Movies Like The Luzhin Defence (2000)

The Luzhin Defence is a 2000 drama, romance film from Marleen Gorris with a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Searching for Bobby Fischer and Pawn Sacrifice.

Drama Romance

Searching for Bobby Fischer

1993

A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

7.1

MagicScore

Pawn Sacrifice

2015

American chess champion Bobby Fischer prepares for a legendary match-up against Russian Boris Spassky.

6.7

MagicScore

Critical Thinking

2020

Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.

6.6

MagicScore

Computer Chess

2013

At the American Computer Chess Convention, enthusiasts gather to pit their programs against other computer chess programs and human players in a tournament for a grand prize of $7500.

6.0

MagicScore

Enchanted April

1991

When married British women Rose Arbuthnot and Lottie Wilkins decide to take a break from their respective spouses, they stay at a castle in Italy for a quiet holiday. Joining the ladies is Caroline Dester, a young socialite, and Mrs. Fisher, an older aristocrat. Liberated from their daily routines, the four women ease into life in rural Italy, and each finds herself transformed by the experience.

6.8

MagicScore

Queen of Katwe

2016

A young girl overcomes her disadvantaged upbringing in the slums of Uganda to become a Chess master.

7.2

MagicScore

The Glory of Life

2024

Because of the power of love, the last year of Franz Kafka's life becomes his happiest. The well-known writer has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. In the summer of 1923, he met Dora Diamant in the seaside resort Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea coast, where he is convalescing and she is working in a Jewish Volksheim. He is a man of world, the 14 years younger woman is from the deep East, he can write, she can dance. She has both feet firmly on the ground, he is always hovering a little above it. She embraces the indicative, he gets tangled up in the conjunctive. But the worldly wise Dora accepts him as he is. And he accepts her. Together they go to Berlin and when Franz's health deteriorates rapidly, to a sanatorium in Austria. They are granted a single year together until Franz Kafka's health deteriorates incurable. However their year together allows them to feel the glory of life.

7.5

MagicScore

Bobby Fischer Against the World

2011

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

6.9

MagicScore

The Power of the Dog

2021

A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.

6.8

MagicScore

#10

Passing

2021

In 1920s New York City, a Black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who's passing as white.

6.3

MagicScore

#11

Queen to Play

2009

Hélène, a housekeeper at a ritzy hotel in Corsica, is devoted to her family but lacks any passion in her own life. When she sees a handsome couple play a passionate game of chess, she becomes inspired to play herself. Hélène's working-class husband and spoiled daughter are soon bewildered by her obsession with chess. They also grow suspicious of Hélène's close relationship with Dr. Kröger, her eccentric American expat tutor.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

The Great Gatsby

2013

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.

7.4

MagicScore

#13

The Secret Scripture

2017

The hidden memoir of an elderly woman confined to a mental hospital reveals the history of her passionate yet tortured life, and of the religious and political upheavals in Ireland during the 1920s and 30s.

7.3

MagicScore

#14

The Painted Veil

2006

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

7.3

MagicScore

#15

The Light Between Oceans

2016

A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat.

7.1

MagicScore

#16

The Lover

1992

A poor French teenage girl engages in an illicit affair with a wealthy Chinese heir in 1920s Saigon. For the first time in her young life she has control, and she wields it deftly over her besotted lover throughout a series of clandestine meetings and torrid encounters.

7.0

MagicScore

#17

The Razor's Edge

1946

An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.

6.9

MagicScore

#18

Women in Love

1969

Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited sisters Gudrun and Ursula explore erotic love with a wealthy playboy and a philosophical educator, with cataclysmic results for all four.

6.5

MagicScore

#19

The Razor's Edge

1984

An American WWI veteran undertakes a spiritual quest that takes him from Paris to Nepal to the Himalayas and back to his hometown. Upon his return, he discovers he is not the only one who has changed.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

Lady Chatterley's Lover

2015

An early-20th-century tale of love across class boundaries which tells the legendary and romantic story of Lady Chatterley’s affair with her gamekeeper. Jed Mercurio’s adaptation of DH Lawrence’s classic.

6.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Luzhin Defence?

The top films similar to The Luzhin Defence by MovieMagicScore are Searching for Bobby Fischer (7.1), Pawn Sacrifice (6.7), Critical Thinking (6.6). Each shares drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Luzhin Defence worth watching?

The Luzhin Defence holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10 from 39 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Luzhin Defence?

The Luzhin Defence (2000) is a drama, romance film directed by Marleen Gorris, starring John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Luzhin Defence?

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 Searching for Bobby Fischer Movies like Pawn Sacrifice Movies like Critical Thinking Movies like Computer Chess Movies like Enchanted April Movies like Queen of Katwe

About movies like The Luzhin Defence

This ranked list pairs The Luzhin Defence (2000), a drama and romance film from Marleen Gorris, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of John Turturro 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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