Movies like Rumination (2009)
The best movies like Rumination (2009) are Dalíland (2022), A Call to Spy (2020) and Youth (2017). If Rumination hooked you with its history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Call to Spy (2020)6.8/10 from 219 votes
- NewestThe Lychee Road (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseYouth (2017)Also in Chinese
Dalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYouth (2017)
A group of performing art troupe members each face their own trials and tribulations in Chengdu; from escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lychee Road (2025)
A Tang Dynasty minor official risks everything to deliver lychees across China. Li Shande, middle-aged and struggling, sees this dangerous mission as his last chance for success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConfirmation (2016)
Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had sexually harassed her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Turner (2014)
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoltzius & the Pelican Company (2012)
Hendrik Goltzius, a late-16th-century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints, seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMayerling (1968)
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (2025)
Under Genghis Khan, the Mongolian army pushes west to destroy the Jin Dynasty, setting its sights on the Song Dynasty next. Amid internal conflicts among martial arts schools, Guo Jing unites the Central Plains' warriors to defend Xiangyang, embodying courage and loyalty in the fight for the nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Eyez on Me (2017)
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
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 history
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 history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOutlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHibiscus Town (1987)
Based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua, a melodrama about the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMary (2024)
A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
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 history
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 history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy People, My Country (2019)
Anthology of short films directed by several different directors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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 history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwenty Two (2017)
Follow the lives of the elderly survivors who were forced into sex slavery as “Comfort Women” by the Japanese during World War II. At the time of filming, only 22 of these women were still alive to tell their story. Through their own personal histories and perspectives, they tell a tale that should never be forgotten to generations unaware of the brutalization that occurred.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Roda Viva Roda Brasil (2019)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)
The final 17 years of American singer and musician Karen Carpenter, performed almost entirely by modified Barbie dolls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBalkan Erotic Epic - Single Channel Version (2005)
The film explores the sexual aspects of Serbian folklore. Ancient myths that have trickled into everyday household remedies or explanations are juxtaposed with the joys of the female and male sexual forms from which all human life originates. Functioning as both sexual liberation and reinvented modern myth, Balkan Erotic Epic is a display of the need for a cultural change in viewpoint around sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
ACT (1989)
Several fragments of one day in Leningrad in the autumn of 1989, refracted in the imagination of the artist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Do Not August, 1991 (1994)
The film was made in the days of the August 1991 coup in Leningrad, USSR . Respecting the manner of a proprietary parallel cinema with the use of hand-held camera . Subsequently, Lars von Trier in his " Dogma " went on the same way , using a handheld camera without a tripod or placing special light. The soundtrack of the film is the soundtrack Emergency Committee appeal for the All-Union Radio August 19, 1991 . The film captured the moment of change red tricolor flag on the roof of the Mariinsky Palace on August 20, 1991.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Mitsu (2019)
Countess Mitsuko Maria Thekla Coudenhove-Kalergi was the first Japanese female to come to Europe at the turn of the 19th century. She lived mostly in the area of the Bavarian border and administered the Poběžovice Castle, an estate of her deceased husband, Count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi. She was a strong and well educated woman, never left by the nostalgia for her home. The film is loosely inspired by historical sources, relying on the unique imagination of Mark Ther and his proven feel for the narrative of the untold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Nine Muses (2010)
Part documentary, part personal essay, this experimental film combines archive imagery with the striking wintry landscapes of Alaska to tell the story of immigrant experience coming into the UK from 1960 onwards.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Since (1966)
Andy Warhol's experimental reconstruction of the assassination of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, which serves as his critical commentary on the way the media presented the tragic event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Bigmoon Nights (1991)
The film "Nights full moon" shows the tendency of moral decay in society. The main character is torn apart by internal contradictions, leading him to the path of Evil. Bans on self-identification - philosophical, existential, sexual, and then permissiveness spawn a monster that is not aware of its true nature and genuine desires. Throughout the film-trilogy, the protagonist goes through a series of temptations that ruin his soul and lead, after all, to a madhouse. In a general sense, the film allegorically shows the tragic path of the Russian lumpen intellectual, lost between the past and the present, not finding the strength to accept and comprehend the unexpected changes that happened in our country twenty years ago. In the global sense - the tragic circle of Russian history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rumination?
The closest matches to Rumination are Dalíland (2022), A Call to Spy (2020) and Youth (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rumination?
Start with Dalíland (2022), the closest match to Rumination.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rumination?
A Call to Spy (2020), rated 6.8/10 by 219 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rumination?
The Lychee Road (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Rumination?
Yes: Youth (2017), The Lychee Road (2025) and Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (2025).
How are movies similar to Rumination chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rumination, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.