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Oppenheimer poster

Movies that feel likeOppenheimer (2023)

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

If you loved Oppenheimer, the closest films we have are Darkest Hour (2017), The Girl with the Needle (2024) and Air (2023). All three share Oppenheimer's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Labyrinth of Lies (2014).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Christopher Nolancontemplativeepic
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Oppenheimer hit the spot, these will too

Darkest Hour poster
Darkest Hour
2017 · dir. Joe Wright
🍅 84%★ 7.4drama · historyRent or buy

One man's decisions bending history's arc

The difference: Churchill's war rooms, single crisis

In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.

The Girl with the Needle poster
The Girl with the Needle
2024 · dir. Magnus von Horn
🍅 93%★ 7.5drama · historyRent or buy

History's weight pressing on one person until morality buckles

The difference: Intimate and horrifying, not grand — a needle, not a bomb

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.

Air poster
Air
2023 · dir. Ben Affleck
🍅 93%★ 7.4drama · historyPrime Video

A high-stakes true story told through meetings, bets and conviction

The difference: The stakes are sneakers — charming, but nothing hangs over the world

Discover the game-changing partnership between a then undiscovered Michael Jordan and Nike's fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and culture with the Air Jordan brand.

Steve Jobs poster
Steve Jobs
2015 · dir. Danny Boyle
🍅 85%★ 7.2drama · history

A brilliant, difficult architect of the modern world

The difference: Three-launch structure, Sorkin patter

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

Dallas Buyers Club poster
Dallas Buyers Club
2013 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 92%★ 7.9drama · historyNetflix

A flawed man forcing institutions to reckon with him

The difference: AIDS-era hustle, intimate scale

Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.

The Post poster
The Post
2017 · dir. Steven Spielberg
🍅 88%★ 7.2drama · historyMax

Government secrets and the conscience of those holding them

The difference: Publishing-decision drama

A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 poster
The Trial of the Chicago 7
2020 · dir. Aaron Sorkin
🍅 89%★ 7.7drama · historyNetflix

One thread runs through both: a true story

What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorious trials in history.

The Founder poster
The Founder
2016 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 80%★ 7.2drama · historyNetflix

Ambition consuming the man who built the empire

The difference: Fast-food capitalism, smaller stage

The true story of how Ray Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire.

The Two Popes poster
The Two Popes
2019 · dir. Fernando Meirelles
🍅 89%★ 7.6drama · historyNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

Borg vs McEnroe poster
Borg vs McEnroe
2017 · dir. Janus Metz
🍅 84%★ 6.9drama · historyNetflixParamount+

Genius as a burden — the pressure of being the best hollowing a man

The difference: One tournament's scale — the world isn't at stake, just a title

The Swedish Björn Borg and the American John McEnroe, the best tennis players in the world, maintain a legendary duel during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament.

Labyrinth of Lies poster
Labyrinth of Lies
2014 · dir. Giulio Ricciarelli
🍅 83%★ 7.3drama · history

A man digging up what his country's institutions want buried

The difference: A procedural at heart — courtroom digging, not spectacle

A young prosecutor in postwar West Germany investigates a massive conspiracy to cover up the Nazi pasts of prominent public figures.

Hidden Figures poster
Hidden Figures
2016 · dir. Theodore Melfi
🍅 93%★ 7.8drama · historyMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: biography

The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Oppenheimer’s defining feeling.