Movies Like Escape from Pretoria (2020)

Escape from Pretoria is a 2020 drama, history, thriller film from Francis Annan with a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Catch a Fire and Cry Freedom.

Drama History Thriller

Catch a Fire

2006

The true story of anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and particularly the life of Patrick Chamusso, a timid foreman at Secunda CTL, the largest synthetic fuel plant in the world. Patrick is wrongly accused, imprisoned and tortured for an attempt to bomb the plant, with the injustice transforming the apolitical worker into a radicalised insurgent, who then carries out his own successful sabotage mission.

6.2

MagicScore

Cry Freedom

1987

A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko, a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.

7.0

MagicScore

Invictus

2009

Newly elected President Nelson Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby union team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

7.2

MagicScore

BlacKkKlansman

2018

Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

7.5

MagicScore

The Best of Enemies

2019

Centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina during the racially-charged summer of 1971. The incredible events that unfolded would change Durham and the lives of Atwater and Ellis forever.

7.4

MagicScore

Last Rampage

2017

The true story of the infamous prison break of Gary Tison and Randy Greenwalt from the Arizona State prison in Florence, in the summer of 1978.

5.4

MagicScore

Remember the Titans

2000

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.

7.6

MagicScore

American Pastoral

2016

Set in postwar America, a man watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.

6.2

MagicScore

Skin

2008

In the late Seventies, a Dutch teenager named Frankie, who is the son of a holocaust survivor, lives in a working class area in Holland. Frankie’s mother is taken to hospital in a terminal condition, causing a bigger rift between him and his father. This leads to Frankie becoming the interest of the local Nazi skinhead group.

6.3

MagicScore

#10

White Riot

2020

Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

Papillon

2017

Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.

7.3

MagicScore

#12

Woodlawn

2015

Love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s. A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent and his faith as he battles racial tensions on and off the field.

6.9

MagicScore

#13

Uproar

2023

A 17 year-old student is forced to get off the fence he has actively sat on all his life to stand up for himself, his whanau (family) and his future in this heartwarming story of identity.

5.8

MagicScore

#14

Indian Horse

2018

Follows the life of Native Canadian Saul Indian Horse as he survives residential school and life amongst the racism of the 1970s. A talented hockey player, Saul must find his own path as he battles stereotypes and alcoholism.

6.9

MagicScore

#15

Salvador (Puig Antich)

2006

The story of Salvador Puig Antich, one of the last political prisoners to be executed under Franco's Fascist State in 1974.

6.8

MagicScore

#16

Killers of the Flower Moon

2023

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

7.4

MagicScore

#17

Rob Peace

2024

An underprivileged, gifted young black man from Newark reaches Yale University, only for shadows and injustices from his past to threaten his future.

6.8

MagicScore

#18

Nickel Boys

2024

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

Porn to Be Free

2016

Italy, 1970. An increasing legion of harmless warriors begins a peaceful struggle for sexual freedom through pornography, shaking and shocking religious authorities and conservative political institutions. They are ironic, happy, crazy. They are dreamers, defenders of definitive communion between body and soul. But they were censored and humiliated. They were mistreated and arrested for demanding loud a new cultural renaissance.

5.6

MagicScore

#20

Comrade Pedersen

2006

A drama focused on Norwegian society in the 1970s, an era politically influenced by Marxism and Leninism.

5.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Escape from Pretoria?

The top films similar to Escape from Pretoria by MovieMagicScore are Catch a Fire (6.2), Cry Freedom (7.0), Invictus (7.2). Each shares drama/history/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Escape from Pretoria worth watching?

Escape from Pretoria holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10 from 1,413 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Escape from Pretoria?

Escape from Pretoria (2020) is a drama, history, thriller film directed by Francis Annan, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Ian Hart.

Where can I find more recommendations like Escape from Pretoria?

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 Catch a Fire Movies like Cry Freedom Movies like Invictus Movies like BlacKkKlansman Movies like The Best of Enemies Movies like Last Rampage

About movies like Escape from Pretoria

This ranked list pairs Escape from Pretoria (2020), a drama and history and thriller film from Francis Annan, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Daniel Radcliffe 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 Escape from Pretoria