10 Best Hungarian Movies to Watch First

10 Essential Hungarian Films

Ranked native cinema in Hungary’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. On Body and Soul

   Testről és lélekről · 2017

   Two reserved, solitary coworkers at a Budapest slaughterhouse discover they share the exact same dream every night, and this strange bond draws them haltingly toward each other in waking life. Ildikó Enyedi's tender, offbeat, Oscar-nominated romance.

   Why & details

   Curator’s note: Two introverted people find out by pure chance that they share the same dream every night. They are puzzled, incredulous, a bit frightened. As they hesitantly accept this strange coincidence, they try to recreate in broad daylight what happens in their dream.

2. 

   2. Sátántangó

   Satantango · 1994

   In a decaying Hungarian village after the fall of Communism, the ruined residents await a mysterious returning figure who may be a savior or a swindler. Béla Tarr's hypnotic, seven-hour black-and-white epic of mud, rain, and despair.

   Why & details

   Curator’s note: Bela Tarr's monumental Hungarian-language adaptation and one of the defining works of post-socialist Hungarian cinema.

3. 

   3. The Little Fox

   Vuk · 1981

   A young fox orphaned when hunters kill his family is taken in by his gruff uncle and must learn to survive in the wild and outwit the humans who threaten his kind. A beloved Hungarian animated adventure.

4. 

   4. Werckmeister Harmonies

   Werckmeister harmóniák · 2000

   A gentle, wide-eyed young man watches his small Hungarian town slide into unease and mob violence after a sinister circus arrives bearing a giant stuffed whale and a shadowy agitator. Béla Tarr's spellbinding, apocalyptic parable.

5. 

   5. Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest

   1987

   This concert film captures Queen's historic 1986 performance in Budapest, a landmark show behind the Iron Curtain, blending electrifying stage footage with glimpses of the band in Communist Hungary.

6. 

   6. The Fifth Seal

   Az ötödik pecsét · 1976

   In Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944, four friends in a tavern debate a searching moral question — and are soon forced to answer it for real when the authorities put their consciences to a terrible test. A profound, harrowing drama.

7. 

   7. Taxidermia

   2006

   Spanning three generations of a grotesque Hungarian family — a wartime orderly, a champion competitive eater, and a haunted taxidermist — this film pushes bodily excess to surreal extremes. A darkly outrageous, unforgettable provocation.

   Why & details

   Curator’s note: Gyorgy Palfi's Hungarian surrealist feature and a widely recognized work of contemporary Hungarian cinema.

8. 

   8. The Round-Up

   Szegénylegények · 1966

   In the years after Hungary's failed 1848 revolution, prisoners suspected of aiding the rebels are held at a bleak fortress on the plains, where their captors play a cold psychological game to root out the guerrillas among them. Miklós Jancsó's austere, influential classic.

   Why & details

   Curator’s note: Miklos Jancso's Hungarian historical drama and a foundational modern Hungarian art film.

9. 

   9. The Witness

   A tanú · 1979

   In 1950s Communist Hungary, a bumbling but loyal dam keeper is repeatedly plucked from disaster and thrust into absurd official roles by a powerful old friend, becoming a hapless pawn in the regime's show trials. A beloved, sharply satirical comedy.

10. 

    10. Kontroll

    2003

    In the grimy tunnels of the Budapest metro, a burnt-out ticket inspector who never seems to surface into daylight juggles rival crews, a budding romance, and a hooded figure who may be pushing passengers to their deaths. A stylish, surreal thriller.