Movies like Night of the Kings (2021)
The best movies like Night of the Kings (2021) are Freedom (2009), Capernaum (2018) and Central Station (1998). If Night of the Kings hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCapernaum (2018)8.1/10 from 2,071 votes
- NewestThe President's Cake (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchFreedom (2009)Also in French
Freedom (2009)
A Gypsy family travels the French roads during the Second World War, followed by Little Claude, a young boy seeking a new family after his parents "left and never returned". Upon reaching a town where they traditionally stop for a few months and work in vineyards, they learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Theodore, the town's mayor, and Miss Lundi, the schoolteacher, protect and help the Gypsies. Despite this, They are arrested and placed in an internment camp. Theodore manages to rescue them and gives them a piece of property where they must settle. But the Gypsies' deeply ingrained thirst for freedom makes this sedentary lifestyle difficult to bear. After Theodore and Miss Lundi are arrested for resistance, the Gypsies decide they must get back on the move in order to remain free.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Capernaum (2018)
After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCentral Station (1998)
An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLion (2016)
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Father's Shadow (2025)
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city's magnitude and their father's daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kite Runner (2007)
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorses of God (2013)
The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe—for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack—temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe President's Cake (2026)
While people across 1990’s Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year-old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President’s birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAli Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2001)
Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rocket (2013)
Laos. In a land ravaged by war and exploitation, a boy whose family believe he is cursed must redeem himself by taking part in a dangerous rocket competition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTsotsi (2005)
A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Firing Squad (2024)
Based on the true story of three Christian prisoners who face execution in a third world country and how their joy in Christ results in a stunning conclusion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Class (2008)
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNowhere in Africa (2001)
A Jewish woman named Jettel Redlich flees Nazi Germany with her daughter Regina, to join her husband, Walter, on a farm in Kenya. At first, Jettel refuses to adjust to her new circumstances, bringing with her a set of china dishes and an evening gown. While Regina adapts readily to this new world, forming a strong bond with her father's cook, an African named Owuor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCorpus Christi (2019)
A pious 20-year-old juvenile delinquent is sent to work at a sawmill in a small town; on arrival, he dresses up as a priest and accidentally takes over the local parish. The arrival of this young, charismatic preacher is an opportunity for the local community to begin the healing process after a tragedy that happened a year prior.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Prophet (2009)
Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Separation (2011)
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Last Ranger (2024)
When young Litha is introduced to the magic of a game reserve by the last remaining ranger, they are ambushed by poachers. In the ensuing battle to save the rhinos, Litha discovers a terrible secret.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Invader (2011)
An African immigrant living illegally in Belgium is desperate to find his own sense of belonging.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDifret (2014)
Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions. Meaza Ashenafi, an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal aid practice to save Hirut’s life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Material (2010)
In the midst of a volatile regime change in a Francophone African state, Maria Vial is fighting to sustain her family’s coffee plantation. With rebels and the army struggling for control, French peacekeeping forces move out, warning the remaining white residents that they’re on their own. But Maria refuses to be driven off the land, even as tragedy looms.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHolly (2006)
Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, HOLLY is a captivating, touching and emotional experience. Patrick, an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been 'comfortably numb' in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly, a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village. The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
A teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBird (2024)
12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdú (2020)
In a desperate attempt to reach Europe and crouched before an airstrip in Cameroon, a six-year-old boy and his older sister wait to sneak into the holds of an airplane. Not too far away, an environmental activist contemplates the terrible image of an elephant, dead and fangless. Not only do you have to fight against poaching, but you will also have to meet the problems of your newly arrived daughter from Spain. Thousands of kilometers to the north, in Melilla, a group of civil guards prepare to face the furious crowd of sub-Saharan people who have begun the assault on the fence. Three stories linked by a central theme, in which none of its protagonists know that their destinies are doomed to cross and that their lives will no longer be the same.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Creatures Here Below (2019)
The story of a desperate young couple on the run, who seek refuge in Kansas City.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Burial of Kojo (2018)
A man is trapped in a mine shaft by his vengeful brother while his daughter embarks on a magical journey to rescue him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Tale of King Crab (2021)
Small town in Italy, end of the 19th century. Luciano, a drunk, doesn't fit in the town. Rebelion against authority and a forbidden love makes him to commit a crime accidentally. To pay for his crime, he is forced into exile on the most remote island in the world, Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego. The hunt for the shipwreck treasure hidden on the island becomes his opportunity for redemption.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Night of the Kings?
The closest matches to Night of the Kings are Freedom (2009), Capernaum (2018) and Central Station (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Night of the Kings?
People who watched Night of the Kings most often go on to Freedom (2009), Capernaum (2018) and Central Station (1998).
What is the highest-rated movie like Night of the Kings?
Capernaum (2018), rated 8.1/10 by 2,071 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Night of the Kings?
The President's Cake (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Night of the Kings?
Yes: Freedom (2009), Horses of God (2013) and Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2001).
How are movies similar to Night of the Kings chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Night of the Kings, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.