Movies like Ecuador (2012)
The best movies like Ecuador (2012) are South of the Border (2009), Burden of Dreams (1982) and The Class of ‘92 (2013). If Ecuador hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedDiego Maradona (2019)7.4/10 from 455 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
South of the Border (2009)
A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBurden of Dreams (1982)
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
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 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 thisDiego Maradona (2019)
Constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage, this documentary centers on the personal life and career of the controversial football player Diego Maradona who played for SSC Napoli and Argentina in the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLost in La Mancha (2002)
Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoys State (2020)
This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDownloaded (2013)
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
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 thisShawn Mendes: In Wonder (2020)
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcQueen (2018)
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Repair Shop (2024)
In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Kill a Tiger (2023)
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPublic Speaking (2011)
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFuck (2006)
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beach of Enchaquirados (2021)
Vicky is fisherman by day and bar owner at night. When she was a little boy her dream was to be a radio soap opera star, nowadays she dreams of falling in love again. How is it possible that a small, barren place in the third world has managed to achieve this special form of freedom and tolerance?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Call of Fayu Ujmu (2002)
A 13-year-old Indian boy is found unconscious after being attacked in the jungle by the evil spirit Fayu Ujmu. A shaman attempts to ritually tame the spirit and advises the boy’s father to capture it. This story is based on a Chachi Indian legend; it was shot with indigenous inhabitants of the jungle community of Loma Linda, on the Rio Cayapas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Columbus Didn't Discover Us (1992)
The historic gathering of three hundred indigenous activists from North, South and Central America who met in Quito, Ecuador, in July 1990 to organize a cross-continental indigenous resistance to the Columbus Quincentennial.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Unending Struggle (1965)
POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY: Presents various aspects of the political, economic, military, and cultural interests of the U.S. abroad, showing some of the ways in which the foreign service protects and advances these interests in Ecuador. Shows views of the city jail in Quito where an imprisoned American is in need of help, of docks at Guayaquil where the American Attache works among laborers and officials of the banana loaders trade union, and of the Presidential palace where U.S. Ambassador Maurice Burnbaum discusses the Alliance for Progress with the ruler of Ecuador.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cesar's Grill (2013)
In order to rescue his father's ramshackle grill restaurant, filmmaker and vegetarian Dario Aguirre is traveling back to his homeland Ecuador. What starts out as a strange debate about opening times, chips and Excel spread sheets, develops into a moving family drama.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Vanishing Strings of the Andes (2023)
Discover the heart-wrenching tale of Ecuador’s forgotten guitar road in “Vanishing Strings of the Andes.” Witness the struggle to preserve an age-old generational craft practised high in the Andes mountains before it’s too late...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Ecuador vs. el resto del mundo (2006)
November 7th, 2001. After a seventy years absence, the Ecuadorian national soccer team is close to qualifying for the first time to a Soccer World Cup. This documentary follows the events that took place during that historic date, when a whole country lived under the shadow of a soccer game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Amazonia, an Encounter with the Guardians of the Rainforest (2024)
With a hybrid style blending political essay and road movie, this documentary by Santiago Bertolino takes us into the heart of the Amazonian reality. Following Marie-Josée Béliveau, an ecologist and ethnogeographer, they journey together along the 4000 km from the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil to one of its sources in Ecuador where they meet with the guardians of the forest. As a result, we witness powerful and spontaneous testimonies from local communities who are doing everything to preserve what remains of their lands, which are disappearing due to the inexorable advance of Western modernity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Galapagos with David Attenborough (2013)
Two hundred years after Charles Darwin set foot on the shores of the Galápagos Islands, David Attenborough travels to this wild and mysterious archipelago. Amongst the flora and fauna of these enchanted volcanic islands, Darwin formulated his groundbreaking theories on evolution. Journey with Attenborough to explore how life on the islands has continued to evolve in biological isolation, and how the ever-changing volcanic landscape has given birth to species and sub-species that exist nowhere else in the world. Encompassing treacherous journeys, life-forms that forge unlikely companionships, and survival against all odds, Galápagos tells the story of an evolutionary melting pot in which anything and everything is possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like Ecuador and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ecuador?
The closest matches to Ecuador are South of the Border (2009), Burden of Dreams (1982) and The Class of ‘92 (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ecuador?
Start with South of the Border (2009), the closest match to Ecuador.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ecuador?
Diego Maradona (2019), rated 7.4/10 by 455 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ecuador?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ecuador?
Yes: South of the Border (2009), Burden of Dreams (1982) and The Class of ‘92 (2013).
How are movies similar to Ecuador chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ecuador, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.




























