Movies like The Return (1979)
The best movies like The Return (1979) are Waiting for Anya (2020), The War Below (2021) and The One That Got Away (1957). If The Return 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 Longest Day (1962)7.6/10 from 1,069 votes
- NewestThe Codes of War (2025)Released 2025
Waiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
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 war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe One That Got Away (1957)
Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMen in War (1957)
In Korea, on 6 September 1950, Lieutenant Benson's platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held territory after a retreat. Soon they are joined by Sergeant Montana, whose overriding concern is caring for his catatonic colonel. Benson and Montana can't stand each other, but together they must get the survivors to Hill 465, where they hope the division is waiting. It's a long, harrowing march, fraught with all the dangers the elusive enemy can summon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
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 drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWalking with the Enemy (2014)
Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJacknife (1989)
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2019)
When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beast of War (1988)
During the war in Afghanistan a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 war & drama
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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
During a raid on Germany, a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland, where they're aided by Dutch civilians.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Monuments Men (2014)
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young Lions (1958)
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWolf Hound (2022)
Inspired by the real-life German special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses, "Wolf Hound" takes place in 1944 German-occupied France and follows the daring exploits of Jewish-American fighter pilot Captain David Holden. Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade a ruthless enemy stalking him at every turn, and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSahara (1995)
After the fall of Tobruk in June 1942, U.S. Army sergeant Joe Gunn leads his tank into the Sahara desert, in order to evade advancing Rommel's forces and reach Allied lines. Along the way he picks up few Allied soldiers, but soon they are running out of water. They find water at the ancient well, but the well is a goal of an entire German battalion. Despite the impossible odds, Sergeant Gunn decides to defend the well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Codes of War (2025)
War stories about family, ethics and honor include the true story of two U.S. Marines who in a span of six seconds, must stand their ground to stop a suicide truck bomb, a Navy Corpsman who attempts to hold on to his humanity, and a WW2 soldier who gets separated from his squad and is forced to re-evaluate his code.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Counterfeiters (2007)
The story of Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch, who was coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUn crime de guerre (1994)
A film that relates the trial in Bordeaux in January 1953 of some of the participants in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre of June 10, 1944.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Train of Life (1998)
In 1941, the inhabitants of a small Jewish village in Central Europe organize a fake deportation train so that they can escape the Nazis and flee to Palestine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Book (2006)
Israel, 1956: Jewish teacher Rachel Stein rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz. It brings back memories of her experiences in the Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. In September 1944, Rachel's hiding place is bombed by Allied troops; she makes contact with a resistance member and joins a group of Jews to be smuggled across the Biesbosch to the freed South Netherlands. Only Rachel escapes a massacre by patrol Germans, and is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers, whose son is captured trying to smuggle weapons. Kuipers asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze, a mission that she will soon learn that the boat attack wasn't a coincidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Longest Day (1962)
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlame & Citron (2008)
Gunman Flame and his partner Citron assassinate Nazi collaborators for the Danish resistance. Assigned targets by their Allies-connected leader, Aksel Winther, they relish the opportunity to begin targeting the Nazis themselves. When they begin to doubt the validity of their assignments, their morally complicated task becomes even more labyrinthine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tóth Family (1969)
The Tóth family resides in Northern Hungary. The couple has a daughter and a son, the latter a member of the armed forces. When his weary major is ordered to take a vacation, the son talks him into a visit to his family home. Hilarity ensues when the Tóths go overboard trying to make things pleasant for the visiting major in hopes of an easier life for their son, the soldier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Europa Europa (1990)
A Jewish boy separated from his family in the early days of WWII poses as a German orphan and is taken into the heart of the Nazi world as a 'war hero' and eventually becomes a Hitler Youth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caine Mutiny (1954)
When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnigma (2001)
The story of the WWII project to crack the code behind the Enigma machine, used by the Germans to encrypt messages sent to their submarines.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return?
The closest matches to The Return are Waiting for Anya (2020), The War Below (2021) and The One That Got Away (1957). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return?
Start with Waiting for Anya (2020), the closest match to The Return.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return?
The Longest Day (1962), rated 7.6/10 by 1,069 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return?
The Codes of War (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Return chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.