History movies

Vibe

Tense Claustrophobic Restrained Deliberate Eerie

This historical drama follows court intrigue in England, where two servants of the ailing Queen Anne compete to become her chief favourite, seeking power, access to money, and influence over politics.

Themes

Class inequality, Deception and manipulation, Social climbing, Power and influence, Palace intrigue, Gender dynamics

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Intimate Deliberate Measured Hopeful

Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.

Themes

Friendship under pressure, Racial discrimination in hospitality, Meritocracy vs prejudice, Protective duty vs independence, Dignity under pressure, Reconciliation after conflict

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Steady Claustrophobic Procedural Intense

Barents Sea, August 12th, 2000. During a Russian naval exercise, and after suffering a serious accident, the K-141 Kursk submarine sinks with 118 crew members on board. While the few sailors who are still alive barely manage to survive, their families push for accurate information and a British officer struggles to obtain from the Russian government a permit to attempt a rescue before it is late. But general incompetence are against all their efforts.

Themes

External aid hesitancy, Bureaucracy vs rescue, Families press for information, Military competence under doubt, Survival under extreme deadlines, Political tension during crisis

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Dry Clinical Intense

Gary Hart, former Senator of Colorado, becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. Hart's intelligence, charisma and idealism makes him popular with young voters, leaving him with a seemingly clear path to the White House. All that comes crashing down when allegations of an extramarital affair surface in the media, forcing the candidate to address a scandal that threatens to derail his campaign and personal life.

Themes

Media scrutiny, Leadership under pressure, Political scandal, Political ambition vs personal cost, Private life vs public life, Public perception and accountability

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Raw Claustrophobic Bleak

Spanish photographer Francesc Boix, imprisoned in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, works in the SS Photographic Service. Between 1943 and 1945, he hides, with the help of other prisoners, thousands of negatives, with the purpose of showing the freed world the atrocities committed by the Nazis, exhaustively documented. He will be a key witness during the Nuremberg Trials.

Themes

Survival under oppression, Duty under risk, Memory against erasure, Evidence through photography, Witness to atrocities

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Dry Clinical Satirical

When a bestselling celebrity biographer is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.

Themes

Economic precarity, Risk and consequence, Gendered power dynamics, Forgery and authenticity, Deception ethics, Reputation vs reality

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Deliberate Clinical Relentless Minimalist

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Themes

Risk management under pressure, Grief-driven perseverance, Duty over personal life, Professional loyalty and sacrifice, Obsession with the mission, Public scrutiny vs private life

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Claustrophobic Atmospheric Bleak Procedural Clinical

On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. This three-part story focuses on the survivors, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.

Themes

Survivor resilience, Collective trauma, Neo-nazism ideology, Summer camp context, Legal ethics, State accountability

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Claustrophobic Bleak Restrained

German artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR regime.

Themes

Abuse of power, State censorship of art, Fugitive romance under regimes, Artistic voice under repression, Familial legacy and trauma, Resilience through migration

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Claustrophobic Deliberate Relentless Measured

Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.

Themes

Resourcefulness under constraint, State coercion and control, Coordinated risk taking, Escape under surveillance, Fear and paranoia, Interfamily solidarity under pressure

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.