Movies like In the Name of the Father (1971)
The best movies like In the Name of the Father (1971) are Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), Il Sorpasso (1962) and Come Into the Light (2005). If In the Name of the Father hooked you with its history and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIl Sorpasso (1962)8.2/10 from 877 votes
- NewestGod Forgives Everyone (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianBrother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)Also in Italian
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIl Sorpasso (1962)
Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer. When their journey starts to blend into their daily lives though, the pair’s newfound friendship is tested.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCome Into the Light (2005)
In 1990s Palermo, Pino Puglisi is a priest from the neglected Brancaccio neighborhood dedicated in helping kids to get off the streets and creating an embracing place of hope and solidarity in his church, which means trouble for the local Mafia. He continues his solitary fight until the bitter end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGod Forgives Everyone (2026)
Arturo is a lonely, gluttonous, and disillusioned Sicilian real estate agent. His mundane life finally finds its spark through his one true passion: Sicilian pastries. It’s over a tray of cannoli that he meets his soulmate, Flora. She is everything he ever dreamed of—beautiful, witty, and brilliant. To top it off, she’s a pastry chef. However, a divine obstacle stands between them: God. While Flora is a devout, fervent Catholic, Arturo abandoned his faith as a child. Desperate not to lose the woman of his dreams, he decides to "fake it 'til he makes it," pretending to be a man of deep conviction. Guiding Arturo on this chaotic journey toward truth, faith, and Flora’s heart is an unlikely mentor and friend: Pope Francis himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & 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 & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDemetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
The story picks up at the point where "The Robe" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Robe (1953)
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasilicata Coast To Coast (2010)
A musical comedy, a journey filled with unexpected twists and unexpected encounters, leading a group of musicians to set out to the rhythm of their musical verses to participate in the Scanzano Jonico Song-Theatre Festival, walking across Basilicata, from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian Sea, along the route that gives the project its name. The journey will have a therapeutic effect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEverything You Want (2017)
An aimless young troublemaker, Alessandro, squanders his days gambling and getting into fights, and he often spends his nights in jail. With few prospects, he begrudgingly accepts a job as a companion to Giorgio, an elderly poet suffering from Alzheimer’s. On their daily walks, the two banter and become friends, and Alessandro quickly learns more about this forgotten poet as the old man’s memory drifts. After learning a secret from Giorgio’s past, Alessandro and his friends work to uncover the mystery of this tale, an unexpected history lesson and a touching coming-of-age adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Difficult Life (1961)
Silvio refuses to fight for the fascists and joins the resistance with Elena. After the war, his vitriolic newspaper articles cause him to be sentenced to imprisonment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Last Time We Were Children (2023)
Rome, summer 1943. Four children play war while the bombs of real war explode around them. Italo is the rich son of the Federal, Cosimo has his father in confinement and an atavistic hunger, Vanda is an orphan and a believer, Riccardo comes from a wealthy Jewish family. They are different but they don't know it and between them "the greatest friendship in the world" is born, impervious to the divisions of history that bloodies Europe. But on October 16 the Jewish boy is taken away by the Germans together with over a thousand people from the Ghetto. Thanks to Italo's father Federale, the three friends believe they know where he is and, to honor the "spit pact", decide to leave in secret to convince the Germans to free their friend. Yet another imaginative mission becomes reality, the three children travel alone in an Italy exhausted by war, among disbanded soldiers, deserters, occupying German troops, exhausted and hungry populations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Name of the Italian People (1971)
An obscure Italian magistrate suspects that a well-known industrialist commited murder, and decides to investigate him, and bring him to court, whatever it takes. But - will the magistrate have it in him to go against impossible odds, in the name of the Italian people he represents?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBut Forever in My Mind (1999)
Teenage problems intertwine during the occupation of a high school in Rome. Silvio—much like his peers desperate to lose his virginity—wants to make his move on the girl he likes, despite her being already his friend's girlfriend and not knowing that her best friend harbors feelings for him—while clashing also with his parents, onetime Sixties radicals who look down on the kids' aimless political commitment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is given the all-star treatment in this epic retelling. Major aspects of Christ's life are touched upon, including the execution of all the newborn males in Egypt by King Herod; Christ's baptism by John the Baptist; and the betrayal by Judas after the Last Supper that eventually leads to Christ's crucifixion and miraculous return.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Name of the Pope King (1977)
In 1867, with Garibaldi's forces close to bringing Rome into the Italian kingdom, Monsignor Colombo da Priverno, a world-weary judge on the papal court, wants to resign, disgusted by the violence to which the papacy resorts to hold secular power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Vitelloni (1953)
Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto, the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Morgan's Last Love (2013)
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMafioso (1962)
When a good-natured factory supervisor living in Milan with his Northern wife returns to his native Sicily, a decades' old oath forces him to fulfill a nightmarish obligation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArn: The Kingdom at Road's End (2008)
Arn has served his term in the Holy land and returns home to be reunited with his beloved Cecilia. When he returns home, he discovers that political forces tries to separate him and Cecilia - but thanks to queen Blanka they can finally get married. Arn knows that war is looming and with his martial knowledge he starts to build an army at his new home at Forsvik.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoul Play (1978)
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Righteous (2021)
A burdened man feels the wrath of a vengeful God after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
The Pink Panther 2 (2009)
When legendary treasures from around the world are stolen, including the priceless Pink Panther Diamond, Chief Inspector Dreyfus is forced to assign Inspector Clouseau to a team of international detectives and experts charged with catching the thief and retrieving the stolen artifacts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisSimon Birch (1998)
Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOctet (TBA)
Eight internet-obsessed people meet in a church basement and lock their phones in a box. They follow the octet as they struggle with digital dependency, charting their compulsions using only the analog vibrancy of their own voices.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Good Book (2014)
A small New Testament passes through the hands of fourteen strangers. For seven of the individuals, their lives will never be the same.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Modern Cinderella (1965)
Katerina, a poor girl, finds a job as a secretary and falls in love with her boss on a trip to Rome.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2008)
The lives of twelve year old buddies Dustin, Albert, and Mark, sharing a carefree existence in the summer of 1970, suddenly changes when Dustin makes an unexpected friend after cutting the lawn of 75 year old Jonathan Sperry. As the old man shares lessons in faith with the preteen trio, a spiritual transformation occurs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angels & Demons (2009)
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is recruited by the Vatican to investigate the apparent return of the Illuminati – a secret, underground organization – after four cardinals are kidnapped on the night of the papal conclave.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like In the Name of the Father?
The closest matches to In the Name of the Father are Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), Il Sorpasso (1962) and Come Into the Light (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after In the Name of the Father?
Start with Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), the closest match to In the Name of the Father.
What is the highest-rated movie like In the Name of the Father?
Il Sorpasso (1962), rated 8.2/10 by 877 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like In the Name of the Father?
God Forgives Everyone (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like In the Name of the Father?
Yes: Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), Il Sorpasso (1962) and Come Into the Light (2005).
How are movies similar to In the Name of the Father chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside In the Name of the Father, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.