Movies Like Paper Birds (2010)

Paper Birds is a 2010 drama, history, thriller film from Emilio Aragón with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Endless Trench and Painless.

Drama History Thriller

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

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 War Is Over

1966

Diego is one of the chiefs of the Spanish Communist Party. On his way from Madrid to Paris, he is arrested at the border for an ID check but manages to get free. When he arrives in Paris, he starts searching for one of his comrades to prevent him from going to Madrid where he could be arrested.

6.4

MagicScore

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

The Dinner

2025

Spain, April 15, 1939. With the Civil War concluded, and with the intention of celebrating his victory, General Franco attends a dinner with his generals at the Palace Hotel.

6.8

MagicScore

Pan's Labyrinth

2006

In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under the control of her cruel stepfather. Drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, she meets a faun who reveals that she may be a lost princess from an underground kingdom. To return to her true father, she must complete a series of surreal and perilous tasks that blur the line between reality and fantasy.

7.8

MagicScore

The (Silent) War

2019

Northern Spain, October 1944. Several groups of guerrilla fighters, former Republican soldiers exiled in France after the end of the Spanish Civil War, infiltrate the country in order to provoke a popular uprising against General Franco's dictatorship.

5.9

MagicScore

Parallel Mothers

2021

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

6.8

MagicScore

The Wheelchair

1960

Don Anselmo, a retired old man, decides to buy a motorized disabled stroller since all his pensioner friends own one. His family strongly refuses him to purchase the vehicle, so don Anselmo decides to take extreme measures to achieve his goal…

6.8

MagicScore

#10

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

#11

The Sleeping Voice

2011

Finished the Spanish Civil War in April 1939, in November 1940, while Spain is being crushed by the ruthless boot of dictator Franco, Pepita travels from rural Córdoba to Madrid to be near her sister Hortensia, who is seven months pregnant and imprisoned, haunted by the shadow of a death sentence.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

The Devil's Backbone

2001

Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge.

7.3

MagicScore

#13

The Exam

2011

Budapest, Hungary, Christmas 1957. The state, insecure after the defeated revolution of 1956 and increasingly put under the influence of a renewed Stalinist atmosphere, has decreed that all security officials must pass an exam to verify their loyalty. But to be actually effective in a shadowy world where suspicion and secrets reign, the subjects must be unaware that they are being tested.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

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

#15

Reds

1981

An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant.

6.9

MagicScore

#16

Fahrenheit 451

1966

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

7.1

MagicScore

#17

The Broadway Melody

1929

The vaudeville act of Harriet and Queenie Mahoney comes to Broadway, where their friend Eddie Kerns needs them for his number in one of Francis Zanfield's shows. When Eddie meets Queenie, he soon falls in love with her—but she is already being courted by Jock Warriner, a member of New York high society. Queenie eventually recognizes that, to Jock, she is nothing more than a toy, and that Eddie is in love with her.

5.2

MagicScore

#18

The King of Laughter

2021

In early 20th-century Naples, a theatrical parody lands beloved thespian and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta in court, facing a malicious lawsuit that could compromise his freedom of expression and the economic security of his extended family—including his son's, young Eduardo De Filippo.

7.5

MagicScore

#19

I Fratelli De Filippo

2021

The story of the De Filippo brothers, children of Eduardo Scarpetta.

7.2

MagicScore

#20

Inglourious Basterds

2009

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

8.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Paper Birds?

The top films similar to Paper Birds by MovieMagicScore are The Endless Trench (6.9), Painless (6.2), The War Is Over (6.4). Each shares drama/history/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Paper Birds worth watching?

Paper Birds holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 34 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Paper Birds?

Paper Birds (2010) is a drama, history, thriller film directed by Emilio Aragón, starring Imanol Arias, Lluís Homar, Roger Príncep.

Where can I find more recommendations like Paper Birds?

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 The Endless Trench Movies like Painless Movies like The War Is Over Movies like While at War Movies like The Dinner Movies like Pan's Labyrinth

About movies like Paper Birds

This ranked list pairs Paper Birds (2010), a drama and history and thriller film from Emilio Aragón, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Imanol Arias 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 Paper Birds