Movies like Refuge(e) (2019)
The best movies like Refuge(e) (2019) are 13th (2016), Titicut Follies (1967) and God Grew Tired of Us (2006). If Refuge(e) hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestYou Can See Everything (2026)Released 2026
13th (2016)
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTiticut Follies (1967)
Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often kept in barren cells and infrequently bathed, forced to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and the indifference and bullying by many of the hospital's staff.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisTime (2020)
Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCameraperson (2016)
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaternal Instinct (2026)
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFuck (2006)
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisEarthlings (2005)
Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Walking Dead: The Return (2024)
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAudrey (2020)
An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeliver Us from Evil (2006)
Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlackfish (2013)
Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisYou Can See Everything (2026)
Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon becomes a mind-bending three-year journey into the abyss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this180° South (2010)
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
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 thisHearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Presence (1965)
Two old men enter an abandoned synagogue, look at the decay around them, and pray.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Presence II (1978)
An exploration of a decaying synagogue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Presence III (1986)
Two rabbis show the ruins of an abandoned synagogue to a group of primary school-age Jewish children, and stand by as the children dip bread in honey, drink wine, pray, and sing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Homage to Old Ladies (1971)
World wars pick their victims not only from those serving on the front line, women and mothers who have lost husbands and sons in battle also become victims. All that is left of loved ones are yellowing photographs, curling postcards from staging posts and crumbling graves – and a gaping loss shouldered over decades. Yet we rarely consider the grief of those who remained at home. This short by Zoltán Huszárik shares in this mourning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Beyond Right & Wrong: Stories of Justice and Forgiveness (2012)
A survivor of the Rwandan Genocide struggles to forgive the man who killed her children. A victim’s daughter strikes up an unusual friendship with the ex-IRA bomber who killed her father. And two men—one Israeli, one Palestinian—form a bond after tragedies claim their daughters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Staatsgewalt in Georgien - Wenn Wasser zur Waffe wird (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Sur les Gratte-Ciel de New York (2014)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Ice/Sea (2005)
Funny collage of sea, sun and ice. A show from the beach with skiers, tigers, mermaids and much more.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Refuge(e)?
The closest matches to Refuge(e) are 13th (2016), Titicut Follies (1967) and God Grew Tired of Us (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Refuge(e)?
Start with 13th (2016), the closest match to Refuge(e).
What is the highest-rated movie like Refuge(e)?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Refuge(e)?
You Can See Everything (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Refuge(e)?
Yes: 13th (2016), Titicut Follies (1967) and God Grew Tired of Us (2006).
How are movies similar to Refuge(e) chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Refuge(e), then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.