Movies like Xẩm (1998)
The best movies like Xẩm (1998) are John Candy: I Like Me (2025), S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026) and Gilbert (2017). If Xẩm hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am Heath Ledger (2017)7.4/10 from 233 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 thisVoyeur (2017)
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisHarmontown (2014)
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisBruce Lee, the Legend (1984)
The Official Golden Harvest tribute to the Master of the Martial Arts Film, Bruce Lee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDavid Bowie: Five Years (2013)
Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive, this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved: from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the ‘Thin White Duke’. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let’s Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, David Bowie - Five Years presents a unique account of why Bowie has become an ‘icon of our times’.
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 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 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 thisHarry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013)
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Heath Ledger (2017)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
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 thisPackage Tour (1985)
A documentary which follows a coach party of former inmates on a trip to Auschwitz.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
A Balada do Sr. Watson (2017)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
No Friends But the Mountains (2017)
Will the Kurdish dream of independence and freedom ever become reality?With the rise of ISIS and the central role played by the Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against them, the question of Kurdish independence has taken on greater urgency. To answer this pressing question, Kurdish author Kae Bahar travels from his London home to his rocky and mountainous homeland, finding a complex mix of Kurdish nationalism and internal division. ‘War or Peace?’ Bahar asks. The answer is not so simple.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Festejo Muito Pessoal (2017)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Antonese (2021)
Antonese Anthon, who was born and lives in The Bahamas, embarks on a transformational journey into her past and into the water.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Lovely Letters (2015)
Lovely Letters is an intimate documentary portrait away from the big cities. From a school in a small rural village, three couples of children experience for the first time the adventures and misadventures of love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Everyday Heroes: Real Stories from Real Firefighters (2005)
A short documentary about Baltimore firefighters made for the home video release of 'Ladder 49'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Free Jazz Vein (2017)
Free Jazz Vein is an experimental surf film shot on super 16mm film. In his latest work, Argentinian-born and US-based artist, Tin Ojeda, pursues his ongoing fascination with a vintage, 1970s filmmaking style inspired by period jazz album covers and movie posters. Shot in the USA, Central America, Australia, and Indonesia, the film celebrates surfing exploits while keeping an eye on the darker side of things. Ojeda, who shot and edited the film himself, revels in spectacular scenes of sunsets on the beach, sunlight glinting on foam, and heart-stopping shots of the chiseled bodies of pro surfers gliding through the waves. At the same time, he provides glimpses into the poverty that exists next to the glorious beaches, and hints at political violence simmering just under the surface. Super 16mm film, with its grainy texture, lens flares, and painterly depth of field, lends the film a nostalgic feel, while off-screen dialog and statements keep it in the 'here and now'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Rock 'n' Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sidemen (2017)
Film shining a spotlight on the untold story of The Sidemen, the musicians behind some of the greatest artists of all time. The Sidemen are the forgotten 'guns for hire' that changed musical history. Featuring interviews with Mick Jagger, Billy Joel and Keith Richards, this film takes viewers from the 1960s to today, via global stars such as Prince, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Beyoncé.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
... dann leben sie noch heute - Die Kinder von Golzow (2008)
The unemployed businesswoman Elke in Golzow, the geriatric nurse Karin in Wuppertal, the first teacher of the class, Marlies Teike, and Gudrun, the former mayor of Genschmar, as well as their father, the long-time LPG chairman of Golzow. In the fourth part of the irrevocably last film about the children of Golzow: the agricultural machine fitters Bernhard and Eckhard and Dr. Manfred Großkopf, managing director of the Landwirtschafts-GmbH Golzow, which emerged from the LPG. His epilogue recalls once again a reunion of some of the former pupils at the kindergarten's Buddelkasten on the eve of the 1st anniversary of German reunification. Accompanied by a song from the Golzow school, which wants to call itself "School of the Children of Golzow" in the future, the camera leaves the village and reaches the Oder River with aerial shots, which flows through the wide plain of the fracture towards the sea.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Xẩm?
The closest matches to Xẩm are John Candy: I Like Me (2025), S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026) and Gilbert (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Xẩm?
Start with John Candy: I Like Me (2025), the closest match to Xẩm.
What is the highest-rated movie like Xẩm?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Xẩm?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Xẩm chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Xẩm, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.