Movies like Barbara: 20 to watch next
If you loved Barbara (2012) — a drama film directed by Christian Petzold — these 20 movies are the closest matches.
The first picks are what fans of Barbara most often go on to watch; the rest share its genres and themes like small town, visa and stasi. 2 of them are streaming in India right now — each entry shows where.
Where to watch Barbara →·Get picks for your whole taste →
- 1
The Lives of Others 2006★ 8.0
Shares: Drama
In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 2
The German Lesson 2019★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
In a small North German village a drama played out during and shortly after the Second World War about duty versus individual conscience and morality.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 3
Jerichow 2008★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
In a small Northern German town, a dishonourably discharged Afghanistan veteran is offered a job as a deliveryman by an alcoholic Turkish entrepreneur, through which the former meets the latter's gorgeous wife.
Stream in India on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- 4
The Tasters 2025★ 6.7
Shares: Drama
In autumn 1943, in Gross-Partsch, 26-year-old Rosa, who had come from Berlin to stay with the parents of her husband Gregor, who was fighting on the Russian front, was taken by the SS to a mysterious place. Forced to taste a dish, she joins the group of tasters responsible for checking that the food destined for Hitler is not poisoned.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 5
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser 1974★ 7.3
Shares: Drama
The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 6
Mr. Turner 2014★ 6.6
Shares: Drama
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 7
23 1998★ 6.8
Shares: Drama
The movie's plot is based on the true story of a group of young computer hackers from Hannover, Germany. In the late 1980s the orphaned Karl Koch invests his heritage in a flat and a home computer. At first he dials up to bulletin boards to discuss conspiracy theories inspired by his favorite novel, R.A. Wilson's "Illuminatus", but soon he and his friend David start breaking into government and military computers. Pepe, one of Karl's rather criminal acquaintances senses that there is money in computer cracking - he travels to east Berlin and tries to contact the KGB.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 8
Paula 2016★ 6.3
Shares: Drama
Painting is an unacceptable vocation for a woman in provincial Germany in the year 1900, but budding artist Paula Becker is determined to make her own rules.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 9
I Am Not a Witch 2017★ 6.7
Shares: Drama
Convicted of witchcraft, 8-year-old Shula is brought to live in a penal colony where witches do hard labour in service of the government.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 10
The Last Execution 2021★ 6.2
Shares: Drama
The ambitious scientist Franz Walter doesn't hesitate when he is promised a professorship at the university. He immediately accepts, pledges absolute loyalty to the system and agrees to work for the GDR's foreign intelligence service until he can take up his new position. Together with his colleague Dirk, he is sent on foreign assignments to West Germany. Franz soon has to use blackmail to get innocent people to talk. But his superiors go even further: GDR refugees and their relatives are targeted to be psychologically destroyed, forged letters, medical diagnoses, surveillance and wiretapping are on the agenda. However, this is more than Franz can bear: he feels powerless and increasingly isolates himself. When he then decides to steal secret documents for a later defection to the West, this results in an unfortunate chain reaction leading to his arrest and ultimately to his execution...
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 11
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film 2013★ 7.0
Shares: Drama
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 12
As We Were Dreaming 2015★ 6.0
Shares: Drama
Andreas Dresen's adaptation of Clemens Meyer's novel about a group of East German friends right after the fall of the Wall.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 13
The Invisibles 2017★ 7.1
Shares: Drama
Four young Jews survive the Third Reich in the middle of Berlin by living so recklessly that they become "invisible."
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 14
Rosa Luxemburg 1986★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
Polish socialist and Marxist Rosa Luxemburg works tirelessly in the service of revolution in early 20th century Poland and Germany. While Luxemburg campaigns for her beliefs, she is repeatedly imprisoned as she forms the Spartacist League offering a new vision for Germany.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 15
Rosenstrasse 2003★ 6.4
Shares: Drama
When Ruth's husband dies in New York, in 2000, she imposes strict Jewish mourning, which puzzles her children. A stranger comes to the house - Ruth's cousin - with a picture of Ruth, age 8, in Berlin, with a woman the cousin says helped Ruth escape. Hannah, Ruth's daughter engaged to a gentile, goes to Berlin to find the woman, Lena Fisher, now 90. Posing as a journalist investigating intermarriage, Hannah interviews Lena who tells the story of a week in 1943 when the Jewish husbands of Aryan women were detained in a building on Rosenstrasse. The women gather daily for word of their husbands. The film goes back and forth to tell Ruth and Lena's story. How will it affect Hannah?
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 16
Balloon 2018★ 7.5
Shares: Drama
Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.
Stream in India on Amazon MX Player, Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads
- 17
F.I.S.T. 1978★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 18
Julia 1977★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 19
Gigi & Nate 2022★ 7.6
Shares: Drama
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 20
Resurrection 1980★ 6.5
Shares: Drama
The story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people. She becomes an unwitting celebrity, the hope of those in desperate need of healing, and a lightning rod for religious beliefs and skeptics.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now