Movies Like The Secret Scripture (2017)

The Secret Scripture is a 2017 drama, romance film from Jim Sheridan with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Once Upon a Time in America and The Color Purple.

Drama Romance

Once Upon a Time in America

1984

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

8.4

MagicScore

The Color Purple

2023

A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

7.0

MagicScore

The Tin Drum

1979

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.

6.9

MagicScore

Live by Night

2016

A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.

6.3

MagicScore

Hitler: A Career

1977

A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse.

7.4

MagicScore

The Banshees of Inisherin

2022

Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.

7.5

MagicScore

Michael Collins

1996

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

6.9

MagicScore

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005

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.

7.7

MagicScore

The Soul Keeper

2003

Zurich, 1905. Nineteen-year-old Russian Sabina Spielrein is put by her parents in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from a severe form of hysteria and refusing to eat. A compassionate doctor, Carl Gustav Jung, takes her under his care and, for the first time, experiments with the psychoanalytical method of his teacher Sigmund Freud. Thus is born a sweeping story of love and passion, of body and soul, soaring to the utmost heights, but also plunging to the darkest depths of the 20th century.

6.5

MagicScore

#10

The Man Who Cried

2000

A young refugee travels from Russia to America in search of her lost father and falls in love with a gypsy horseman.

6.1

MagicScore

#11

Angela's Ashes

1999

An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.

7.3

MagicScore

#12

The Field

1990

"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.

7.0

MagicScore

#13

Jimmy's Hall

2014

Jimmy Gralton returns from New York and reopens his beloved community hall, only to meet opposition from the local parish.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

Dancing at Lughnasa

1998

Five unmarried sisters make the most of their simple existence in rural Ireland in the 1930s.

5.9

MagicScore

#15

The Last Emperor

1987

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

The Insect Woman

1963

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

7.2

MagicScore

#17

This Happy Breed

1944

In 1919, Frank Gibbons returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house in the suburbs, bringing with him wife Ethel, carping mother-in-law Mrs. Flint, sister-in-law Sylvia and three children. Years pass, with the daily routine of family infighting and reconciliation occasionally broken by a strike or a festival, and even another World War.

7.2

MagicScore

#18

Becoming Astrid

2018

When Astrid Lindgren was very young something happened that affected her profoundly, and this combination of both miracle and calamity came to shape her entire life. It was an event that transformed her into one of the most inspiring women of our age and the storyteller a whole world would come to love. This is the story of when a young Astrid, despite the expectations of her time and religious upbringing, decided to break free from society's norms and follow her heart.

7.0

MagicScore

#19

Heroes for Sale

1933

World War I veteran Tom Holmes is marked by the unbearable suffering caused by his battle wounds. Over the years, he comes to experience both the pain of misfortune and a love for other human beings.

7.0

MagicScore

#20

Le Bal

1983

In a French nightclub, choreographed song and dance routines are performed, rather than a streamlined narrative. They tell the story of Parisian culture and politics from the 1920s—1980s. A disparate, anachronistic series of characters, including an ordinary waiter, a Nazi collaborator, resistance fighters, and 1960s student protestors gather to celebrate and satirize 20th century France's icons, demons, and social changes.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Secret Scripture?

The top films similar to The Secret Scripture by MovieMagicScore are Once Upon a Time in America (8.4), The Color Purple (7.0), The Tin Drum (6.9). Each shares drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Secret Scripture worth watching?

The Secret Scripture holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 295 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Secret Scripture?

The Secret Scripture (2017) is a drama, romance film directed by Jim Sheridan, starring Rooney Mara, Theo James, Vanessa Redgrave.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Secret Scripture?

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 Once Upon a Time in America Movies like The Color Purple Movies like The Tin Drum Movies like Live by Night Movies like Hitler: A Career Movies like The Banshees of Inisherin

About movies like The Secret Scripture

This ranked list pairs The Secret Scripture (2017), a drama and romance film from Jim Sheridan, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Rooney Mara 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.

← Back to The Secret Scripture