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The Grapes of Wrath poster

Movies that feel likeThe Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

If you loved The Grapes of Wrath, the closest films we have are How Green Was My Valley (1941), Late Spring (1949) and Germany, Year Zero (1948). All three share The Grapes of Wrath's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hamlet (1948).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. John Fordcontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Criterion Channel · Fandor

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Grapes of Wrath hit the spot, these will too

How Green Was My Valley poster
How Green Was My Valley
1941 · dir. John Ford
🍅 93%★ 7.7drama

John Ford working the same nerve twice

Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.

Late Spring poster
Late Spring
1949 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
🍅 100%★ 8.2dramaMax

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Germany, Year Zero poster
Germany, Year Zero
1948 · dir. Roberto Rossellini
🍅 96%★ 7.8dramaMax

Contemplative drama in both cases

In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.

Drunken Angel poster
Drunken Angel
1948 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 94%★ 7.6drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

Hamlet poster
Hamlet
1948 · dir. Laurence Olivier
🍅 96%★ 7.5dramaMax

Drama in the same key

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

Umberto D. poster
Umberto D.
1952 · dir. Vittorio De Sica
🍅 98%★ 8.1dramaMax

The same drama instincts

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

Sansho the Bailiff poster
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 · dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
🍅 100%★ 8.3drama

Both know what they want from drama

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Ordet poster
Ordet
1955 · dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
🍅 100%★ 8.2drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders shares his father's religion, but eldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while middle child Johannes has become delusional and proclaims that he is Jesus Christ himself. When Mikkel's wife, Inger goes into a difficult childbirth, everyone's beliefs are put to the test.

The Last Laugh poster
The Last Laugh
1924 · dir. F. W. Murnau
🍅 100%★ 8drama

Both are drama through and through

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon poster
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1949 · dir. John Ford
🍅 91%★ 7.2drama · western

John Ford directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into western than The Grapes of Wrath does

On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

All About Eve poster
All About Eve
1950 · dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
🍅 99%★ 8.2drama

Drama approached the same way

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

Through a Glass Darkly poster
Through a Glass Darkly
1961 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 100%★ 7.9dramaMax

The drama is handled with the same confidence

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding sexuality. Their father, David, cannot overcome his haughty remoteness. Beset by visions, Karin descends further into madness.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Grapes of Wrath’s defining feeling.