Movies like Portraits in the Dark
The best movies like Portraits in the Dark are Visions of Light (1992), The Skywalker Legacy (2020) and The Director and the Jedi (2018). If Portraits in the Dark hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSide by Side (2012)7.3/10 from 322 votes
- Newest300 ans des 4 saisons de Vivaldi (2025)Released 2025
Visions of Light (1992)
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Skywalker Legacy (2020)
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Director and the Jedi (2018)
An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisObi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022)
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisMaking Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack of the Hollywood Clichés! (2021)
One-man armies, meet-cutes, casual strolls away from huge explosions — stars and industry insiders toast and roast these cinematic chestnuts and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaking 'The Shining' (1980)
Directed and edited by Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivian Kubrick, this film offers a look behind the scenes during the making of The Shining.
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 thisSide by Side (2012)
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoom 237 (2012)
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
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 thisThe Making of Star Wars (1977)
Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2 which includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
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 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 thisThe Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009)
A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am Ali (2014)
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 this300 ans des 4 saisons de Vivaldi (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Red Desert Nights: Making Ghosts of Mars (2001)
Documentary about the making of John Carpenter's sci-fi horror movie, "Ghosts of Mars." Produced for the "Ghosts of Mars" DVD.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L'énigme Céline Dion (2022)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Twiggy (2025)
Twiggy takes a comprehensive look at the life story of UK model and cultural icon Twiggy, real name Lesley Lawson, whose career kickstarted in the 1960s. It features interviews with Twiggy and her husband Leigh Lawson, as well as commentary from Erin O’Connor, Paul McCartney, Lulu, Poppy Delavigne, Brooke Shields, Pattie Boyd and Zandra Rhodes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Deck Sports in the Celebes Sea (1920)
1920 travelogue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
ODS - Construindo um Futuro Melhor (2013)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Rendez-vous de l'espérance (1950)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Nadia Comăneci: The Gymnast and the Dictator (2016)
A documentary portrait of legendary Perfect Ten gymnast Nadia Comaneci after becoming an icon in the 1976 Olympics, during her Romanian period, and her challenging years under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Horizon Guide to Mars (2009)
Drawing on 45 years of Horizon archive, Dr Kevin Fong presents a documentary showing how the intriguing possibility of life on Mars has fuelled man's quest to visit the Red Planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Pirate Mentality (2016)
After a great year for grime, MC Frisco and Risky Roadz go back to its pirate radio roots. - How Pirates Made Grime. Taking grime back from global phenomenon to its pirate radio roots.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like Portraits in the Dark and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Portraits in the Dark?
The closest matches to Portraits in the Dark are Visions of Light (1992), The Skywalker Legacy (2020) and The Director and the Jedi (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Portraits in the Dark?
Start with Visions of Light (1992), the closest match to Portraits in the Dark.
What is the highest-rated movie like Portraits in the Dark?
Side by Side (2012), rated 7.3/10 by 322 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Portraits in the Dark?
300 ans des 4 saisons de Vivaldi (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Portraits in the Dark chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Portraits in the Dark, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.