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The Breadwinner poster

Movies that feel likeThe Breadwinner (2017)

A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

If you loved The Breadwinner, the closest films we have are A War (2015), Persian Lessons (2020) and Beanpole (2019). All three share The Breadwinner's bleak and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is In Darkness (2011).

πŸ… 95% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Nora Twomeybleakcontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· OVID

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Breadwinner hit the spot, these will too

A War poster
A War
2015 Β· dir. Tobias Lindholm
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7drama Β· war

Both are working the same pair: afghanistan, family

Company commander Claus Michael Pedersen and his men are stationed in Helmand, Afghanistan. Meanwhile back in Denmark, with a husband at war and three children missing their father, everyday life is a struggle for Claus' wife Maria. During a routine mission, the soldiers are caught in heavy Taliban crossfire. In order to save his men, Claus makes a decision that ultimately sees him return to Denmark accused of a war crime.

Persian Lessons poster
Persian Lessons
2020 Β· dir. Vadim Perelman
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.4war Β· drama

Both land bleakness and stillness at once

Occupied France, 1942. Gilles is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach Farsi to Head of Camp Koch, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Through an ingenious trick, Gilles manages to survive by inventing words of "Farsi" every day and teaching them to Koch.

Beanpole poster
Beanpole
2019 Β· dir. Kantemir Balagov
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.2drama Β· warRent or buy

War with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.

Waltz with Bashir poster
Waltz with Bashir
2008 Β· dir. Ari Folman
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8animation Β· documentary Β· drama

Common ground: adult animation

The difference: Sits closer to documentary than The Breadwinner does

A film director from Israel interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

In Darkness poster
In Darkness
2011 Β· dir. Agnieszka Holland
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.3drama Β· war

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied city of Lviv. In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Soha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his own good, the thief and burglar hides Jewish refugees for 14 months in the sewers of the Nazi-occupied town of Lviv (formerly Poland).

Sobibor poster
Sobibor
2018 Β· dir. Konstantin Khabenskiy
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.4war Β· dramaPrime Video

Both lean on bleakness more than on animation

The film is based on a real story that happened in 1943 in the Sobibor concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. The main character of the movie is the Soviet-Jewish soldier Alexander Pechersky, who at that time was serving in the Red Army as a lieutenant. In October 1943, he was captured by the Nazis and deported to the Sobibor concentration camp, where Jews were being exterminated in gas chambers. But, in just 3 weeks, Alexander was able to plan an international uprising of prisoners from Poland and Western Europe. This uprising resulted in being the only successful one throughout the war, which led to the largest escape of prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp.

The Counterfeiters poster
The Counterfeiters
2007 Β· dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5drama Β· war

Contemplative war in both cases

The story of Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch, who was coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.

Unbroken poster
Unbroken
2014 Β· dir. Angelina Jolie
πŸ… 52%β˜… 7.2drama Β· warNetflix

Both play drama straight

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.

All Quiet on the Western Front poster
All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 Β· dir. Edward Berger
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.8war Β· dramaNetflix

The war is handled with the same confidence

Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

All Quiet on the Western Front poster
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 Β· dir. Lewis Milestone
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1drama Β· war

The same drama instincts

The difference: 87 years apart, and the 1930s show

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

Jarhead poster
Jarhead
2005 Β· dir. Sam Mendes
πŸ… 60%β˜… 7drama Β· warNetflixStarz

Cut from the same war cloth

Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.

Lifeboat poster
Lifeboat
1944 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.6war Β· drama

Both know what they want from drama

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

In the mood for more bleak?

all bleak movies β†’

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