Movies like While at War (2019)
The best movies like While at War (2019) are The Scarlet and the Black (1983), Freedomfighters (1996) and The Alamo (2004). If While at War 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 ratedThe Longest Day (1962)7.6/10 from 1,069 votes
- NewestYoung Washington (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishFreedomfighters (1996)Also in Spanish
The 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 & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreedomfighters (1996)
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the nun Maria is forced to flee her convent. She takes refuge in a brothel, until it is liberated by a woman's anarchist group. Maria joins the group and eventually goes to the front. The women's group faces the problems of fighting not only the nationalists, but also factions on the left seeking to impose a more traditional military structure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Alamo (2004)
Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (2024)
As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler, risking his faith and fate to save millions of Jews from genocide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Hidden Life (2019)
Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChe: Part One (2008)
Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLion of the Desert (1981)
Resistance leader Omar Mukhtar opposes Italian colonization before World War II. The brutal guerrilla war against Italian General Rodolfo Graziani and the Fascist forces of Benito Mussolini highlights the struggle for Libyan independence and the harsh tactics utilised by the colonisers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung Washington (2026)
Before he led a nation, George Washington was a young soldier thrown into a global conflict. With alliances crumbling and war closing in, he must choose who to trust and confront the leader he's becoming.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & war
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & history
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 & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFireflies at El Mozote (2025)
A boy seeks revenge after surviving El Mozote massacre in El Salvador, where government forces killed his family and destroyed his village - the deadliest civilian massacre in modern Latin America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPalestine 36 (2025)
Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is relentless. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe and some arriving with nefarious Zionist-colonial ambitions, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSix Minutes to Midnight (2020)
Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
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 thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories of My Father (2020)
In the polarized and violent Medellín (Colombia's 'City of Eternal Spring') of the 1970s, doctor Héctor Abad Gómez is concerned about both his children and children from less favored classes. After a devastating loss in the family, Héctor gives himself to the greater cause of public health programs for the poor in Medellín to the consternation of the city's authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Chance (2009)
Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeabiscuit (2003)
True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Anarchist's Wife (2008)
Manuela is left behind when her husband Justo fights for his ideals against Franco's Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. He is deported to a concentration camp, and upon his release, continues the fight against nationalism in the French resistance. Years pass without a word from him, but his wife never gives up hope of seeing him again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Amelia (2009)
A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisGeneral Gramophone (1978)
Halit Berati, a virtuoso clarinet player, is invited by the Italians to record his music, which is to be sold along Italian records.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
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 & history
Nanking (2007)
The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharacter (1997)
In pre-WWII Holland, the penniless, illegitimate son of a powerful bailiff sets out to become a lawyer as he spends a lifetime struggling to prove his worth to his relentlessly spiteful father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dinner (2025)
Spain, April 15, 1939. With the Civil War concluded, and with the intention of celebrating his victory, General Franco attends a dinner with his generals at the Palace Hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStronger Than a Bullet (2017)
Iran, January 16th, 1979. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees after being overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and proclaims the Islamic Republic on April 1st, 1979. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and, after several border skirmishes, attacks Iran on September 22nd, 1980, initiating a cruel war that will last eight years. Since its outbreak, correspondent Saeid Sadeghi documented it from its beginning to its bitter end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like While at War?
The closest matches to While at War are The Scarlet and the Black (1983), Freedomfighters (1996) and The Alamo (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after While at War?
Start with The Scarlet and the Black (1983), the closest match to While at War.
What is the highest-rated movie like While at War?
The Longest Day (1962), rated 7.6/10 by 1,069 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like While at War?
Young Washington (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like While at War?
Yes: Freedomfighters (1996), Fireflies at El Mozote (2025) and Memories of My Father (2020).
How are movies similar to While at War chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside While at War, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.