Best German Drama Movies

This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best German Drama Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: realistic, serious, sincere, captivating, psychological and sad. Plot: cigarette smoking, woman, death, family relations, husband wife relationship, society, cigarette, blood, telephone call and mission. Genre: Drama, Biography and Thriller. Country: Germany, USA and UK.
Best German Drama Movies
Best German Drama Movies
TOP Movies: The Reader (2008), Nomadland (2020), Barbara (2012), When We Leave (2010), Fight Club (1999), Gran Torino (2008), The Aviator (2004), Inglourious Basterds (2009), System Crasher (2019), The Teachers' Lounge (2023), Manifesto (2015), 8 Mile (2002), The Usual Suspects (1995), Traffic (2000), In the Fade (2017), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Aimee & Jaguar (1999), The Book Thief (2013), Perfect Days (2023), Pay the Ghost (2015).

List of Best Movies

Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 7.6
 258K
The Reader (2008)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as ...
Style: melancholic, sexy, touching, sexual, psychological ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot: coming of age, older woman younger man relationship, age difference, forbidden love, holocaust, nazi, first love, older woman younger man sex, secret, trial, world war two, sexuality ...
Time: post world war two, year 1966, year 1980, year 1958, year 1988 ...
Place: germany, israel, west berlin west germany, hamburg germany, europe ...
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 181K
Nomadland (2020)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: A woman in her sixties embarks on a journey through the American West after losing everything in the Great Recession, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Style: road movie, serious, social, sad, sincere ...
Audience: adult
Plot: van, homeless, traveler, motor home, loss of job, on the road, journey, nomad, road trip, homelessness, snow, loneliness ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s, 90s, year 2011
Place: nevada, nebraska, arizona
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 16K
Barbara (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 105 min.
Story: It is the summer of 1980 in East Germany and, alone, Barbara is confined to living and working as a doctor in a small provincial town - her punishment for attempting to emigrate to the West. She has only one focus; to escape and for this, she has to ...
Style: tense, melancholic, compassionate, atmospheric, psychological ...
Plot: doctor, stasi, cold war, fascism, communism, introspection, character study, power relations, life is a bitch, society, lovers apart, who to trust ...
Time: 80s, 70s, 20th century, year 1980
Place: east germany, germany, berlin germany, northern germany, german democratic republic ...
Is relevant ?
When We Leave (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 119 min.
Story: Umay is a young woman of Turkish descent, fighting for an independent and self-determined life in Germany against the resistance of her family. Her struggle initiates a dynamic, which results in a life-threatening situation.
Style: disturbing, emotional, serious, sincere, psychological ...
Plot: family relations, immigrant, self discovery, family problems, society, against the rules, life is a bitch, conservative, reconciliation, parents and children, unhappy marriage, abusive father ...
Time: 21st century
Place: germany, turkey, europe, berlin germany, istanbul turkey
Is relevant ?
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 8.8
 2.3M
Fight Club (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story: A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style: surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, philosophical ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot: twists and turns, psychology, fight, plot twist, schizophrenia, self destructing, insanity, fighting the system, split personality, losing-it hero, against the rules, nihilism ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 2013
Place: delaware, america, los angeles, iran, seattle ...
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 811K
Gran Torino (2008)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy old man who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors. ...
Style: serious, emotional, touching, suspense, thought provoking ...
Audience: manly, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot: gang, friendship, elderly, veteran, racism, prejudice, gunfight, widower, gangster, interracial relations, old man, vigilante ...
Time: year 2008, 2000s, 21st century
Place: detroit, usa, michigan, italy, north america
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 382K
The Aviator (2004)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 170 min.
Story: A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe ...
Style: realistic, epic, stylized, period piece, captivating ...
Audience: teens
Plot: success, mental illness, aviation, biopic, filmmaking, entrepreneur, corruption, test pilot, entrepreneurship, businessman, character study, obsessive compulsive disorder ...
Time: 1930s, year 2004, 1920s, 20th century, 1940s ...
Place: los angeles, california, new york, connecticut, usa ...
Is relevant ?
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 153 min.
Story: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. ...
Style: suspense, absurd, atmospheric, captivating, tense ...
Audience: boys' night, manly, date night, chick flick, adult
Plot: world war two, vengeance, nazi, war, nazism, revenge, violent, dark humor, alternate history, violence, brutality, working undercover ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, 1940s, 20th century
Place: paris france, france, germany, america, europe
Is relevant ?
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suspense movies
20963
germany movies
1580
sincere movies
7620
 7.8
 15K
System Crasher (2019)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 125 min.
Story: The wild and energetic journey of 9-year-old girl Benni through all possible stations of German Child Proctective Services.
Style: realistic, psychological, disturbing, sincere, intense ...
Plot: problem child, teenager, social problems, parents and children, outcast, social outcast, fighting the system, society, school, family problems, life is a bitch, rebel ...
Time: year 2019
Place: germany, central europe
Is relevant ?
The Teachers' Lounge (2023)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 98 min.
Story: When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.
Style: thrilling, captivating, psychological, psychotronic
Plot: teacher, investigation, sleuth, private investigation, crime investigation, framed for a crime, school teacher, female teacher, who done it, accusation, uncover truth, crime solving ...
Is relevant ?
 6.5
 7K
Manifesto (2015)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 95 min.
Story: An outstanding tribute to various (art) manifestos of the nineteenth and twentieth century, ranging from Communism to Dogme, in connection with thirteen different characters, including a homeless man, a factory worker and a corporate CEO, who are ...
Style: art house, captivating, psychological, disturbing, social ...
Plot: art, women, housewife, social problems, society, social issues, multiple storylines, lifestyle, modern art, dialogue, cinema, dark humor ...
Place: germany, berlin germany
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 318K
8 Mile (2002)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 110 min.
Story: The setting is Detroit in 1995. The city is divided by 8 Mile, a road that splits the town in half along racial lines. A young white rapper, Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. summons strength within himself to cross over these arbitrary ...
Style: inspirational, serious, realistic, harsh, hood ...
Audience: girls' night, boys' night
Plot: hip hop, underdog, music, follow your dream, rap, urban ghetto life, success, urban ghetto, musician, rapper, poverty, street gang ...
Time: 90s, year 2002, y2k, 2000s, year 1995 ...
Place: detroit, michigan, america, los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an ...
Style: neo noir, surprise ending, twist ending, clever, confusing ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: twists and turns, plot twist, heist, master criminal, organized crime, criminal, manipulation, gangster, great ending, interrogation, murder mystery, whodunit ...
Time: 20th century, year 1995, 80s, 90s, year 1981
Place: new york, los angeles, hungary, turkey, north america ...
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 219K
Traffic (2000)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 147 min.
Story: An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine ...
Style: suspense, bleak, political, realistic, dramatic ...
Plot: drug abuse, organized crime, addiction, drug dealer, drug lord, drug addiction, drug traffic, drug cartel, drug, corruption, war on drugs, heroin ...
Time: year 2000, y2k, 90s, 20th century, 2000s
Place: mexico, latin america, california, ohio, los angeles ...
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 35K
In the Fade (2017)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Katja's life collapses after a senseless act impacts her life. After a time of mourning and injustice, she seeks revenge.
Style: suspense, tense, art house, captivating, suspenseful ...
Plot: terrorist, lawyer, revenge, racism, conspiracy, terrorist attack, trial, courtroom, bomb, murder, pursuit, drug use ...
Time: year 2017, 2010s, year 2013, year 2016, 21st century
Place: germany, greece, hamburg germany, turkey
Is relevant ?
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 127 min.
Story: Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line ...
Style: psychological, depressing, serious, crying, heartbreaking ...
Audience: girls' night, teens, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot: mental illness, coming of age, suicide, insanity, psychiatrist, suicide attempt, mental institution, teenage girl, borderline personality disorder, female protagonist, psychiatric ward, psychology ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, 60s
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
Aimee & Jaguar (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 125 min.
Story: Berlin 1943/44 ("The Battle of Berlin"). Felice, an intelligent and courageous Jewish woman who lives under a false name, belongs to an underground organization. Lilly, a devoted mother of four, though an occasional unfaithful wife, is ...
Style: erotic, romantic, sad, historical drama, romantic drama ...
Audience: chick flick
Plot: lesbian, lesbian relationship, lesbian love, holocaust, lesbian interest, gender, woman in danger, nazi, gays and lesbians, world war two, couples, forbidden love ...
Time: year 1999, ancient times, 20th century, 1940s, year 1943 ...
Place: germany, europe, berlin germany
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 142K
The Book Thief (2013)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Style: sentimental, touching, emotional, serious, captivating ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, family outing, teens, adult
Plot: world war two, holocaust, nazi, childhood, adoption, war, nazi germany, human spirit, life is a bitch, against humanity, teenage girl, youth ...
Time: 1940s, year 2013, ancient times, 2010s, 20th century ...
Place: germany, europe
Is relevant ?
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emotional movies
6204
sad movies
sad
2538
touching movies
11218
death movies
16719
 7.9
 18K
Perfect Days (2023)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, Germany
Duration: 124 min.
Story: Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected ...
Style: psychological, captivating, thrilling
Plot: janitor, job, life, lifestyle, social issues, social problems, tree, uncle niece relationship, solitude, design, slice of life, coworker relationship ...
Time: 2020s
Place: tokyo, japan
Is relevant ?
 5.2
 19K
Pay the Ghost (2015)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: One year after his young son disappeared during a Halloween carnival, Mike Cole is haunted by eerie images and terrifying messages he can’t explain. Together with his estranged wife, he will stop at nothing to unravel the mystery and find their ...
Style: scary, atmospheric, intense, suspense, suspenseful ...
Plot: halloween, ghost, missing child, police, supernatural, revenge, nightmare, rescue, professor, transformation, monster, love ...
Place: new york, ireland, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 6K
Combat Girls (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min.
Story: Marisa, a 20-year-old German girl, hates foreigners, Jews, cops, and everyone she finds guilty for the decline of her country. She provokes, drinks, fights and her next tattoo will be a portrait of Adolf Hitler. The only place she feels home is the ...
Style: thought provoking, disturbing, tense, realistic, rough ...
Plot: neo nazi, skinhead, racism, ideology, gang, refugee, strong female character, friendship, grandfather granddaughter relationship, youth, society, counterculture ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: germany
Is relevant ?
 7.9
 105K
Amour (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Austria, France, Germany
Duration: 127 min.
Story: Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
Style: philosophical, sad, sincere, art house, reflective ...
Plot: elderly, aging, death, old couple, life & death, elderly lovers, husband wife relationship, life philosophy, illness, love, family relations, daughter ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, 21st century
Place: paris france, germany, nebraska, france
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 444K
King Kong (2005)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Country: USA, New Zealand, Germany
Duration: 187 min.
Story: In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.
Style: sentimental, scenic, suspense, emotional, epic ...
Audience: teens, girls' night, kids, manly, boys' night ...
Plot: creature, jungle, dinosaur, king kong, monster, beast, gorilla, giant ape, island, rescue, giant animal, monkey ...
Time: year 2005, 1930s, prehistoric times, jurassic, 20th century ...
Place: new york, empire state building manhattan new york city, fictional island, usa, manhattan new york city ...
Is relevant ?
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 7.7
 448K
Crash (2004)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Australia
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Style: bleak, touching, thought provoking, sincere, emotional ...
Audience: adult
Plot: racism, police, prejudice, racial tension, multiple storylines, sexual harassment, racist, social injustice, redemption, interracial relations, class differences, city life ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california, persia, santa monica california ...
Is relevant ?
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA, UK
Duration: 148 min.
Story: 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 ...
Style: suspenseful, captivating, entertaining, thrilling, novela ...
Audience: adult
Plot: world war one, trench warfare, battles, military, battlefield, soldier, death of friend, german army, infantry, dying young, german soldier, death ...
Time: year 1917, year 1914, 2020s, year 1918, 1910s ...
Place: germany, france
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 510K
Rush (2013)
Genre: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: A biographical drama centered on the rivalry between Formula 1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One motor-racing season.
Style: inspirational, realistic, motivational, suspense, exciting ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: racing, race, car race, race car, racecar driver, rise to the top, motor sport, success, formula 1, car racing, world champion, rivalry ...
Time: 70s, year 2013, 2010s, year 1976, year 1970 ...
Place: europe, britain, australia, usa, monte carlo ...
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 265K
Walk the Line (2005)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 136 min.
Story: A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Style: sentimental, touching, emotional, road movie, captivating ...
Audience: date night, chick flick, girls' night
Plot: music, rock and roll, country music, musician's life, musician, addiction, marriage, biopic, accident, prison, drug, rise and fall ...
Time: 70s, 60s, 50s, 2000s, 1940s ...
Place: tennessee, memphis, usa, arkansas, west germany ...
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 2K
Sanctuary (2015)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Summer 1968. 14-year-old Wolfgang is deported from his family in the secluded Church Welfare Institution sanctuary. One thing is clear for Wolfgang: His yearning for freedom, he will not soon buried in the bog.
Style: sad
Plot: stepfather, coming of age, boy, violence, lgbt, gay, nationalism, boyhood, traumatic childhood, childhood, distopia, parent child relationship ...
Time: 60s, year 1968
Place: germany
Is relevant ?
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 123 min.
Story: Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and ...
Style: political, factual, suspense, harsh, psychological ...
Plot: dictatorship, dictator, doctor, politics, polygamy, genocide, atrocity, corruption, biopic, medical, attempted murder, against humanity ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 2006
Place: africa, uganda, scotland, united kingdom, south africa
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 2K
24 Weeks (2016)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Astrid is a comedian who makes people laugh for a living; her husband Markus is her manager and the two of them work well together. They have a nine-year-old daughter and are expecting their second child. When they learn that their child will not be ...
Style: tragic ending, sad, disturbing, suspense, existential ...
Plot: family relations, sex scene, pregnancy, dilemma, pregnant woman, society, death, psychology, disability, sexual intercourse, maternity ward, heart condition ...
Place: germany
Is relevant ?
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