Movies like Ruiz (2023)
The best movies like Ruiz (2023) are The Bloody Hundredth (2024), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) and Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025). If Ruiz hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFinding Vivian Maier (2014)7.6/10 from 342 votes
- NewestCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)Released 2025
The Bloody Hundredth (2024)
Meet the real-life airmen who inspired Masters of the Air as they share the harrowing and transformative events of the 100th Bomb Group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAir Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025)
The elite pilots of the Air Force Thunderbirds display exceptional skill, trust and courage during a high-stakes training season.
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 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 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 thisThere's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011)
Filmmaker Liz Garbus investigates the mysterious tragedy of Diane Schuler in an effort to understand what went wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
The special focuses on how Star Wars is relevant today and the history that inspired it, and also makes various connections to Greek mythology. It consists of several interviews with well-known politicians, journalists, and critics, along with historical content and clips from all six of the Star Wars movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Love Song for Latasha (2019)
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Kill a Tiger (2023)
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod Grew Tired of Us (2006)
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDownfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022)
Investigators reveal how Boeing’s alleged priority of profit over safety could have contributed to two catastrophic crashes within months of each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (2025)
Featuring exclusive interviews with survivors, paramedics and festival staff, this documentary examines the 2021 Astroworld tragedy and its aftermath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Vivian Maier (2014)
Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGilbert (2017)
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Beautiful Broken Brain (2014)
A profoundly personal voyage into the complexity, fragility and wonder of the human brain, after Lotje Sodderland miraculously survives a hemorrhagic stroke and finds herself starting again in an alien world, bereft of language and logic. This feature documentary takes us on a genre-twisting tale that is by turns excruciating and exquisite - from the devastating consequences of a first-time neurological experiment, through to the extraordinary revelations of her altered sensory perception.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2014)
Darwin meets Hitchcock in this documentary. Directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have created a parable about the search for paradise, set in the brutal yet alluring landscape of the Galapagos Islands, which interweaves an unsolved 1930s murder mystery with stories of present day Galapagos pioneers. A gripping tale of idealistic dreams gone awry, featuring voice-over performances by Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, and Gustaf Skarsgard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather Soldier Son (2020)
When Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch is critically wounded in Afghanistan, it sets him and his sons on a journey of love, loss, redemption and legacy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fence (2020)
Two thousand Canadians suffered the longest incarceration anywhere in the Second World War, a bitter four-year period inside Japanese POW camps in Hong Kong and Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
I'll Never Forget You: The Last 72 Hours of Lynyrd Skynyrd (2019)
Survivors firsthand accounts of the wild times, the 72 hours leading to the crash, the crash itself & its aftermath.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Last Season (2014)
In search of the lucrative matsutake mushroom, two former soldiers discover the means to gradually heal their wounds of war. Roger, a self-described 'fall-down drunk' and sniper in Vietnam, and Kouy, a Cambodian refugee who fought the Khmer Rouge, bonded in the bustling tent-city known as Mushroom Camp, which pops up each autumn in the Oregon woods. Their friendship became an adoptive family; according to a Cambodian custom, if you lose your family like Kouy, you must rebuilt it anew. Now, however, this new family could be lost. Roger's health is declining and trauma flashbacks rack his mind; Kouy gently aids his family before the snow falls and the hunting season ends, signaling his time to leave.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Dream Touch Believe (2025)
Dream Touch Believe is an award-winning, critically acclaimed feature documentary that follows the inspiring story of Santa Clara Pueblo sculptor Michael Naranjo. As a young man Naranjo lost his eyesight in the Vietnam War, but not his vision. He fought past critics and a war injury to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming an acclaimed artist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrothers After War (2025)
Jake Rademacher reconnects with his brothers and soldiers he embedded with in Iraq. He creates a unique “then and now” journey into the toll of war and a never before seen look at war fighters and the veterans they become.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
World Trade Center: Anatomy of the Collapse (2002)
Originally produced for The Learning Channel, this documentary aims to dissect the events surrounding the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, addressing many of the questions that still continue to haunt the public. Through CGI graphics, interviews with witnesses and discussions with those who designed and engineered the buildings, this program examines the horrific incident in full detail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cree Code Talker (2016)
CREE CODE TALKER reveals the role of Canadian Cree code talker Charles 'Checker' Tomkins during the Second World War. Digging deep into the US archives it depicts the true story of Charles' involvement with the US Air Force and the development of the code talkers communication system, which was used to transmit crucial military communications, using the Cree language as a vital secret weapon in combat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Concorde's Last Flight (2010)
Highly interesting documentary Concorde's Last Flight tells the story of this eventually ill fated super plane, which could fly from London to New York in three and a half hours and travelled at twice the speed of sound but it was it's final flight and the crash just outside Paris of Air France Flight AF4590 that ultimately sealed its fate. Ten years later the French Courts are still trying to discover just what happened and who, if anyone, was to blame.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Finding Amelia (2024)
In 1945, a group of Australian soldiers inadvertently stumbled across Amelia Earhart's downed airplane in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Now, a team of specialists will use the soldiers' exclusive testimony and an old patrol map to find the plane again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ruiz?
The closest matches to Ruiz are The Bloody Hundredth (2024), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) and Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ruiz?
Start with The Bloody Hundredth (2024), the closest match to Ruiz.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ruiz?
Finding Vivian Maier (2014), rated 7.6/10 by 342 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ruiz?
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ruiz?
Yes: The Bloody Hundredth (2024), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) and Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025).
How are movies similar to Ruiz chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ruiz, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.