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The African Queen poster

Movies that feel likeThe African Queen (1952)

At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

If you loved The African Queen, the closest films we have are From Here to Eternity (1953), Ashes and Diamonds (1958) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). All three share The African Queen's romantic and tender feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Only Angels Have Wings (1939).

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See it on the Mood Map

If The African Queen hit the spot, these will too

From Here to Eternity poster
From Here to Eternity
1953 · dir. Fred Zinnemann
🍅 88%★ 7.6war · romance · dramaPrime Video

The same mix in both: romance, then tenderness

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than The African Queen does

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

Ashes and Diamonds poster
Ashes and Diamonds
1958 · dir. Andrzej Wajda
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · war · romanceMax

Bleak where it counts, contemplative underneath

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

The Best Years of Our Lives poster
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946 · dir. William Wyler
🍅 97%★ 8.1drama · romance · warPrime Video

Romance built on romance, twice over

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

The Cranes Are Flying poster
The Cranes Are Flying
1957 · dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
🍅 96%★ 8.3drama · romance · war

Tender war, and it commits to that

Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

Mrs. Miniver poster
Mrs. Miniver
1942 · dir. William Wyler
🍅 93%★ 7.6drama · romance · war

Drama with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.

Beauty and the Beast poster
Beauty and the Beast
1946 · dir. Jean Cocteau
★ 7.9drama · fantasy · romanceMax

Both lean on hope more than on adventure

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than The African Queen does

The story of a gentle-hearted beast in love with a simple and beautiful girl. She is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. She is unable to return the key on time, but it is revealed that the Beast is the genuinely handsome one. A simple tale of tragic love that turns into a surreal vision of death, desire, and beauty.

Breaking the Waves poster
Breaking the Waves
1996 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 84%★ 7.8drama · romance

Both are built on the same subject: faith

The difference: 44 years apart, and the 1990s show

In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.

A Short Film About Love poster
A Short Film About Love
1988 · dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
🍅 95%★ 8.1drama · romance

Contemplative romance in both cases

19-year-old Tomek whiles away his lonely life by spying on his opposite neighbour Magda through binoculars. She's an artist in her mid-thirties, and appears to have everything - not least a constant stream of men at her beck and call. But when the two finally meet, they discover that they have a lot more in common than appeared at first sight...

Mohabbatein poster
Mohabbatein
2000 · dir. Aditya Chopra
★ 7.1drama · romanceNetflix

Drama built on hope, twice over

At a prestigious all-male university, three friends seek love outside of the school grounds; at the same time, a newly-hired music teacher seeks to befriend and loosen up the militantly strict headmaster.

Wings poster
Wings
1927 · dir. William A. Wellman
🍅 94%★ 7.5drama · action · war

The same preoccupation in both: world war i

The difference: Sits closer to action than The African Queen does

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

Doctor Zhivago poster
Doctor Zhivago
1965 · dir. David Lean
🍅 82%★ 7.9drama · romance · war

One thread runs through both: world war i

The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.

Only Angels Have Wings poster
Only Angels Have Wings
1939 · dir. Howard Hawks
🍅 100%★ 7.6romance · adventure · drama

Both lean on scale more than on adventure

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

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