Best Croatian drama movies
A curated collection of popular drama movies from Croatia.
The Diary of Diana B. (2019)
The Diary of Diana B. (2019)
Firmly believing her own life is no more precious than the lives of the innocent people being persecuted, with the help of a few friends, Diana embarks on a perilous campaign of rescuing more than 10,000 children from the Ustasha camps in Nazi-occupied Croatia.
Boško Buha (1978)
Boško Buha (1978)
The movie is based on the true story about a group of children, barely teenagers, who joined Yugoslav Partizans after losing their families in WW2. At first, Partizans want to get rid of them, but later they are joining combat ranks. Among them, Bosko Buha would become a legend because of his skill in destroying enemy bunkers.
The Living and the Dead (2007)
The Living and the Dead (2007)
In 1943, group of Croatian soldiers overtake a strategically important point in western Bosnia with a goal to destroy a group of communist partisans. On the way they met some supernatural phenomena, and the action itself went very badly because the partisans ambushed them. The main character Martin inherits silver cigarette case from a dying soldier. This act connects to the story in 1993 when we meet Martins grandson Tomo. He is one of six soldiers of the Croatian army who have come to the same place in Bosnia to meet the same phenomena and similar fate.
Long Dark Night (2004)
Long Dark Night (2004)
"Long Dark Night" follows the life of the fictional character Iva Kolar: his experiences as a Croatian University student, his role as a Partisan fighting Hitler's troops during W.W. II, his involvement in his nation's post-war government, and his eventual downfall.
Witnesses (2003)
Witnesses (2003)
Set amid the atrocities of war in the Balkans, Witnesses is retold, Rashomon-style, from various characters' viewpoints, adding new information about the complexity of war and humanity. Beginning inside a rustic house with a woman in black (Mirjana Karanovic) standing beside her husband's coffin, Witnesses interweaves the stories of a small town confronting ethnic hatred and deep moral ambiguities.
Lea and Darija (2011)
Lea and Darija (2011)
It’s inspiring true story about two thirteen-year-old girls who were, on the eve of World War II, great dancing and acting stars in Zagreb. Selling out theatre venues, they were praised in the most superb headlines by the Croatian and European press. They were filmed by Parisian Pathe and Berlin’s UFA… During the Nazi persecution of Jews and the later German nationals’ flight from communists, a dramatic friendship was born through entertainment, dance, but also anxiety. This led towards an unexpected end.
The Blacks (2009)
The Blacks (2009)
War. A city under the siege. The truce has been recently signed, and the squad known as the 'Blacks', who used to do the dirty jobs, needs to be disbanded. Ivo, the squad commander who has lost three of his soldiers, prepares the action to retrieve their dead bodies from the forest and, despite the ceasefire, blow up the dam, thus causing a great damage to the enemy: The survived members of the squad, tortured by their personal doubts and guilt, move into action. On the battlefield, they find the enemy they are searching for is in the place they least expect - inside themselves.
Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master (2025)
Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master (2025)
In 19th-century Montenegro, the free mountain territories are surrounded by Turkish forces, isolated from the West and steeped in conservatism, patriarchy, and superstition. Morlak, a poet and bishop inspired by the historical figure Petar II Petrović Njegoš, leads his tribe in resisting the invaders. Gravely ill, he is sent to southern Italy in search of a cure. The journey takes him to a house in Naples, a city that contrasts sharply with his homeland’s isolated hills. As Morlak contemplates his existence, his loyal servant Djuko struggles with profound nostalgia, driven by the fear of his master’s death in a foreign land.
Sixth Bus (2022)
Sixth Bus (2022)
A young American is trying to find a man from her past, but he is never to be found, during the largest conflict on European soil since World War II – the battle of Vukovar. It is a search of identity and truth at a place where truth is selective, elusive, and even feared. A quest for faith, connection, and redemption simmers beneath the search.
Celestial Body (2000)
Celestial Body (2000)
When two enemy sides ex-change the captives in the middle of a minefield, a nameless man without identity and memory, subsequently named Jakov, leaves the column unnoticed and wanders around in order to minimize other people's sufferings. On his dangerous journey, he meets a female first-fighter who runs an orphanage, a commander who got back from Foreign legion and runs a defense line from a disco club, and goes through many other adventures only to end up in the endless backwaters of the Neretva river where war threats to arrive.
No Problem (2004)
No Problem (2004)
A war correspondent ventures into a territory being fought over by various warring factions. To enhance his reputation as a journalist, he fabricates news stories, and these manipulations of truth will be his undoing.
My Dear Angel (1996)
My Dear Angel (1996)
Dramatic tale of 7 year old Jerko who witnesses the destruction of family and village in 1991 during a Serbian attack of a peaceful Croatian village. He manages to escape and ends up in a war orphanage.
Cannibal Vegetarian (2012)
Cannibal Vegetarian (2012)
Danko Babic is an ambitious and amoral gynaecologist at Croatia's leading fertility clinic. When his colleague Bantic is appointed as head of the clinic, Babic starts a secret war to overthrow his rival. Distracted by his ruthless campaign he makes series of fatal mistakes that result in the death of a patient. A crooked coroner and a corrupt police officer cover up his misdeeds, while Babic grows increasingly dependant on drugs and alcohol. He begins performing illegal abortions on prostitutes who work for Jedinko, a gangster who controls the local drug and sex trade.
Safe Place (2023)
Safe Place (2023)
A traumatic event – a sudden suicide attempt – opens a gap in the everyday life of a family of three. Their lives change fundamentally, as if they've been pulled into a war invisible to everyone else. The plot is limited to the most acute, a short period of time and a situation that boils down to the most important thing – to save a loved one. The film was based on the personal experience of the director, who also plays the leading role.
Fine Dead Girls (2002)
Fine Dead Girls (2002)
Iva and Marija, a young lesbian couple, rent an apartment in Zagreb, in a building that seems to provide a quiet and safe environment for their love, but over time the atmosphere in the building becomes more and more threatening. The elder landlady Olga dominates the building. Other tenants include her calm husband, her grown-up son Daniel who has a crush on Iva, the prostitute Lidija, an abused housewife, a widower keeping the corpse of his newly deceased wife, a gynecologist performing abortions in one flat of the house, and an ex-soldier who regularly plays martial music at night. After Olga finds out that Iva and Marija are lesbians, the situation escalates .
Goran (2016)
Goran (2016)
Goran just wants to drive his taxi and take care of his blind wife Lina. But people close to him have their own agendas and dreams which threaten his carefree existence. In the idyllic surroundings of snow-covered Gorski Kotar, the fiery personalities of the highlanders surface and collide.
All Against All (2019)
All Against All (2019)
A political drama with elements of a thriller discusses politics, electoral fraud, and the decay of moral values, taking place in the fictional town of Rovte under the idyllic Alps. Franta, a corrupt mayor, is about to lose the election. After a TV debate, where he fails utterly, Franta calls his mistress Jozica in desperation. She advises him to seek the aid of Fleischmann, a criminal who is the only one capable of solving the problem on such short notice. After all, there are only four days left until the elections.
Full Contact (2015)
Full Contact (2015)
Full Contact is a contemporary tale of a man trying to find new purpose in life after accidentally bombing a school through a remotely operated drone plane. Ivan, operating the plane from a far away air force base, has never been to the foreign countries of his attacks, nor has he ever touched the plane he uses to kill. Modern warfare keeps him safe and disconnected from his prey. However, after this incident Ivan's disconnectedness starts to apply to everything in his life. He is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt that he is unable to process.
The Burden (2017)
The Burden (2017)
The script follows the emotional and spiritual downward spiral of a modern man breaking down under the pressures of everyday life.
Into the Blue (2017)
Into the Blue (2017)
Thirteen year old Julija and her mother flee their abusive household to find refuge on an idyllic Croatian island where Julija grew up. Emotionally scarred, Julija is desperate to reconnect with her best friend, Ana. But Ana is in love with a boy and Julija is no longer a priority.
Goose Feather (2004)
Goose Feather (2004)
Goose Feather (Serbian: Jesen Stiže, Dunjo Moja) was Serbia submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. Vaguely based on a song By Djordje Balasevic called "Prica o Vasi Ladackom" (the story of Vasa Ladacki). The story is about a very poor boy that wanted abundance and wealth because he basically didn't own anything. He was in love with an equally poor girl that his father wouldn't accept. He moves to another village and starts drinking...
Holy Family (2023)
Holy Family (2023)
In a Slavonian village, in 1960s, a rich man Marko offers Janja to marry his son Iva, which Janja sees as the perfect opportunity for her dreams to come true.
Solemn Promise (2009)
Solemn Promise (2009)
At the beginning of the World War I, Filip, a Serbian school director in the Serbian province, has been asked to immediately go to Belgrade to get war schedule. His wife Lea, Slovene, with no one to leave because the two of them recently arrived in the small town and no one really knows them. Azem, an Albanian, school attendance, gives Filip a promise (Besa) to watch the Lea and that nothing will happen. Lea and Azem, are forced to live together in an abandoned school. Their relationship changes during the time.
Voyage to Agatis (2010)
Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen (2020)
Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen (2020)
Among the garbage heaps of a big landfill on a Croatian island, Zoki uncovers a microcassette. A close study of the discarded object serves as a tribute to chance and imagination.
A Wonderful Night in Split (2004)
A Wonderful Night in Split (2004)
The film is set over the course of a New Year's Eve night in the Croatian port city of Split, where it follows three parallel plots. The first plot line features a small-time drug dealer Nike (Marinko Prga) and a young widow Marija (Nives Ivankovic); the second plot line deals with a drug addict called Maja (Marija Skaricic) who decides to have sex with an US Navy sailor called Franky (Coolio) in exchange for some heroin; the third one shows a young couple, Luka and Andela (Vicko Bilandzic and Ivana Roscic) who spend the night desperately looking for a place to celebrate the New Year by having their first sexual experience. The plots are connected through Dino Dvornik's concert, where all of them pass through at some point, and through the omnipresent fireworks that dot the night sky over the course of the film.
Deer Boy (2017)
Deer Boy (2017)
A story about a hunter's son, who was born with antlers, and about how each man kills the thing he loves.