Movies like “What for?” (2023)
The best movies like “What for?” (2023) are 20 Days in Mariupol (2023), For Sama (2019) and 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025). If “What for?” hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
“What for?”
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- Newest2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025)Released 2025
20 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
Absolute CinemaMovies 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
Absolute CinemaMovies like this2000 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
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCivil War (2024)
In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurve (2016)
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost Recon: Alpha (2012)
Ghost Recon: Alpha sees a team led by Ghost Leader infiltrate a trade at a Russian depot between a general and a mysterious other figure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFifty Shades of Grey (2015)
When college senior Anastasia Steele steps in for her sick roommate to interview prominent businessman Christian Grey for their campus paper, little does she realize the path her life will take. Christian, as enigmatic as he is rich and powerful, finds himself strangely drawn to Ana, and she to him. Though sexually inexperienced, Ana plunges headlong into an affair -- and learns that Christian's true sexual proclivities push the boundaries of pain and pleasure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisChernobyl: Abyss (2021)
The aftermath of a shocking explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station made hundreds of people sacrifice their lives to clean up the site of the catastrophe and to successfully prevent an even bigger disaster that could have turned a large part of the European continent into an uninhabitable exclusion zone. This is their story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTom Clancy's Without Remorse (2021)
An elite Navy SEAL uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKalashnikov AK-47 (2020)
A Russian military propaganda film about the tank commander Kalashnikov, severely injured in battle in 1941. The accident leaves him incapacitated and unable to return to the front line. While recovering in the hospital, he begins creating the initial sketches of what will become one of the world’s most legendary weapons. A self-taught inventor is only 29 when he develops the now iconic assault riffle — the AK-47. Shot in occupied Crimea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Best in Hell (2022)
Movie about units of the "whites" (PMC "Wagner") who perform an assault operation to capture buildings. They are opposed by the "yellow" units, which have dug in these buildings and are also ready to fight to the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMission «Sky» (2021)
In the center of the story are three main characters - Lieutenant Colonel Soshnikov, Captain Muravyov and Major Zakharov. Three ages, three different characters, three different destinies, which are destined to meet at the Khmeimim military base.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Infernal Machine (2022)
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Shot (2021)
An elite squad of Navy SEALs, on a covert mission to transport a prisoner off a CIA black site island prison, are trapped when insurgents attack while trying to rescue the same prisoner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blackout (2019)
Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from space. What military forces find outside the ring is shocking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRakka (2017)
A story of broken humanity following the invasion of a technologically superior alien species. Bleak, harrowing, and unrelenting, the humans must find enough courage to go on fighting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Conquest of Siberia (2019)
Ivan Demarin, a young officer of Peter the First’s new guards, follows the Tsar’s order and goes to the frontier town of Tobolsk, deep in the Siberian forest. There Ivan falls in love for the first time and he and his regiment happen to be involved in conspiracy of local princes who hunt for gold in the town of Yarkand. His fort is surrounded by hordes of wild Dzungars and there is no one to call for help…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Scorpion (1988)
A Soviet commando is sent to eliminate a rebel leader in Africa. Soon he finds himself doubting his mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoyagers (2021)
With the future of the human race at stake, a group of young men and women -- bred for intelligence and obedience -- embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet. When they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they soon become consumed by fear, lust and an insatiable hunger for power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlatoon (1986)
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like “What for?”?
The closest matches to “What for?” are 20 Days in Mariupol (2023), For Sama (2019) and 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after “What for?”?
Start with 20 Days in Mariupol (2023), the closest match to “What for?”.
What is the highest-rated movie like “What for?”?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like “What for?”?
2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to “What for?” chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside “What for?”, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.