Movies like The Return to Kandahar (2003)
The best movies like The Return to Kandahar (2003) are Lone Survivor (2013), Ballistic (2026) and The Outpost (2020). If The Return to Kandahar hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Million Miles Away (2023)7.6/10 from 564 votes
- NewestThe Fix (2026)Released 2026
Lone Survivor (2013)
Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBallistic (2026)
When a soldier's mother discovers the bullet that killed her son in Afghanistan was made at the factory where she works, she sets out on a path of revenge against those responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Outpost (2020)
A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack. The Battle of Kamdesh, as it was known, was the bloodiest American engagement of the Afghan War in 2009 and Bravo Troop 3-61 CAV became one of the most decorated units of the 19-year conflict.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKandahar (2001)
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Million Miles Away (2023)
The life of engineer and former NASA astronaut José M. Hernández, the first migrant farmworker to go to space.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeru (2015)
Meru is the electrifying story of three elite American climbers—Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—bent on achieving the impossible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this12 Strong (2018)
A team of special forces head into Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in an attempt to dismantle the Taliban.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFort Bliss (2014)
After returning home from an extended tour in Afghanistan, a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother struggles to rebuild her relationship with her young son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMax (2015)
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boys from Brazil (1978)
Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman discovers a sinister and bizarre plot, masterminded by Dr. Josef Mengele, to rekindle the Third Reich.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl Rising (2013)
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fix (2026)
Disillusioned by the end of the war in Afghanistan, a group of disgraced, war-torn ex-CIA operatives set out to Tehran to take down a life-changing score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisArthur the King (2024)
Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this180° South (2010)
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Way Back (2010)
A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Heroes of Telemark (1965)
Set in German-occupied Norway, resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physicist Rolf Pedersen in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant in rural Telemark.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Rifleman (2023)
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return to Kandahar?
The closest matches to The Return to Kandahar are Lone Survivor (2013), Ballistic (2026) and The Outpost (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return to Kandahar?
Start with Lone Survivor (2013), the closest match to The Return to Kandahar.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return to Kandahar?
A Million Miles Away (2023), rated 7.6/10 by 564 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return to Kandahar?
The Fix (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Return to Kandahar?
Yes: Lone Survivor (2013), Ballistic (2026) and The Outpost (2020).
How are movies similar to The Return to Kandahar chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return to Kandahar, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.