Movies like Discovering Heaven (2017)
The best movies like Discovering Heaven (2017) are Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022). If Discovering Heaven hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTouching the Void (2003)7.6/10 from 487 votes
- NewestShipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (2026)Released 2026
Air 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 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 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 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 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 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 thisDaybreak Express (1957)
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKurt Cobain: About a Son (2007)
An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public, and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deepest Breath (2023)
Bonded by their love of freediving, a record-setting champion and a heroic safety diver try to make history with a remarkable feat, ready to risk it all.
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 this14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.
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 thisDangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007)
The definitive 3½-hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic 'Blade Runner', culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElstree 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 thisInterstellar: Nolan's Odyssey (2014)
A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBukowski: Born Into This (2003)
Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski’s poetry readings are interviews with the poet’s fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski’s friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski’s life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski’s legendary status.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeepsea Challenge 3D (2014)
Described as being a film about determination, danger and the ocean’s greatest depths, James Cameron's "Deepsea Challenge 3D" tells the story of Cameron’s journey to fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming an explorer. The movie offers a unique insight into Cameron's world as he makes that dream reality – and makes history – by becoming the first person to travel solo to the deepest point on the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHitting the Apex (2015)
The inside story of six fighters – six of the fastest motorcycle racers of all time – and of the fates that awaited them at the peak of the sport. It's the story of what is at stake for all of them: all that can be won, and all that can be lost, when you go chasing glory at over two hundred miles an hour – on a motorcycle. But this documentary is also an opportunity to understand the passionate relationship that links the pilots, the technical teams and the legions of fans to the spirit of GP Moto.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (2026)
Never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts trace the 2012 shipwreck of a luxury cruise and the disaster that ensued, in this immersive documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTouching the Void (2003)
The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInto Great Silence (2005)
An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInto the Deep: The Submarine Murder Case (2020)
When journalist Kim Wall disappears after boarding inventor Peter Madsen's submarine, his changing story about her fate masks a terrifying truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebuilding Paradise (2020)
On November 8, 2018, a spark flew in the Sierra Nevada foothills, igniting the most destructive wildfire in California history and decimating the town of Paradise. Unfolding during the year after the fire, this is the story of the Paradise community as they begin to rebuild their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Truffle Hunters (2020)
In the secret forests of Northern Italy, a dwindling group of joyful old men and their faithful dogs search for the world’s most expensive ingredient, the white Alba truffle. Their stories form a real-life fairy tale that celebrates human passion in a fragile land that seems forgotten in time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisbbno$ Australia Tour Documentary (2026)
Documentary of bbno$’s concert tour through Australia and New Zealand
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Postmodernism: The Substance of Style (2011)
This film features some of the most important living Postmodern practitioners, Charles Jencks, Robert A M Stern and Sir Terry Farrell among them, and asks them how and why Postmodernism came about, and what it means to be Postmodern. This film was originally made for the V&A exhibition 'Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 - 1990'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Brokers (1987)
This film demystifies the complex but fascinating world of the investment business. We are given a privileged view of one of Canada's largest brokerage houses, McLeod, Young, Weir and Co. Ltd., and we also hear from some people who understand the complexities of the Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver stock exchanges. We are given a glimpse of a business that forms the basis for capitalism in North America, an instant barometer of the health of the economy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Ariane Moffatt, Petites mains précieuses en studio (2018)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Foster Family (2022)
Julia always said that her upbringing as a biological child in a foster family was a happy time. But something is wrong. In The Foster Family, we follow director Julia's journey back in time, where she, together with her parents Ewa and Lennart and the foster child Patrik, recollect the shocking events that changed their lives over thirty years ago. The children are at the center of this strong, touching and warm documentary about a system where you can love, but not too much.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Discovering Heaven?
The closest matches to Discovering Heaven are Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Discovering Heaven?
Start with Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), the closest match to Discovering Heaven.
What is the highest-rated movie like Discovering Heaven?
Touching the Void (2003), rated 7.6/10 by 487 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Discovering Heaven?
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Discovering Heaven?
Yes: Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022).
How are movies similar to Discovering Heaven chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Discovering Heaven, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.