The 40 most popular mexican history movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Mexico 86
2026 · 1h 35m
country: Mexico
When a last-minute chance to host the 1986 World Cup appears, a cunning Mexican bureaucrat, armed with nothing but guts and audacity, cons his way through FIFA to beat the United States, but in a country of power games, every victory has a price.


Outlaws - For Greater Glory
2012 · 2h 25m
country: Mexico
A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.


Walker
1987 · 1h 35m
country: Mexico
William Walker and his mercenary corps enter Nicaragua in the middle of the 19th century in order to install a new government by a coup d'etat.


Orphans
2014 · 2h 35m
country: Mexico
Orphans is the true story of a forbidden love affair set in the oppressive and violent atmosphere of nineteenth century Mexico. One man, Melchor Ocampo, driven by the twin passions of love and idealism, defies the stain of illegitimacy to shake off the crippling yoke of Spain and the Catholic Church. In so doing he becomes a founding figure of modern day Mexico.


In the Time of the Butterflies
2001 · 1h 35m
country: Mexico
Based on the book by Julia Alvarez. Three sisters become activists during the Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime when members of their family are killed by the government's troops.


Dance of the Forty One
2020 · 1h 39m
country: Brazil
Mexico City, November 1901. The police raid a private home where a secret party is being held. Among those attending is the son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz.


The Airship
1994 · 1h 20m
country: Cuba
A French woman arrives in Montevideo, to meet poet Juan Carlos Onetti and investigate the story of the city. She is intrigued by the photograph of the day when president Bordaz was killed and a zeppelin flew above the city at the turn of the century. She is helped by a photographer and both fall into a police intrigue.


Top Priority: The Terror Within
2012 · 1h 54m
country: Mexico
Federal officer with the Department of Homeland Security discovers a national security breach related to the entry of 23 aliens from terrorist countries into the United States. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, former head of the DEA Robert Bonner can't afford any more media scrutiny, since his incompetence was already exposed in the NASA 'Challenger' disaster. To avoid the scandal, the full might of the government is unleashed against Julia Davis, her family and witnesses. This retaliation reaches an unprecedented magnitude, including four unexplained deaths, Hollywood and the Mafia, false imprisonments and the use of Blackhawk helicopters and airplanes for warrantless surveillance. Amidst many shocking revelations, this documentary provides a new insight into the deaths of well-known Hollywood figures unwittingly dragged into this scandal. The truth is no longer a secret.


Elena
2023
country: Unknown
Elena. An indigenous woman, pregnant and alone, must leave her home to look for better opportunities in the city, always keeping in mind where she comes from.


One Man's Hero
1999 · 2h 1m
country: United States
One Man's Hero tells the little-known story of the "St. Patrick's Battalion" or "San Patricios," a group of mostly Irish and other immigrants of the Catholic faith who deserted to Mexico after encountering religious and ethnic prejudice in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. The plot centers around the personal story of John Riley, an Irishman who had been a sergeant in the American Army who is commissioned as a captain in the Mexican army and commands the battalion, as he leads his men in battle and struggles with authorities on both sides of the border


Red Dawn
1990 · 1h 36m
country: Mexico
On October 2, 1968, a student uprising descends into violence after the Mexican government begins to use lethal force against the protesters.


Even the Rain
2011 · 1h 43m
country: France
As a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply.


Ernesto Guevara, also known as "Che"
2015 · 7h 56m
country: Argentina
From millions of photos, posters, videos, t-shirts, postcards, records, books, phrases, testimonies, Che watches over us. Beyond all paraphernalia, he returns. Irreverent, mocking, stubborn - morally stubborn - Che will always be the subject of debate. The exclusive teleSUR series “Ernesto Guevara, also known as 'Che'”, aims to address the figure of Ernesto Guevara as it has never been told before. Conversing with the characters who were with him in important moments, visiting the real settings where Che spent his life.


Mi Canción
2021
country: Mexico
"Mi Canción" follows the rise of young Guadalajara rapper C-Kan, as he realizes the danger he put himself in by working with the local Cartel. After falling in love with Valeria, she convinces him to leave this llife of crime and pursue his dream and become a Rap star. Conflicted, he decides to stop working with the Cartel, but that is easier said than done!


Canoa: A Shameful Memory
1975 · 1h 56m
country: Mexico
A group of students arrives in a small town during a hiking expedition. Once there, the local priest accuses them of being communist agitators on the run from an army crack-down against student demonstrations in nearby Mexico City and rallies the townsfolk to lynch them. Based on a true story.


El Esqueleto
1997 · 1h 22m
country: Mexico
It's the night of all souls and a group of teens play a prank on their friend the who goes by the name "El Esqueleto". That same night just happens to coincide with vengeance of the spirit of the Marquis De Gortari. The teenager named Sor Juana along with the help of her uncle the local Priest, must band together to save El Esqueleto's soul before it is too late.


In Exile: A Family Movie
2017 · 2h 4m
country: Mexico
The life stories of Juan Francisco's grandparents and parents, who arrived in Mexico in 1939 as refugees at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). A family saga, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.


Rock, Weed and Wheels
2025 · 1h 34m
country: Mexico
In 1971, two young entrepeneurs decide to organize a race car with lots of indie rock bands livening up the event in Avandaro, Mexico. When only 25 thousand tickets are sold but more than 200 thousand people arrive, things start to get out of control.


Vieja moralidad
1988 · 52m
country: Mexico
The relationship between a nephew and his aunt in the begining of Mexico's 20th century.


Saint Lucifer
1997 · 1h 41m
country: Mexico
A conflict arises between the people of the town and the local priest when they have to decide how to represent certain biblical episode.


Nisei (Second-generation)
2024 · 23m
country: Mexico
Follows Iwao Ichikawa, a second-generation Japanese Mexican, navigating racial segregation in Mexicali, Baja California during WWII, offering a poignant exploration of identity and belonging amidst adversity.


Tepeyac
1917 · 1h 3m
country: Mexico
A man (Arroyo Carrillo) is sent to Europe on a diplomatic mission. The ship in which he travels is sunk by a German submarine. In Mexico, his girlfriend Lupita (Cota) receives a telegram with the news and looks for relief in La Virgen de Guadalupe, saint patron of catholic mexicans. After reading a book about the Virgin legend, Lupita falls asleep. Next morning, she receives good news, her boyfriend is alive. Together they go to La Villa del Tepeyac (a church devoted to La Virgen de Guadalupe) and thank for the miracle.


The Other Conquest
1999 · 1h 45m
country: Mexico
The film is a drama about the aftermath of the 1520s Spanish Conquest of Mexico told from the perspective of the indigenous Aztec people. It explores the social, religious, and psychological changes brought about by a historical process of colonization that both defined the American continent and is also highly reminiscent of today’s neocolonialism.


Epitaph
2015 · 1h 22m
country: Mexico
Three Spanish conquistadors, Captain Diego de Ordaz, Gonzalo and Pedro, march to the summit of the great volcano Popocatepetl.


Cabeza de Vaca
1991 · 1h 51m
country: Mexico
In 1528, a Spanish expedition flounders off the coast of Florida with 600 lives lost. One survivor, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, roams across the American continent searching for his Spanish comrades. Instead, he discovers the Iguase, an ancient Indian tribe. Over the next eight years, Cabeza de Vaca learns their mystical and mysterious culture, becoming a healer and a leader. But soon this New World collides with the Old World as Spanish conquistadors seek to enslave the Indians, and Cabeza de Vaca must confront his own people and his past.


Lo negro del Negro
1985 · 1h 45m
country: Mexico
Based on the book by the same name, the film follows the exploits of Arturo "El Negro" Durazo, who was the head of the police department in Mexico City, we witness his crimes and his eccentric life, that will inevitably lead to his fall.


Hidalgo: la historia jamás contada
2010 · 1h 55m
country: Mexico
From his jail cell at Chihuahua's Military Hospital, Hidalgo begins to remember moments of his life, particularly his tenure as Parish Priest in the town of San Felipe Torres Mochas where he translated and produced the stage play "Tartuffe" by Moliere. During this time he fell in love with Josefa Quintana with whom he had three children and for whom he left the priesthood during a brief period in his life.
His Most Serene Highness
His Most Serene Highness
2000 · 1h 52m
country: Mexico
This historical drama depicts the waning days of the life of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who waged a war against the United States that ultimately cost his nation half of its territory


Letters from Marusia
1975 · 1h 50m
country: Mexico
Chronicle of the repression that a foreign company exerts on the miners of a small nitrate town in Chile, whose workers decide to claim their most essential rights. A reflection of the historic union struggles in the northern Chile that ended with terrible repressive acts.


La leyenda del tambor
1981 · 1h 25m
country: Spain
In June 1808, Napoleon's troops invade Spain. A boy named Isidro will beat his drum in the mountains of El Bruc, making the French army believe that thousands of armed men are waiting to confront them.


Between Pancho Villa and a Naked Woman
1996 · 1h 27m
country: Mexico
Gina, a modern business woman in her late forties, has a lover named Adrian, a journalist, who she sees once in a while just to have sex. They are both attracted to the historic figure of Pancho Villa: he admires his power while she admires his virility. As Gina helps Adrian to write a book about Villa, she discovers the similarity between Villa's relation to women to that of Adrian and hers, and that Villa's revolution never included her, nor the rest of the female half of the human species. Can the love of a woman and a man survive machismo?


Baroque
1989 · 1h 55m
country: Mexico
A series of images, music and sounds which transport through Mexico's history, without any narrative sequence. The film spins constantly round the question 'Where are the singers from?'


Panama II: El Retorno
1992 · 1h 22m
country: Mexico
No overview available


Those Years
1974 · 2h 22m
country: Mexico
President Juárez fights against the conservatives, who have ordered an emperor to be brought from France to govern Mexico


La Historia del Fan Project Paul McCartney MX 2024
2024
country: Unknown
No overview available


Hugo Sánchez, the Goal and the Glory
2022 · 1h 18m
country: Mexico
The definitive chronicle of the best Mexican athlete in history. From his beginnings in Mexico's university team, his transcendental time in Spain's Real Madrid, his international falls and his very personal obsession for success.


La monja alférez
1944 · 1h 28m
country: Mexico
A 17th century woman, imprisoned for fighting in a bar, recounts her past to a priest. She tells of her father teaching her how to fence, of being sent to a convent by her aunt when her father died, of escaping by dressing as a man, and of her life as a man following the escape.


7:19
2016 · 1h 34m
country: Mexico
At 7:19 a.m., on September 19th of 1985, the most destructive earthquake hit Mexico City. Inside what's left of a building, a group of survivors fight for their lives waiting for rescue.


Citizen Buelna
2013 · 1h 55m
country: Mexico
Rafael faces the complications of the revolution and discovers true love with Luisa.


Tlön
2023 · 30m
country: Mexico
Jorge, an Argentinian writer in the 40ʼs, and Luis, a Mexican game developer in the 2020ʼs, investigate a mysterious question: What is Tlön? What is Uqbar? As each of them finds new answers, Tlön’s mystery will unveil bit by bit, exposing them to a revelation that will change their lives...
Mexican cinema had a Golden Age in the 1940s and 50s and a second surge from the late 1990s, when Cuarón, del Toro, and Iñárritu moved between Mexican production and Hollywood without abandoning either.
Historical films reconstruct the past, whether faithfully or as deliberate myth-making. The genre attracts big budgets and big performances, and it reveals as much about the era that produced the film as the one on screen.