Movies like Father Soldier Son (2020)
The best movies like Father Soldier Son (2020) are Love+War (2025), Restrepo (2010) and Wartorn: 1861-2010 (2010). If Father Soldier Son hooked you with its documentary and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestLove+War (2025)Released 2025
Love+War (2025)
Pulitzer Prize-winning conflict photojournalist Lynsey Addario reflects on a career working in some of the world's most dangerous war zones, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Restrepo (2010)
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWartorn: 1861-2010 (2010)
With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, this documentary brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Body of War (2007)
Documentary about Tomas Young, a 25 year old veteran who got paralyzed in Iraq and became an peace activist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Korengal (2014)
Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ground Truth (2006)
Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to tell the truth. Hear and witness our soldiers in this penetrating film. The shocking Iraq War ground conflict is only a prelude to the even more challenging battles these reluctant heroes face upon their return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
The Hornet's Nest (2014)
Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoing to War (2018)
What is it really like to go to war? Filled with terror, pain, and grief, it also brings exhilaration, and a profound sense of purpose. Renowned authors Karl Marlantes and Sebastian Junger help us make sense of this paradox and get to the heart of what it’s like to be a soldier at war. Veterans of various conflicts reveal some universal truths of combat with unflinching candor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025)
Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRetrograde (2022)
The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Vietnam in HD (2011)
Vietnam in HD is a 6-part series that immerses viewers in the sights, sounds and stories of the Vietnam War as it has never before been seen. Thousands of hours of uncensored footage--much of it shot by soldiers in action--will detail every critical chapter of the conflict. The war will unfold onscreen through the gripping firsthand accounts of 13 brave men and women who were forever changed by their experience in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
No Greater Love (2017)
No Greater Love explores a combat deployment through the eyes of an Army chaplain, as he and his men fight their way through a hellish tour in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan and then as they struggle to reintegrate home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
A Sniper's War (2018)
A Sniper’s War is a story of a sniper, whose anti-US views led him to join the pro-Russian rebels in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict—a primary source of tension between the United States and Russia. When social media becomes a communication platform to schedule sniper duels, Deki’s rival threatens to kill him. The New York-based filmmaker, Olya Schechter, obtains unprecedented access to military bases and front line battles to paint an intimate portrait of the complex and fascinating nature of a man walking the tightrope that often comes to the morality of war: is Deki a solder or a killer?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCity of Ghosts (2017)
With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmadillo (2010)
Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal – no actors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWarfare (2025)
A platoon of Navy SEALs embarks on a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, with the chaos and brotherhood of war retold through their memories of the event.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunner Palace (2004)
American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the "Gunners," tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Korea: The Never-Ending War (2019)
Shedding new light on a geopolitical hot spot, the film — written and produced by John Maggio and narrated by Korean-American actor John Cho — confronts the myth of the “Forgotten War,” documenting the post-1953 conflict and global consequences.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Last Letters Home (2004)
Ten families read letters from their loved ones killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in this powerful and moving HBO documentary by Oscar and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bill Couturie (Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam). Photos of the soldiers in military and civilian life are shown as family members read the final correspondence received from Iraq and share their thoughts and memories about the fallen troops and the realities of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)
Real-life letters written by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company (2001)
Over a period of two years, Mark Cowen and his crew travelled to thirty U.S. states and ten European cities, to interview the veterans of Easy Company. The stories told by the veterans themselves, create a history of the Second World War from the point of view of this heroic company of men, made famous in the mini-series Band of Brothers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThere Will Be No More Night (2021)
Images from helicopters. Video recordings from the American and the French military forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The intervention is taking place right before our eyes. How far can the desire to see lead to, when it has no limits?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
The Longest War (2020)
The human stories and drama behind America's involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history. First-hand witnesses — ranging from U.S. intelligence operatives, to soldiers and their families, Afghan officials, journalists, top government and military officials — bring their experiences to life through emotional interviews.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Mending the Line (2023)
A Marine wounded in Afghanistan returns to a VA hospital in Montana where he meets a Vietnam vet who teaches him fly fishing as a means to coming to terms with his physical and emotional trauma.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe War on Democracy (2007)
Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor Sama (2019)
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVirunga (2014)
Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa's oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park's borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Father Soldier Son?
The closest matches to Father Soldier Son are Love+War (2025), Restrepo (2010) and Wartorn: 1861-2010 (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Father Soldier Son?
People who watched Father Soldier Son most often go on to Love+War (2025), Restrepo (2010) and Wartorn: 1861-2010 (2010).
What is the highest-rated movie like Father Soldier Son?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Father Soldier Son?
Love+War (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Father Soldier Son?
Yes: Love+War (2025), Restrepo (2010) and Wartorn: 1861-2010 (2010).
How are movies similar to Father Soldier Son chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Father Soldier Son, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.