Movies like The Year of the Tiger (2013)
The best movies like The Year of the Tiger (2013) are It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), The Big House (1930) and The Defiant Ones (1958). If The Year of the Tiger hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Great Escape (1963)7.9/10 from 3,010 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishUpon Entry (2023)Also in Spanish
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
During a rainy Sunday afternoon, an escaped prisoner tries to hide out at the home of his ex-fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big House (1930)
Convicted of manslaughter for a drunken driving accident, Kent Marlowe is sent to prison, where he meets vicious incarcerated figures who are planning an escape from the brutal conditions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Defiant Ones (1958)
Two convicts—one white, one black—escape while chained to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Colditz Story (1955)
The Germans believed that no man could escape from Colditz Castle, set as it was in the heart of the Reich, 400 miles from any neutral frontier. This film, based on Pat Reid's epic novel, tells the story of how the British, French, Dutch and Polish prisoners of war who were incarcerated in Colditz set out to prove their captors wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Escape (1963)
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisUpon Entry (2023)
Diego, a Venezuelan urbanist, and Elena, a contemporary dancer from Barcelona, move to the United States with their approved visas to start a new life. Their intention is to boost their professional careers and start a family in 'the land of opportunities'. But upon entering New York airport's immigration area, they are taken to the secondary inspection room, where border officers will subject them to an unpleasant inspection process and a psychologically grueling interrogation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Voyage (1960)
The S. S. Claridon is scheduled for her five last voyages after thirty-eight years of service. After an explosion in the boiler room, Captain Robert Adams is reluctant to evacuate the steamship. While the crew fights to hold a bulkhead between the flooded boiler room and the engine room and avoid the sinking of the vessel, the passenger Cliff Henderson struggles against time trying to save his beloved wife Laurie Henderson, who is trapped under a steel beam in her cabin, with the support of the crew member Hank Lawson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
A crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAndersonville (1996)
This lengthy docudrama records the harrowing conditions at the Confederacy's most notorious prisoner-of-war camp. The drama unfolds through the eyes of a company of Union soldiers captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor, VA, in June 1864, and shipped to the camp in southern Georgia. A private, Josiah Day, and his sergeant try to hold their company together in the face of squalid living conditions, inhumane punishments, and a gang of predatory fellow prisoners called the Raiders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaged (1950)
A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGood Day, Ramon (2013)
After five failed attempts to go to the United States, 18-year-old Ramón decides to look for a friend’s aunt in Germany, but never finds her. With no papers or money, and without knowing the language, he barely survives living on the street until he meets Ruth, an old retired nurse who doesn’t speak Spanish. Beyond language barriers and prejudices, they discover that solidarity and humanity make life bearable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisYuli (2018)
Yuli is the nickname given to Carlos Acosta by his father, Pedro, who considers him the son of Ogun, an African god and a fighter. As a child Yuli avoids discipline and education, learning from the streets of an impoverished and abandoned Havana. His father, however, has other ideas, and knowing that his son has a natural talent for dance, sends him to the National Ballet School of Cuba. Despite his repeated escapes and initial poor behaviour, the boy is inevitably drawn to the world of dance, and begins to shape his legendary career from a young age, becoming the first black dancer to be cast in some of the most prestigious ballet roles, originally written for white dancers, in companies such as the Houston Ballet or the Royal Ballet in London.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chosen Ones (2015)
Sofia, 14 years old, is in love with Ulises. Because of him, in spite of him, she is forced into a prostitution network in Mexico. To set her free, Ulises will have to find another girl to replace her. Adapted from Jorge Volpi’s novel, set in the world of juvenile prostitution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Your Eyes (2023)
Years after his mysterious disappearance, Julio Arenas, a famous Spanish actor, is back in the news thanks to a television program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHow Sarah Got Her Wings (2015)
Good Samaritan Sarah Fitzpatrick has a fatal accident just before Christmas, and finds herself in the lobby before the gates of Heaven. Certain that she will be let in, she is shocked to find that her name is not on the reservation list. However, she is granted the chance to return to Earth as an "angel in training" with the requirement to help a soul in need. Sarah has the 12 days before Christmas to secure her place on the list leaving her in the race for her after-life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMcVicar (1980)
John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwaara (1951)
A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape (2024)
A young man becomes convinced that the solution to all his problems is to live in jail, and he will do whatever it takes to get it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSymmetry (2003)
Łukasz, an unemployed geography graduate, is wrongfully arrested for robbery. His alibi is weak, and he is identified during a lineup. The situation gets hopeless when, a few hours later, the alleged victim suddenly dies. The defense lawyer promises to do everything in his power, but Łukasz ends up in custody. He must find his place in a world of harsh prison rules. He chooses the cell of the “grypsujący” (inmates who communicate by coded messages)…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOut of the Blue (1981)
A young girl whose father is an ex-convict and whose mother is a junkie finds it difficult to conform and tries to find comfort in a quirky combination of Elvis and the punk scene.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis is Where it Ends (TBA)
A priest visits an unrepentant death row prisoner, as the two spend time together the priest comes to understand the prisoner, and the prisoner begins to come to terms with his inevitable death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bad Boys (1983)
Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrother, Where Are You? (2022)
Two brothers, separated by time and prison bars, reestablish contact. Inspired by James Baldwin's short story, 'Sonny's Blues.'
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Forbidden Territory (1934)
Britisher Sir Charles Farrington and a son, Rex Farrington, arrive in a Russian Soviet territory searching for another Farrington son, Michael,who has been thrown into prison. Valarie Perrovna is a singer who is in love with the imprisoned son and she provides the searchers with the information as to where the missing son is being held. They all go there and help Michael escape. But is their escape vehicle---a flat wagon pulled by three horses--- fast enough and sturdy enough through the snow to beat the Commmisar and his troops to the Rumanian border
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Year of the Tiger?
The closest matches to The Year of the Tiger are It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), The Big House (1930) and The Defiant Ones (1958). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Year of the Tiger?
Start with It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), the closest match to The Year of the Tiger.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Year of the Tiger?
The Great Escape (1963), rated 7.9/10 by 3,010 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Year of the Tiger?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Year of the Tiger?
Yes: Upon Entry (2023), Yuli (2018) and The Chosen Ones (2015).
How are movies similar to The Year of the Tiger chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Year of the Tiger, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.