feelsalike.comSign in
Napoleon poster

Movies that feel likeNapoleon (2023)

An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.

If you loved Napoleon, the closest films we have are The Zone of Interest (2023), The King (2019) and The Shadow in My Eye (2021). All three share Napoleon's epic and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Katyn (2007).

🍅 58% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ridley Scottepicbleakcontemplative
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · OVID

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:Apple TV ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is Napoleon streaming? →

If Napoleon hit the spot, these will too

The Zone of Interest poster
The Zone of Interest
2023 · dir. Jonathan Glazer
🍅 93%★ 7.3drama · history · warRent or buy

Both are working the same pair: biography, a true story

The difference: Reviewed even better

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.

The King poster
The King
2019 · dir. David Michôd
🍅 71%★ 7.3drama · history · warNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: biography

England, 15th century. Hal, a capricious prince who lives among the populace far from court, is forced by circumstances to reluctantly accept the throne and become Henry V.

The Shadow in My Eye poster
The Shadow in My Eye
2021 · dir. Ole Bornedal
★ 7.3war · drama · historyNetflix

Common ground: a true story

On March 21st, 1945, the British Royal Air Force set out on a mission to bomb Gestapo's headquarters in Copenhagen. The raid had fatal consequences as some of the bombers accidentally targeted a school and more than 120 people were killed, 86 of whom were children.

Kingdom of Heaven poster
Kingdom of Heaven
2005 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 39%★ 7.3drama · action · adventure

The same hand behind both of them: Ridley Scott

The difference: Sits closer to action than Napoleon does

After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi poster
🍅 52%★ 7.3war · history · drama

The same mix in both: scale, then bleakness

An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

The Champion poster
The Champion
2021 · dir. Maciej Barczewski
★ 6.8drama · history · warPrime Video

Contemplative history in both cases

It is 1940. The first transport of prisoners arrives at the newly created concentration camp Auschwitz. One of them is Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski, pre-war boxing champion of Warsaw. The camp officers force him to fight in the ring for his and other prisoners’ lives. However, his every win strengthens the hope that Nazis are not invincible. Auschwitz officers notice the growing resistance. The confrontation with the authorities of the camp becomes inevitable.

The Monuments Men poster
The Monuments Men
2014 · dir. George Clooney
🍅 30%★ 6.1war · drama · historyPrime Video

Epic war, and it commits to that

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?

Kalashnikov AK-47 poster
Kalashnikov AK-47
2020 · dir. Konstantin Buslov
★ 6.6war · history · dramaPrime Video

Drama built on bleakness, twice over

A Russian military propaganda film about the tank commander Kalashnikov, severely injured in battle in 1941. The accident leaves him incapacitated and unable to return to the front line. While recovering in the hospital, he begins creating the initial sketches of what will become one of the world’s most legendary weapons. A self-taught inventor is only 29 when he develops the now iconic assault riffle — the AK-47. Shot in occupied Crimea.

T-34 poster
T-34
2018 · dir. Alexey Sidorov
★ 6.8drama · history · warPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on history

In 1944, a courageous group of Russian soldiers managed to escape from German captivity in a half-destroyed legendary T-34 tank. Those were the times of unforgettable bravery, fierce fighting, unbreakable love, and legendary miracles.

The Captain poster
The Captain
2018 · dir. Robert Schwentke
🍅 83%★ 7.3war · drama · historyPrime Video

War with a pulse of scale, in both cases

Germany, 1945. Soldier Willi Herold, a deserter of the German army, stumbles into a uniform of a Nazi captain abandoned during the last and desperate weeks of the Third Reich. Newly emboldened by the allure of a suit that he has stolen only to stay warm, Willi discovers that many Germans will follow the leader, whoever he is.

Katyn poster
Katyn
2007 · dir. Andrzej Wajda
🍅 91%★ 7drama · history · war

Drama with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland, unleashing World War II. On September 17th, the Soviet Red Army crosses the border. The Polish army, unable to fight on two fronts, is defeated. Thousands of Polish men, both military and government officials, are captured by the invaders. Their fate will only be known several years later.

Land of Mine poster
Land of Mine
2015 · dir. Martin Zandvliet
🍅 91%★ 7.8war · drama · history

History with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war is handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent to the West Coast, where they are ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys are forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of a Danish sergeant.

In the mood for more epic?

all epic movies →

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