Movies Like The Devil's Backbone (2001)

The Devil's Backbone is a 2001 drama, fantasy, horror, thriller film from Guillermo del Toro with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with While at War and For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Drama Fantasy Horror Thriller

While at War

2019

Salamanca, Spain, 1936. In the early days of the military rebellion that began the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), writer Miguel de Unamuno supports the uprising in the hope that the prevailing political chaos will end. But when the confrontation becomes bloody, Unamuno must question his initial position.

7.1

MagicScore

For Whom the Bell Tolls

1943

Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan—who has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era—has been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. He awaits the right time to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress.

6.5

MagicScore

Painless

2012

While searching for a solution to his serious health condition, David, a renowned neurosurgeon, discovers a sinister secret hidden in the past.

6.2

MagicScore

The Endless Trench

2019

A small village in Huelva, Andalusia, Spain, 1936. Higinio and Rosa have been married only for a few months when the Civil War breaks out. Higinio, being afraid of possible reprisals from the rebel faction, decides to use a hole dug in his own house as a temporary hideout.

6.9

MagicScore

Paper Birds

2010

At the end of the Spanish Civil War, the members of a group of vaudeville performers have been stripped of everything: all they have left is hunger and the instinct to survive. Day after day, agonizingly, lost and helpless between the victors and the vanquished, the musician Jorge, the ventriloquist Enrique, the couplet singer Rocío and the orphan Miguel search tirelessly for something to eat and a safe place to live.

6.6

MagicScore

Darkness

2002

A teenage girl moves into a remote country home with her family, only to discover that the gloomy old house has a horrifying past that threatens to destroy them.

5.6

MagicScore

The Orphanage

2007

A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.

7.2

MagicScore

The Sixth Sense

1999

Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.

7.9

MagicScore

Land and Freedom

1995

David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

Casper

1995

Casper is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat. Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.

6.3

MagicScore

#11

Martyrs Lane

2021

Leah, 10, has terrible nightmares. Her mother seems distant somehow, lost in her thoughts. A small, nightly visitor brings Leah comfort, but soon Leah will realize that her little visitor offers knowledge that might be very, very dangerous.

6.1

MagicScore

#12

The Chosen

2016

Spain, 1937. Ramón Mercader, a young communist combatant, is recruited and trained by the Soviet intelligence service to participate in a top secret mission ordered by the ruthless dictator Joseph Stalin: the assassination of his former political rival, Leon Trotsky, who is living in exile in Mexico.

5.8

MagicScore

#13

The Tobacconist

2018

Vienna, 1937, on the eve of the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. The young and inexperienced Franz Huchel begins to learn about both the joys and hardships of life by working as an apprentice to the mutilated war veteran Otto Trsnjek in a small tobacco shop, where he meets the famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, a regular customer, who will become a valuable friend in times of chaos and uncertainty.

6.4

MagicScore

#14

The Pit and the Pendulum

1961

In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.

6.8

MagicScore

#15

The Silence of Others

2019

The story of the tortuous struggle against the silence of the victims of the dictatorship imposed by General Franco after the victory of the rebel side in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1975). In a democratic country, but still ideologically divided, the survivors seek justice as they organize the so-called “Argentinian lawsuit” and denounce the legally sanctioned pact of oblivion that intends to hide the crimes they were subjects of.

8.1

MagicScore

#16

Ghost Story

1981

Four successful elderly gentlemen, members of the Chowder Society, share a gruesome, 50-year-old secret. When one of Edward Wanderley's twin sons dies in a bizarre accident, the group begins to see a pattern of frightening events developing.

6.0

MagicScore

#17

Mirror

1975

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

7.9

MagicScore

#18

Butterfly

1999

The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.

7.4

MagicScore

#19

The 13 Roses

2007

True story of thirteen totally normal young women that suffered harsh questioning and were put in prison under made up charges of helping the rebellion against Franco back in the 1940s. Despite of their innocence, the thirteen were soon executed without even a trace of evidence of any wrong doing.

6.5

MagicScore

#20

Hemingway & Gellhorn

2012

Writer Ernest Hemingway begins a romance with fellow scribe Martha Gellhorn.

6.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Devil's Backbone?

The top films similar to The Devil's Backbone by MovieMagicScore are While at War (7.1), For Whom the Bell Tolls (6.5), Painless (6.2). Each shares drama/fantasy/horror/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Devil's Backbone worth watching?

The Devil's Backbone holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 1,293 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Devil's Backbone?

The Devil's Backbone (2001) is a drama, fantasy, horror, thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Devil's Backbone?

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 While at War Movies like For Whom the Bell Tolls Movies like Painless Movies like The Endless Trench Movies like Paper Birds Movies like Darkness

About movies like The Devil's Backbone

This ranked list pairs The Devil's Backbone (2001), a drama and fantasy and horror and thriller film from Guillermo del Toro, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Marisa Paredes 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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