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Waltz with Bashir poster

Movies that feel likeWaltz with Bashir (2008)

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.

If you loved Waltz with Bashir, the closest films we have are The Breadwinner (2017), The Counterfeiters (2007) and In Darkness (2011). All three share Waltz with Bashir's contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is A War (2015).

πŸ… 97% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ari Folmancontemplativebleak
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Waltz with Bashir hit the spot, these will too

The Breadwinner poster
The Breadwinner
2017 Β· dir. Nora Twomey
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.7animation Β· war Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: adult animation

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

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then bleakness

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

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

Contemplative drama in both cases

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).

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

War built on bleakness, twice over

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

Contemplative animation, and it commits to that

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

Documentary 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.

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

Both play drama straight

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.

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

Both working the same war territory

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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.

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

Drama approached the same way

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

Rome, Open City poster
Rome, Open City
1945 Β· dir. Roberto Rossellini
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8drama Β· warMax

War in the same key

The difference: Made in the 1940s, in a different era of the craft

During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.

Shame poster
Shame
1968 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 67%β˜… 8war Β· drama

The same drama instincts

In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

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

War of the same temperament

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Waltz with Bashir’s defining feeling.