The Best Historical Movies on Netflix
Endlessly scrolling through Netflix without being able to decide what to watch is an all-too-common problem, but it’s easier to solve if you have a specific genre in mind. And while most of the history dramas streaming on the platform aren’t exactly historical themselves (as Netflix’s catalog is known to skew toward newer films), that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth watching. Here are five of the best, which tell stories ranging from complex biographies to a single day in World War I.
Schindler’s List
Steven Spielberg finally won Best Picture and Director for this wrenching World War II drama about Oskar Schindler, who is credited with saving the lives of more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunition factories. Schindler’s List won seven of the 12 Oscars for which it was nominated, with Liam Neeson’s performance as Schindler and Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth among the nominations. It is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Grave of the Fireflies
Elsewhere in the canon of heartbreaking World War II pictures, writer/director Isao Takahata’s animated classic might just be the saddest movie ever made. If this story of two orphaned Japanese brothers struggling to survive the final months of the war is notorious for how hard it can be to watch, it’s even more famous for how essential it is to witness. A deeply humane addition to Japan’s Studio Ghibli catalog, any viewing of Grave of the Fireflies is best accompanied by a box of tissues.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Even if you’ve read Erich Maria Remarque’s classic World War I novel or seen its prior two film adaptations, you might not be prepared for 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front. The film follows a fresh-faced German soldier whose idealistic view of the conflict is immediately (and tragically) shattered by the realities of trench warfare in a losing battle. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and the four it won (most notably Best International Feature) place it alongside Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite as one of the most-awarded foreign-language films in Oscars history.
The Pale Blue Eye
“What if there were a murder mystery at West Point in which a young cadet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe plays a pivotal role?” This might not be a question you’ve asked yourself, but the answer can be found in 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye. The movie stars Christian Bale as a grief-stricken detective asked to come out of retirement to investigate said case, and Harry Melling as Poe, the latter all but unrecognizable from his time playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies. If you’ve followed his post-Potter career, which includes scene-stealing turns in everything from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to The Queen’s Gambit, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that Melling is once again great here. Those familiar with director Scott Cooper’s previous work (namely Crazy Heart and Hostiles) will be equally unsurprised by The Pale Blue Eye’s grimmer moments, but the film’s evocative air is what makes it so memorable.
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1917
All Quiet on the Western Front isn’t the only great World War I movie from the last few years. Released in 2019, Sam Mendes’ film 1917 was just as riveting. The American Beauty and Skyfall director worked with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins to make the film appear as though it’s unfolding in just two continuous shots. There’s a reason for that feeling of urgency: Taking place in a single day near the end of the war, the plot follows two British soldiers tasked with delivering a message on foot in order to prevent 1,600 of their compatriots from walking into a trap.
