Movies like The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
The best movies like The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) are Queen Margot (1994), The Trial of Joan of Arc (1963) and The Story of Adèle H. (1975). If The Return of Martin Guerre 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 ratedJean de Florette (1986)7.7/10 from 640 votes
- NewestThe Flood (2024)Released 2024
- In FrenchQueen Margot (1994)Also in French
Queen Margot (1994)
Paris, Kingdom of France, August 18, 1572. To avoid the outbreak of a religious war, the Catholic princess Marguerite de Valois, sister of the feeble King Charles IX, marries the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trial of Joan of Arc (1963)
Rouen, Normandy, 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by French soldiers from an opposing faction, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, is unjustly tried by an ecclesiastical court overseen by her English enemies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Story of Adèle H. (1975)
In the 19th century a mysterious woman named Adele H. crosses the ocean, from Europe to North America, to relentlessly pursue a handsome officer that denies her satisfaction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Man for All Seasons (1966)
A depiction of the conflict between King Henry VIII of England and his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who refuses to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church in England.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDangerous Beauty (1998)
Veronica is brilliant, gifted and beautiful, but the handsome aristocrat she loves, Marco Venier, cannot marry her because she is penniless and of questionable family. So Veronica's mother, Paola, teaches her to become a courtesan, one of the exotic companions favored by the richest and most powerful Venetian men. Veronica courageously uses her charms to change destiny -- and to give herself a chance at true love.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLes Misérables (1982)
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Princess of Montpensier (2010)
Set in the high courts of 16th Century France, where the wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants are raging. Marie de Mézières, a beautiful young aristocrat, is in love with Henri de Guise, but her hand in marriage is promised to the Prince of Montpensier.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Judge and the Assassin (1976)
France, 1893. Joseph Bouvier attempts to shoot his love who refused to marry him and to commit suicide. Upon release from the filthy asylum where he was placed, with bullets still remaining in his head, he wanders the country roads and rapes and murders many teenagers over years. The judge Rousseau captures him, but to serve his ambition seeks to avoid that Bouvier is simply declared insane.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Horseman on the Roof (1995)
In a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAge of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013)
In the 16th century in the Cévennes, a horse dealer by the name of Michael Kohlhaas leads a happy and prosperous family life. When a lord treats him unjustly, this pious, upstanding man raises an army and puts the country to fire and sword in order to have his rights restored.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisGoya's Ghosts (2006)
Painter Francisco Goya becomes involved with the Spanish Inquisition after his muse, Inés, is arrested by the church for heresy. Her family turns to him, hoping that his connection with fanatical Inquisitor Lorenzo, whom he is painting, can secure her release.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Profession of Arms (2001)
In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Relic (1970)
A medieval love story with lots of adventures. The times are troubled - there's a revolt of peasants going on. To secure its safety a monastery chases for a relics of a holy Brigitte. A nobleman promises to get it if he gets beautiful Agnes as a reward. But she fells in love with a handsome adventurer. The monastery has to act shrewd now and play double game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history
The Wild Child (1970)
The true story of Victor of Aveyron. In a French forest circa 1798, an abandoned child — feral, filthy and mentally impaired — is found. Dr Jean Marc Gaspard Itard becomes interested in the case and patiently attempts to civilise the boy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSaint Joan (1957)
In 1456, French King Charles VII recalls the story of how he met the 17-year-old peasant girl Joan of Arc, entrusted her with the command of the French Army, and ultimately burned her at the stake as a heretic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Lust for Life (1956)
An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable talent, but he is plagued by mental problems and frustrations with failure. Supported by his brother, Theo, the tormented Van Gogh eventually leaves Holland for France, where he meets volatile fellow painter Paul Gauguin and struggles to find greater inspiration.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJean de Florette (1986)
In a rural French village, an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, and are dismayed to hear that the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts, they think only of getting the water.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000)
In 1850, on the isolated French island of Saint-Pierre, a murder shocks the natives. Two fishermen are arrested. One of them, Louis Ollivier, dies in custody. The other, Neel Auguste, is sentenced to death by the guillotine. The island is so small that it has neither a guillotine nor an executioner. While those are sent for Auguste is placed under the supervision of an army Captain.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoan of Arc (1948)
In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen-year-old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army, and conquers Orleans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoan the Maid II: The Prisons (1994)
Jeanne has succeeded in lifting the siege of Orléans and Charles has been crowned King of France. However, she is injured in an attempt to take Paris, weakening her position at court. Captured by the enemy and put on trial, she finds both her life and the sanctity of her body at stake.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Manon of the Spring (1986)
In this, the sequel to Jean de Florette, Manon has grown into a beautiful young shepherdess living in the idyllic Provencal countryside. She plots vengeance on the men who greedily conspired to acquire her father's land years earlier.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flood (2024)
1792. Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their children have been arrested and imprisoned in the Tour du Temple, a sinister chateau in Paris, awaiting their trial. Far from the splendour of Versailles, they are isolated and vulnerable for the first time in their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Edge of the Blade (2023)
In 1887, at a time when duels are in vogue in Paris, Clément Lacaze and Marie-Rose Astié meet. He's a charismatic master of arms; she's a feminist, far ahead of her time. Clément gets caught in a spiral of violence and decides to initiate Marie-Rose in the art of dueling. The two must work together to save face. How far will they go to defend their honor?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarewell, My Queen (2012)
A look at the relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her readers during the final days of the French Revolution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisJoan of Arc (2019)
In the 15th century, both France and England stake a blood claim for the French throne. Believing that God had chosen her, young Joan leads the army of the King of France. When she is captured, the Church sends her for trial on charges of heresy. Refusing to accept the accusations, the graceful Joan will stay true to her mission.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Affair of the Necklace (2001)
In pre-Revolutionary France, a young aristocratic woman left penniless by the political unrest in the country, must avenge her family's fall from grace by scheming to steal a priceless necklace.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966)
Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum in which the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule. Mazarin's fiscal advisor, Colbert, warns against Fouquet, the Superintendant who has been systematically looting the treasury and wants to be prime minister. Fouquet believes Louis will soon tire of exercizing power and overplays his hand by offering a bribe to Louis' mistress to be his ally. She reports this to the king who arrests Fouquet. Louis and Colbert design a brilliant strategy to keep merchants making money, nobles in debt, the urban poor working and fed, and peasants untaxed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGerminal (1993)
It's mid 19th century, north of France. The story of a coal miner's town. They are exploited by the mine's owner. One day the decide to go on strike, and then the authorities repress them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLes Miserables (1995)
In WWII France, poor and illiterate Henri Fortin is introduced to Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Misérables and begins to see parallels between the book and his own life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaens (1992)
Father Daens returns to Aalst, where workers suffer from poverty, child labor, and exploitation in the textile industry. Driven by his sense of justice, he takes their side, even if it means confronting the church and the upper class. A detailed historical drama about the fight for justice.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Return of Martin Guerre and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return of Martin Guerre?
The closest matches to The Return of Martin Guerre are Queen Margot (1994), The Trial of Joan of Arc (1963) and The Story of Adèle H. (1975). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return of Martin Guerre?
People who watched The Return of Martin Guerre most often go on to Queen Margot (1994), The Trial of Joan of Arc (1963) and The Story of Adèle H. (1975).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return of Martin Guerre?
Jean de Florette (1986), rated 7.7/10 by 640 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return of Martin Guerre?
The Flood (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Return of Martin Guerre?
Yes: Queen Margot (1994), The Trial of Joan of Arc (1963) and The Story of Adèle H. (1975).
How are movies similar to The Return of Martin Guerre chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return of Martin Guerre, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.