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Home/The River/Similar Movies

The River

Movies Like The River (1951)

The River is a 1951 drama, romance film from Jean Renoir with a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Black Narcissus and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer.

Black Narcissus poster

Black Narcissus

1947

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer poster

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer

1935

In the Northwest Frontier of India, the 41st Bengal Lancers led by the harsh Colonel Tom Stone are having trouble with the rebellious leader Mohammed Khan. Surly McGregor and wry, blue-blooded Forsythe are officers in charge of newcomer Lieutenant Stone, the commanding officer’s inexperienced son. Motivated by a grudge toward his father, Lt. Stone allows himself to be captured by the enemy.

A Passage to India poster

A Passage to India

1984

Set during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement in the British Raj, the story begins with the arrival in India of a British woman, Miss Adela Quested, who is joining her fiancé, a city magistrate named Ronny Heaslop. She and Ronny's mother, Mrs. Moore, befriend an Indian doctor, Aziz H. Ahmed.

Un + une poster

Un + une

2015

A successful film composer falls in love when he travels to India to work on a Bollywood retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

The Deceivers poster

The Deceivers

1988

India, 1825: the country lives in mortal fear of cult members known as the “Deceivers." They commit robbery and ritualistic murder. Appalled by their activities, an English military man, Captain William Savage, conceives a hazardous plot to stop them. In disguise, he plans to himself become a “Deceiver” and infiltrate their numbers. Ever present in Savage’s adventures is a sense of dread; he is in constant fear of betrayal and vengeance and also undergoes a disturbing psychological transformation as he experiences the cult’s blood lust firsthand.

The African Queen poster

The African Queen

1952

At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

Masaan poster

Masaan

2015

Four lives intersect along the Ganges: a low caste boy in hopeless love, a daughter ridden with guilt of a sexual encounter ending in a tragedy, a hapless father with fading morality, and a spirited child yearning for a family, long to escape the moral constructs of a small-town.

Outsourced poster

Outsourced

2007

After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman heads to India to train his replacement.

Call Me by Your Name poster

Call Me by Your Name

2017

In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.

Eat Pray Love poster

Eat Pray Love

2010

Liz Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having – a husband, a house and a successful career – yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

Three Steps Above Heaven poster

Three Steps Above Heaven

2010

Story of two young people who belong to different worlds. It is the chronicle of a love improbable, almost impossible but inevitable dragging in a frantic journey they discover the first great love. Babi is a girl from upper-middle class that is educated in goodness and innocence . Hache is a rebellious boy, impulsive, unconscious, has a appetite for risk and danger embodied in endless fights and illegal motorbike races, the limit of common sense

Bones and All poster

Bones and All

2022

Abandoned by her father, a young woman embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.

The Way Back poster

The Way Back

2010

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

Ennu Ninte Moideen poster

Ennu Ninte Moideen

2015

Children of two renowned families fall in love amidst orthodox surroundings. When their inter-religious relationship is opposed, the two lovers' situation is fraught with familial pressure, societal culture and blind arrogance.

Mary Poppins poster

Mary Poppins

1964

Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins, an angelic nanny. She not only brings a change in their lives but also spreads happiness.

Hold Back the Dawn poster

Hold Back the Dawn

1941

Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.

A Year of the Quiet Sun poster

A Year of the Quiet Sun

1984

Shortly after World War II an American soldier (Norman) and a Polish refugee (Emilia) fall in love. Eventually he will return to the U.S. and both expect that she will soon follow him with her mother. Emilia's mother is sick, but will recover with the right medicine. But the mother, and not Emilia, knows that there will only be one ticket...

9 Songs poster

9 Songs

2004

Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.

The Quiet Man poster

The Quiet Man

1952

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

I Was a Male War Bride poster

I Was a Male War Bride

1949

After marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The River?

The top films similar to The River by MovieMagicScore are Black Narcissus (7.5), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (6.6), A Passage to India (6.8). Each shares drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The River worth watching?

The River holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10 from 117 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The River?

The River (1951) is a drama, romance film directed by Jean Renoir, starring Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields.

Where can I find more recommendations like The River?

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 Black Narcissus Movies like The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Movies like A Passage to India Movies like Un + une Movies like The Deceivers Movies like The African Queen

About movies like The River

This ranked list pairs The River (1951), a drama and romance film from Jean Renoir, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Nora Swinburne 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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