Movies like The Cancer Detectives (2024)
The best movies like The Cancer Detectives (2024) are Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and Downloaded (2013). If The Cancer Detectives 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
Avatar: 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 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 thisDownloaded (2013)
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Will Fall (2014)
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbrace the Panda: Making Turning Red (2022)
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
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 thisAbove Majestic (2018)
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
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 thisS4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJoker: Put on a Happy Face (2020)
Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why The Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic-book supervillain of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
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 thisExtremis (2016)
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends (2019)
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStruggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018)
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
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 thisCaparrós. Las botas del entrenador (2024)
Year 2021. Veteran coach Joaquín Caparrós leads the Armenian National Football Team. 5,000 km away from his native Utrera and in just one year, he has become a hero for a country at war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Those Who Wrestle With God (2024)
A Canadian couple reflect on how their painful journey in fundamentalism led to them rescuing their faith & relationship. Along the way, they uncover a supportive community that helps them navigate their journey of rediscovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Written Off: America's Failure to Educate Dyslexic Children (2020)
One out of every five children in the United States has dyslexia, and are not capable of learning inside the public education system. These are smart kids, talented kids, and they possess a whole set of abilities that non-dyslexics don't have, but they are being left behind and made to feel inferior because the public education system only supports the 80% of non-dyslexics in their student population. Parents with kids who have dyslexia feel frustrated that their child is being left behind and that their pleas for help go unanswered. They go to extraordinary measures to get their child the help they need, but too often those measures are out of reach for many families.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know (2020)
Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Horizon Telescope links observatories across the world to simulate an earth-sized instrument. With this tool the team pursues the first-ever picture of a black hole, resulting in an image seen by billions of people in April 2019. Meanwhile, Hawking and his team attack the black hole paradox at the heart of theoretical physics—Do predictive laws still function, even in these massive distortions of space and time? Weaving them together is a third strand, philosophical and exploratory using expressive animation. “Edge” is about practicing science at the highest level, a film where observation, theory, and philosophy combine to grasp these most mysterious objects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelo Horizonte (1946)
A film about the planned city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Remembering Gene Wilder (2024)
This loving tribute to Gene Wilder celebrates his life and legacy as the comic genius behind an extraordinary string of film roles, from his first collaboration with Mel Brooks in 'The Producers', to the enigmatic title role in the original 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', to his inspired on-screen partnership with Richard Pryor in movies like 'Silver Streak'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Profit, Pollution and Deception - BP and the Oil Spill (2013)
The Deepwater Horizon was known as one of the safest drilling rigs but events involving an exploration well 5,600 metres underwater led to an explosion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back (2019)
Maurice Hines -- actor, director, singer, and choreographer -- navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Figure It Out: on the Hayduke Trail (TBA)
Documentary about Alex Maier's experience through-hiking the Hayduke Trail, an 800-mile route across Utah and Arizona.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Going to Hell (2019)
A documentary film exposing the truth about psychics and fortune-tellers. All the ins and outs of magical TV shows and services of the most famous psychics with evidence, names and prices.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cancer Detectives?
The closest matches to The Cancer Detectives are Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and Downloaded (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cancer Detectives?
Start with Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022), the closest match to The Cancer Detectives.
What is the newest movie like The Cancer Detectives?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Cancer Detectives?
Yes: Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and Downloaded (2013).
How are movies similar to The Cancer Detectives chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cancer Detectives, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.