Movies like Tolkien (2019)
The best movies like Tolkien (2019) are Private Peaceful (2012), Legends of the Fall (1994) and Ride with the Devil (1999). If Tolkien hooked you with its war and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Imitation Game (2014)8.0/10 from 18,645 votes
- NewestDown the Arm of God (2026)Released 2026
Private 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 thisLegends of the Fall (1994)
In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRide with the Devil (1999)
Friends Jake and Jack Bull join up with Civil War guerrilla fighters, yet after the realities of war set in, they must decide what honor truly means.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead in the Clouds (2004)
Gilda Bessé shares her Paris apartment with an Irish schoolteacher, Guy Malyon, and Mia, a refugee from Spain. As the world drifts toward war, Gilda defiantly pursues her hedonistic lifestyle and her burgeoning career as a photographer. But Guy and Mia feel impelled to join the fight against fascism, and the three friends are separated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWomen in Love (1969)
Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited sisters Gudrun and Ursula explore erotic love with a wealthy playboy and a philosophical educator, with cataclysmic results for all four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenediction (2021)
Poet Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFar from the Madding Crowd (1967)
Bathsheba Everdine, a willful and flirtatious young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and becomes romantically involved with three widely divergent men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Summer of Love (2005)
In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. To seal their friendship, Mona introduces Tamsin to her born-again Christian brother and helps her spy on her adulterous father. Bound together by their secrets, the two girls see their friendship deepen and enter into dangerous waters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Getting By (2011)
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Imitation Game (2014)
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJourney's End (2017)
Set in a dugout in Aisne in 1918, a group of British officers, led by the mentally disintegrating young officer Stanhope, variously await their fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaterloo Bridge (1940)
On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNever Let Me Go (2010)
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for the haunting reality awaiting them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreat Expectations (2012)
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Longest Ride (2015)
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWar Horse (2011)
On the brink of the First World War, Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the Cavalry by his father. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy, and sorrow, and he transforms everyone he meets along the way. Meanwhile, Albert, unable to forget his equine friend, searches the battlefields of France to find Joey and bring him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmpire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
In 1429, a French teenager stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. As she reclaims God's diminished kingdom, this courageous young woman has various amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasualties of War (1989)
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Order (2003)
For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Joke (2010)
A bunch of friends are celebrating the birthday of one of them when they decide to play a joke on him. None of them could imagine the consequences that would befall them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth (2021)
Kenneth Feinberg, a powerful D.C. lawyer appointed Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, fights off the cynicism, bureaucracy, and politics associated with administering government funds and, in doing so, discovers what life is worth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDown the Arm of God (2026)
A young pastor goes through a harsh winter in a small Texas town, where his mission to help the homeless is faced with resistance by his congregation, exposing deep-seated prejudice and systemic failures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Šek, na kterém chyběl podpis (1974)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Indigo Blue (2025)
A desperate couple risks everything to secure life-saving surgery for their sick daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Concert of 1936 (1978)
In 1936, two female artists (a singer and a pianist) visit the city of Lushnja, which was very conservative.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Tolkien?
The closest matches to Tolkien are Private Peaceful (2012), Legends of the Fall (1994) and Ride with the Devil (1999). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Tolkien?
Start with Private Peaceful (2012), the closest match to Tolkien.
What is the highest-rated movie like Tolkien?
The Imitation Game (2014), rated 8.0/10 by 18,645 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Tolkien?
Down the Arm of God (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Tolkien?
Yes: Private Peaceful (2012), Legends of the Fall (1994) and Ride with the Devil (1999).
How are movies similar to Tolkien chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Tolkien, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.