Movies like While I'm Away (2026)
The best movies like While I'm Away (2026) are Ryan (2004), Piece by Piece (2024) and Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021). If While I'm Away hooked you with its animation and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDavid Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)8.4/10 from 478 votes
- NewestPiece by Piece (2024)Released 2024
Ryan (2004)
Centres on Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who in later years lived on skid row in Montreal following a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiece by Piece (2024)
A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWho Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021)
Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
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 thisTen Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002)
Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOceans (2010)
An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndie Game: The Movie (2012)
Follows the dramatic journeys of video game developers as they create and release their games to the world. It's about making video games, but at its core, it's about the creative process, and exposing yourself through your work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShowbiz Kids (2020)
A documentary chronicling the shared experiences of prominent former child stars and the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApollo 11 (2019)
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOperation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
An examination that goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines and dives into the methods used by Rick Singer, the man at the center of the shocking 2019 college admissions scandal, to persuade his wealthy clients to cheat an educational system already designed to benefit the privileged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNanook of the North (1922)
This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this#AnneFrank. Parallel Stories (2019)
One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did but whose faces have remained in the shadows-Primo Levi. The Oscar®-winning Helen Mirren will introduce audiences to Anne Frank's story through the words in her diary. The set will be her room in the secret refuge in Amsterdam, reconstructed in every detail by set designers from the Piccolo Theatre in Milan. Anne Frank this year would have been 90 years old. Anne's story is intertwined with that of five Holocaust survivors, teenage girls just like her, with the same ideals, the same desire to live: Arianna Szörenyi, Sarah Lichtsztejn-Montard, Helga Weiss and sisters Andra and Tatiana Bucci. Their testimonies alternate with those of their children and grandchildren.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavid Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)
The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKilling Lincoln (2013)
April 14, 1865. One gunshot. One assassin hell-bent on killing a tyrant, as he charged the 16th President of the United States. And in one moment, our nation was forever changed. This is the most dramatic and resonant crime in American history—the true story of the killing of Abraham Lincoln.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond the Edge (2013)
A 3D feature film about Sir Edmund Hillary's monumental and historical ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 - an event that stunned the world and defined a nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetainment (2018)
Two ten year-old boys are detained by police under suspicion of abducting and murdering a toddler.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Into Liquid (2003)
No special effects. No stuntmen. No stereotypes. No other feeling comes close. Surfers and secret spots from around the world are profiled in this documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLoose Change 9/11: An American Coup (2009)
With the departure of the Bush Administration and the arrival of an “era of transparency,” opportunities are arising for the disclosure of new information that may shed more light on the events that took place before and after 9/11/2001. Loaded with powerful, new footage and in-depth interviews this documentary presents a wide array of evidence both known and unknown…until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan of Aran (1934)
A documentary on the life of the people of the Aran Islands, who were believed to contain the essence of the ancient Irish life, represented by a pure uncorrupted peasant existence centred around the struggle between man and his hostile but magnificent surroundings. A blend of documentary and fictional narrative, the film captures the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLiving on One Dollar (2013)
How do 1.1 billion people around the world live on less than one dollar a day? Four young friends set out to research and live this reality. Armed with only a video camera and a desire to understand, they spend just 56 dollars each for 56 days in rural Pena Blanca, Guatemala. They battle E.Coli, financial stress, and the realization that there are no easy answers. Yet, the generosity and strength of their neighbors, Rosa, Anthony and Chino gives them resilient hope. They return home transformed and embark on a mission to share their new found understanding with other students, inspiring and challenging their generation to make a difference.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down (2019)
This anthology film, whose Chinese title begins with a romantic name for human excrement, premiered internationally at Rotterdam and won Best Screenplay from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. A variety of Hong Kong people wrestle with nostalgia when facing an uncertain future. Their stories give way to a documentary featuring a young barista turned political candidate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & documentary
The Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus (1980)
The protagonists of this docudrama are old farmers who migrated to Banat after the First World War, in 1922. The film is focused on a couple of important events in their impressive lives, which are woven into lively scenes and stories full of wise instances. Their statements become spontaneous recounts of the lives of people in this region.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & documentary
Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story (2020)
Exploring the rise and fall of the groundbreaking animated series Ren & Stimpy and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi, through archival footage, show artwork and interviews with the artists, actors and executives behind the show.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & animation
The Final Day (2024)
Yadira, a creative young Cuban girl, struggles packing on her final day home. Embarking on an immigration journey alone, her suitcase feels too small to carry everything her heart holds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
The Wildebeest Migration: Nature's Greatest Journey (2012)
Every year, on the steppes of the Serengeti, the most spectacular migration of animals on our planet: Around two million wildebeest, Burchell's zebra and Thomson's gazelles begin their tour of nearly 2,000 miles across the almost treeless savannah. For the first time, a documentary captures stunning footage in the midst of this demanding journey. The documentary starts at the beginning of the year, when more than two million animals gather in the shadow of the volcanoes on the southern edge of the Serengeti in order to birth their offspring. In just two weeks, the animal herd's population has increased by one third, and after only two days, the calves can already run as fast as the adults The young wildebeest in this phase of their life are the most vulnerable to attacks by lions, cheetahs, leopards or hyenas. The film then follows the survivors of these attacks through the next three months on their incredible journey, a trip so long that 200,000 wildebeest will not reach the end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Make Me Psychic (1978)
Anita the duck buys a psychic device at a novelty store in an alternate universe and creates mayhem at a crazy party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
In the Absence of the Sun (2014)
A tender, melancholic night is experienced through the eyes of three women as they struggle to find themselves in this ever-changing jungle of Jakarta.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ice Age Footprints (2022)
Thousands of footprints stretch for miles across New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, capturing moments when Ice Age humans encountered now-extinct beasts, including enormous ground sloths and mammoths. What can these footprints reveal about the peopling of the Americas and what life was like at the end of the last Ice Age?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mean Creek (2004)
Teenagers living in small-town Oregon take a boat trip for a birthday celebration. When they get an idea to play a mean trick on the town bully, it suddenly goes too far. Soon they're forced to deal with the unexpected consequences of their actions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutumn (2008)
Arrested while a student in university, Yusuf is released from prison after ten years. He returns home and is welcomed by his sick and elderly mother. Soon he will meet Eka, a beautiful Georgian girl who is a sex worker, and love becomes a final desperate attempt to grasp life and elude loneliness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like While I'm Away?
The closest matches to While I'm Away are Ryan (2004), Piece by Piece (2024) and Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after While I'm Away?
Start with Ryan (2004), the closest match to While I'm Away.
What is the highest-rated movie like While I'm Away?
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020), rated 8.4/10 by 478 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like While I'm Away?
Piece by Piece (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like While I'm Away?
Yes: Ryan (2004), Piece by Piece (2024) and Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021).
How are movies similar to While I'm Away chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside While I'm Away, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.