Movies like Then and Now: 1981-2004 (2004)
The best movies like Then and Now: 1981-2004 (2004) are How to Survive a Plague (2012), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) and Howard (2018). If Then and Now: 1981-2004 hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedParis Is Burning (1991)8.0/10 from 579 votes
- NewestLes Glucksmann, une histoire de famille (2026)Released 2026
How to Survive a Plague (2012)
A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoward (2018)
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisclosure (2020)
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to Chechnya (2020)
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Repair Shop (2024)
In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 thisParis Is Burning (1991)
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Irishman: In Conversation (2019)
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 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 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 thisI Am Heath Ledger (2017)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Godfather Family: A Look Inside (1990)
A documentary on the making of the three Godfather films, with interviews and recollections from the film makers and cast. This feature also includes the original screen tests of some of the actors for "The Godfather" film, and some candid moments on the set of "The Godfather: Part III."
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 thisGaming in Color (2014)
This feature length documentary explores the queer side of gaming culture and the game industry's LGBTQ presence. The GaymerX convention that took place in 2013 was a huge step forward for the queer geek community being recognized on a worldwide industry scale. In the same year, more popular mainstream and indie games featured a greater amount of gay and lesbian characters than ever before, helping with visibility and acceptance. The video games universe will only continue to improve and diversify both in its community and industry if we elevate the conversation about inclusion and respecting one another - not in spite of our gay geekiness, but because of it!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Butch Jamie (2008)
The film follows the story of Jamie, a struggling butch lesbian actress who gets cast as a man in a film. The main plot is a romantic comedy between Jamie's male alter-ego, "Male Jamie," and Jill, a heterosexual woman on set. The film's subplots include Jamie's bisexual roommate Lola and her cat actor Howard, Lola's abrasive butch German girlfriend Andi, and Jamie's gay Asian friend David.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution (2017)
A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Les Glucksmann, une histoire de famille (2026)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Abu (2017)
As a gay man, filmmaker Arshad Khan examines his troubled relationship with his devout, Muslim father Abu. Using family archives and movies, Khan explores his struggle with his identity and compares it to his parents attempts to fit into Canada.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
I Am FEMEN (2014)
Oxana is a woman, a fighter, an artist. As a teenager, her passion for iconography almost inspires her to join a convent, but in the end she decides to devote her talents to the Femen movement. With Anna, Inna and Sasha, she founds the famous feminist group which protests against the regime and which will see her leave her homeland, Ukraine, and travel all over Europe. Driven by a creative zeal and a desire to change the world, Oxana allows us a glimpse into her world and her personality, which is as unassuming, mesmerising and vibrant as her passionate artworks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Paris Is Voguing (2016)
Born in Harlem between the '70s and' 80s, Voguing is a dance inspired by the models that appeared on Vogue magazine. At the time of its birth, young homosexuals, transgender and drag queen were Afro-American and Latino and they would confront themselves in improvised parades, to which Madonna and other popular singer-songwriters would later refer to. In the Paris of the years 2000s, Lasseindra Ninja is one of the most popular dancers, having learned in her youth all the tricks from the historic New York House of Ninja crew. Together with Stéphane Mizrahi the two initiate a new generation of drag queen and Parisian trans into Voguing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Angry Years (2002)
1970 marked the start of a bombing campaign by British urban guerrilla revolutionaries The Angry Brigade. Their targets, a bizarre mix, included the Miss World contest, Ford’s motor factory, the home of a conservative cabinet minister and the Biba department store. Following a two year hunt by the newly formed Special Branch, eight suspects were arrested, and following the longest trial in British criminal history, four young graduates were convicted of the bombings. The Angry Years tells the little known story of the Angry Brigade - contributors include Jake Prescott, ex Angry Brigade member, the journalist Paul Foot and the Special Branch detective credited with tracking the Angry Brigade down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
You Don't Know Dick: Courageous Hearts of Transsexual Men (1997)
This compelling and thought-provoking documentary provides riveting portraits of a diverse group of six men who once were women and chose to change their gender. The award-winning film is an unforgettable story of self-discovery and challenges all of us to re-examine the foundations of our ideas and feelings about gender, sexuality, and identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Tailor (2017)
Tailor is a transgender cartoonist that shares in his web page other trans people’s experiences and their challenges in society. Film about transgender, made by transgender crew.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Then and Now: 1981-2004?
The closest matches to Then and Now: 1981-2004 are How to Survive a Plague (2012), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) and Howard (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Then and Now: 1981-2004?
Start with How to Survive a Plague (2012), the closest match to Then and Now: 1981-2004.
What is the highest-rated movie like Then and Now: 1981-2004?
Paris Is Burning (1991), rated 8.0/10 by 579 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Then and Now: 1981-2004?
Les Glucksmann, une histoire de famille (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Then and Now: 1981-2004?
Yes: How to Survive a Plague (2012), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) and Howard (2018).
How are movies similar to Then and Now: 1981-2004 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Then and Now: 1981-2004, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.