Best Dutch war movies

Kamp Holland (2016)

In the confused melee that follows a roadside bomb attack on their convoy in Afghanistan, a Dutch soldier opens fire on a suspect Afghan, only to find that this killing unleashes a chain of dramatic events that will cast a long shadow over the lives of all initial survivors.

Gamechanger (2016)

On his way to yet another tour of duty abroad, thirty-year-old Max gets caught up in a game with the young boys next door. Max gradually loses sight of reality, and the boys lose their innocence.

Betrayal (2023)

During the final months of World War II, a Nazi officer assigned to protect the war-torn frontline in the Netherlands decides to risk his life to protect a Jewish family in hiding.

Pastorale 1943 (1978)

In a Dutch village during the German occupation, a small group of badly organized resistance fighters attempt to assassinate a collaborator.

Like Two Drops of Water (1963)

The fainthearted cigar trader Ducker keeps himself quiet during World War II. That changes when parachutist Dorbeck lands in his backyard. It turns out the parachutist bears a remarkable resemblance to Ducker. Ducker follows Dorbeck blindly, becomes involved in the Dutch resistance and soon starts killing people. When he escapes through German lines to the freed South Netherlands, no one has ever heard of Dorbeck.

Shadow of Victory (1986)

During World War II, two members of the Dutch resistance share the same goal but use very different methods to reach it.

Brothers (2018)

Hassan and Mourad travel to Syria to search for their missing brother Yasin. As they try to follow Yasin’s trail through Jordan and Syria, Hassan and Mourad are involuntarily involved in the Syrian conflict. Will the brothers, despite the confrontation with the atrocities of the war, be brought closer together and the disintegrated family be reunited, or has the war wounded irreparable wounds?

The Sky Above Us (2015)

Belgrade, 1999. People go in and out of cafés, and lively conversation echoes all around. As if no one expects the NATO bombings. As if they never even started. But there is tension nonetheless, behind the eyes of people who suppress their fear at any cost. It is in this time and place that Ana, Sloba and Bojan construct their own sense of normality in order to retain their sanity. Three ways to deal with fear. One random sky above.

Going Home (1993)

Johan Ten Berghe joins the Dutch army when the Dutch East Indies unilaterally declare independence as Indonesia. He initiates his naive driver Twan in life in the East, having grown up there as son of colonial official Hendrik, now missing. Their adventures intertwine with Johan's childhood memories, especially concerning his native best friend, Oeroeg, who joined the rebellion, as well as their nanny and later de facto stepmother. Conflicting loyalties become tangible in extreme situations

All Things Pass (1981)

During World War II in the Netherlands, resistance-leader Arie is shot by the Dutch SS-man Niels. Arie's comrades pledge to avenge his death. 35 years later one of them, Ab, is confronted with Niels again. He decides to round up his old friends to kill him. He finds out though, that they think this is useless or are not capable of doing so anymore. Only the former communist Gerben has not forgotten his pledge and is talked into joining the execution.

Eddy's War (2024)

For four seasons, lone wolf Eddy van Wessel travels along the Ukrainian front lines. Now that the Netherlands' most awarded war photographer is in the twilight of his successful career, he wants to take the ultimate photo one more time, the image that summarizes the entire conflict and that makes all the struggles, traumas and setbacks he has endured worthwhile.

No Man's Land (2014)

As the 1914 summer sun heats up mainland Europe, World War One crashes down across the fractured peninsula. Living in Paris, Dutchman Arthur Knaap yearns to serve, protect and defend his beloved nation and joins the Foreign Legion.

Burgemeestersmoord (2024)

"Burgemeestersmoord" tells the true story of the assassination of Mayor Piet Smulders of Someren and Mayor Willem Wijnen of Asten. Both mayors were part of the resistance and did everything they could to make things as difficult as possible for the occupying forces. In German-occupied North Brabant, Jan searches for his place in the war. One thing is certain for him: this cannot continue. When Jan gets a job at the town hall, he becomes entangled between the mayors of Someren and Asten and the German officer Von Obernberger. From the moment Jan is embraced by the resistance, his actions increasingly draw the attention of the Germans. These deeds will have major consequences for both Someren and Asten.

The Rage of the Whole World (2006)

In Raging of the whole world are the turbulent early years of Alexander Goudveyl central. The story of Alexander's childhood is also the history of an era, the fifties and sixties, and a never solved murder case. Murder goes back to an authentic incident: in 1956, right before Christmas, a policeman was shot in broad daylight in Maassluis during a large-scale evangelistic campaign. The film also plays a failed escape attempt with a herring trawler involved in the turbulent days of May 1940.

Woman Between Wolf and Dog (1979)

Lieve is a Belgian woman who marries just as World War II is beginning. When the Germans invade, her husband goes off to fight them, but he swiftly returns home after the invasion succeeds. Later, he decides that the Germans are on the right side of things, and goes off to fight for them on the Eastern Front. Soon afterward, a resistance fighter is stranded on her doorway, and she hides him. The two of them fall in love, and the conflicts and joys of this relationship cause Lieve continued grief well after the end of the war.

The Story of Kees (1989)

This TV-film is based on a single play written by Willem Wilmink. Life in the war years through the innocent eyes of a child. Kees is ten years old and the Second World War seems strange to him. He becomes sick with fear and is sent to the countryside where life is even stranger, but at least he gets to eat.

Field of Honor (1986)

Korea 1951: After a Chinese attack Dutch mercenary sergeant De Koning is left alone by his army. While trying to survive, he meets a woman who is attempting to save her little brother. The image of the boy in shock changes him.

De bunker (1992)

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, high-profile Dutch resistance member Gerrit Kleinveld sets out to escape from the maximum-security prison in Amersfoort concentration camp.

7 Wrekers (2020)

Crazy (1999)

The haunting experiences of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers are woven together by the powerful influence music has had on their endurance, survival, and memories of war. This documentary is filled with close-up interviews, scrapbook photographs, video clips, news footage, letters read aloud, and other recollections, as different generations of Dutch peacekeeping soldiers recount the trauma of bloodshed from Korea to more recent events in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Their trusting, and often disturbing, personal revelations resound most poignantly when they talk about the single pieces of music that each found powerful enough to keep insanity at bay.

Wo ist der Bahnhof? (1985)

The brothers Gé and Arie Temnes return to the home where they used to live as teenagers during WWII. Arie talks about the role that he played in the resistance movement.

Ik ga naar Tahiti (1992)

A short feature film about the last days in the life of the Groningen printer and typographer Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, who was arrested by the German Sicherheitsdienst in the spring of 1945 and executed. His work is prominently featured in the film, which uses flashbacks to portray Werkman's personal and artistic life.