Movies like The Orphanage (2018)
The best movies like The Orphanage (2018) are The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), All the Way (2016) and The Eichmann Show (2015). If The Orphanage hooked you with its drama and history, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDe Gaulle: Liberté (2026)7.9/10 from 241 votes
- NewestDe Gaulle: Liberté (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchDe Gaulle: Résistance (2026)Also in French
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)
An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Way (2016)
Lyndon B. Johnson's amazing 11-month journey from taking office after JFK's assassination, through the fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and his own presidential campaign, culminating on the night LBJ is actually elected to the office – no longer the 'accidental President.'
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eichmann Show (2015)
The behind-the-scenes true life story of a groundbreaking producer, Milton Fruchtman, and blacklisted TV director Leo Hurwitz who, overcoming enormous obstacles, set out to capture the testimony of one of the war's most notorious Nazis, Adolf Eichmann, who is accused of executing the 'final solution' and organising the murder of 6 million Jews. This is the extraordinary story of how the trial came to be televised and the team that made it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrey Gardens (2009)
Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Onassis raised as Park Avenue débutantes but who withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens." As their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled, so did their grasp on reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & 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 & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMary (2024)
A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDe Gaulle: Résistance (2026)
June, 1940. France collapses and signs the armistice. In the midst of the chaos, one man refuses to give up. Alone against the odds, this unknown general flees to London to save what remains of freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHow Sarah Got Her Wings (2015)
Good Samaritan Sarah Fitzpatrick has a fatal accident just before Christmas, and finds herself in the lobby before the gates of Heaven. Certain that she will be let in, she is shocked to find that her name is not on the reservation list. However, she is granted the chance to return to Earth as an "angel in training" with the requirement to help a soul in need. Sarah has the 12 days before Christmas to secure her place on the list leaving her in the race for her after-life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDjango (2017)
The story of Django Reinhardt, famous guitarist and composer, and his flight from German-occupied Paris in 1943.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDe Gaulle: Liberté (2026)
While World War II is raging, General De Gaulle seeks to convince the world that the battle for France not lost. Reality seems determined to prove him wrong. Yet, little by little, resistance fighters, rebellious students and determined soldiers rise up. Their faith, audacity and thirst for freedom defy what history seemed to have written in advance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRebellion (2011)
April 1988, Ouvéa Island, New Caledonia. 30 gendarmes are taken hostage by a group of Kanak freedom fighters. 300 soldiers are sent from France to re-establish order. 2 men confront each other: Philippe Legorjus, chief of the terrorist squad, and Alphonse Dianou, head of the kidnappers. Through their shared values, they will attempt to make discussion triumph. But, in the middle of a presidential election, when the stakes are political, order isn't always dictated by morality. A violent and troubling epic that marks the return of Mathieu Kassovitz in front and behind the camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Edge of the Blade (2023)
In 1887, at a time when duels are in vogue in Paris, Clément Lacaze and Marie-Rose Astié meet. He's a charismatic master of arms; she's a feminist, far ahead of her time. Clément gets caught in a spiral of violence and decides to initiate Marie-Rose in the art of dueling. The two must work together to save face. How far will they go to defend their honor?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAusterlitz (1960)
A return to the life of the Little Corporal with a dramatisation of the decisive 1805 conflict between French forces and the armies of Austria and Russia. An epic reconstruction of the battle of Austerlitz, where Bonaparte had the greatest victory of his career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 thisThe Young Karl Marx (2017)
26 year-old Karl Marx embarks with his wife, Jenny, on the road to exile. In 1844 in Paris, he meets Friedrich Engels, an industrialist’s son, who has been investigating the sordid birth of the British working class. Engels, the dandy, provides the last piece of the puzzle to the young Karl Marx’s new vision of the world. Together, between censorship and the police’s repression, riots and political upheavals, they will lead the labor movement during its development into a modern era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ideal Palace (2019)
Follows Joseph Ferdinand Chavel a French postman who built a palace in the French countryside over 33 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeltdown: Days of Destruction (2006)
Despite scientist Nathan's warnings, his boss continues an experiment meant as publicity for his satellite firm: exploding an asteroid. Instead it splits, and the major piece, the size of Iceland, changes course to earth. It is deflected but so close that it shift our course closer to the sun, causing rapid extreme heating, hopefully only mid-term. Nathan warns his sister, TV journalist Carly, and she her lover, police detective Tom. He brings his unruly daughter Kim, her ex-con lover C.J. and her mother, nurse Bonnie, when Nathan offers a flight to a friend's Arctic weather station. Tom takes charge of a dangerous trip to the airport, as everywhere on earth things catch fire and people fight for water, transport and sheer looting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Orphanage?
The closest matches to The Orphanage are The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), All the Way (2016) and The Eichmann Show (2015). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Orphanage?
Start with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), the closest match to The Orphanage.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Orphanage?
De Gaulle: Liberté (2026), rated 7.9/10 by 241 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Orphanage?
De Gaulle: Liberté (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Orphanage?
Yes: De Gaulle: Résistance (2026), Django (2017) and De Gaulle: Liberté (2026).
How are movies similar to The Orphanage chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Orphanage, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.