Movies like While There's Still Time To Smile (2025)
The best movies like While There's Still Time To Smile (2025) are Dolphin Reef (2018), Nothing Like a Dame (2018) and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017). If While There's Still Time To Smile hooked you with its documentary and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBaraka (1992)8.2/10 from 735 votes
- Newestunbroken rhythms (2024)Released 2024
Dolphin Reef (2018)
Echo is a youngster who can't quite decide if it's time to grow up and take on new responsibilities-or give in to her silly side and just have fun. Dolphin society is tricky, and the coral reef that Echo and his family call home depends on all of its inhabitants to keep it healthy. But Echo has a tough time resisting the many adventures the ocean has to offer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing Like a Dame (2018)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
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 thisNaqoyqatsi (2002)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love Song for Latasha (2019)
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of a Dog (2015)
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrey Gardens (1976)
Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBurma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)
Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaraka (1992)
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBeyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear (2022)
Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnd of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003)
A years-in-the-making documentary on the legendary punk band the Ramones. Through a mixture of archival footage, archival and new interviews with all members of the band's various lineups, and new interviews with a number of their contemporaries, the film traces the peaks and valleys the band experienced over the course of its 20-plus year career before disbanding in 1995.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCapital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIris (2014)
IRIS pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris’ dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment.
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 thisThe Irishman: In Conversation (2019)
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBerlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)
A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOlympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty (1938)
Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeografía personal (TBA)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (1938)
Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAtlas (2022)
An atmospheric journey, following the unstoppable forces that shape this world. A story beyond humanity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
unbroken rhythms (2024)
a poem. trees. fragments of fritz. love—and nothing besides!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Vietnam Story (TBA)
A cinematic impression of Vietnam, told through the eyes of Vietnamese immigrants.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Retratação (2019)
Fernando Lemos, a Portuguese surrealist artist, fled from dictatorship to Brazil in 1952 searching for something better. The movie follows the last moments of his journey and the struggle for the preservation of his legacy, trying to fulfill his last great desire: to be a good dead man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
to boyhood, i never knew him (2022)
Archive footage from 2006 - 2010 of a young girl growing up during the ages of four to eight. Only fragments of what is remembered exists. Words from a transgender man float to the surface as fleeting memories go on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Nocturnal (2022)
A one minute short film showcasing the sights, sounds, and people that characterizes Singapore's nightlife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like While There's Still Time To Smile?
The closest matches to While There's Still Time To Smile are Dolphin Reef (2018), Nothing Like a Dame (2018) and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after While There's Still Time To Smile?
Start with Dolphin Reef (2018), the closest match to While There's Still Time To Smile.
What is the highest-rated movie like While There's Still Time To Smile?
Baraka (1992), rated 8.2/10 by 735 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like While There's Still Time To Smile?
unbroken rhythms (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to While There's Still Time To Smile chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside While There's Still Time To Smile, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.