40 Movies Like 12 Years a Slave (2013) You Need to Watch Next
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 on
Updated June 2026
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Steve McQueen's 2013 Oscar winner tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a free Black man kidnapped and sold into Southern slavery, and his decade-long fight to survive and return home. Unflinching and beautifully composed, it confronts American history's cruelty without looking away. If its harrowing power and moral force gripped you, seek out historical dramas that reckon honestly with injustice and the will to endure.
If you loved 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Steve McQueen, here are 40 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are The Aviator, Marie Antoinette, The Elephant Man. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
40 Movies Similar to 12 Years a Slave
The Aviator
2004 · Martin Scorsese
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously grow
In common: Drama
Marie Antoinette
2006 · Sofia Coppola
A retelling of the story of France’s iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette - from her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at fifteen to her reign as queen at nineteen and ultimately the fall of
In common: Drama · History
The Elephant Man
1980 · David Lynch
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity
In common: Drama · History
The King's Speech
2010 · Tom Hooper
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 dr
In common: Drama · History
Raise the Red Lantern
1991 · Zhang Yimou
In 1920s China, 19-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.
In common: Drama
The Brutalist
2024 · Brady Corbet
When an innovative modern architect flees post-war Europe, he is given the opportunity to rebuild his legacy. Set during the dawn of the modern United States (in Pennsylvania), his wife joins him, and
In common: Drama
Remember the Titans
2000 · Boaz Yakin
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men
In common: Drama
Ben-Hur
1959 · William Wyler
In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, re
In common: Drama · History
Ran
1985 · Akira Kurosawa
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
In common: Drama · History
The Thin Red Line
1998 · Terrence Malick
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalc
In common: Drama · History
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 · Rob Marshall
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
In common: Drama · History
The Other Boleyn Girl
2008 · Justin Chadwick
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's
In common: Drama · History
Downton Abbey
2019 · Michael Engler
The beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that wil
In common: Drama · History
1917
2019 · Sam Mendes
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
In common: Drama · History
Sense and Sensibility
1995 · Ang Lee
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, learn that their prospects of marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. After Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his
In common: Drama
All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 · Edward Berger
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march
In common: Drama
Pride & Prejudice
2005 · Joe Wright
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their h
In common: Drama
Little Women
2019 · Greta Gerwig
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
In common: Drama
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2019 · Céline Sciamma
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
In common: Drama
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014 · Wes Anderson
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the the
In common: Drama
RRR
2022 · S. S. Rajamouli
A fictional history of two legendary revolutionaries' journey away from home before they began fighting for their country in the 1920s.
In common: Drama
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 · Martin Scorsese
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
In common: Drama · History
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2003 · Peter Weir
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, th
In common: Drama
The Man in the Iron Mask
1998 · Randall Wallace
Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, have fought together with their friend, D'Artagnan. But with the tyrannical King Louis using his power to wreak havoc in the ki
In common: Drama
Gladiator
2000 · Ridley Scott
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiat
In common: Drama
Only the Brave
2017 · Joseph Kosinski
Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots battle deadly wildfires to save an Arizona town.
In common: Drama · History
Silence
2016 · Martin Scorsese
In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
In common: Drama · History
Lincoln
2012 · Steven Spielberg
The revealing story of the 16th US President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war,
In common: Drama · History
"Wuthering Heights"
2026 · Emerald Fennell
Tragedy strikes when Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine Earnshaw, a woman from a wealthy family in 18th-century England.
In common: Drama
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
2026 · Tom Harper
After his estranged son gets embroiled in a Nazi plot, self-exiled gangster Tommy Shelby must return to Birmingham to save his family — and his nation.
In common: Drama
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
2019 · Quentin Tarantino
Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the ne
In common: Drama
Dunkirk
2017 · Christopher Nolan
The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between M
In common: Drama
The Last Samurai
2003 · Edward Zwick
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to
In common: Drama
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008 · David Fincher
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flit
In common: Drama
The Bikeriders
2024 · Jeff Nichols
After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose betwee
In common: Drama
Les Misérables
2012 · Tom Hooper
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named
In common: Drama · History
The Ten Commandments
1956 · Cecil B. DeMille
Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, Moses embarks on a personal quest to reclaim his destiny as the leader and liber
In common: Drama · History
Sully
2016 · Clint Eastwood
On 15 January 2009, the world witnessed the 'Miracle on the Hudson' when Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard. However
In common: Drama · History
Michael
2026 · Antoine Fuqua
The story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music. His journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the
In common: Drama
Schindler's List
1993 · Steven Spielberg
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.
In common: Drama · History