Movies like Life Ahead of Her (2023)

49 Up (2006)

49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Life Overtakes Me (2019)

Hundreds of refugee children in Sweden, who have fled with their families from extreme trauma, have become afflicted with 'uppgivenhetssyndrom,' or Resignation Syndrome. Facing deportation, they withdraw from the world into a coma-like state, as if frozen, for months, or even years.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)

Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Halftime (2022)

Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The September Issue (2009)

A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Night Will Fall (2014)

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

In 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

Birth of the Living Dead (2013)

A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)

A musical study of Los Angeles in the late 90s, where homeless teens roam the streets and profess to live a punk lifestyle of music, drugs, and flouting authority.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978)

Martin Scorsese spends an evening with larger-than-life raconteur Steven Prince—a former drug addict, road manager for Neil Diamond, and actor—as he recounts stories from his colorful life.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Come 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

The 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

Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) (2026)

Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Fuck (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

Human Flow (2017)

More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Heart 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

Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)

Marcel Ophuls' riveting film details the heinous legacy of the Gestapo head dubbed "The Butcher of Lyon." Responsible for over 4,000 deaths in occupied France during World War II, Barbie would escape—with U.S. help—to South America in 1951, where he lived until a global manhunt led to his 1983 arrest and subsequent trial.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Oprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now (2019)

Oprah Winfrey talks with the exonerated men once known as the Central Park Five, plus the cast and producers who tell their story in "When They See Us."

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

He Named Me Malala (2015)

A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on the young Pakistani school girl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education and the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)

A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Warehoused (2017)

An estimated 12 million people live in refugee camps worldwide and only 0.1% are resettled, repatriated, or integrated into normal society each year. The feature-length documentary.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan (2021)

This film creates a real-life epic of boyhood and manhood that follows the same individual over 20 years, living in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. When we first meet Mir, he is a mischievous boy of seven living in a cave in central Afghanistan alongside the Buddhas of Bamiyan, two statues that were recently destroyed. For two decades, the film follows the adventures of his life, until, as an adult with a family of his own, he decides to pursue his own career as a news cameraman in Kabul. More than just a personal journey, My Childhood, My Country is an powerful examination of what has – and has not – been achieved in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan (2007)

Near-silent and shot via a cell phone, a war veteran observes the world which has been colored by his experiences in Afghanistan.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Taxi to the Dark Side (2008)

An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

The Forbidden Reel (2020)

According to the official history of Afghanistan, ruthless destruction has always prevailed over art and creation; but there is another tale to be told, the forgotten account of a diverse and progressive country, seen through the lens of innovative filmmakers, a story that survives thanks to a few brave Afghans, a small but very passionate group that secretly fought to save a huge film archive that was constantly menaced by war and religious fanaticism.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Amir: An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshawar, Pakistan (1985)

Amir, shot during the height of the Afghan civil war in the 1980s, investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan refugees are expressed through their political songs dealing with the civil war in Afghanistan, with exile, with Afghan nationalism and with the Islamic revolution. In highly charged and tragic circumstances, music can be used in very direct ways, both to promote solidarity and as an agent of catharsis.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Courbes (2015)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Ratamata (1970)

A portrait of the diverse opinions of Chicagoans as they reflect on the general state of affairs in America, the war in Vietnam, social and racial conflict, freedom and personal liberty, happiness, and social justice. Ratamata was made by future Tom Palazzolo collaborator Kreines when he was 16 years old, and was an award winner at the Young Chicago Filmmakers Festival.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

La Trifulca I. Five Billion Dollar. A Trilogy (2019)

An exodus of migrants settled in Tijuana and they hope to cross each day regardless of the consequences, the children tell us what they see, want and what they are willing to pay.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

One Dollar a Day (2016)

Poetry is everywhere, even in the refugee camps where absolute misery reigns. In front of old plastic advertising posters on which are drawn in giant format the big icons of luxury and consumerism that make up their shelters, refugee children stand like kings. Symbols of life at the heart of war, fragility, and death, these children are shown by Jocelyne Saab as precious notes of hope in the heart of a dehumanized world. One Dollar a Day was filmed in the Syrian refugee camps of the Bekaa plain, Lebanon in 2015, with text by Etel Adnan.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary