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Movies like Lords of the Forest (1958)

The best movies like Lords of the Forest (1958) are Virunga (2014), A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026) and Jane (2017). If Lords of the Forest hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Virunga (2014)

    Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa's oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park's borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  2. A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026)

    Veteran naturalist Sir David Attenborough tells the story of a remarkable group of gorillas, from his first encounter in the '70s to the present day.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  3. Jane (2017)

    Drawing from never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives, director Brett Morgen tells the story of Jane Goodall, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. Ghost Elephants (2026)

    In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. Chimpanzee (2012)

    A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests. Through Oscar, a little chimpanzee, we discover learning about life in the heart of the African tropical forest and follow his first steps in this world with humor, emotion and anguish. Following a tragedy, he finds himself separated from his mother and left alone to face the hostility of the jungle. Until he is picked up by an older chimpanzee, who will take him under her protection.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. The Ivory Game (2016)

    Wildlife activists and investigators put their lives on the line to battle the illegal African ivory trade, in this suspenseful on-the-ground documentary.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. Fuck (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 this
  8. Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods (2024)

    The life of Bambi, a male roe deer, from his birth through childhood, the loss of his mother, the finding of a mate, the lessons he learns from his father, and the experience he gains about the dangers posed by human hunters in the forest.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. One Life (2011)

    One Life captures unprecedented and beautiful sequences of animal behaviour guaranteed to bring you closer to nature than ever before, as well as a second disc packed full of never before seen extras including an exclusive making of featurette narrated by Daniel Craig.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  10. Seasons (2016)

    Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud travel throughout Europe to film brown bears, wild horses, wolves and other animals in their natural habitat.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. The Salt of the Earth (2014)

    During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  12. Naqoyqatsi (2002)

    A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)

    Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. My 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 this
  15. Explorer: The Last Tepui (2022)

    This documentary starring climber Alex Honnold and famous biologist Bruce Means document their expedition to the South American sky islands in search of new species and discoveries. Follows elite climber Alex Honnold and a world-class climbing team led by National Geographic Explorer and climber Mark Synnott on a grueling mission deep in the Amazon jungle as they attempt a first-ascent climb up a 1000 foot sheer cliff.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)

    Marcel Ophuls' riveting film details the heinous legacy of the Gestapo head dubbed "The Butcher of Lyon." Responsible for over 4,000 deaths in occupied France during World War II, Barbie would escape—with U.S. help—to South America in 1951, where he lived until a global manhunt led to his 1983 arrest and subsequent trial.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  17. Whispers in the Woods (2025)

    In the heart of the tranquil Vosges forests, where lynxes, bears and deer roam freely, Vincent Munier accompanies his father on his expeditions. He not only seeks to capture the visual wonders of this forest kingdom, but also aims to make its sounds audible. Every whisper of the forest is a reminder of the knowledge of nature that his father once imbued in him – knowledge that Vincent now passes on to his own son. Vincent Munier combines breathtaking footage of nature and its sounds to create a fairytale-like cinematic experience that slows time down.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  18. Night 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 this
  19. Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)

    Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. The Walking Dead: The Return (2024)

    Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  21. E. M. Cioran. Sa vie. Son oeuvre (1999)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  22. Los últimos guerrilleros - Historia de la A.G.I. (Agrupación guerrillera de Levante) (2003)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  23. De reparto: retrato de un actor (2009)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  24. Orson Welles y Goya (2008)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  25. Invisible Nation (2006)

    A documentary about vivid punk and alternative rock scene of Subotica, the northernmost Serbian city, through the periods of communism, tyranny of the 1990s regime, and economic transition at the beginning of XXI century. Seen through the eyes of its witnesses, these musicians and creative artists deliberately refused the imposed way of behavior, hence staying "invisible" to everyday people.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  26. Sexo en el plató (2007)

    How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  27. Històries de Bruguera (2012)

    The history of Bruguera, the most important comic publisher in Spain between the 1940s and the 1980s. How the characters created by great writers and pencilers became Spanish archetypes and how their strips persist nowadays as a portrait of Spain and its people. The daily life of the creators and the founding family, the Brugueras. The world in which hundreds of vivid colorful paper beings lived and still live, in the memory of millions, in the smile of everyone.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  28. We Cry Behind Dark Glasses (2012)

    Documentary film that deals with the problems of the rock'n'roll scene in Niš, focusing primarily on the period after the collapse of the former SFRJ.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  29. A Natural History of Laughter (2011)

    For how long have we been laughing? Are human beings the only ones to laugh? In the past, scientists tended to neglect such questions of laughter, leaving them to the philosophers. Jacques Mitsch's A NATURAL HISTORY OF LAUGHTER explores recent scientific attempts to explicate this most elusive of human faculties, undertaken by scientists who see it as a means of approaching some of the larger mysteries of neurology and human behavior.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  30. Leonardo da Vinci (1952)

    This documentary tells the story of the brilliant Italian polymath, artist, sculptor, painter, poet, musician, writer, philosopher, scientist, botanist, geologist, cartographer, mathematician, anatomist, paleontologist, architect, urban planner, engineer, and inventor. The legacy of the brilliant Leonardo (1452-1519) to the world came in many forms: in the breathtaking beauty of The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa; in his rich collection of engravings; and in his notes on original thoughts on astronomy, biology, and physiology.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Like Lords of the Forest and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Lords of the Forest?

The closest matches to Lords of the Forest are Virunga (2014), A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026) and Jane (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Lords of the Forest?

Start with Virunga (2014), the closest match to Lords of the Forest.

What is the highest-rated movie like Lords of the Forest?

The Salt of the Earth (2014), rated 8.1/10 by 700 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Lords of the Forest?

A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there French movies like Lords of the Forest?

Yes: Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods (2024), Seasons (2016) and The Salt of the Earth (2014).

How are movies similar to Lords of the Forest chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lords of the Forest, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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