History backdrop

History movies

Period pieces that transport you back in time, recreating the events and figures that shaped our past.

Subgenres include: Historical Event, Biographical History, Political History.

The Great Ambition

171. The Great Ambition

Drama History
7.2

20242h 2min

Director: Andrea Segre

Secretary of the most influential Communist Party in the Western world, Enrico Berlinguer challenged the international balance by seeking to bring the Communists to government in Italy and achieve socialism in a democratic country. From 1973, when he escaped an attack by the Bulgarian secret services, to the assassination of his main ally Aldo Moro in 1978, not forgetting his trips to Moscow and the covers of Time: the story of a man who wanted to change the world, but failed.


Number 24

172. Number 24

War History Drama World War II Historical Event
7.5

20241h 52min

Norway

Director: John Andreas Andersen

On the brink of the Second World War, a young Norwegian man's drive to resist the Nazis sets a new course for his future – and the future of his country.

Themes

Resistance under pressure, National duty and identity, Collective memory and legacy, Wartime sacrifice and impact, Quiet courage in crisis, Civilian contribution to war

Available on

Netflix
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Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

From Hilde, with Love

173. From Hilde, with Love

War Drama History
7.0

20242h 4min

Director: Andreas Dresen

In Berlin 1942, Hilde is a member of an anti-Nazi group. She falls in love with another member, Hans. The two spend a summer together until they get caught by the Gestapo and Hilde is imprisoned, eight months pregnant.


The Apprentice

174. The Apprentice

History Drama Biographical History Psychological Drama
7.1

20242h 2min

United States, United Kingdom

Director: Ali Abbasi

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Themes

Real estate ambition, Power through mentor protégé relationship, Blackmail and bribery, Tax abatement politics, Discrimination and exploitation, Surveillance via wiretapping

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

I Am Nevenka

175. I Am Nevenka

Drama History
7.3

20241h 57min

Spain

Director: Icíar Bollaín

In the year 2000, Nevenka Fernández, 24 years old, Councilor for Finance in the Ponferrada City Council, suffered relentless persecution, both sentimental and professional, by the mayor, a man accustomed to doing his will politically and personally. She never decides to report, although she knows that she will have to pay a very high price: her environment does not support her, the society of Ponferrada turns its back on her and the media subjects her to a public trial. A story inspired by real events that turns its protagonist into a pioneer by taking an influential and popular politician to court for sexual and workplace harassment for the first time.


The Red Virgin

176. The Red Virgin

Drama History Thriller
7.1

20241h 54min

Director: Paula Ortiz

Hildegart is conceived and educated by her mother Aurora to be the woman of the future, to become one of the most brilliant minds of Spain in the 1930s and one of the European references on female sexuality.


I'm Still Here

177. I'm Still Here

Drama History Historical Drama
8.2

20242h 18min

Brazil, France

Director: Walter Salles

A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

Themes

Secrecy versus exposure, Political repression under dictatorship, Maternal resilience under pressure, Intergenerational legacy of trauma, Memory as public duty, Pursuit of accountability and reparations

Available on

Netflix
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Lee

178. Lee

History Drama War Biographical History World War II
6.9

20241h 57min

Australia, United States

Director: Ellen Kuras

The true story of photographer Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

Themes

Censorship of war imagery, Gendered wartime labor, Trauma and memory transmission, Professional ethics in conflict photography, Bearing witness under danger, Archival recovery and legacy

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Hulu
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

179. Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Documentary History Music
7.8

20242h 30min

Belgium, France

Director: Johan Grimonprez

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.


The Girl with the Needle

180. The Girl with the Needle

Drama History Historical Drama Social History
7.5

20242h 3min

Denmark, Poland

Director: Magnus von Horn

Struggling to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen, a newly unemployed and pregnant young woman is taken in by a charismatic elder to help run an underground adoption agency. The two form an unexpected bond, until a sudden discovery changes everything.

Themes

Coercive manipulation, Female solidarity under pressure, Underground adoption networks, Postwar precarity, Trauma and dependency, Exploitation of motherhood

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Fandango At Home
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.