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 Kidnapping of a President

21. The Kidnapping of a President

Comedy Drama History
Upcoming

20261h 27min

Director: Samuli Valkama

In October 1930, a group of officers belonging to the Finnish army's top leadership decided, after a night of drinking, to kidnap Finland's retired first president, Ståhlberg. The Finnish people were divided in the aftermath of the civil war, and the political atmosphere was turbulent and tense. However, the kidnapping went wrong right from the start when the incompetent henchmen recruited for the job were forced to take the president's stubborn wife, Ester Ståhlberg, with them.


Dovzhenko. First Sight

22. Dovzhenko. First Sight

History Thriller Adventure
Upcoming

2026

Director: Kostiantyn Konovalov

Ukrainian Odesa, 1926: a city recovering from the war, a city where jazz sounds and cinema is born. Young artist Sashko Dovzhenko seeks freedom in art - and stumbles upon a system that does not forgive dreams. His first film may be his last. And he does not yet know that soon his name will be known to the whole world.


Through the Lens

23. Through the Lens

Documentary History
Upcoming

202615min

Director: Zeke Morgan-Hind

Nestled along the Great Eastern Highway in regional Western Australia stands The Big Camera — a museum housed inside a building shaped like a giant camera. What many mistake for a novelty roadside attraction is, in fact, one of the most significant private photography collections in the Southern Hemisphere. This short documentary explores the life and legacy of The Big Camera Museum of Photography and its founder, Charles “Chic” Wadley, whose lifelong passion for capturing and preserving photographic history has created a one-of-a-kind cultural landmark. Through personal interviews, archival imagery, cinematic visuals, and historical context, the film uncovers how this extraordinary museum came to exist, why it remains vital to regional heritage, and what it tells us about photography’s power to document human experience.


Young Washington

24. Young Washington

History Drama
Upcoming

2026

Director: Jon Erwin

Against the frontier of colonial America, the untold origin story of a 22-year-old George Washington unfolds—long before the Revolution, long before the Constitution—when a single mistake nearly cost him everything. After triggering the start of the French and Indian War, Washington must reckon with personal failure, devastating loss, and the weight of responsibility. What emerges from the ashes isn’t just a military leader—but a man forged by humility, courage, and conviction.


De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge (Film 2)

25. De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge (Film 2)

History Drama
Upcoming

2026

Director: Antonin Baudry

Part two of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.


Fallen From Olympus

26. Fallen From Olympus

History War Drama
Upcoming

2026

Director: Arun Ayduğan

Following the Trojan War, a soldier facing death encounters Thanatos and is drawn into a mythological confrontation about life, fate, and the meaninglessness of war.


Black Men in Uniform

27. Black Men in Uniform

Documentary History
Upcoming

20261h

Director: Emunah La-Paz

Pata Seca (1828), a man whose back bore the whip marks of his enslavers , whose eyes held the haunted memory of being forced to breed over 200 slave children in order to sustain his master’s plantation. Men broken but unbowed, transformed from field hands into soldiers from the civil war to Vietnam. This documentary weaves together authentic narratives from the 1800s, accompanied by original images and footage, highlighting the significant influence that Black men in uniform had in Hollywood and addressing ongoing relevant issues to date.


The Weight

28. The Weight

Thriller Adventure History
Upcoming

20261h 52min

Director: Padraic McKinley

In 1933 Oregon, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he’ll go to see his child again.


De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (Film 1)

29. De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (Film 1)

History Drama
Upcoming

2026

Director: Antonin Baudry

Part one of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.


Asad

30. Asad

History Action Drama Romance
Upcoming

2026

Director: Mohamed Diab

A slave in 19th Century Egypt revolts against his masters for equal rights for slaves to live freely.