Movies like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival (2023)
The best movies like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival (2023) are 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025), 20 Days in Mariupol (2023) and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000). If Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025)
Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like this20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me (2023)
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
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 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 thisThe U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaqoyqatsi (2002)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972)
Jonas Mekas weaves an elegiac diary film from his 1971–72 return to Lithuania, chronicling a visit to his birthplace of Semeniškiai after decades in exile. Blending personal memory with documentary observation, the film becomes both a portrait of homecoming and a meditation on displacement, family, and the passage of time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl Model (2011)
A documentary on the modeling industry's 'supply chain' between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S., told through the experiences of the scouts, agencies, and a 13-year-old model.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFor Sama (2019)
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMore Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011)
Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Walking Dead: The Return (2024)
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirected by John Ford (1971)
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
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 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 Movie About Movies of White City (2024)
Short documentary about movies locations from Yugoslavian movies and how they look nowadays.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet (2006)
Documentary film exploring the making, and legacy of 'Forbidden Planet'
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Happy Pills (2023)
A journey through six different countries and characters into a world where chemistry is the ultimate response to human pursuits of well-being.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Chêne de vie : l'amour aux temps du cancer (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Antonico: Por Onde Andam os Migrantes Nordestinos? (TBA)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Hot House (2006)
In a candid and unflinching portrait of Palestinian prisoners, Shimon Dotan takes viewers inside the highest security prisons in Israel where thousands of Palestinians fill these detention facilities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Loving forever (2026)
Edoardo Iaschi (known as Eddie Brock) is an Italian indie singer born and raised in Rome. When his song “Non è mica te” unexpectedly goes viral on TikTok, Edo is thrust into the spotlight and forced to confront the realities of adulthood, fame, and a world far bigger than he ever imagined…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Soviet Submarine (2021)
On March 26th, 2020, seven boys locked themselves in a house for 48 hours, with only potatoes, bread, and red light for survival. Watch the chaos unfold and tension rise between the comrades as they struggle to find a cure before it's too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Longing For Innocence (2023)
Between 1963 and 1976, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl spent months living among in the Nuba people in the Kordofan Province of Sudan, documenting their cultural traditions as well as the everyday activities crucial to their very survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Modern Life (2008)
For ten years, Raymond Depardon has followed the lives of farmer living in the mountain ranges. He allows us to enter their farms with astounding naturalness. This moving film speaks, with great serenity, of our roots and of the future of the people who work on the land. This the last part of Depardon's triptych "Profils paysans" about what it is like to be a farmer today in an isolated highland area in France. "La vie moderne" examines what has become of the persons he has followed for ten years, while featuring younger people who try to farm or raise cattle or poultry, come hell or high water.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival?
The closest matches to Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival are 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025), 20 Days in Mariupol (2023) and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival?
Start with 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025), the closest match to Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival.
What is the highest-rated movie like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival?
Yes: 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025), 20 Days in Mariupol (2023) and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000).
How are movies similar to Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukrainian Survival, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























