Movies like Orphan 2025
If you like "Orphan" you are looking for historical drama, emotional and melancholic movies about / with child protagonist, post war, family drama, identity crisis, father son conflict, trauma and cold war themes of Biography, Drama and History genre shot in Hungary or UK.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Orphan (2025)
512
Original name: Árva
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Hungary, UK, USA, Cyprus, France, Germany
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
In 1957 Budapest, one year following the failure of the Hungarian Revolution, a 12-year-old Jewish boy whose mother has raised him to believe that his father will return from the camps has his hopes shattered when a brutish stranger appears on the doorstep to take his family back.
Style:
historical drama, emotional, melancholic, intense, period piece, suspense, period drama
Plot:
child protagonist, post war, family drama, identity crisis, father son conflict, trauma, cold war, brutality, memory, fear, impostor, grief, jewish family, moral ambiguity, mistrust, haunting, intimate, survival, oppression, coming of age, political repression, abuse, surrogate family, small town, authoritarianism ...
Time:
1950s, 20th century, year 1956
Place:
budapest, hungary, europe, central europe
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Orphan
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, historical drama, period piece and art house films with plots about coming of age, moral ambiguity, intimate, trauma, isolation, memory and family drama mostly in Drama, History and Biography genres. Some movies like Orphan: The Little Comrade (2018), The Boy in the Woods (2023), Forced March (1989), The Leaving of Liverpool (1993), Young Andersen (2005). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Estonia
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good kid, Leelo vows to be on her best behaviour in the confusing grown-up world in the hope ...
Style:
historical drama, suspense, disturbing, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
child, totalitarianism, family drama, oppression, political repression, child protagonist, mother daughter relationship, children, social problems, promise, society, stalinism ...
Time:
1950s
Place:
estonia, ussr, soviet union
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Canada
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
Style:
historical drama, suspenseful, thrilling, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
nazi occupation, holocaust, survival, holocaust survivor, world war two, fear, hiding, persecution, anti semitism, problem, nazism, nazi ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
93%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Hungary, USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Originally shot in Hungary in 1988, this new version of FORCED MARCH is even more haunting, given the re-emergence of anti-Semitism in today’s Hungary. Chris Sarandon plays BEN KLINE, an American television star and a “bankable name” who is ...
Style:
historical drama, bleak, poignant, serious, meditative ...
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, actor, trauma, jewish history, memories, haunting, empathy, memory, guilt, survival, identity ...
Time:
1940s, year 1989
Place:
hungary, los angeles, europe
Similarity:
81%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 180 min.
Story:
A poignant and forceful saga which traces the fortunes of two English children uprooted from their beloved Liverpool dockside to the alien environment of Australia in the years following World War Two.
Style:
historical drama, poignant, emotional, period piece, realistic ...
Plot:
corporal punishment, family drama, post war, loss, emigration, social history, working class, resilience, coming of age, alienation, identity crisis, realism ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s
Place:
liverpool, australia
Similarity:
80%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A powerful modern film narrative, set in a historical framework, about the crucial encounter between vulnerable eighteen-year-old Hans Christian Andersen, who rates himself so highly, and Mr. Meisling, the cynical school principal. An encounter that ...
Style:
period piece, historical drama, emotional, melancholic, art house ...
Plot:
writers, biopic, coming of age, hans christian andersen, school, character study, personal growth, ambition, identity crisis, isolation, social class, poet ...
Time:
19th century
Place:
denmark
Similarity:
78%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, UK, Poland, Singapore
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Dual timelines explore a Japanese widow's memories spanning post-war Nagasaki in 1950s and England during 1980s Cold War era, unraveling secrets that intertwine her past and present experiences across borders.
Style:
period piece, reflective, melancholic, atmospheric, historical drama ...
Plot:
widow, female protagonist, trauma, grief, memory, secrets, post war, mother and daughter, loss, regret, family secret, identity ...
Time:
1950s, 60s, 80s, 20th century, year 1982 ...
Place:
england
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Anxo returns to his home village in the Galician countryside. There, he is greeted with concern by the victorious and the defeated, who see in him the danger of diving back into their silenced memories.
Style:
historical drama, atmospheric, melancholic, meditative, bleak ...
Plot:
political repression, dictatorship, post war, oppression, post civil war, authoritarianism, resistance, trauma, minimalism, forest, isolation, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
galicia
Similarity:
70%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Romania
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
Based on true events, The Ladder follows the spiritual journey of Andrei, a sensitive, socially awkward young man who turns to acting in his search for true happiness. After the fall of communism, he is blinded by the illusion of freedom and ...
Style:
reflective, melancholic, art house, bleak, emotional ...
Plot:
spiritual journey, existentialism, character study, moral ambiguity, loss of innocence, alienation, identity crisis, socially awkward, mental illness, slow burn, oppression, haunting ...
Time:
90s
Place:
romania, eastern europe
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
A continuation of "Diary for My Children," the film picks up in 1950, when Juli, the diarist, is 18 and determined to become a movie director.
Style:
art house, reflective, poignant, emotional, lyrical ...
Plot:
diary, female protagonist, autobiography, introspection, coming of age, intimate, post war, identity, memory, personal growth, political repression, literary ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
moscow russia, budapest
Similarity:
68%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
The story of 10-year-old boy and his family against the backdrop of the bloody events of 1956, in Budapest. Children do not yet understand what is going on, but they're happy because the schools are closed. But gradually, to adults and children ...
Style:
tension, emotional, bleak, melancholic, sad ...
Plot:
children, innocence lost, repression, political unrest, oppression, fear, loss, child protagonist, coming of age, violence, shock, urban ...
Time:
1950s, year 1956, 50s
Place:
budapest, eastern europe, europe, hungary
Similarity:
61%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Mexico, Brazil, Norway, Colombia
Duration: 78 min.
Story:
A dramatized account of Colombia's 1985 Palace of Justice siege combines fictional elements with historical footage, exploring themes of belief, turmoil, and lasting national trauma.
Style:
historical drama, tense, political thriller, period piece, art house
Plot:
siege, haunting, hostage situation, moral ambiguity, grief, political repression, media coverage, judiciary, investigation, betrayal, corruption, propaganda ...
Time:
80s
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Sarah Rector, an African-American girl born in Oklahoma Indian Territory in the early 1900s, believes there is oil beneath the barren land she’s allotted, and her faith is proven right. As greedy oil sharks close in, Sarah turns to her family, ...
Style:
historical drama, inspirational, period piece, independent film
Plot:
black history, female empowerment, exploitation, racial discrimination, child protagonist, greed, family drama, resilience, biopic, coming of age, entrepreneurship, determination ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: West Germany
Duration: 55 min.
Story:
Not Reconciled, the title of the Straubs’ first feature-length film, is engraved on their work like an inscription. It is a story about the continuity and collapse of history, the power of suppression, and the terror of reconciliation; loyalty, ...
Style:
historical drama, family saga, serious, period piece, bleak ...
Plot:
guilt, reconciliation, german history, betrayal, memory, suppression, family secret, post war germany, moral ambiguity, revenge, symbolism, loyalty ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 1950s, 50s
Place:
germany
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
In the aftermath of a traumatic event, a socially-awkward teen, Charlie, grapples with the guilt and judgement that ensues. He must confront the prison-like bondage of his fear when the perpetrator comes after him. In this tribute to contemporary ...
Style:
slow cinema, bleak, melancholic, tense, realistic ...
Plot:
guilt, character study, trauma, mother son relationship, slow burn, mental health, intimate, isolation, socially awkward, fear, family drama, claustrophobia ...
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
The film is composed around a violent incident, happened in 1956. Upon hearing the news that the Russians were approaching, the dwellers of the Home for the Disabled armed themselves. Followed by stares by people living in the area they marched ...
Style:
captivating, suspense, political, bleak, tension ...
Plot:
violence, handicapped, social issues, assault, military, wartime, physical disability, society, social relations, protector, protection, resistance ...
Place:
hungary
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken to the police psychiatric ...
Style:
dark, tense, historical drama, period piece, political drama ...
Plot:
totalitarian regime, political repression, authoritarianism, anti establishment, punk, police station, resistance, political persecution, oppression, iron curtain, imprisonment, mental institution ...
Time:
80s
Place:
budapest, eastern europe
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
1916. Julien Delaunay is reported missing in action during the Great War. His wife, Julie, refuses to believe he is dead. 1919. When a photo of an amnesic drifter appears in the press, Julie immediately recognizes him as her beloved husband. They ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, period piece, emotional, historical drama ...
Plot:
amnesia, world war one, memory, male female relationship, vanished man, relationships, repressed memory, amnesiac, memory lapse, memory loss, family relations, life is a bitch ...
Time:
year 1919
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 60 min.
Story:
The profound depths of Ernõ Szép's life and poetry are revived in a new film adaptation of the poet's novel, 'The Smell of Humans'. This stoic and lyrical narrative of twenty fateful days offers an authentic account of an ...
Style:
reflective, lyrical, melancholic, bleak, emotional ...
Plot:
humanity, poetry, poet, memory, biopic, literary, haunting, survival, loss, resilience, oppression, anti semitism ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
hungary, eastern europe
Similarity:
48%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Argentina
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Drama starring Norma Aleandro, Conrado Valenzuela, Fabio Aste
Style:
serious, emotional, touching, disturbing, realistic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
family relations, isolation, estrangement, dictatorship, family drama, relocation, death of mother, grief, coming of age, loss of innocence, child protagonist, social realism ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
argentina
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
The beginning shows Hungary devastated by the war and the postwar reconstruction with its communist government. Our hero (played first by Dániel Erdély and later, as a young man, by András Bálint) is clearly determined to find out what he can ...
Style:
melancholic, period piece, historical drama, reflective
Plot:
boy, mother son relationship, father figure, coming of age, family drama, character study, loss of innocence, father, bittersweet, moral ambiguity, little boy, elementary school ...
Time:
1940s, year 1966, post world war two
Place:
hungary, budapest
Similarity:
46%
939
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Hungary
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
In 1951 Communist-era Budapest, the secret police knock on the door of an ordinary family. Instead of arresting them, they decide to move in and hold the family captive in their own home, along with anyone who comes to visit them.
Style:
tense, historical drama, suspense, art house, period piece ...
Plot:
claustrophobia, fear, surveillance, secret police, captivity, paranoia, totalitarianism, oppression, political repression, home invasion, psychological torture, house arrest ...
Time:
1950s
Place:
hungary, budapest
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 71 min.
Story:
Vienna, the 1950s. A childhood captured on 8mm film, documented by thirteen-year-old Johanna.
Style:
art house, melancholic, poetic, experimental, period piece ...
Plot:
memory, childhood, family secret, family drama, nostalgia, coming of age, identity, intimate, introspection, autobiography, middle class, voice over narration ...
Time:
1950s, year 1956, 50s
Place:
vienna, germany, europe, austria
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
The Night of the brother ("La Noche del Hermano") is a chiaroscuro tale in which the characters' not always explicit feelings cover the gamut from darkness to light through the thin line between love and fear. Because the events of ...
Style:
intense, grim, art house, melancholic, tense ...
Plot:
family drama, trauma, family secret, fear, guilt, slow burn, realism, symbolism, regret, small town, isolation, male protagonist ...
Similarity:
43%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Chile, UK
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
A true story of passion and political intrigue in early nineteenth century Chile, based on the memoirs of the intrepid travel writer, Maria Graham.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, costume drama, atmospheric, intercultural ...
Plot:
biopic, female protagonist, political intrigue, diary, social commentary, literary, revolution, intimate, travelogue, independence movement, empowerment, class conflict ...
Time:
19th century, 1820s
Place:
chile
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A wife and mother in 1915 Tennessee copes with the loss of her husband and the necessity of raising their children alone.
Style:
historical drama, emotional, heartfelt, melancholic, sentimental ...
Plot:
family relations, loss of husband, motherhood, grief, family drama, small town, american south, village life, intimate, gender roles, coming of age, literary ...
Time:
1910s
Place:
tennessee
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 73 min.
Story:
Two young directors adapted the short stories of two Russian authors whose works had been banned for decades, and so their film ended up in the censor’s vault as well – for twenty years. Both tales look back to the post-revolutionary era, and ...
Style:
anthology, historical drama, period piece, bleak, melancholic ...
Plot:
civil war, adaptation, soldier, brutality, village, political repression, survival, class conflict, destruction, moral ambiguity, haunting, realism ...
Time:
1920s
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Morocco, Germany
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
1981, Morocco. A village in the Atlas mountains. A city in the distance. A child. A family facing its destiny.
Style:
historical drama, emotional, reflective, melancholic, bleak ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
child protagonist, mother son relationship, ramadan, innocence, coming of age, political repression, loss of innocence, human rights, absent father, imprisonment, memory, grief ...
Time:
80s
Place:
morocco, north africa
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Denmark, Spain
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A grandchild sets out to discover how the death of his grandfather in the Spanish Civil War could split up the entire family for three generations.
Style:
captivating, reflective, bleak, poignant, emotional ...
Plot:
spanish civil war, grandfather, family secret, family drama, uncover truth, three generations, heroes, wartime, military life, social issues, life, lifestyle ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Bullfighting, music, medicine, change, and homoerotic possibilities mix in this study of friendship. Francisco is a bullfighter on his way up, so focused even sex doesn't hold his interest. After a minor road accident, he meets a doctor, ...
Style:
tense, emotional, art house, intense, melancholic ...
Plot:
bullfighting, bullfighter, friendship, character study, obsession, passion, machismo, relationships, sexual repression, medicine, doctor, trauma ...
Place:
spain
Similarity:
37%
166
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Norway, Sweden
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Little Ida's mother is working for the Germans during WW2, and she is also having a relationship with a German SS-officer. Ida is experiencing the problems of having a mother who is involved with the enemy, without being old enough to ...
Style:
historical drama, period piece, melancholic, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
world war two, mother daughter relationship, collaboration, family drama, loss of innocence, trauma, betrayal, guilt, intimate, identity, haunting, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
1940s
Similarity:
37%
Related movie lists
