Movies like Sweden: Heaven and Hell (1968)
The best movies like Sweden: Heaven and Hell (1968) are Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), Evilenko (2004) and Original Sin (2001). If Sweden: Heaven and Hell hooked you with its history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPrayers for Bobby (2009)8.1/10 from 663 votes
- NewestThe Smashing Machine (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianThe Canterbury Tales (1972)Also in Italian
Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012)
Hendrik Goltzius, a late-16th-century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints, seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvilenko (2004)
For years, Andrei Evilenko eluded the obsessive Detective Lesiev and the psychiatric profiler Aron Richter. Spurred on by his rabid fury at the gradual crumbling of his precious Soviet Union, Evilenko is a man who will live, die and kill as a communist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
SnoozefestMovies like thisOriginal Sin (2001)
A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Canterbury Tales (1972)
Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Smashing Machine (2025)
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStockholm Bloodbath (2024)
In 1520, the notorious and power-hungry Danish King Christian II is determined to seize the Swedish crown from Sten Sture, no matter what it takes. Meanwhile, sisters Freja and Anne make a solemn promise to seek revenge on the men who brutally murdered their family. Everything comes to a head in the heart of Stockholm, where the sisters are drawn into a ruthless political struggle between Sweden and Denmark that culminates in a mass execution, presided over by the mad King "Christian the Tyrant," known as the Stockholm Bloodbath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Don't Know Jack (2010)
Controversy and legal problems follow Dr. Jack Kevorkian as he advocates assisted suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFuori (2025)
Rome. The 1980s. After the magnum opus The Art of Joy she has been working on for a decade is rejected by the Italian publishing world, writer Goliarda Sapienza commits a desperate theft that costs her her reputation and social position. Incarcerated in Italy’s largest female prison, she finds herself living alongside thieves, junkies, sex workers and revolutionaries. After her release, she continues to meet with these women and over the course of a sweltering summer, a life-changing relationship flowers – a relationship that will reawaken her the desire to live and to write.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respectable though her life is, she cannot help but feel uncomfortable in her privileged world. One night, a new neighbor catches Diane's eye, and the enigmatic man inspires her to set forth on the path to discovering her own artistry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWilliam Tell (2025)
The narrative unfolds in the 14th Century, when the European nations vie for supremacy within the Holy Roman Empire. The ambitious Austrian Empire, desiring more land, invades neighbouring Switzerland, a serene and pastoral nation. Protagonist William Tell, a formerly peaceful hunter, finds himself forced to take action as his family and homeland come under threat from the oppressive Austrian King and his ruthless warlords.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Edge of Love (2008)
When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnd of the Spear (2005)
"End of the Spear" is the story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. When five young missionaries, among them Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series of events unfold to change the lives of not only the slain missionaries' families, but also Mincayani and his people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanther (1995)
In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Krays (1990)
Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two become notorious crime lords who rule over the East End club scene. But at the height of their power, the brothers veer into different lives, giving the older crime bosses a chance to reclaim what the Krays took from them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
The extraordinary true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain, whose playful, sometimes even psychedelic pictures helped to transform the public's perception of cats forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOslo (2021)
The true story of negotiations between implacable enemies — the secret back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis, Palestinians and one Norwegian couple that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Decameron (1971)
A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlan A (2021)
Germany 1945, Max, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, meets a radical group of Jewish resistance fighters, who, like him, lost all hope for their future after they were robbed of their existence and their entire families were killed by the Nazis. They dream of retaliation on an epic scale for the Jewish people. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Max starts identifying with the group's monstrous plans...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunset Song (2015)
The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenedetta (2021)
A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrayers for Bobby (2009)
Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Abdication (1974)
Queen Christina of Sweden abdicates and travels to Rome to embrace the Catholic church.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Okay for Sound (1946)
This short was released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Warner Brothers' first exhibition of the Vitaphone sound-on-film process on 6 August 1926. The film highlights Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell's efforts that contributed to sound movies and acknowledges the work of Lee De Forest. Brief excerpts from the August 1926 exhibition follow. Clips are then shown from a number of Warner Brothers features, four from the 1920s, the remainder from 1946/47.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Lust for Life (1956)
An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable talent, but he is plagued by mental problems and frustrations with failure. Supported by his brother, Theo, the tormented Van Gogh eventually leaves Holland for France, where he meets volatile fellow painter Paul Gauguin and struggles to find greater inspiration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCornelis (2010)
”Cornelis” is the unique chronicle about one of Sweden’s greatest music legends - Cornelis Vreeswijk. An honest and gripping account of an exceptionally talented, but self-destructive artist’s intense life both on and behind the stage. A man who during his whole life was searching for love and confirmation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis (2013)
Drawing on the book of the same name, League of Denial crafts a searing two-hour indictment of the National Football League’s decades-long concealment of the link between football related head injuries and brain disorders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Britain's Greatest Codebreaker (2012)
Alan Turing is the genius British mathematician who was instrumental in breaking the German naval Enigma Code during World War II, arguably saving millions of lives. Turing's achievements went unrecognised during his lifetime. Instead he ended up being treated as a common criminal, for being homosexual at a time when homosexual acts were a crime. In 1952, he was convicted of 'gross indecency' with another man and was forced to undergo so-called 'organo-therapy' - chemical castration. Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990)
Swedish account of Raoul Wallenberg, the man responsible for the largest rescue of Jews during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Girl King (2015)
A portrait of the brilliant, extravagant Kristina of Sweden, queen from age six, who fights the conservative forces that are against her ideas to modernize Sweden and who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Sweden: Heaven and Hell and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sweden: Heaven and Hell?
The closest matches to Sweden: Heaven and Hell are Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), Evilenko (2004) and Original Sin (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sweden: Heaven and Hell?
Start with Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), the closest match to Sweden: Heaven and Hell.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sweden: Heaven and Hell?
Prayers for Bobby (2009), rated 8.1/10 by 663 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sweden: Heaven and Hell?
The Smashing Machine (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Sweden: Heaven and Hell?
Yes: The Canterbury Tales (1972), Fuori (2025) and The Decameron (1971).
How are movies similar to Sweden: Heaven and Hell chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sweden: Heaven and Hell, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.