Movies like Playing for Time (1980)
The best movies like Playing for Time (1980) are Fateless (2005), Triumph of the Spirit (1989) and Death Is My Trade (1977). If Playing for Time hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSchindler's List (1993)8.6/10 from 18,160 votes
- NewestThe Yellow Tie (2025)Released 2025
Fateless (2005)
A Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriumph of the Spirit (1989)
During World War II, Salamo Arouch, a passionate boxer, is arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Soon, he is forced to box against his fellow prisoners for the sake of entertainment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Is My Trade (1977)
A biography of Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Guard of Auschwitz (2018)
Nazi occupied Poland, during the World War II. Hans, a former brilliant student, has become an SS officer stationed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. When he is commissioned by his superior officer to build an efficient gas chamber, Hans, facing the harsh reality, begins to realize the magnitude of the atrocious acts of which he is being accomplice.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Bau, Artist at War (2024)
Based on the true story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau, whose wedding took place in the Plaszow concentration camp during WW2. Using his artistic skills, Joseph stays alive and helps hundreds to escape. Miraculously, he finds love in the midst of despair. Years later, when called to be a key witness in the trial of the brutal Nazi officer who tortured him and killed his father, Joseph is thrust back into vivid memories of the Holocaust. Now, he calls upon this love and resilience of spirit to face the ultimate demon of his past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Name Is Sara (2020)
The true life-story of Sara Góralnik, a 13 year-old Polish Jew whose entire family was killed by Nazis in September of 1942. After a grueling escape to the Ukrainian countryside, Sara steals her Christian best friend’s identity and finds refuge in a small village, where she is taken in by a farmer and his young wife. She soon discovers the dark secrets of her employers’ marriage, compounding the greatest secret she must strive to protect, her true identity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Swing Kids (1993)
The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazis begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLost Transport (2022)
In the spring of 1945, a train deporting hundreds of Jewish prisoners gets stranded near a small German village occupied by the Red Army. Condemned to each other and in a context of deep mistrust, desperation and revenge, an unexpected friendship emerges between Russian sniper Vera, village girl Winnie and Jewish-Dutch woman Simone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
The Yellow Tie (2025)
The extraordinary life of Sergiu Celibidache, from his childhood in Romania to his exile in pursuit of a career in music, his struggle for survival in wartime Germany and his rise, fall and rise again, in an unimaginable life journey.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
In 1930s Italy, a wealthy Jewish family tries to maintain their privileged lifestyle, hosting friends for tennis and parties at their villa. As anti-Semitism intensifies under Fascism, they must ultimately face the horrors of the Holocaust.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Champion (2021)
It is 1940. The first transport of prisoners arrives at the newly created concentration camp Auschwitz. One of them is Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski, pre-war boxing champion of Warsaw. The camp officers force him to fight in the ring for his and other prisoners’ lives. However, his every win strengthens the hope that Nazis are not invincible. Auschwitz officers notice the growing resistance. The confrontation with the authorities of the camp becomes inevitable.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
The true, harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends, is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSchindler's List (1993)
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Song of Names (2019)
A man searches for his childhood best friend, a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust, who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
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: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll the Mornings of the World (1991)
Following the death of his wife, a renowned musician ostracises himself from the outer world and dedicates his life to music. However, his life changes when a young man approaches him to learn music.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape from Sobibor (1987)
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boat Is Full (1981)
During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier. They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn. They pose as a family: the deserter as husband, Judith as his wife, an old man from Vienna as her father, his granddaughter and the French lad, whom they beg to keep silent, as their children. Judith's teenage brother poses as a soldier. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who gets deported?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
In 1943, as Hitler continues to wage war across Europe, a group of college students mount an underground resistance movement in Munich. Dedicated expressly to the downfall of the monolithic Third Reich war machine, they call themselves the White Rose. One of its few female members, Sophie Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute pamphlets on campus with her brother Hans. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaking Love (2000)
Costanza is drinking a beer in a Prague pub, a summer night in 1968, while a violinist enters and starts playing a "canone inverso" for her. It is not a case, that music and that violin have a story behind that could concern her. It is the love story between Jeno Varga and the music, between Jeno and Sophie.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Captive Heart (1946)
A series of stories about the lives and loves of men in a Prisoner of War camp over five years. The main story is of Hasek, a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis. To do this, he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man's wife.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Jazz Singer (1980)
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisEuropa 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: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chosen (1981)
In a 1940s New York, two Jewish teenage boys are determined to remain friends despite the deep differences between their families.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Maria (2024)
Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Music Live! (2013)
The Sound of Music Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical The Sound of Music, starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, performed and televised live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York. Meron felt that if the telecast were successful, the concept could become "another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV." By her request, Underwood's casting as Maria was personally endorsed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1965 film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014)
The story of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah; namely, the highs and lows of her career, her romantic pursuits, and the events leading up to her death in 2001 at the age of 22.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Playing for Time?
The closest matches to Playing for Time are Fateless (2005), Triumph of the Spirit (1989) and Death Is My Trade (1977). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Playing for Time?
People who watched Playing for Time most often go on to Fateless (2005), Triumph of the Spirit (1989) and Death Is My Trade (1977).
What is the highest-rated movie like Playing for Time?
Schindler's List (1993), rated 8.6/10 by 18,160 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Playing for Time?
The Yellow Tie (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Playing for Time?
Yes: Triumph of the Spirit (1989), Sophie's Choice (1982) and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008).
How are movies similar to Playing for Time chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Playing for Time, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.