Movies like The Gift of Pain (2025)
The best movies like The Gift of Pain (2025) are In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020), Night Will Fall (2014) and H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004). If The Gift of Pain hooked you with its horror and documentary, these 20 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
- NewestIn Search of Darkness: Part II (2020)Released 2020
In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020)
The ultimate ‘80s Horror retrospective just got BIGGER. In Search of Darkness: Part II is a four-hour-plus sequel to the Rondo Hatton-nominated In Search of Darkness, adding 15 new interviewees and 40+ returning favorites for the biggest and most comprehensive ‘80s Horror documentary cast ever assembled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNight Will Fall (2014)
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisH.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004)
Torture chambers, acid vats, greased chutes and gassing rooms were just some of the devices of death designed by the Torture Doctor, H.H. Holmes in his castle of horrors. Follows Holmes' entire life as a criminal mastermind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHated: GG Allin and The Murder Junkies (1993)
An overview of the life of the most shocking, vile, and notorious of punk rock legends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatangi / Maya / M.I.A. (2018)
Drawn from a never before seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisWe Live in Public (2009)
In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to Chechnya (2020)
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (2017)
The courtroom and publicity battles between the superstar wrestler and the notorious website explode in a sensational trial all about the limits of the First Amendment and the new no holds barred nature of celebrity life in an internet dominated society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZero Days (2016)
Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFacing Ali (2009)
Ten of Muhammad Ali's former rivals pay tribute to the three-time world heavyweight champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisclosure (2020)
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside Deep Throat (2005)
In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeneration Wealth (2018)
Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield's documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Child Nation (2019)
Through interviews with both victims and instigators, Nanfu Wang, a first-time mother, breaks open decades of silence on a vast, unprecedented social experiment that shaped — and destroyed — countless lives in China.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelushi (2020)
Using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi’s death, director R.J. Cutler’s documentary feature examines the too-short life of the once-in-a-generation talent who captured the hearts and funny bones of devoted audiences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRobin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Gift of Pain?
The closest matches to The Gift of Pain are In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020), Night Will Fall (2014) and H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Gift of Pain?
Start with In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020), the closest match to The Gift of Pain.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Gift of Pain?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Gift of Pain?
In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Gift of Pain?
Yes: In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020), Night Will Fall (2014) and H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004).
How are movies similar to The Gift of Pain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Gift of Pain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.