Movies like Doctors of the Dark Side (2011)
The best movies like Doctors of the Dark Side (2011) are The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020), O.J.: Made in America (2016) and The Martha Mitchell Effect (2022). If Doctors of the Dark Side hooked you with its documentary and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedO.J.: Made in America (2016)8.4/10 from 271 votes
- NewestMaternal Instinct (2026)Released 2026
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020)
This documentary brings to life the stories of four people believed by their family and friends to be “DB Cooper,” a man who hijacked a 727 flying out of Seattle and jumped from the plane over the wilds of Washington State with a parachute and $200,000, never to be heard from again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO.J.: Made in America (2016)
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Martha Mitchell Effect (2022)
She was once as famous as Jackie O—and then she tried to take down a President. Martha Mitchell was the unlikeliest of whistleblowers: a Republican wife who was discredited by Nixon to keep her quiet. Until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisH.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004)
Torture chambers, acid vats, greased chutes and gassing rooms were just some of the devices of death designed by the Torture Doctor, H.H. Holmes in his castle of horrors. Follows Holmes' entire life as a criminal mastermind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCover-Up (2025)
He's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAileen: Queen of the Serial Killers (2025)
Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPredators (2025)
In the mid-aughts, Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator drew millions of weekly viewers to watch sting operations: men planning to meet minors for sex would instead be confronted by polished host Chris Hansen, then by the police — all on hidden camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaternal Instinct (2026)
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRunning with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee (2022)
Through raw, revealing footage and interviews with fugitive tech pioneer John McAfee, this documentary uncovers new layers of his wild years on the run.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoyeur (2017)
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisChaos: The Manson Murders (2025)
In August 1969, Charles Manson's followers killed seven people on his orders. Why? Explore a conspiracy of mind control, CIA experiments, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTed Bundy: Mind of a Monster (2019)
New exclusive access and never before heard testimony gives a unique insight into the mind of America's most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. Breathtaking archive from the time and the voice of Bundy himself, reveals the monster inside the man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPoisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (2023)
Through revealing interviews with experts and victims' families, this gripping documentary examines the problem of deadly foodborne illness in the US.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRisk (2017)
Capturing the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with unprecedented access, director Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle in a documentary portrait of power, betrayal, truth and sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirty John: The Dirty Truth (2019)
John Meehan created a terrifying trap of seduction, deceit and betrayal for countless victims. The illuminating revelations into his backstory showcase a series of events that flipped switches to create a monster wired for psychopathy. Goffard exposes John’s troubled background that built the foundation for his ominous fantasy world of lies and manipulation. In addition to hearing the Newell family’s terrifying tale, John’s first wife Tonia Bales and her daughters Emily and Abigail Meehan speak out, along with other women from his past who were caught in his web of lies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 (2022)
Days after 9/11, letters containing fatal anthrax spores spark panic and tragedy in the US. This documentary follows the subsequent FBI investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of America (1981)
A documentary of the decline of America, composed of archival material and exclusive footage, carnage, madness, and mayhem with an unapologetic sincerity on the factual depiction of violence in the industrialized nation of the United States. Featuring a juxtaposition of detailed accounts of terrible acts, brutal behavior, and interviews from experts and convicted killers alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)
In this documentary, filmmaker Nick Broomfield follows the saga of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who has been accused of committing a brutal series of murders. Broomfield conducts interviews with Wuornos herself, and his crew films her trial as well as her interactions with religious fanatic Arlene Pralle, who gives Wuornos dubious advice and legally adopts her. The cameras also roll as the accused's attorney ignores the case at hand to negotiate a deal to sell his client's story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAuschwitz: Countdown to Liberation (2025)
The last weeks in the Nazi concentration camp revealed through the touching stories of survivors such as Eva Kor and Samuel Modiano. Between suffering and resistance, the documentary explores human courage in inhumane conditions, revealing the hope that flourished even in the darkest moments. A powerful tribute to memory and freedom, essential for not forgetting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare (2026)
The definitive account of Japan’s struggle as it faced a nuclear catastrophe while still reeling from the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
Love You to Death: Mommy's Missing (2024)
The case of a missing mother reveals twisted family secrets that leave a trail of flames, arrests and deaths in their wake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & documentary
The Lives of Albert Camus (2020)
Albert Camus died at 46 years old on January 4, 1960, two years after his Nobel Prize in literature. Author of “L'Etranger”, one of the most widely read novels in the world, philosopher of the absurd and of revolt, resistant, journalist, playwright, Albert Camus had an extraordinary destiny. Child of the poor districts of Algiers, tuberculosis patient, orphan of father, son of an illiterate and deaf mother, he tore himself away from his condition thanks to his teacher. French from Algeria, he never ceased to fight for equality with the Arabs and the Kabyle, while fearing the Independence of the FLN. Founded on restored and colorized archives, and first-hand accounts, this documentary attempts to paint the portrait of Camus as he was.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
The Poison Squad (2020)
The story of government chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley who, determined to banish dangerous substances from dinner tables, took on the powerful food manufacturers and their allies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & crime
The Mind of a Murderer: Part 2 (1984)
A look at the trial and the use of psychiatric evidence in the criminal proceedings of mass murderer 'The Hillside Strangler' Kenneth Bianchi.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & crime
Those Days with Lucio (2016)
An interview with actress Florinda Bolkan about her performances in the films "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "Lizard in a Woman's Skin".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Untold Secrets (2021)
Gives voice to the experiences of Irish institution survivors and focuses on the life and upbringing of one survivor, Anne Silke. Silke was fostered out of the St. Mary, Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam at the age of 9 to the Killileas, a prominent political family from Tuam. Untold Secrets recounts her often brutal and abusive treatment at the hands of her foster family and reveals never seen before interviews with fellow survivors. Although Silke is now deceased the documentary gives a posthumous voice to Anne and possibly some closure to her family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story (2017)
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is the harrowing story of a stuntman overcoming a dehumanizing childhood filled with torment and bullying in Sparks, Nevada. After surviving a near-death burn accident, he worked his way up through Hollywood, leading to his ultimate rise as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series and making countless moviegoers forever terrified of hockey masks and summer camp. Featuring interviews with cinema legends, including Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), To Hell and Back peels off the mask of Kane Hodder, cinema's most prolific killer, in a gut-wrenching, but inspiring, documentary. After decades of watching Kane Hodder on screen, get ready to meet the man behind the mask in To Hell and Back - an uniquely human story about one of cinema's most vicious monsters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L'énigme Céline Dion (2022)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Doctors of the Dark Side?
The closest matches to Doctors of the Dark Side are The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020), O.J.: Made in America (2016) and The Martha Mitchell Effect (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Doctors of the Dark Side?
Start with The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020), the closest match to Doctors of the Dark Side.
What is the highest-rated movie like Doctors of the Dark Side?
O.J.: Made in America (2016), rated 8.4/10 by 271 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Doctors of the Dark Side?
Maternal Instinct (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Doctors of the Dark Side?
Yes: The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020), O.J.: Made in America (2016) and The Martha Mitchell Effect (2022).
How are movies similar to Doctors of the Dark Side chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Doctors of the Dark Side, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.