Movies like Night of the Pencils (1986)
The best movies like Night of the Pencils (1986) are The Clan (2015), Argentina 1985 (2022) and Garage Olimpo (1999). If Night of the Pencils hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedArgentina 1985 (2022)7.8/10 from 787 votes
- NewestBarreda (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Clan (2015)Also in Spanish
The Clan (2015)
In Argentina, between 1982 and 1985, the Puccios, a well-established family of San Isidro, an upper-class suburb of Buenos Aires, kidnap several people and hold them as hostages for a ransom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArgentina 1985 (2022)
In the 1980s, a team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGarage Olimpo (1999)
María is eighteen years old, she lives with her mother in an old house in Buenos Aires in 1978, subletting rooms and giving classes to poor illiterate adults. Suddenly she is abducted by a military squad and finds herself accused of subversion and submitted to torture in the hideous underground of the Garage Olimpo, while her mother desperately tries to find her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKamchatka (2002)
In 1976, Argentina fell into the hands of a de facto government. Thousands of citizens are persecuted and kidnapped. This is the case of the parents of two children, who, knowing they are wanted, decide to hide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleveland Abduction (2015)
A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 13 Roses (2007)
True story of thirteen totally normal young women that suffered harsh questioning and were put in prison under made up charges of helping the rebellion against Franco back in the 1940s. Despite of their innocence, the thirteen were soon executed without even a trace of evidence of any wrong doing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarreda (2026)
A fictionalized drama film based on one of the most shocking crimes in Argentina's history. In 1992, Ricardo Barreda was an unassuming dentist, brutally murdered his wife, mother-in-law, and two adult daughters in their family home. Branding himself as a victim, Ricardo Barreda ignited a media storm and fueled a national scandal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Official Story (1985)
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1983. In the last and turbulent days of the military dictatorship, Alicia, a high school history teacher, begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the dark origins of Gaby, her adopted daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRiot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath and the Maiden (1994)
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaulina (2015)
Paulina is a young lawyer with a promising career in Buenos Aires, who chooses to go back to her home town. Her father, Fernando, is a well known judge. Against his will, Paulina decides to teach in a suburban high school as part of an inclusion program. One night, after the second week working there, she's brutally assaulted by a gang. With the disapproval of the people around her, she decides to go back to work, in the neighborhood where she was attacked, without realizing that her attackers may be even closer than she thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrath of God (2022)
Convinced the tragic deaths of her loved ones were orchestrated by a famous novelist she worked for, Luciana turns to a journalist to expose her truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPacto de Fuga (2020)
During the last years of Pinochet's military regime, a group of militants from the "Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front" plan a prison break of political prisoners, through a tunnel that will take them 18 months to dig.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThesis on a Homicide (2013)
Roberto is a Law professor whose life is thrown into chaos when he becomes convinced that one of his best students has committed a brutal murder. Determined to uncover the truth, he begins a personal investigation…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Angel (2018)
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1971. Carlos Robledo Puch is a 19-year-old boy with an angelic face, but a vocational thief as well, who acts ruthlessly, without remorse. When he meets Ramón, they follow together a dark path of crime and death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Finale (2018)
In 1960, a team of Israeli secret agents is deployed to find Adolf Eichmann, the infamous Nazi architect of the Holocaust, supposedly hidden in Argentina, and get him to Israel to be judged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolar (2019)
When a retiring assassin realizes that he is the target of a hit, he winds up back in the game going head to head with a gang of younger, ruthless killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snitch Cartel (2011)
The real life story of Andres Lopez Lopez aka "Frecita" during his years involved with the Colombian Cartel aka "Cartel Norte del Valle"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKóblic (2016)
Colonia Helena, Argentina. The mysterious Tomás Kóblic, a former Navy pilot, works as a fumigator while dealing with his dark past and the intrigues of the corrupt police commissioner…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOperation Ogre (1979)
Spain, 1973. Dictator Francisco Franco has ruled the country since 1939 with an iron fist; but he is now a very old and sick man. The future of the weakened regime is in danger. Admiral Carrero Blanco is his natural successor. The Basque terrorist gang ETA decides that he must die to prevent the dictatorship from continuing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Q (2002)
John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the donor's list.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShooting Dogs (2006)
Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
When a young girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trial begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisK-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNirvana (1997)
Jimi, a computer game designer, finds that his latest product has been infected by a virus which has given consciousness to the main character of the game, Solo. Tormented by the memory of his fled girlfriend Lisa and begged by Solo to end its useless "life", Jimi begins a search for people who can help him both to discover what happened to Lisa and to delete his game before it is released.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBy Any Means (2017)
A C-list celebrity gets kidnapped and held hostage after a night-club appearance. When the police interrogate the man she accuses, they question whether she's after justice or a front-page story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Bank Job (2008)
Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Nye (2024)
Confronted with death, National Health Service founder Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Winston Churchill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Serpico (1973)
New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God? (2021)
1962. A crystalline voice becomes a planetary tube. A Belgian nun jostles Elvis and the Beatles on the world charts. Her name: Sister Smile. A popstar with the trajectory of a comet who understands her success no more than the double meaning of her words… The harder the fall will be. Even God does not protect sharks' appetites or pretenses of success! Who killed the little voice of God? Here is the tragic story of an innocent voice, of an extraordinary fate, almost of a curse ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Night of the Pencils and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Night of the Pencils?
The closest matches to Night of the Pencils are The Clan (2015), Argentina 1985 (2022) and Garage Olimpo (1999). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Night of the Pencils?
Start with The Clan (2015), the closest match to Night of the Pencils.
What is the highest-rated movie like Night of the Pencils?
Argentina 1985 (2022), rated 7.8/10 by 787 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Night of the Pencils?
Barreda (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Night of the Pencils?
Yes: The Clan (2015), Argentina 1985 (2022) and Garage Olimpo (1999).
How are movies similar to Night of the Pencils chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Night of the Pencils, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.