Movies like They Didn't Have a Choice (2019)
The best movies like They Didn't Have a Choice (2019) are Dahomey (2024), Chocolat (1988) and Beau Travail (2000). If They Didn't Have a Choice hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Red Pill (2016)7.5/10 from 230 votes
- NewestDahomey (2024)Released 2024
- In FrenchDahomey (2024)Also in French
Dahomey (2024)
Thousands of royal artifacts of Dahomey, a West African kingdom, were taken by French colonists in the 19th century for collection and display in Paris. Centuries later, a fraction returned to their home in modern-day Benin. This dramatized documentary follows the journey of 26 of the treasures as told by cultural art historians, embattled university students, and one of the repatriated statues himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChocolat (1988)
On her way to visit her childhood home in a colonial outpost in Northern Cameroon, a young French woman recalls her childhood, her memories concentrating on her family's houseboy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeau Travail (2000)
Foreign Legion officer Galoup recalls his once glorious life, training troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, until the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup's mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brother the Devil (2012)
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClapham Junction (2007)
Set in the Clapham district of south London, England, the film is inspired by true events. The paths of several men intersect during a dramatic thirty-six hours in which their lives are changed forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Reeds (1994)
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStatues Also Die (1953)
Commissioned by the journal Présence Africaine, this short documentary examines how African art is devalued and alienated through colonial and museum contexts. Beginning with the question of why African works are confined to ethnographic displays while Greek or Egyptian art is celebrated, the film became a landmark of anti-colonial cinema and was banned in France for eight years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesire (2011)
In a social context deteriorated by a countrywide economic crisis, the life of several people will be turned upside down after they meet Cécile, a character who symbolizes desire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPacifiction (2022)
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenjamin (2019)
Benjamin, a rising star filmmaker, is on the brink of premiering his difficult second film No Self at the London Film Festival when Billie, his hard drinking publicist, introduces him to a mesmeric French musician called Noah.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA United Kingdom (2016)
The inspiring true story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments. Seretse and Ruth defied family, Apartheid and empire - their love triumphed over every obstacle flung in their path and in so doing they transformed their nation and inspired the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sheltering Sky (1990)
An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Nights a Week (2022)
When young Baptiste meets Cookie Kunty, a young Parisian drag queen, he feels compelled to start a new photographic project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLux Æterna (2020)
Charlotte Gainsbourg agrees to play a witch condemned to be burned at the stake in the first film directed by Béatrice Dalle. But the chaotic production, technical problems, and psychotic breakdowns gradually plunge the shoot into a chaos of pure light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Kissed a Girl (2015)
Jérémie, 34, wakes up in an apartment he doesn't know, next to a woman he doesn't know. She is Adna, a stunning Swedish woman who is as funny as she is sweet. Is this the beginning of a fairy tale? Not quite, since Jérémie is about to get married—to Antoine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe World Unseen (2007)
A drama centered on two women who engage in a dangerous relationship during South Africa's apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPassages (2023)
Tomas and Martin are a gay couple living in Paris whose marriage is thrown into crisis when Tomas impulsively begins a passionate affair with young schoolteacher Agathe. But when Martin begins an affair of his own, Tomas must confront life decisions he may be unprepared—or unwilling—to deal with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Red Pill (2016)
When a feminist filmmaker sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Chronicling Cassie Jaye’s journey exploring an alternate perspective on gender equality, power and privilege.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of Darkness (1994)
A trading company manager travels up an African river to find a missing outpost head and discovers the depth of evil in humanity's soul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like They Didn't Have a Choice?
The closest matches to They Didn't Have a Choice are Dahomey (2024), Chocolat (1988) and Beau Travail (2000). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after They Didn't Have a Choice?
Start with Dahomey (2024), the closest match to They Didn't Have a Choice.
What is the highest-rated movie like They Didn't Have a Choice?
The Red Pill (2016), rated 7.5/10 by 230 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like They Didn't Have a Choice?
Dahomey (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like They Didn't Have a Choice?
Yes: Dahomey (2024), Chocolat (1988) and Beau Travail (2000).
How are movies similar to They Didn't Have a Choice chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside They Didn't Have a Choice, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.