Movies like The Pioneer (2021)
The best movies like The Pioneer (2021) are Confucius (2010), Adventures of a Mathematician (2021) and My People, My Country (2019). If The Pioneer hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Last Emperor (1987)7.6/10 from 2,031 votes
- NewestHidden Blade (2023)Released 2023
- In ChineseConfucius (2010)Also in Chinese
Confucius (2010)
In 500 B.C., during Chinas famed 'Spring and Autumn Period', Kong Ze (Confucius), a commoner reverred for his outstanding wisdom, is made Minister of Law in the ancient Kingdom of Lu. Under his inspired leadership, Lu ascends to new heights but becomes a target of conquest for the warlike nation of Qi. Threatened with annihilation by their powerful neighbour, a desperate people turn to their greatest teacher to lead their most powerful army. When Confucius delivers a stunning victory against all odds, a jealous aristocracy sets out to destroy him, but they should never under-estimate a remarkable man whose wisdom is more powerful than the sword.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisAdventures of a Mathematician (2021)
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy People, My Country (2019)
Anthology of short films directed by several different directors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuffragette (2015)
Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSnow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChe: Part One (2008)
Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA City of Sadness (1989)
The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHidden Blade (2023)
Follows the story of underground workers who risked their lives to send intelligence and defend the motherland, set after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor when the Wang Jingwei regime declared war on Britain and the U.S.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSacrifice (2010)
For generations the Zhao family has wielded power, until their mortal enemy TU’AN GU slaughters the entire clan, determined to wipe out their influence forever. But one Zhao baby survives hidden by CHENG YING the doctor who delivered him. When Tu’an Gu learns of the baby’s escape he seizes every infant in the city, vowing to kill them all unless the Zhao baby is surrendered. As the tyrant’s soldiers arrive at Cheng Ying’s home the frantic doctor hides his wife with their own baby whilst surrendering the Zhao child as his own. But his family is discovered; his baby is presumed to be the Zhao heir and murdered along with his wife for harboring the infant. Now set on revenge Cheng Ying enrolls the Zhao orphan into the service of the Tu’an Gu household, plotting to use him as an instrument of vengeance when he comes of age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadium Girls (2020)
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Grandmaster (2013)
The fall of China's last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war, is the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Legendary kung fu master Ip Man, who will eventually train Bruce Lee, finds his peaceful life interrupted by vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViceroy's House (2017)
In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Banquet (2006)
Crown Prince Wu Luan is in love with Little Wan but left heartbroken when she marries his father, the emperor. The emperor's brother, Li, kills him and Wu Luan tries to avenge his father's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYellow Earth (1984)
A communist soldier is sent to a remote region of China in order to collect folk songs. Staying with a peasant family (a widower with two small children), he discovers a community whose way of life is completely alien to him, but he gradually wins their trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYouth (2017)
A group of performing art troupe members each face their own trials and tribulations in Chengdu; from escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Emperor (1987)
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegacy (1993)
A portrayal of the early Latter-day Saints' joys, sacrifices, hopes, and trials; their epic journey to the Salt Lake Valley; and their legacy of faith in Jesus Christ.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
The Crossing II (2015)
A story of three couples and their intertwining love stories set in 1940s Taiwan and Shanghai, centered around the 1949 sinking of Taiping.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Burn! (1969)
The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen a Woman Saddles a Horse (1974)
Biographical film about Eyne Kuliyeva, who was the first woman to be the head of a local governance in 1920s Soviet Turkmenistan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Ignotas Comes Back (1956)
Based on the novel by the famous Lithuanian writer A. Gudaitis-Guzevičius “The Truth of Blacksmith Ignotas” about the revolutionary events of 1918-1919. in Lithuania, about the struggle of workers for Soviet power, for the freedom of their homeland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
The Edukators (2004)
Three activists cobble together a kidnapping plot after they encounter a businessman in his home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Exit Room (2013)
Imprisoned journalist Joseph Michaels faces a government execution during a future American Revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Look Ahead with Anger (1993)
After the revolution of December 1989, Romania is in full transition. Incertainty and chaos have followed Ceausescu's downfall. Fane, a worker in a wharf on the river Danube, is a former dissident who was in involved in politically motivated uprisings. Now that he has achieved what he has fought for, he is unemployed and everything around him seems to fall to pieces. His whole family falls victim to the changes of the early 90s. His daughter prostitutes herself, his elder son ends up in prison and his younger son becomes a thief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Pioneer and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pioneer?
The closest matches to The Pioneer are Confucius (2010), Adventures of a Mathematician (2021) and My People, My Country (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pioneer?
Start with Confucius (2010), the closest match to The Pioneer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pioneer?
The Last Emperor (1987), rated 7.6/10 by 2,031 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pioneer?
Hidden Blade (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Pioneer?
Yes: Confucius (2010), My People, My Country (2019) and A City of Sadness (1989).
How are movies similar to The Pioneer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pioneer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.