Movies like 35 dni w Czarnobylu (2025)

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

For 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 & war

Virunga (2014)

Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa's oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park's borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Father 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 & war

City of Ghosts (2017)

With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

The War on Democracy (2007)

Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Korengal (2014)

Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Making The Witcher (2020)

Journey into the extraordinary world of "The Witcher" — from casting the roles to Jaskier's catchy song — in this behind-the-scenes look at the series.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The Battle of Midway (1942)

The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, in 2006.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

The Hornet's Nest (2014)

Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

Restrepo (2010)

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

Louis Theroux: Louis and the Nazis (2003)

Louis Theroux travels to California to meet the man dubbed "the most dangerous racist in America"; Tom Metzger. Louis meets him, his family and his publicity manager as well as following him to skinhead rallies and on a visit to Mexico.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)

Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé (2019)

This intimate, in-depth look at Beyoncé's celebrated 2018 Coachella performance reveals the emotional road from creative concept to cultural movement.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Hearts and Minds (1974)

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Style Wars (1984)

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

Investigating the infamous Abu Ghraib scandal, Errol Morris interviews American guards and Iraqi prisoners who were at the military jail before images of prisoner torture emerged in 2004. One female guard, who posed alongside fallen Iraqis in notorious images, tells Morris that her crimes were inspired by her love for another soldier, and another explains why she took photographs of her fellow troops. In the process, Morris suggests that the scandal resulted from systemic flaws in the military.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Louis Theroux: Savile (2016)

Sixteen years after his documentary When Louis Met Jimmy, Theroux seeks to understand how he was tricked by a man who became his friend.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth (2010)

Join Louis Theroux as he investigates the affect crystal meth addiction is having on the local community of Fresno in California's Central Valley.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Seeing Through the Darkness (2025)

The film follows five people who lost their sight in armed conflicts, gathering fragments of their present-day lives. Through an enveloping sound composition, veiled archival material, footage shot by the protagonists themselves, and a sensitive visual approach, the film explores memory, perception, and our relationship to the visible. Steering away from spectacle, it invites us to hear what often goes unheard, and to feel differently. In an age saturated with images, this documentary offers a sensory experience where listening becomes a gesture of resistance and human reconnection.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & war

Region of Heroes (2022)

Film reconstruction of five real stories about the heroic deeds of the residents of Kyiv region during the Russian occupation. A story about those who heroically and selflessly saved tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & documentary

Braveheart (1995)

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war

Long Echo (2020)

Dobropillia is a town located in Eastern Ukraine: 70 km from the border where conflicts with the breakaway republics are raging on and people feel always like being on the verge of total war. The sheer uncertainty about the future pushes folks to cling on to their daily habits while trying to get along with the ever-shifting political landscape. A wide array of wildly diversified characters try to cope as good as they can with the hardships in their town. A death metal band keeps rehearsing daily. A teacher guides visitors through the story of the city. The wonders of a vibrating armchair are tested as a tool against stress and anxiety. An elderly lady who has lost her son tries to talk some sense into her fellow citizens urging them to accept peace.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Voyage of the Chimera (2021)

A young, civilian aristocrat with no practical military experience must lead his bottom-dollar crew on a dangerous mission and overcome his youth, inexperience, and self doubt in this microbudget sci-fi drama.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war

Operation T4: A Doctor Among the Nazis (2016)

A reckoning of Nazi Germany’s planned execution of its own citizens with physical and mental disabilities whom they deemed useless to their society.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Où la lumière pleut (2014)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war

The Great Military March Forward: Liberate the Northwest (1996)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war

David (1997)

A distinguished military leader whose reign was touched by great scandal, shocking betrayals and rousing victories. A simple shepherd boy chosen to be king, under the watchful eyes of prophet Samuel.

Why it matches: Similar story and style