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.

In This Corner of the World

451. In This Corner of the World

Drama Animation Romance War History
7.8

20162h 10min

Japan

Director: Sunao Katabuchi

Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

Themes

Family resilience, Wartime rationing, Domestic labor under war, Postwar rebuilding, Adoption as survival, Air raid drills

Available on

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

Hacksaw Ridge

452. Hacksaw Ridge

Drama History War Historical Event World War II
8.1

20162h 19min

Australia, United Kingdom

Director: Mel Gibson

WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Themes

Faith guiding action, Ostracism under pressure, Religious pacifism vs duty, Healing through medical work, Conscientious objection, Sacrifice and rescue

Available on

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

Hatred

453. Hatred

War Drama History
7.6

20162h 30min

Director: Wojtek Smarzowski

Summer of 1939. Zosia is a young Polish girl who is deeply in love with Ukrainian Petro. Their great love will be put to the test when her father decides to marry her to a wealthy widower Skiba. Right after wedding she is left alone because her husband is drafted to the Polish army for the war with Germany. Meanwhile, tensions grow due to Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians living side by side.


Supersonic

454. Supersonic

Music Documentary History Music Documentary Concert Film
7.8

20161h 57min

United Kingdom

Director: Mat Whitecross

Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.

Themes

Class mobility constraints, Family influence on art, Rapid fame dynamics, Collective musical identity, Archival memory and performance, Public spectacle and private fatigue

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Last Family

455. The Last Family

Drama History
7.4

20162h 4min

Director: Jan P. Matuszyński

Beksiński is a gentle man with arachnophobia, despite his hardcore sexual fantasies and his fondness for painting disturbing dystopian works. Beksiński is a family man who wants only the best for his loving wife Zofia, neurotic son Tomasz and the couple's aging mothers. His daily painting to classical music eventually pays off and he makes a name for himself in contemporary art. Good Catholic woman Zofia tries to hold the family together, but troubled son Tomasz proves to be a handful with his violent outbursts and suicidal threats. Their relief is brief when he starts dating women and becomes a radio presenter and movie translator, and the concerned parents must be on constant watch to prevent their son from hurting himself. But Beksiński never believed that family life would always be sunshine and rainbows. As he tapes everything with his beloved camcorder, the 28-year Beksiński saga unfolds through paintings, near-death experiences, dance music trends and funerals...


Denial

456. Denial

Drama History Legal Drama
6.8

20161h 49min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Mick Jackson

Acclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt must battle for historical truth to prove the Holocaust actually occurred when David Irving, a renowned denier, sues her for libel.

Themes

Survivor testimony credibility, Legal burden in libel, Scholarly method versus distortion, Historical evidence under attack, Public memory under scrutiny, Academic integrity under pressure

Available on

fuboTV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Smoke & Mirrors

457. Smoke & Mirrors

History Thriller Political History Political Thriller
6.8

20162h 3min

Spain

Director: Alberto Rodríguez

A tale of cheats and impostors, taking its inspiration from true facts and from one of the most intriguing characters of recent decades: the spy Francisco Paesa.

Themes

Political corruption, Revenge through deception, State manipulation, Trust vs betrayal, Espionage and covertness, Public deception and schemes

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Snowden

458. Snowden

Drama History Crime Thriller Political Drama
7.3

20162h 15min

France, Germany

Director: Oliver Stone

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

Themes

Investigative journalism pressure, Mass surveillance ethics, Surveillance state critique, National security agency politics, Whistleblower consequences, Idealism under pressure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Frantz

459. Frantz

History Drama Romance Bittersweet Romance Tragic Drama
7.5

20161h 53min

France, Germany

Director: François Ozon

In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious French man who visits the fiance’s grave to lay flowers.

Themes

Grief and memory, Deception and perception, Postwar trauma, Intercultural tension, Social distrust, Romance under constraints

Available on

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

Sully

460. Sully

Drama History Historical Drama Historical Event
7.4

20161h 36min

United States

Director: Clint Eastwood

On 15 January 2009, the world witnessed the 'Miracle on the Hudson' when Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and career.

Themes

Public scrutiny, Human judgment vs simulations, Duty under uncertainty, Media pressure, Image under pressure, Crisis management under review

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.