Movies like Ones Left Behind (2025)
The best movies like Ones Left Behind (2025) are Einstein and the Bomb (2024), Life in a Day (2011) and All That Breathes (2022). If Ones Left Behind hooked you with its documentary and drama, these 30 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
- NewestRedwood Diaries (2026)Released 2026
Einstein and the Bomb (2024)
What happened after Einstein fled Nazi Germany? Using archival footage and his own words, this docudrama dives into the mind of a tortured genius.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Day (2011)
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll That Breathes (2022)
Against the darkening backdrop of New Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
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 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 thisFather 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
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 thisGod Grew Tired of Us (2006)
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
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 thisSalinger (2013)
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
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 this42 Up (1999)
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 this9/11 (2002)
An on-the-scene documentary following the events of September 11, 2001 from an insider's view, through the lens of two French filmmakers who simply set out to make a movie about a rookie NYC fireman and ended up filming the tragic event that changed our lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThey 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
Worth the HypeMovies like this20 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
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 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 thisThe Choice: Illegal Dumping (TBA)
The issue of illegal dumping is tackled by a group of Irish students, exposing the motives, behaviors and consequences of dumping around their local town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & documentary
Redwood Diaries (2026)
When strange entries begin appearing in her diary written in handwriting that isn't hers, new student Evie Quinn is pulled into a chilling mystery as the messages reveal secrets, predict impossible events, and point toward a truth someone has desperately tried to bury.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tunes of Glory (1960)
Following World War II in peacetime Scotland, brigade headquarters replaces commanding officer Major Jock Sinclair, a boisterous battalion leader, with the strict, temperamental Lieutenant Colonel Basil Barrow. Resentful toward his replacement, Sinclair undermines Barrow's authority and damages his successor's reputation among the soldiers. Barrow faces an uphill battle in regaining the discipline and respect of his battalion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGipsy Queen (2019)
Disowned by her Romani community for having a child out of wedlock, a former boxing prodigy returns to the ring to build a new life for her children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know (2020)
Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Horizon Telescope links observatories across the world to simulate an earth-sized instrument. With this tool the team pursues the first-ever picture of a black hole, resulting in an image seen by billions of people in April 2019. Meanwhile, Hawking and his team attack the black hole paradox at the heart of theoretical physics—Do predictive laws still function, even in these massive distortions of space and time? Weaving them together is a third strand, philosophical and exploratory using expressive animation. “Edge” is about practicing science at the highest level, a film where observation, theory, and philosophy combine to grasp these most mysterious objects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvisible - Revealing Hidden Disabilities (2026)
A short documentary that brings light to the experiences of those who live with hidden disabilities. Through eight heartfelt interviews, participants share their struggles, strengths, and realities of their everyday lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)
Undiagnosed, untreated and generally untethered schizophrenic Julien lives with his pregnant younger sister, anorexic aspiring wrestler brother, sympathetic grandmother, and severely depressed and abusive German father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBehind the Scenes: I've Been Here Alone (2023)
Hasan (33), who works as a sales manager in a construction company, and his wife Farida (30) have not been able to have children for a long time. After a doctor's examination, Hasan learns that he is infertile. But Hasan, who is afraid of harming his masculinity, hides this information from his wife. At the insistence of Hasan's mother, who thinks that the problem is in Sevda, they go to a midwife who lives in a village for treatment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hard Paint (2019)
Pedro earns a living in chat rooms. He transforms himself into NeonBoy in front of the webcam. Slowly, this young man dips his fingers into pots of coloured paint and glides them across his naked body. But things change when Pedro notices that somebody is imitating his performances. He agrees to go on a date with his mysterious rival. This rendezvous will have far-reaching consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mother's Day (2021)
Jordon (Michael Charles Wagner) reconnects with mother Wendy (Lisa Ludwig), in the midst of a mental health crisis, over the course of an afternoon in Travis Carlson’s innovative, award-winning Western New York-lensed feature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Ones Left Behind and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ones Left Behind?
The closest matches to Ones Left Behind are Einstein and the Bomb (2024), Life in a Day (2011) and All That Breathes (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ones Left Behind?
Start with Einstein and the Bomb (2024), the closest match to Ones Left Behind.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ones Left Behind?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ones Left Behind?
Redwood Diaries (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ones Left Behind?
Yes: Einstein and the Bomb (2024), Life in a Day (2011) and All That Breathes (2022).
How are movies similar to Ones Left Behind chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ones Left Behind, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.