Movies like The Story of 1 (2005)
The best movies like The Story of 1 (2005) are Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and I Am Ali (2014). If The Story of 1 hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedZero Days (2016)7.4/10 from 273 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Ex 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 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 thisI Am Ali (2014)
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove Majestic (2018)
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGet Me Roger Stone (2017)
From his days of testifying at the Watergate hearings to advising recent presidential candidate Donald Trump, Roger Stone has long offended people on both sides of the political fence as a force in conservative America. Outspoken author, pundit, ahead of his time election strategist, this is his story.
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 thisAvatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010)
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends (2019)
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisLost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)
The story of the insane scandals related to the remake of “Island of Dr. Moreau” —originally a novel by H. G. Wells—, which was brought to the big screen in 1996. How director Richard Stanley spent four years developing the project just to find an abrupt end to his work while leading actor Marlon Brando pulled the strings in the shadows. Now for the first time, the living key players recount what really happened and why it all went so spectacularly wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this35 Up (1991)
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHarry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013)
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me (2023)
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Night Oppy (2022)
The inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. Follow Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.
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 thisPower of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017)
This documentary looks to forge the greatest, most definitive, documentary on everything He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, the live action movie, New Adventures of He-Man, the 200x series and much more! They delve into the toys, comics, cartoons, and movies from all eras by talking to the artists, creators, executives and actors who helped make it a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZero Days (2016)
Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAttack of the Hollywood Clichés! (2021)
One-man armies, meet-cutes, casual strolls away from huge explosions — stars and industry insiders toast and roast these cinematic chestnuts and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beauty and Complexity of the Mandelbrot Set (1989)
A video by doctor John Hubbard discussing the origin, characteristics, and applications of the Mandelbrot set and other iterative sets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Isis: The Origins of Violence (2017)
Historian Tom Holland traces the origins of Isis’ barbaric and sadistic violence which it claims is justified by the tenets and scriptures of Islam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
NOVA: The Great Math Mystery (2015)
NOVA leads viewers on a mathematical mystery tour -- a provocative exploration of math's astonishing power across the centuries. We discover math's signature in the swirl of a nautilus shell, the whirlpool of a galaxy and the spiral in the center of a sunflower. Math was essential to everything from the first wireless radio transmissions to the prediction and discovery of the Higgs boson and the successful landing of rovers on Mars. But where does math get its power? Astrophysicist and writer Mario Livio, along with a colorful cast of mathematicians, physicists and engineers, follows math from Pythagoras to Einstein and beyond, all leading to the ultimate riddle: Is math an invention or a discovery? Humankind's clever trick or the language of the universe?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Relentless: Struggle for Peace in the Middle East (2003)
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East was produced by the pro-Israel media watchdog group HonestReporting [sic]. The concentrates on the causes of the Second Intifada through an examination of compliance the Oslo Accords, by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It pays particular attention to the failure of the Palestinian Authority to "educate for peace". The documentary shows interviews with Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, S. El-Herfi, Raanan Gissin, Caroline Glick, John Loftus, Sherri Mandel, Yariv Oppenheim, Daniel Pipes, Tashbih Sayyed and Natan Sharansky.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Breaking Bread (2022)
In Breaking Bread, exotic cuisine and a side of politics are on the menu. Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel - the first Muslim Arab to win Israel's MasterChef - is on a quest to make a social change through food. And so, she founded the A-sham Arabic Food Festival in Haifa. There, pairs of Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate on mouthwatering dishes like kishek (a Syrian yogurt soup), and qatayef (a dessert typically served during Ramadan), as we savor the taste of hope and discover the food of their region free from political and religious boundaries.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Magic Money: The Bitcoin Revolution (2017)
What is Bitcoin? With the advent of Bitcoin, the world's first digital currency, for the first time in history money is no longer controlled by banks or governments, but by the people who use it. But where did this currency come from? How does it work? And is it truly the way forward, or just a flash in the pan? Magic Money answers these questions and more as it explores the mysterious origins of Bitcoin, its role in society, and how it could shape the future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Clouds Are Not Spheres (2010)
Until recently geometry was 'cold', incapable of describing the irregular shape of a cloud, the slope of a mountain or the beauty of the human body. With fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot gave us a language for our natural world. In this captivating documentary, the man himself explains this groundbreaking discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Amin (2010)
AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing steep financial, cultural and political obstacles are dedicated to their art and culture. Amin travels to remote towns and villages to record the music of the surviving masters whose numbers decline each year. His nomadic family are selling their meager belongings to help support their son's education in performance and ethnomusicology at Tchaikovsky's Conservatory in Kyiv, Ukraine, but it is not enough. Amin, desperate to finish his academic education, sells his violins one at a time just to pay for his tuition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Slave Trade in the World Today (1964)
The film documents modern slave trade through a number of African countries, under dictatorship rule. The filming was conducted both in public places, and sometimes with the use of hidden cameras, for high impact scenes of nudity, sex, and violence - and a few surprises, as slaves made out of peregrins to Asia, and slave traders paid in traveller checks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Woman Pastor (2023)
In a community of a Muslim majority, the first woman pastor in the Middle East leads a parish in one of the poorest city of the Mediterranean, in the heart of Tripoli, North Lebanon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Story of 1?
The closest matches to The Story of 1 are Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and I Am Ali (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Story of 1?
Start with Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), the closest match to The Story of 1.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Story of 1?
Zero Days (2016), rated 7.4/10 by 273 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Story of 1?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Story of 1?
Yes: Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and I Am Ali (2014).
How are movies similar to The Story of 1 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Story of 1, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.