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


The Impossible
2012 · 1h 53m
country: Spain
In December 2004, close-knit family Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand. But the day after Christmas, the idyllic holiday turns into an incomprehensible nightmare when a terrifying roar rises from the depths of the sea, followed by a wall of black water that devours everything in its path. Though Maria and her family face their darkest hour, unexpected displays of kindness and courage ameliorate their terror.


Society of the Snow
2023 · 2h 23m
country: Spain
On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to take a rugby team to Chile, crashes into a glacier in the heart of the Andes.


The Red Virgin
2024 · 1h 54m
country: Spain
Hildegart is conceived and educated by her mother Aurora to be the woman of the future, to become one of the most brilliant minds of Spain in the 1930s and one of the European references on female sexuality.


The Truce
2025 · 2h 30m
country: Spain
Karlag, short for Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, was one of the largest labor camps within the Soviet Gulag system. Established in 1931, it was located in the Karagandy Region of Kazakhstan. The film will explore the hardships faced by people during the 1930s-1950s and the resilience of human dignity despite the daily struggle for survival. The atmosphere of Karlag will be conveyed through costumes, props, and sets created after extensive research in archives and museums.


Magellan
2025 · 2h 44m
country: Philippines
At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads an expedition under the Spanish crown in search of the first westward route to the Spice Islands. He embarks on a perilous journey across the uncharted Pacific, where his fleet faces starvation, mutiny, and the psychological toll of endless seas. Upon reaching the shores of Cebu, Magellan is pulled into a fatal conflict with the natives by his drive to spread Catholicism, culminating in his tragic doom.


Palm Trees in the Snow
2015 · 2h 44m
country: France
Spain, 2003. An accidental discovery leads Clarence to travel from the snowy mountains of Huesca to Equatorial Guinea, to visit the land where her father Jacobo and her uncle Kilian spent most of their youth, the island of Fernando Poo.


Experiment Stuka
2018 · 1h 15m
country: Spain
Spanish Civil War, May, 1938. Four villages in Castellón, Benassal, Albocàsser, Ares del Maestrat and Vilar de Canes, were bombed from the sky and ravaged. 38 people died. Inhabitants never knew for sure who piloted the planes responsible for such atrocity, although the rebel propaganda attributed the act to the republican side. Now, 80 years later, the truth is finally exposed.


The Photographer of Mauthausen
2018 · 1h 51m
country: Hungary
Spanish photographer Francesc Boix, imprisoned in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, works in the SS Photographic Service. Between 1943 and 1945, he hides, with the help of other prisoners, thousands of negatives, with the purpose of showing the freed world the atrocities committed by the Nazis, exhaustively documented. He will be a key witness during the Nuremberg Trials.
Tokio
Tokio
2014 · 13m
country: Puerto Rico
When all the residents of Tokío are evicted from their houses, two kids, Emiliano and Aurelia, are forced to end their friendship. But before that, they make a plan to save the life of a kitten that is going to be abandoned when everybody leaves the neighborhood. This seems like a very simple scheme, but it turns out to be a lesson of beauty, and humanity, that emerges from themselves as an act of rebellion in a world full of destruction.


Finding Altamira
2016 · 1h 37m
country: France
The story of nine-year old Maria and her father Marcelino who, in 1879, found the first pre-historic cave paintings at the now world famous Altamira cave.


The German Doctor
2013 · 1h 30m
country: Argentina
Patagonia, 1960. A German doctor meets an Argentinean family and follows them to a town where the family will be starting a new life. The family welcomes the doctor into their home and entrust their young daughter to his care, not knowing that he is one of the most dangerous criminals in the world.


Mangoré
2015 · 1h 33m
country: Paraguay
The life and times of famed Paraguayan musician Agustín Pío Barrios, from the years of his youth to his international success.


A Man of Action
2022 · 1h 51m
country: Spain
Loosely inspired by the life of Lucio Urtubia, explore the figure of the so-called anarchist 'Robin Hood,' who ran a legendary counterfeiting operation in Paris that put him in the crosshairs of America's largest bank, when he managed to obtain a huge amount of money by forging traveler's checks to invest in causes he believed in.


Ronaldo
2015 · 1h 32m
country: Spain
Filmed over 14 months with unprecedented access into the inner circle of the man and the sport, this is the first official and fully authorised film of one of the most celebrated figures in football. For the first time ever, the world gets vividly candid and un-paralleled, behind-closed-doors access to the footballer, father, family-man and friend in this moving & fascinating documentary. Through in-depth conversations, state of the art football footage and never before seen archival footage, the film gives an astonishing insight into the sporting and personal life of triple Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career. From the makers of ‘Senna’ and ‘Amy’, Ronaldo takes audiences on an intimate and revealing journey of what it’s like to live as an iconic athlete in the eye of the storm.


The Final Inquiry
2007 · 1h 52m
country: Italy
In 35 A.D., a Roman tribune is sent to Palestine to investigate the death and possible resurrection of a certain Jesus from Nazareth.


A Twelve-Year Night
2018 · 2h 2m
country: Argentina
Uruguay, 1973. Having been crushed by the military dictatorship, surviving members of the Tupamaro guerillas are imprisoned and tortured. They must find a way to endure the coming 12 years.


Land and Freedom
1995 · 1h 49m
country: United Kingdom
Summer 1936: young unemployed communist David Carr leaves Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded, he goes to Barcelona, where he joins another group of fighters.


Gold
2017 · 1h 43m
country: Spain
Spanish soldiers battle indigenous tribes and their own brutal natures as they search for a legendary city built of gold.


The Movie Teller
2023 · 1h 56m
country: Chile
María Margarita is the youngest of four siblings in a family living in a mining town in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The most special time of the week for this family is Sunday, when they all go to the movies to enjoy stories that let them escape their everyday lives by transporting them to other worlds. The girl’s parents soon realise that the little girl has a very special gift: an almost uncanny ability to recount movies. The girl’s extraordinary talent will spread throughout the village, changing the fortunes of her family as the country is transformed forever.


They Shot the Piano Player
2023 · 1h 44m
country: France
New York, 2010. Jeff Harris, a music journalist, sets out to uncover the truth about Francisco Tenório Júnior, a young Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who disappeared in Buenos Aires on March 18, 1976.


1898: Our Last Men in the Philippines
2016 · 2h 10m
country: Spain
The Philippines, 1898. Fifty Spanish soldiers arrive in the small village of Baler to rebuild an outpost. Although the war against the Filipinos and their American allies is almost lost, as is the Spanish Empire, the garrison will endure a cruel siege for eleven months. They will be the last to surrender.


Operation Ogre
1979 · 1h 41m
country: Italy
Spain, 1973. Dictator Francisco Franco has ruled the country since 1939 with an iron fist; but he is now a very old and sick man. The future of the weakened regime is in danger. Admiral Carrero Blanco is his natural successor. The Basque terrorist gang ETA decides that he must die to prevent the dictatorship from continuing.


Tobruk
1967 · 1h 47m
country: United States
In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.


The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
2023 · 1h 45m
country: Spain
The buried memories of the Spanish Civil War are unearthed as a woman searches for the remains of her grandfather's father and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona.


The Reconquista
2026 · 13m
country: Spain
Málaga, late 15th century. A lost Christian knight seeks to join the King’s armies to prove his worth to his beloved, but he encounters a dying Muslim soldier, becoming his only option to trust his enemy in order to win her heart.


The Indies
2026 · 1h 21m
country: Spain
In 17th-century Europe, Alejandro, a young Spanish nobleman, is tasked with delivering the portrait of the Infanta of Spain to Louis XIV, still a child. It is intended to seal the alliance between the two crowns. Fascinated by the promises of the New World, lands to be conquered and new trade routes to be opened, Alejandro is escorted by two French soldiers. As the portrait advances, the trio descend deeper into a Europe ravaged by wars and uprisings. The journey to the French court is long and arduous, and the path back to civilization and the modern world emerging remains uncertain.


Caleta Palace
2023
country: Spain
Eight foreign characters recall their exploits and fears in Malaga, a paradise city that starts a revolution on July 18th 1936, as the military coup is stopped by popular rebellion, until February 9th 1937, when Mussolini troops take Malaga and put it under the rule of Franco. Seven months that shape the stark tale of a besieged city, the first capital to be conquered in Spanish Civil War and a prelude of WW2.


Smoke & Mirrors
2016 · 2h 3m
country: Spain
A tale of cheats and impostors, taking its inspiration from true facts and from one of the most intriguing characters of recent decades: the spy Francisco Paesa.


Giant
2017 · 1h 54m
country: Spain
Having fought in the First Carlist War, Martin returns to his family farm in Gipuzkoa only to find that his younger brother, Joaquín, towers over him in height. Convinced that everyone will want to pay to see the tallest man on Earth, the siblings set out on a long trip all over Europe, during which ambition, money and fame will forever change the family’s fate. A story based on true events.


La Singla
2023 · 1h 35m
country: Germany
In the 1960s, a young Spanish flamenco dancer named Antonia Singla captivated audiences with her strikingly passionate performances. Having lost her hearing at a young age, La Singla rose to fame with her commanding presence through a combination of her powerful gaze and thunderous movement. However, just at the height of her fame, she seemingly disappeared and decades later has been all but forgotten. When a young woman in Seville comes across La Singla’s story, a bigger picture starts to be unveiled. Through research, interviews and captivating archival footage, she starts to piece together the legend of La Singla. Through the beauty of her performances and the heartbreak of her story, La Singla celebrates and preserves the legacy of one of the greatest Flamenco dancers of all time.


Chimes at Midnight
1965 · 1h 55m
country: Spain
Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.


Cholera
2013 · 6m
country: Spain
Cholera: Path. Acute, infectious disease, often epidemic and very serious.


The Load
2016 · 1h 34m
country: Mexico
Late sixteenth century. A Tameme Indian man and a noble Spanish woman flee through the forests of the New World in search of freedom. Their frantic journey softens the tension between them and dissolves their longstanding differences and creates intimate bonds that threaten their very survival.


The Captive
2025 · 2h 14m
country: Italy
In 1575, the young soldier Miguel de Cervantes is captured on the high seas by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers as a hostage. Aware that a cruel death awaits him if his family does not pay his ransom soon, he finds refuge in his passion for storytelling.


The Official Story
1985 · 1h 52m
country: Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1983. In the last and turbulent days of the military dictatorship, Alicia, a high school history teacher, begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the dark origins of Gaby, her adopted daughter.


Difunta Correa
1975
country: Argentina
No overview available


The King of Laughter
2021 · 2h 13m
country: Italy
In early 20th-century Naples, a theatrical parody lands beloved thespian and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta in court, facing a malicious lawsuit that could compromise his freedom of expression and the economic security of his extended family—including his son's, young Eduardo De Filippo.


While at War
2019 · 1h 48m
country: Argentina
Salamanca, Spain, 1936. In the early days of the military rebellion that began the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), writer Miguel de Unamuno supports the uprising in the hope that the prevailing political chaos will end. But when the confrontation becomes bloody, Unamuno must question his initial position.


Marco: The Invented Truth
2024 · 1h 41m
country: Spain
Enric Marco, a Spanish trade unionist, claims to be a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.


Henri 4
2010 · 2h 35m
country: Germany
A wide-ranging, energetic period piece tracing the rise of the Protestant Henry of Navarre as he goes from battlefield warrior to France's beloved King Henri IV. Director Jo Baier's epic is a classically entertaining adventure, albeit one with more than a little bloodshed and frequent bawdy sexual interludes. In late 16th-century France, Catholics and Protestant Huguenots were at war. Seemingly seeking peace, the French dowager queen, Catherine de Medici summons Henry to her court to have him marry her daughter, uniting the two warring factions. However, the Catholics slaughter the Protestant wedding guests in what became known as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and Henry-now married-must use all his guile to both stay alive and maneuver for the throne. [Written by Palm Springs International Film Festival]
Spanish cinema carries the surrealist streak of Buñuel through to Almodóvar's melodramas and a modern horror scene with real international reach. The post-Franco decades produced an unusually sharp break with what came before.
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.