Movies like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise (2022)
The best movies like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise (2022) are Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018), Miss Representation (2011) and The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009). If Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Red Pill (2016)7.5/10 from 230 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018)
In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Representation (2011)
The film MISS REPRESENTATION exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009)
A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this28 Up (1985)
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEx Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Mom Jayne (2025)
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLouis Theroux: The Settlers (2025)
Fourteen years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeart of a Dog (2015)
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCapital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Pill (2016)
When a feminist filmmaker sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Chronicling Cassie Jaye’s journey exploring an alternate perspective on gender equality, power and privilege.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFuck (2006)
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022)
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this35 Up (1991)
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Kill a Tiger (2023)
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaking 'The Shining' (1980)
Directed and edited by Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivian Kubrick, this film offers a look behind the scenes during the making of The Shining.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHail Satan? (2019)
The story of The Satanic Temple, a controversial movement that combines religion and activism with the apparent purpose of questioning the basic foundations of US society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Decade Under the Influence (2003)
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLosing Blue (2023)
What does it mean to lose a colour? Losing Blue is a cinematic poem about losing the otherworldly blues of ancient mountain lakes, now fading due to climate change. With stunning cinematography, this short doc immerses the viewer in the magnificence of these rare lakes, pulling us in to stand on their rocky shores, witness their power and understand what their loss would mean—both for ourselves and for the Earth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
POLARBARRY - LET'S BREAK THE ICE!! - VLOG #207 (2020)
Meet influencer, online personality and Internet sensation PolarBarry: The mischievous Polar Bear who knows how to make the North Pole rumble. PolarBarry introduces his followers to the Climate Change debate. VLOG #207 sheds a light on the likeliness that humanity cannot act as a collective.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Can We Save the Reef? (2018)
An epic story of Australian and international scientists who are racing to understand our greatest natural wonder and employing cutting edge science in an attempt to save it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Golpe de agua (2025)
A documentary that reflects on the vision of 'progress' that governments cling to in times of climate change, focusing on the personal and collective experience lived in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Disobedience (2016)
Disobedience tells the David vs. Goliath tale of front line leaders battling for a livable world. Filmed in the Philippines, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Cambodia and the United States, it weaves together these riveting stories with insights from the most renowned voices on social justice and climate. Disobedience is personal, passionate and powerful - the stakes could not be higher, nor the mission more critical.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Climate Baby Dilemma (2022)
Deciding whether to have a child is an emotionally fraught and deeply personal process. Deciding amid increasingly dire warnings about the climate makes it even more paralyzing. The Climate Baby Dilemma is a documentary charting the growing number of young people either refusing to bring a child into an increasingly unstable world or struggling with the ethics of whether they should or not. As the conversation about intimacy and climate change heats up, we meet activists, journalists, parents and prospective parents, ethicists and scientists to unpack this growing trend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Wenn die Arktis schmilzt (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Exergo (2024)
Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Fire in Our Hearts (TBA)
On British Columbia’s remote Southside, wildfire is not an abstract threat—it is a lived reality. As flames close in on a frontier community, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and their neighbours face an impossible choice: evacuate, or stay to protect the land that defines them. With limited access and little outside support, the community responds collectively, drawing on Indigenous leadership, cooperation, and generations of knowledge to confront the fire in near isolation. In the aftermath, the burn reveals a long-erased Cheslatta village site, resurfacing a suppressed history just as their response gains wider attention as a model for resilience. But when the flames recede, new constraints emerge—raising questions about the limits of community-led action, and the fragile balance between survival, autonomy, and authority.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The 11th Hour (2007)
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise?
The closest matches to Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise are Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018), Miss Representation (2011) and The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise?
Start with Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018), the closest match to Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise.
What is the highest-rated movie like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise?
The Red Pill (2016), rated 7.5/10 by 230 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise?
Yes: Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018), Miss Representation (2011) and The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009).
How are movies similar to Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.