Movies like Alien Lifeforms (2023)
The best movies like Alien Lifeforms (2023) are Elstree 1976 (2015), The Captains (2011) and In the Realms of the Unreal (2004). If Alien Lifeforms hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Elstree 1976 (2015)
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Captains (2011)
The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.
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 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 thisThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026)
A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity, and explores the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what's at stake if we get it wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBillie 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
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisEvil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrips and Bloods: Made in America (2009)
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
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 thisDrew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)
A documentary on legendary movie-poster artist Drew Struzan.
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 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 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 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 thisAvatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010)
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
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 thisHarmontown (2014)
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of the Dragon (1993)
A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe UFO Battle of Los Angeles (2023)
On the night of February 24-25, 1942, amid terror and neurosis caused by the terrible Pearl Harbor attack only two months earlier, a huge flying object of unknown origin appears in the sky over Los Angeles. The military reacts by imposing a total blackout in the area and firing more than 1440 artillery rounds. However, despite the firepower, no object was shot down. We will try to understand what actually happened and who or what flew over the skies of Los Angeles that night of February 24, 1942.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Alien Mind Control: The UFO Enigma (2015)
This fascinating documentary offers an unprecedented look at a group of individuals who claim to have had life altering UFO encounters, and discovers the unique psychic abilities they unknowingly share. From unexplained sightings and alien contact, to prophetic dreams, clairvoyance and astral projection, we explore the phenomena that has surrounded these "experiencers" from childhood to their adult years. This documentary explores the theories of who and what the "visitors" really are, and uncovers a plausible scenario for their intentions, as well as the government's involvement in suppressing this information from the public. Perhaps the greatest revelation is the shocking possibility that the alien visitor's greatest acquisition will be achieved, not from probing our bodies, but rather by invading our minds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Alien Awakening: The UFO Reality Unveiled (TBA)
A shocking series of bombshell revelations about UFOs have taken the topic out of the fringe and into the mainstream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Wild Blue Yonder (2005)
An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoty (2024)
Richard Doty is a former Air Force Intelligence operative whose job at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico involved creating and disseminating disinformation about the existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft to UFO researchers. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kirtland AFB was home to a wide range of highly classified technology experiments involving lasers, stealth aircraft, and nuclear weapons. Strange phenomena in the skies above the base piqued the interest of amateur and professional UFO investigators. Doty’s job was to recruit UFO researchers to be informants to the Air Force about goings-on in the UFO community and to spread military disinformation about UFOs among their peers. To accomplish this, Doty supplied fake documents to UFO investigators purporting to tell the “truth” about government involvement with extraterrestrials.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Aztec 1948: UFO Crash (2005)
On March 25, 1948 a UFO spacecraft of extraterrestrial origin crashed in a place called Aztec, New Mexico. Sixteen alien bodies were discovered dead inside. The alien bodies and all evidence of their spacecraft were soon transported by government officials to Wright Patterson Air force Base where all traces of this event disappeared in secrecy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
World War A: Aliens Invade Earth (2016)
Leading scientists and researchers weigh in on the scenarios that might unfold if aliens find us and decide to visit Earth. Should we even be searching for extraterrestrial life? What are the risks of reaching out, and what are the risks if the Earth is "found" by aliens?.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1991)
Baldwin’s “pseudo-pseudo-documentary” presents a factual chronicle of US intervention in Latin America in the form of the ultimate conspiracy theory, combining covert action, environmental catastrophe, space aliens, cattle mutilations, killer bees, religious prophecy, doomsday diatribes, and just about every other crackpot theory broadcast through the dentures of the modern paranoiac.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Area 51: The Alien Interview (1997)
A documentary about aliens and UFOs with re-enactments of alien interviews and video of a supposedly real video of an alien being interviewed by government officials.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Hidden Hand: Alien Contact and the Government Cover-up (2013)
The Hidden Hand is a controversial Award-winning documentary that explores the possibility of an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth. The film takes a keen look at a spectrum of topics like alien abduction, human/alien hybridization, the military's reverse-engineering of alien technology and the government cover-up of anything related to extraterrestrials. Is preoccupation with E.T.'s a form of cultural madness, or is something really going on? How would E.T. contact change the religious and political institutions of our society? The Hidden Hand is full of riveting interviews with experts and experiencers alike: Whitley Strieber, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the 6th astronaut on the moon, Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian Defence Minister, Richard Dolan, Jim Marrs, Linda Moulton Howe, Col. John Alexander, Lyn Buchanan, Clifford Stone, Nassim Haramein, David Icke, Dr. Roger Leir, Graham Hancock and Paola Harris, among others. The shadowy world of UFOs is suddenly brought to light.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Alien Lifeforms?
The closest matches to Alien Lifeforms are Elstree 1976 (2015), The Captains (2011) and In the Realms of the Unreal (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Alien Lifeforms?
Start with Elstree 1976 (2015), the closest match to Alien Lifeforms.
What is the newest movie like Alien Lifeforms?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Alien Lifeforms?
Yes: Elstree 1976 (2015), The Captains (2011) and In the Realms of the Unreal (2004).
How are movies similar to Alien Lifeforms chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Alien Lifeforms, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.