Movies Like Cry Freedom (1987)

Cry Freedom is a 1987 drama film from Richard Attenborough with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Zulu and Moffie.

Drama

Zulu

2013

As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Only he and his mother survived the carnage of those years. But as with many survivors, the psychological scars remain.

6.7

MagicScore

Moffie

2020

A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.

6.6

MagicScore

BlacKkKlansman

2018

Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

7.5

MagicScore

Invictus

2009

Newly elected President Nelson Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby union team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

7.2

MagicScore

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

2013

A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

6.9

MagicScore

The Bang Bang Club

2011

In the early to mid '90s, when the South African system of apartheid was in its death throes, four photographers - Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva - bonded by their friendship and a sense of purpose, worked together to chronicle the violence and upheaval leading up to the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as president. Their work is risky and dangerous, potentially fatally so, as they thrust themselves into the middle of chaotic clashes between forces backed by the government (including Inkatha Zulu warriors) and those in support of Mandela's African National Congress.

6.6

MagicScore

Escape from Pretoria

2020

South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison.

7.2

MagicScore

Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974

2009

Yorkshire, 1974. Fear, mistrust and institutionalised police corruption are running riot. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions. When young Clare Kemplay goes missing, Eddie and his colleague, Barry, persuade their editor to let them investigate links with two similar abductions that draw them into a deadly world of secrecy, intimidation, shocking revelations and police brutality.

6.7

MagicScore

Lady Sings the Blues

1972

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

6.9

MagicScore

#10

Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove

2010

After young Kirra leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the lonely whale Willy--and embarks on a great quest to lead the little guy back to his anxious pod.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

Beauty

2011

François van Heerden, a mid-40s Afrikaans family man, has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, and so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.

5.8

MagicScore

#12

Life Itself

2014

The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

7.5

MagicScore

#13

In Like Flynn

2018

A mostly true account of future Hollywood star Errol Flynn's sea adventures in the early thirties, sailing from Australia to Papua in search of gold, along with his best friend Rex, a former Canadian smuggler; Dook, a handy English gentleman; and Charlie, a grumpy old sailor.

4.9

MagicScore

#14

The Hurricane

1999

The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

Born on the Fourth of July

1989

Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Priscilla

2023

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.

6.8

MagicScore

#17

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

2017

Liverpool, 1978: What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme-fatale, the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame, and her young lover, British actor Peter Turner, quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

The Three Investigators in The Secret of Skeleton Island

2007

The hobby detectives “The Three Investigators” want to take a little break. So they take advantage of an offer from Peter's father, who has accepted a job in South Africa and wants to take the detectives there. But Jupiter, Peter and Bob wouldn't be the three investigators marks feared by the criminal world if they just lounged around in the sun on their vacation. So it's no wonder that the clever boys soon have their next case to solve...

6.0

MagicScore

#19

Goodbye Bafana

2007

The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.

6.8

MagicScore

#20

Cry, the Beloved Country

1995

A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.

6.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Cry Freedom?

The top films similar to Cry Freedom by MovieMagicScore are Zulu (6.7), Moffie (6.6), BlacKkKlansman (7.5). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Cry Freedom worth watching?

Cry Freedom holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 223 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Cry Freedom?

Cry Freedom (1987) is a drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Penelope Wilton.

Where can I find more recommendations like Cry Freedom?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Zulu Movies like Moffie Movies like BlacKkKlansman Movies like Invictus Movies like Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Movies like The Bang Bang Club

About movies like Cry Freedom

This ranked list pairs Cry Freedom (1987), a drama film from Richard Attenborough, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Kevin Kline take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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