Movies Like Bitter Years (2019)

Bitter Years is a 2019 drama film from Andrea Adriatico with a MovieMagicScore of 4.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Milk and The Times of Harvey Milk.

Drama

Milk

2008

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

7.2

MagicScore

The Times of Harvey Milk

1984

Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.

7.2

MagicScore

Prayers for Bobby

2009

Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.

8.1

MagicScore

La Cage aux Folles

1978

Two gay men living in St. Tropez have their lives turned upside down when the son of one of the men announces he is getting married. They try to conceal their lifestyle and their ownership of the drag club downstairs when the fiancée and her parents come for dinner.

6.8

MagicScore

We Were Here

2011

A reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of the crisis.

6.8

MagicScore

Third Man Out: A Donald Strachey Mystery

2005

Gay detective Donald Strachey is commissioned to protect gay activist John Rutka, known for "outing" prominent citizens.

5.6

MagicScore

The Imitation Game

2014

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

8.0

MagicScore

Bohemian Rhapsody

2018

Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.

8.0

MagicScore

Rocketman

2019

The story of Elton John's life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

Variações: Guardian Angel

2019

Film biography dwelling on the hectic artistic life of António Variações, a famous Portuguese pop rock singer from the 80s, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1984.

6.9

MagicScore

#11

Disco, Ibiza, Locomía

2024

In the effervescent Spain of the 80s, Xavi Font, an artistic misfit, together with his friend Lurdes Iribar and her lover Manolo Arjona, founds Locomía. Although he achieves success, he also experiences the dark reality of the industry at the hands of powerful producer José Luís Gil.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

For a Lost Soldier

1992

In the occupied Netherlands near the end of WWII, a young teenager, Jeroen Boman (Maarten Smit) is sent to the Dutch countryside to avoid the war in Amsterdam. While living with his adopted family, Jeroen meets and becomes friends with a Canadian soldier named Walt Cook, who is stationed at the same town he is staying at. Joroen and Walt spend a lot of time playing around and eventually a romantic relationship develops between them. The boy’s sexual curiosity leads him to have a sexual experience with Walt, an encounter that is shown with some vague detail but without actually showing any nudity, even though sexual intimacy between the two of them is implied. Overall, the movie handles this difficult subject with an elegant style and feeling, without having the adult-child relationship overwhelm the viewer and thus allowing the movie to be seen as just a wartime relationship between two people that marks an important time in a young boy’s life.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

Tom of Finland

2017

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.

6.6

MagicScore

#14

Prick Up Your Ears

1987

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

The Naked Civil Servant

1975

Story of the life of Quentin Crisp, an Englishman who was brave enough to live his life according to his own style even in the hostile days of WW2.

6.6

MagicScore

#16

Rustin

2023

Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.

6.6

MagicScore

#17

Wilde

1997

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

6.6

MagicScore

#18

Total Eclipse

1995

Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.

6.4

MagicScore

#19

Wittgenstein

1993

A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

J. Edgar

2011

As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.

6.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Bitter Years?

The top films similar to Bitter Years by MovieMagicScore are Milk (7.2), The Times of Harvey Milk (7.2), Prayers for Bobby (8.1). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Bitter Years worth watching?

Bitter Years holds a MovieMagicScore of 4.0/10 from 20 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Bitter Years?

Bitter Years (2019) is a drama film directed by Andrea Adriatico, starring Nicola Di Benedetto, Sandra Ceccarelli, Antonio Catania.

Where can I find more recommendations like Bitter Years?

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 Milk Movies like The Times of Harvey Milk Movies like Prayers for Bobby Movies like La Cage aux Folles Movies like We Were Here Movies like Third Man Out: A Donald Strachey Mystery

About movies like Bitter Years

This ranked list pairs Bitter Years (2019), a drama film from Andrea Adriatico, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Nicola Di Benedetto 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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