Movies like Difficult Years (1948)
The best movies like Difficult Years (1948) are The Conformist (1971), Paisan (1946) and The Four Days of Naples (1962). If Difficult Years 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 Godfather (1972)8.7/10 from 23,942 votes
- NewestGioia (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianThe Conformist (1971)Also in Italian
The Conformist (1971)
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaisan (1946)
Six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley as American military personnel interact with a variety of Italian locals over eighteen months in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces retreat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Four Days of Naples (1962)
September 1943. After Italy surrenders to the Allies, people in Naples believe the war is finally over, but soon they realize Germans are still in control — and as ruthless as ever. Armed with makeshift weapons, civilians rise up en masse against the invaders — and overwhelming odds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this1900 (1976)
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children's Train (2024)
In late 1940s Italy, a mother makes the difficult decision to send her son to the north, where he catches glimpses of a new life away from poverty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGioia (2026)
Gioia is a high school teacher who has never known any other love than the oppressive bond with her own parents, with whom she still lives. One of the students at her school, Alessio, is cashing in on his own body to make a couple of hundred euros to help his mother, a cashier in a supermarket. The relationship that dawns between Gioia and Alessio is forbidden fruit, fragile yet, inexplicably, one they can’t do without. Still, Alessio’s desire to improve his social standing is a silent killer that prevents him from ultimately accepting Gioia’s surprising affection for him. He goes and destroys it all, cancelling the only person who has ever loved him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRome, Open City (1945)
During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChrist Stopped at Eboli (1979)
In the fascist Italy of 1935, a painter trained as a doctor is exiled to a remote region near Eboli. Over time, he learns to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the peasants, and to overcome his isolation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle at St. Anna (2008)
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloak and Dagger (1946)
Italian partisans help a professor sent by the OSS to find an atomic scientist held by Nazis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn My Skin (2018)
The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime and mysteriously found dead during his detention. In one week's time, a family is changed forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisO.G. (2018)
Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOperation Mincemeat (2022)
In 1943, two British intelligence officers concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning to attack by way of Greece rather than Sicily.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Christs (2017)
Dr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bad Poet (2021)
1936. Giovanni Comini, the youngest Federal in Fascist Italy, is summoned to Rome for a delicate mission: to surveil aging national poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose increasingly restless behavior Mussolini fears could damage his alliance with Nazi Germany. However, after spending time with D'Annunzio, Comini finds himself torn between loyalty to the Party and his fascination with the poet, who will put his burgeoning career at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Last Four Days (1974)
In 1945, the dictator of fascist Italy and Hitler's close ally Benito Mussolini faces defeat. In a desperate attempt to avoid capture, he tries to flee the country with his lover Claretta Petacci, but Italian partisans are on their tail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Tales (2020)
In a small suburb on the outskirts of Rome, the cheerful heat of summer camouflages a stifling atmosphere of alienation. From a distance, the families seem normal, but it’s an illusion: in the houses, courtyards and gardens, silence shrouds the subtle sadism of the fathers, the passivity of the mothers and the guilty indifference of adults. But it’s the desperation and repressed rage of the children that will explode and cut through this grotesque façade, with devastating consequences for the entire community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGiordano Bruno (1973)
Fleeing from his enemies in the Catholic Church, the free thinking philosopher, poet and scientist Giordano Bruno has found some protection in Venice. But the Roman Inquisition, fearing his influence in Europe, wants to bring him on trial for 'heresy'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIl Divo (2008)
Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCiao America (2002)
Having recently earned his college degree, Lorenzo Primavera (Eddie Malavarca) leaves his home in Boston to travel to his family's ancestral homeland in Italy -- as was requested by his late grandfather. Upon arriving, Lorenzo is offered a short-term position as coach for an American-style football team by the team's manager, Giulio Fellini (Maurizio Nichetti). As the young American immerses himself in his new duties, he makes the acquaintance of Paola Angelini (Violante Placido) and the two begin a friendship that quickly blossoms into something more. In between spending time with Paola and working with the team, Lorenzo also begins investigating his own family's history and learns the reason for his grandfather's departure from Italy, as well as why his grandfather never returned to visit. As Lorenzo begins to forge an identity for himself in Italy -- not to mention strong romantic attachments to Paola -- he must eventually decide whether or not to return to the States.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Contempt (1963)
Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmadeus (1984)
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Godfather (1972)
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Godfather Part II (1974)
In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Godfather Part III (1990)
In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Gucci (2021)
When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately… murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Brothers (1974)
In Naples at the end of the 19th century, Nicola Bellizzi dreams of becoming a lawyer. However, when he seeks the reason that people are reluctant to help him in his goals, he discovers that some of his blood relations are high-ranking members of the Mafia. He tries to break away from his family obligations, but falls into a life of crime and violence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Street Angel (1928)
A spirited young woman finds herself destitute and on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Difficult Years?
The closest matches to Difficult Years are The Conformist (1971), Paisan (1946) and The Four Days of Naples (1962). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Difficult Years?
Start with The Conformist (1971), the closest match to Difficult Years.
What is the highest-rated movie like Difficult Years?
The Godfather (1972), rated 8.7/10 by 23,942 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Difficult Years?
Gioia (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Difficult Years?
Yes: The Conformist (1971), Paisan (1946) and The Four Days of Naples (1962).
How are movies similar to Difficult Years chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Difficult Years, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.