Movies like The Return of the Crusader (1908)
The best movies like The Return of the Crusader (1908) are The Edge of the Blade (2023), Radium Girls (2020) and The Rays and Shadows (2026). If The Return of the Crusader 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 ratedNouvelle Vague (2025)7.2/10 from 299 votes
- NewestThe Rays and Shadows (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Edge of the Blade (2023)Also in French
The 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Rays and Shadows (2026)
Jean and Otto, a French newspaperman and a young German Francophile, are fighting for peace in Europe. Jean’s daughter, Corinne, is launching a brilliant acting career in the film world, but war breaks out and France is occupied. The two friends have a major role to play in this new France. Jean becomes a big press baron and an ardent advocate of collaboration with the occupying forces, while Otto becomes the Reich’s ambassador in Paris. Corinne, meanwhile, finds herself thrown into the lion’s pit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisMonsieur Vincent (1947)
The life of Vincent de Paul, the 17th-century author and priest who founded two religious orders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Brothers (2022)
Inspired by the story of Malik Oussekine, an affair of police violence which is believed to have caused the death of 22-year-old Malik Oussekine on the night of 5-6 December 1986, following several weeks of student protests against a university reform bill
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebellion (2011)
April 1988, Ouvéa Island, New Caledonia. 30 gendarmes are taken hostage by a group of Kanak freedom fighters. 300 soldiers are sent from France to re-establish order. 2 men confront each other: Philippe Legorjus, chief of the terrorist squad, and Alphonse Dianou, head of the kidnappers. Through their shared values, they will attempt to make discussion triumph. But, in the middle of a presidential election, when the stakes are political, order isn't always dictated by morality. A violent and troubling epic that marks the return of Mathieu Kassovitz in front and behind the camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCuriosa (2019)
A passionate love story set against a backdrop of sexual freedom, loosely based on the relationship between 19th century authors Pierre Louÿs and Marie de Régnier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisNouvelle Vague (2025)
After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, young Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He gets Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, creating a treatment with Truffaut about a gangster couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Violet (2024)
France. End of the 19th century. Louise Violet 40, a Parisian teacher, is sent on a mission to the French countryside. But in a place where the daily life is linked to the seasons, land and crops, she must first convince parents to send their kids to school. With the help of the mayor, she is gradually accepted by the parents and their children. But soon, her past catches up with her. Despite the obstacles she faces, Miss Violet will give her heart and soul to her belief that education is the key to freedom.
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 thisThe Pentagon Papers (2003)
This compelling political drama is based on the true story of high-ranking Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg, who, during the Nixon era, strove to preserve American democracy by leaking top-secret documents to the New York Times and Washington Post. The documents in question would eventually become famous as the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the true reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisStavisky... (1974)
Biarritz, 1933. Charm and talent assist small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French politics. But when his great scam involving millions is exposed, he brings the government to the verge of collapse and the country to the brink of civil war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisCezanne and I (2016)
They loved each other with the ardor of thirteen-year-old boys. Rebellion and curiosity, hopes and doubts, girls and dreams of glory – they shared it all. Paul was rich, Emile poor. They went skinny-dipping, drank absinthe, starved, only to overeat. Sketched models by day, caressed them by night... Now, Paul is a painter and Emile a writer. Glory has passed Paul by. But Emile has it all: fame, money, the perfect wife, whom Paul once loved. They judge each other, admire each other, confront each other. They lose touch, meet up again, like a couple who cannot stop loving each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisShattered 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 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 thisThe Book of Daniel (2013)
Taken into slavery after the fall of Jerusalem in 605 B.C., Daniel is forced to serve the most powerful king in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar. Faced with imminent death, Daniel proves himself a trusted Advisor and is placed among the king's wise men. Threatened by death at every turn Daniel never ceases to serve the king until he is forced to choose between serving the king or honoring God. With his life at stake, Daniel has nothing but his faith to stand between him and the lions' den.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreaking the Circles (2012)
Milena, a successful photographer from Macedonia decides to visit Prague and surprise her secret lover. Instead of a warm welcome, Milena faces the emptiness of the city. Most of the time she is alone thinking of their relationship and waiting for her mystique lover to appear. The city slowly drives her into a paranoid journey in which she is forced to face her greatest wishes, desires and fears. Her life is spinning in circles. Alone and desperate, she decides to break that circle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
This Too Shall Pass (2020)
An unsuccessful meeting with her estranged father leaves Noel questioning whether or not he deserves a role in her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Letter From Sally (2024)
Ezekiel gets a letter from his true love Sally stating she is being forced into marriage in a faraway town. On Horseback, he goes on a long journey to rescue her in the freezing winter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The mother earth (2014)
In the near future of 2019, all artistic activities that are not aimed at creating money for the state are legally prohibited. Fate of pure art expression is inevitably pursued by the institution, and fatefully at the moment of drama.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
PLASTIC CHAIRS (2026)
Plastic Chairs follows Dylan, a recovering addict forced back into a support meeting by his sister after a near-fatal overdose. There, he meets Tom — a man further along the same path, who recognises his own past in Dylan and quietly offers understanding rather than judgment. As stories are shared and silences linger, the film observes the difficult, often invisible act of choosing to stay. Plastic Chairs is an intimate short film about relapse, accountability, and the courage it takes to show up for yourself when it feels impossible. Chloe Webb makes her directorial debut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Ballad of the Sunset Kid (2025)
A granddaughter struggles to care for her grandfather, whose fading memories and haunting hallucinations blur reality, in this poignant tale of love and communication.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mister Chair (2020)
The man needs the trip. The job impedes him to do so. Then the man stuck to his chair! Loosely based on a short short story named "A Man Called Desk" from the book "Password Incorrect" written by Nick Name
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Mirror/Mirror The (2022)
A socially awkward teen gets caught between a changing friendship and a life-altering discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
It Was You (TBA)
Lauren and her friends gather for a carefree night of drinking and playing with a spirit board, but when the game takes a dark turn and buried secrets surface - friendships unravel and the line between truth and belief begins to blur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crow's Nest (2018)
Joey (13) returns home to live with his mother Daphne after she has regained custody over him and his brother Ricardo (8). While celebrating their reunification, their resolve to restore the balance of their relationship is tested.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return of the Crusader?
The closest matches to The Return of the Crusader are The Edge of the Blade (2023), Radium Girls (2020) and The Rays and Shadows (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return of the Crusader?
Start with The Edge of the Blade (2023), the closest match to The Return of the Crusader.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return of the Crusader?
Nouvelle Vague (2025), rated 7.2/10 by 299 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return of the Crusader?
The Rays and Shadows (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Return of the Crusader?
Yes: The Edge of the Blade (2023), The Rays and Shadows (2026) and Monsieur Vincent (1947).
How are movies similar to The Return of the Crusader chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return of the Crusader, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.