12 Best Hungarian Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · September 1, 2026

Hungary Arthouse slow and atmospheric thought provoking

Hungarian cinema swings between Bela Tarr’s punishingly slow black-and-white epics and tighter, more urgent recent films that still refuse to look away from the country’s darkest history. Katalin Varga follows a woman exiled from her village on a quiet revenge mission, The Notebook has twin brothers hardening themselves to cruelty in wartime, and Kontroll sends Budapest subway ticket inspectors through absurd bureaucracy. Mephisto charts an actor’s Faustian rise in Nazi Germany. Son of Saul, On Body and Soul, White God, 1945, Satantango and Werckmeister Harmonies round out the list.

Katalin Varga (2009)

TMDB ★ 6.7

A woman exiled from her village for a past secret sets out on a quiet, deliberate revenge mission.

Directed by Peter Strickland · 1h 21m

Where to watch

Stream: Curzon Amazon Channel · Rent: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Curzon Home Cinema, YouTube · Buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Notebook (2013)

TMDB ★ 7.2

Twin brothers harden themselves against cruelty while surviving with their grandmother during the Second World War.

Directed by János Szász · 1h 52m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Kontroll (2003)

TMDB ★ 7.4

Budapest subway ticket inspectors deal with absurd bureaucracy and a mysterious figure pushing people onto the tracks.

Directed by Nimród Antal · 1h 47m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Fandor Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Mephisto (1981)

TMDB ★ 7.6

An ambitious actor's Faustian rise through Nazi Germany's theatre world costs him everything he claimed to value.

Directed by István Szabó · 2h 25m

Where to watch

Stream: Kino Film Collection · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

On Body and Soul (2017)

TMDB ★ 7.2

Two socially awkward slaughterhouse coworkers discover they share the exact same recurring dream.

Directed by Ildikó Enyedi · 1h 56m

Where to watch

Stream: MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

1945 (2017)

TMDB ★ 7.4

Two Orthodox Jewish men arrive by train and unsettle a Hungarian village that has something to hide.

Directed by Ferenc Török · 1h 31m

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, OVID, Chai Flicks, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

White God (2014)

TMDB ★ 7.1

An abandoned dog leads an uprising of Budapest's mistreated strays against the humans who discarded them.

Directed by Kornél Mundruczó · 2h 01m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Philo, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

TMDB ★ 7.7

A travelling circus and a stuffed whale trigger unrest in a small Hungarian town, shot in extraordinary long takes.

Directed by Béla Tarr · 2h 19m

Where to watch

Stream: Klassiki · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Sátántangó (1994)

TMDB ★ 8.0

A failing collective farm's residents are manipulated by a man who might be a con artist or a messiah.

Directed by Béla Tarr · 7h 12m

Where to watch

Stream: Eternal Family

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Son of Saul (2015)

TMDB ★ 7.9

A concentration camp prisoner risks everything to give one boy a proper burial.

Directed by László Nemes · 1h 47m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Liza, the Fox-Fairy (2015)

TMDB ★ 7.0

A lonely nurse's dream of finding love is complicated by a jealous ghost cursing every suitor who comes near.

Directed by Károly Ujj Mészáros · 1h 38m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

For Some Inexplicable Reason (2014)

TMDB ★ 7.2

A directionless thirty-something drifts from one failed relationship and job to the next in Budapest.

Directed by Gábor Reisz · 1h 36m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

12 Best Hungarian Movies to Watch

Katalin Varga (2009)

The Notebook (2013)

Kontroll (2003)

Mephisto (1981)

On Body and Soul (2017)

1945 (2017)

White God (2014)

Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

Sátántangó (1994)

Son of Saul (2015)

Liza, the Fox-Fairy (2015)

For Some Inexplicable Reason (2014)

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