Movies like The Zen Mind (2007)
The best movies like The Zen Mind (2007) are Walk with Me (2017), Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984) and We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012). If The Zen Mind hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWe Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)7.1/10 from 363 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Walk with Me (2017)
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisBruce Lee, the Legend (1984)
The Official Golden Harvest tribute to the Master of the Martial Arts Film, Bruce Lee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWe Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)
Takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the radical "hacktivist" collective that has redefined civil disobedience for the digital age. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, then moves to Anonymous' raucous beginnings on the website 4chan. Through interviews with current members, people recently returned from prison or facing trial, writers, academics, activists and major players in various "raids," the documentary traces Anonymous’ evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown movement with a global reach, the most transformative civil disobedience of our time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStar Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
The special focuses on how Star Wars is relevant today and the history that inspired it, and also makes various connections to Greek mythology. It consists of several interviews with well-known politicians, journalists, and critics, along with historical content and clips from all six of the Star Wars movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Curse of the Dragon (1993)
A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJackie Chan: My Story (1998)
Jackie Chan is one of the world's biggest action stars, famed for his wacky sense of humor, remarkable martial arts techniques, and willingness to perform incredible stunts without the use of doubles -- or a net. This video takes a personal look at Chan as he works on screen projects in Hollywood and Beijing and candidly discusses his life and work.
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 thisJoan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye (2022)
Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisOne of Us (2017)
Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yes Men Fix the World (2009)
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2015)
A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidney (2022)
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 this14 Apples (2018)
Wang Shin-hong is suffering from insomnia. A fortune teller advises the Mandalay businessman, whose car and bulging wallet suggest that business is going pretty well, to spend 14 days in a monastery, living life as a monk and eating an apple a day. Such a thing is possible in Burma today. Wang Shin-hong arrives at the rural monastery, has his head shaved and dons a red robe, in which he instantly becomes an authority. During the welcome procession, the village women, their poverty clear from their clothing and the huts in the background, put more than they have in his alms bowl. During his fleeting role as their advisor, Wang Shin-hong soon learns of the villagers’ attempts to survive and make a living as legal or illegal migrants in China, Thailand or Malaysia. He also finds out how the other monks try to generate profit and additional income.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
toe: DOKU-EN-KAI (2021)
At the twenty-year apex of their career, the Japanese quartet add another captivating live release to their extensive catalog. Shot ‘in the round’ at le Poisson Rouge in NYC, DOKU-EN-KAI delivers the band completely absorbed by their element in a kinetic, impassioned and frenzied set that brings toe's renown and allure into sharp, unmistakable focus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Kep1going (2024)
Special concert film of the final day of Kep1er's "Kep1going JAPAN CONCERT 2024" held on July 15, 2024 at K Arena Yokohama.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Conversation with Myself (1972)
Alan Watts talks about our perception of the world, and how we derive metaphysics from it. Watts recorded this video in 1971 as a pilot for a public television series in the United States.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Peace (2010)
What is peace? What is coexistence? And what are the basis for them? PEACE is a visual-essay-like observational documentary, which contemplates these questions by observing the daily lives of people and cats in Okayama city, Japan, where life and death, acceptance and rejection are intermingled.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Japanese Version (1991)
How the Japanese process American pop culture and make it their own -- a mind-bending odyssey through cultural mixing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
JDM Insider vol 4: The Kanto Tuners (2006)
An in-depth look at the world of Japanese street racing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Japans Schneeaffen Hautnah (2025)
The image of “snow monkeys” submerged in a hot spring as snow falls around them is iconic. These are Japanese macaques, the northernmost population of monkeys in the world. Highly adaptable, they are the only primates to inhabit environments that range from low coastal plains to mountainous areas 3,000 meters above sea level, with temperatures that can drop to -30 degrees Celsius. How is this single species of macaque able to thrive in such widely diverse habitats? Shot in beautiful 4K UHD, the cameras travel through Japan to capture unique monkey groups displaying different localized food habits, including a world-first footage of monkeys catching live fish as well as how such new behaviors spread among individuals in the pack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Dream Girls (1994)
This film is about Japanese women, escape, glamour and dreams. The Takarazuka Revue is an enormously successful spectacular where the all-women cast create fantasies of erotic love and sensitive men. It is also a world for young girls desperate to do something different with their lives. In return for living a highly disciplined and reclusive existence, they will be adored and envied by many thousands of Japanese women. They will look, act and behave like young men while having no real men in their lives. Dream Girls explores the nature of sexual identity and the contradictory tensions that face young women in Japan today.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Japan's War in Colour (2005)
Using never-before-seen footage, Japan's War In Colour tells a previously untold story. It recounts the history of the Second World War from a Japanese perspective, combining original colour film with letters and diaries written by Japanese people. It tells the story of a nation at war from the diverse perspectives of those who lived through it: the leaders and the ordinary people, the oppressors and the victims, the guilty and the innocent. Until recently, it was believed that no colour film of Japan existed prior to 1945. But specialist research has now unearthed a remarkable colour record from as early as the 1930s. For eight years the Japanese fought what they believed was a Holy War that became a fight to the death. Japan's War In Colour shows how militarism took hold of the Japanese people; describes why Japan felt compelled to attack the West; explains what drove the Japanese to resist the Allies for so long; and, finally, reveals how they dealt with the shame of defeat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Zen Mind?
The closest matches to The Zen Mind are Walk with Me (2017), Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984) and We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Zen Mind?
Start with Walk with Me (2017), the closest match to The Zen Mind.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Zen Mind?
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012), rated 7.1/10 by 363 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Zen Mind?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Zen Mind?
Yes: Walk with Me (2017), Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984) and We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012).
How are movies similar to The Zen Mind chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Zen Mind, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.