Movies Like Van Diemen's Land (2009)

Van Diemen's Land is a 2009 drama, history, thriller film from Jonathan auf der Heide with a MovieMagicScore of 5.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Dying Breed and Lion.

Drama History Thriller

Dying Breed

2008

An extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger. A long-forgotten legend, “The Pieman” aka Alexander Pearce, who was hanged for cannibalism in 1824. Both had a desperate need to survive; both could have living descendants within the Tasmanian bush. Four hikers venture deep into isolated territory to find one of these legends, but which one will they come upon first?

5.1

MagicScore

Lion

2016

A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

8.0

MagicScore

The Revenant

2015

In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

7.5

MagicScore

The Nightingale

2018

In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

7.1

MagicScore

Walkabout

1971

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

7.3

MagicScore

In the Heart of the Sea

2015

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

6.8

MagicScore

The Hunter

2011

Martin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by an anonymous biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger.

6.6

MagicScore

Red Hill

2010

Young police officer Shane Cooper's first day on duty, after relocating to the small town of Red Hill, rapidly turns into a nightmare. News of a prison break, involving convicted murderer Jimmy Conway, sends the local law enforcement officers - led by the town's ruling presence, Old Bill - into a panic and leads to a terrifying and bloody confrontation.

6.0

MagicScore

Bone Tomahawk

2015

During a shootout in a saloon, Sheriff Hunt injures a suspicious stranger. The doctor's assistant, wife of the local foreman, tends to him in prison. That night, the town is attacked and they both disappear—only the arrow of a cannibal tribe is found. Hunt and a few of his men go in search of the prisoner and the foreman's wife.

6.9

MagicScore

#10

Rabbit-Proof Fence

2002

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

Man in the Wilderness

1971

In the early 1800s, a group of fur trappers and Indian traders are returning with their goods to civilization and are making a desperate attempt to beat the oncoming winter. When guide Zachary Bass is injured in a bear attack, they decide he's a goner and leave him behind to die. When he recovers instead, he swears revenge on them and tracks them and their paranoiac expedition leader down.

6.2

MagicScore

#12

Southern Comfort

1981

A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience.

6.9

MagicScore

#13

We Bury the Dead

2026

After a catastrophic military disaster reanimates the dead, Ava searches for her missing husband amidst an increasingly hostile world.

6.1

MagicScore

#14

A Man Escaped

1956

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

7.9

MagicScore

#15

A Perfect World

1993

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.

7.5

MagicScore

#16

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette

2018

The Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby is taking an anti-comedy stance in her newest special.

8.0

MagicScore

#17

Mesrine: Killer Instinct

2008

Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.

7.3

MagicScore

#18

Deep Valley

1947

A shy California farm girl falls head-over-heels in love with Barry Burnett, a fugitive from a chain gang building a road through the wilderness.

5.6

MagicScore

#19

Ravenous

1999

Upon receiving reports of missing persons at Fort Spencer, a remote Army outpost on the Western frontier, Capt. John Boyd investigates. After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.

6.8

MagicScore

#20

Dark Passage

1947

A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

7.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Van Diemen's Land?

The top films similar to Van Diemen's Land by MovieMagicScore are Dying Breed (5.1), Lion (8.0), The Revenant (7.5). Each shares drama/history/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Van Diemen's Land worth watching?

Van Diemen's Land holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.3/10 from 48 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Van Diemen's Land?

Van Diemen's Land (2009) is a drama, history, thriller film directed by Jonathan auf der Heide, starring Oscar Redding, Arthur Angel, Paul Ashcroft.

Where can I find more recommendations like Van Diemen's Land?

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 Dying Breed Movies like Lion Movies like The Revenant Movies like The Nightingale Movies like Walkabout Movies like In the Heart of the Sea

About movies like Van Diemen's Land

This ranked list pairs Van Diemen's Land (2009), a drama and history and thriller film from Jonathan auf der Heide, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Oscar Redding 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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