Movies like The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (1980) is a history movie directed by David Lynch. The list below collects the movies that people who loved it enjoyed most, best known first.
1. Schindler's List (1993)
★ 8.6 · 18,038 votes · Drama, History, War
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
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2. The King's Speech (2010)
★ 7.7 · 9,584 votes · Drama, History
The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.
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3. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
★ 7.9 · 12,285 votes · Drama, History
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
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4. The Imitation Game (2014)
★ 8.0 · 18,535 votes · History, Drama, Thriller
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
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5. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
★ 8.2 · 15,409 votes · Drama, History, War
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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6. Green Book (2018)
★ 8.2 · 13,368 votes · Drama, Comedy, History
Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.
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7. Oppenheimer (2023)
★ 8.0 · 12,690 votes · Drama, History
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
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8. I Swear (2025)
★ 8.3 · 623 votes · Drama, History
Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.
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9. Victoria & Abdul (2017)
★ 6.9 · 1,232 votes · Drama, History
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
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10. Experimenter (2015)
★ 6.5 · 500 votes · Drama, History
Yale University, 1961. Stanley Milgram designs a psychology experiment that still resonates to this day, in which people think they’re delivering painful electric shocks to an affable stranger strapped into a chair in another room. Despite his pleads for mercy, the majority of subjects don’t stop the experiment, administering what they think is a near-fatal electric shock, simply because they’ve been told to do so. With Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial airing in living rooms across America, Milgram strikes a nerve in popular culture and the scientific community with his exploration into people’s tendency to comply with authority. Celebrated in some circles, he is also accused of being a deceptive, manipulative monster, but his wife Sasha stands by him through it all.
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11. The Current War (2018)
★ 6.7 · 1,181 votes · Drama, History
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
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