Movies like What the Statues Are Looking At (2025)
The best movies like What the Statues Are Looking At (2025) are Francofonia (2015), Dalíland (2022) and The Art of the Steal (2010). If What the Statues Are Looking At hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPortrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)8.1/10 from 3,105 votes
- NewestIf You had Stayed (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchFrancofonia (2015)Also in French
Francofonia (2015)
Master filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) transforms a portrait of the world-renowned museum into a magisterial, centuries-spanning reflection on the relation between art, culture and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Art of the Steal (2010)
A gripping tale of intrigue and mystery in the art world, this film traces the history of a collection of Post-Impressionist paintings - worth billions - which became the subject of a power struggle after the death of its owner. Dr. Albert Barnes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Vivian Maier (2014)
Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNight at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
Hapless museum night watchman Larry Daley must help his living, breathing exhibit friends out of a pickle now that they've been transferred to the archives at the Smithsonian Institution. Larry's (mis)adventures this time include close encounters with Amelia Earhart, Abe Lincoln and Ivan the Terrible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOperation Crossbow (1965)
Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between German developments of the V-1 missile and V-2 rocket (with a German cast speaking their own language) and discovery by British Intelligence of the weapon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCutie and the Boxer (2013)
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Getting By (2011)
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPortrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Goldfinch (2019)
A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Belle Noiseuse (1991)
The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start again the work on a painting he long ago stopped: La Belle Noiseuse. And he wants Marianne as model.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoman in Gold (2015)
Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAt Eternity's Gate (2018)
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Turner (2014)
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Da Vinci Code (2006)
A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that — should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLoving Vincent (2017)
A young man arrives at the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAge of Consent (1969)
An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an offshore island to try once more. On the island he re-discovers his muse in the form of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost Leonardo (2021)
London, England, 2008. Some of the most distinguished experts on the work of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) gather at the National Gallery to examine a painting known as Salvator Mundi; an event that turns out to be the first act of one of the most fascinating stories in the history of art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMad City (1997)
A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Gallery (2014)
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny Minotaur (1971)
Johnny Minotaur is a lyrical explosion of taboos: incest, intergenerational desire, pansexuality and autoeroticism are a few of the issues Charles Henri Ford grapples with through mythopoeic, sensual imagery, recitations of his diaries and a philosophical debate featuring an impressive narration by such artists as Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Warren Sonbert and Lynne Tillman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Interpreted (1997)
A film about the artist Marlene Dumas: - There's no right way to portray or to understand someone. It's just an acknowledgment , not a denial of reality. Here are my paintings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Pendant (2020)
Breaking a mirror initiates five different acts in five different places; exposing shades of magic, politics, and systemic violence. The harm social systems are designed to inflict, the enforced disappearances in Turkey during the 1990s, the border politics of the EU, manipulative storytelling, and power struggles are evoked as the round Pendant attempts to become whole again with its gemstones scattered throughout the acts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Topkapi (1964)
Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims turns out to be a gentleman thief planning to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of the Mehmed II from Istanbul's Topkapi Museum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Electronic Super Highway: Nam June Paik in the Nineties (1994)
A portrait of Nam June Paik produced as a 'video catalog' for the exhibition 'The Electronic Super Highway', which premiered at The Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with recent installations, historical background and interviews.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
If You had Stayed (2026)
After a tragic choice leads him to the brink, a disillusioned artist named Michael awakens on a mysterious beach. a liminal space where lost souls come to confront their pasts. Guided by Bob, a charismatic yet enigmatic caretaker, Michael embarks on a surreal journey through the pivotal moments of his life: love, heartbreak, and devastating loss. As he confronts hidden truths and unspoken regrets, Michael is faced with one profound question: Was it worth it, and what would life be like if he had stayed?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Pictures at an Exhibition (1996)
What does modern art mean for ordinary visitors to an exhibition?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Hello My Dear (2021)
The documentary is titled after Arkadaş Z. Özger’s poem “Hello My Dear” which had caused much controversy in the period it was first published. Considered to be in defiance of heteronormativity, the said poem includes references to the poet’s personality, his family, his relationship to the society, and his “unexpected” death, which came three years after its publication. Today, 50 years after it was written, the documentary follows these same lines in the poem utilising cinematic elements. The documentary also rediscovers the poetics; reaches out to the family, the comrades, the friendships, departing from the official historical accounts, cognizant of his experience of otherness, in pursuit of the “lost” portrait of Arkadaş Z. Özger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like What the Statues Are Looking At?
The closest matches to What the Statues Are Looking At are Francofonia (2015), Dalíland (2022) and The Art of the Steal (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after What the Statues Are Looking At?
Start with Francofonia (2015), the closest match to What the Statues Are Looking At.
What is the highest-rated movie like What the Statues Are Looking At?
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), rated 8.1/10 by 3,105 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like What the Statues Are Looking At?
If You had Stayed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like What the Statues Are Looking At?
Yes: Francofonia (2015), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and La Belle Noiseuse (1991).
How are movies similar to What the Statues Are Looking At chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside What the Statues Are Looking At, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.