highest-rated movie like 1945?
Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), rated 8.4/10 by 372 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like 1945?
The Legend of Van Dorn (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Tamil movies like 1945?
Yes: Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023), Kaala (2018) and Padayappa (1999).
How are movies similar to 1945 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 1945, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.