15 Best Movies Like Devotion

The 2022 movie Devotionis a mix of several genres, combining the best of the war film, the buddy film, and the biopic. With its story about the friendship that emerges between two men, one black and one white, while serving in the American military during the Korean War, it is the type of inspirational story that Hollywood excels at telling. The story manages to be inspiring while still exploring some of the difficulties caused by racism in the ranks.

Movies like Devotion can fall into any of those categories or war films or biopics. One thing the movies have in common is their ability to showcase the bonds - or even the way those bonds can break - between the people at the center of the stories. Many movies like Devotion also explore the way overt or systemic racism can affect the way people bond, even in extraordinary circumstances.

Men Of Honor (2008)

Inspired By A Real Naval Milestone

Billy (Robert De Niro) questions Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr.) in court in Men of Honor

Like Devotion and many similar movies, Men of Honor is inspired by real events. While some of the gaps in the known story might be filled in with fiction to help streamline events for the movie, the bulk of the story remains the same.

Men of Honor recounts the story of Carl Brashear’s career. Brashear became the first African American master diver for the United States Navy. The movie tracks Brashear from his time as a recruit to becoming the master diver. The bulk of that story occurs in the 1950s and 1960s when discrimination and segregation were the norm. Brashear does not have the deep bond of friendship as the men in Devotion. He does, however, have a stubborn and strict diving instructor to help him.

Both movies reflect the racism black members of the military in the mid-twentieth century faced. They also reflect how much perseverance was required in the face of all of that racism to become such accomplished members of the military and forge a path for others to come after them.

The Steel Helmet (1951)

The First Movie To Portray The Korean War

Devotion chronicles the friendship between military men during the Korean War. Though the Korean War has been dramatized on screen many times, in 1951 when The Steal Helmet was released, the Korean War was still going on. In fact, it was barely a year into the war that would largely be called the “forgotten war” in the decades after because of the focus on the Vietnam War instead.

The Steel Helmet is one of the most underrated war movies. Not only did it depict the post-segregation military (in 1951), but it also confronted systemic racism head-on (in 1951). Though there is a white main character, he befriends a local little boy, and ends up with an African American medic, a Japanese soldier, and another group of white soldiers. Their ideas about one another are front and center for the story as they travel behind enemy lines.

Much of the critical acclaim for the movie in the modern day is on the ability of the movie to demonstrate what combat fatigue is really like. Many at the time of release had labeled the movie as “anti-American” though the events were based on the writer’s own experiences and stories coming out from North Korea (via Samuel Fuller’s own book A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking).

Director, writer, and producer Samuel Fuller was a World War II veteran and The Steel Helmet helped establish him as someone who made accurate war movies. That unflinching attention to detail is what the movie has in common with some of the harder moments in Devotion.

A Soldier’s Story (1984)

A Military Murder Mystery

This 1984 movie adapts the stage play of the same name which won a Pulitzer Prize. While it is more of a murder mystery than it is a movie of military camaraderie, it still shares some similarities to Devotion.

A Soldier’s Story follows the investigation into the murder of a black Army sergeant in Louisiana in 1944, just before the unit is about to head to Europe during World War II. The investigating officer is also a black military lawyer. Most of the men interviewed at the arm base are also black as the unit is a segregated one, but as the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that what happened to the dead man is more complicated than first thought.

A Soldier’s Story deals with racism in the military, like Devotion, but it also deals with the way discrimination is ingrained in society and how that discrimination can spread even within the same groups. Here, there is initially the thought that the Ku Klux Klan could be involved in the murder because the base is in the American South, but that turns out not to be the case. Instead, there are layers to the racism within the African American unit itself that bring to light issues that still persist today.

A Soldier’s Story was nominated for three Oscars and three Golden Globes. It won two NAACP Image Awards.

71: Into The Fire (2010)

A South Korean Story Of The War

A Korean soldier in the grass in 71 Into The Fire

The movie provides a different point of view of the war for those outside of South Korea.

While many of the movies like Devotion examine the racial dynamics between black and white soldiers and the brotherhood that can be born of war, 71: Into The Fire is a little different. It focuses on the Korean War from a different point of view - Koreans.

Devotion is set during the Korean War, but like a lot of movies about the conflict made by Americans, it is from the point of view of Americans. Here, the movie chronicles the stand taken by 71 student military members in South Korea against the People’s Army of Korea from North Korea. The students had little to no combat experience and were tasked with defending a middle school that was considered a strategic point for both sides. During the conflict, 71 students were at the middle school to defend it, but only 23 survived.

The movie provides a different point of view of the war for those outside of South Korea. It demonstrates the conflicts that could occur within the groups of soldiers themselves as some attempt to flee to North Korea and others refuse to back down despite their reputation as delinquents and criminals. It’s another war movie that invites viewers to let go of their preconceived notions.

Glory (1989)

The First African American Combat Regimen Of The Civil War

Glory takes audiences away from more modern warfare and deeper into the American past. It is inspired by the real story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first African American regiments to experience combat in the American Civil War.

The movie begins with the formation of the regiment and takes the audience all the way through to their tragedy that would inspire many other soldiers. While the regiment itself is made of black men fighting for the Union against the Confederacy, the commanding officer is a white man, and much of the story is told from his point of view as accounts are taken from his real-life letters. The story is able to delve into the brotherhood that forms between men in battle and their desire to prove themselves as capable soldiers.

There are a lot of liberties taken with the real history behind the film, mostly for dramatic effect. One such example is the pay dispute in which Matthew Broderick’s Shaw rips up his own paystub to show he believes white and black soldiers should be paid equally. It’s said to be resolved, but payment issues were ongoing during the American Civil War. Despite that, the movie still brings to light the immense sacrifice made by the men involved.

Glory was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning three, and five Golden Globes, winning one.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

A Sequel That Took More Than 30 Years

Obviously, one of the main appeals of a movie like Devotion is its emphasis on comradeship among military members. This is also a key theme of Top Gun: Maverick, which is a long-awaited sequel to the enormously successful Top Gun.

As is usually the case when he takes on action projects, Tom Cruise is at the top of his game as the movie's action star. However, one of the film’s most notable and moving scenes involves Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell reconnecting, briefly, with Val Kilmer’s Iceman. For all of its emphasis on action, this scene is, in some ways, the emotional core of the entirety of Top Gun: Maverick.

Of course, this movie also has something else in common with Devotion in that both movies see Glen Powell playing a member of the military. Powell plays very different roles in the two movies, but the bonds between those in uniform are still there.

Top Gun (1986)

A Modern Military Classic

In addition to focusing on the bonds between men,Devotion is also filled with the sorts of pulse-pounding scenes people expect of a film set during the Korean War. That's true of many war movies, but some can be too much action and not enough heart. It’s to the movie’s credit that it keeps its emotional and adrenaline elements in a delicate balance even while the characters are in action sequences in the sky.

This is also the case with the original Top Gun, which was one of the movies which helped to establish Tom Cruise’s career as a true action star. Though it hits a few bumps when it comes to the romance plot, the movie succeeds in part because Cruise is just so compelling as a star and because of its undeniable technical mastery during the action sequences.

Hidden Figures (2016)

Examining Racism During The Space Race

One of the things that allows Devotion to stand out is its showcasing of the African American war experience during the Korean War. Though it doesn’t focus on the battlefield, Hidden Figures nevertheless serves a similar function, bringing to light the contributions made by African American women to the Space Race.

The film is something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the cast, which includes Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, and Janelle Monáe. Most extraordinarily, it manages to succeed as both a movie and as an important piece of historical writing, explaining why it has come to be seen as one of the best movies of the 2010s.

While there are certain liberties taken with some of the historical moments, and embellishments made for dramatic effect, the bulk of the movie is true. All three women worked as "computers" for NASA in a segregated section, only being allowed to work in other areas because there was simply no denying the depth of their knowledge or their dedication to learning even more.

For Glen Powell fans, he also plays a supporting role here as one of the astronauts.

Marshall (2017)

A Look At The Career Of A Supreme Court Justice

The late Chadwick Boseman was one of the most talented actors of his generation, and he took on many roles that saw him playing real-life black figures. Marshall remains one of his best roles. Just as Devotion explores the extraordinary life of Jesse Brown, Marshall gives viewers insight into the career of Thurgood Marshall, one of the most important Supreme Court Justices in American history.

As he always did, Boseman brings a fierce intensity to his role. Any time he appears on the screen, he seems to electrify it, and the viewer can’t help but be in awe of the extent to which he was able to exude such energetic charisma in the courtroom. The electricity he exhibits here is not unlike the chemistry between Powell and Majors in Devotion, which is what makes the movie work so well.

42 (2013)

The First Black Man Joins Major League Baseball

Jackie Robinson in the baseball field in 42.

42 is another of Chadwick Bosemans’ best roles, and it was another indication of how skilled he was in inhabiting the lives and mindsets of historical figures. In this case, he delivers a powerful performance as Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play for Major League Baseball.

It’s easy to see why the movie would appeal to fans of Devotion. Like the 2022 film, it blends genres, such as the biopic, the sports drama, and the period movie. And, just as importantly, it provides viewers with a valuable understanding of one of the most important figures in the history of American sports.

Like many biopics, there are moments that are embellished, like Robinson breaking his bat in anger in the dugout, but they are employed for dramatic effect for the audience to connect even more emotionally to the character. Similar scenes are used in small moments in movies like 42 and Devotion that help to connect story points that the screenwriters might not be able to learn the whole truth about.

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