Movies like This Is Not Your Life (1991)
The best movies like This Is Not Your Life (1991) are Being James Bond (2021), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) and Seven Up! (1985). If This Is Not Your Life hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am Heath Ledger (2017)7.4/10 from 233 votes
- NewestStolen Kingdom (2026)Released 2026
Being 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 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 thisSeven Up! (1985)
A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbrace the Panda: Making Turning Red (2022)
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
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 thisTwenty Years Later (1984)
Eduardo Coutinho was filming a movie with the same name in the Northeast of Brazil, in 1964, when there came the military coup. He had to interrupt the project, and came back to it in 1981, looking for the same places and people, showing what had ocurred since then, and trying to gather a family whose patriarch, a political leader fighting for rights of country people, had been murdered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNaqoyqatsi (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 thisGirl Rising (2013)
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Irishman: In Conversation (2019)
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am Heath Ledger (2017)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRonaldo (2015)
Filmed over 14 months with unprecedented access into the inner circle of the man and the sport, this is the first official and fully authorised film of one of the most celebrated figures in football. For the first time ever, the world gets vividly candid and un-paralleled, behind-closed-doors access to the footballer, father, family-man and friend in this moving & fascinating documentary. Through in-depth conversations, state of the art football footage and never before seen archival footage, the film gives an astonishing insight into the sporting and personal life of triple Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career. From the makers of ‘Senna’ and ‘Amy’, Ronaldo takes audiences on an intimate and revealing journey of what it’s like to live as an iconic athlete in the eye of the storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlaying (2007)
Following a newspaper ad, ordinary women tell part of their life stories to director Eduardo Coutinho, which are then re-enacted by actresses, blurring the barriers between truth, fiction and interpretation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCameraperson (2016)
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExtremis (2016)
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022)
Grammy® winner singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo takes a familiar road trip from Salt Lake City, where she began writing her debut album “SOUR,” to Los Angeles. Along the way, Rodrigo recounts the memories of writing and creating her record-breaking debut album and shares her feelings as a young woman navigating a specific time in her life. Through new live arrangements of her songs, intimate interviews and never-before-seen footage from the making of the album, audiences will follow Olivia along on a cinematic journey exploring the story of “SOUR.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCristiano Ronaldo: World at His Feet (2014)
Cristiano Ronaldo: The World at His Feet follows the footballer from his beginnings in Portugal, breakthrough start with Manchester United and current career at Real Madrid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmpty (2022)
The impact of the pandemic has left a void in places that were once teeming with people. Spaces for education, sports, religion, culture and entertainment were desolate, waiting for humanity to fill these spaces again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
激闘の1日〜キングオブコント2022の裏側に完全密着〜 (2022)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
On Location in Tulsa: The Making of 'Rumble Fish' (2005)
An informative archival behind-the-scenes featurette of "Rumble Fish", featuring raw footage from the pre-production process. Also included are short comments by Francis Ford Coppola, various members of his team, and some of the principal actors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Bombay X-Ray (2019)
A 10-year-old boy and his father support themselves by pulling a cart through Bombay's chaotic traffic. One day when they visit the doctor, they are told that they should change jobs. A visual and sound intensive documentary about a nightmarish traffic situation beyond all control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Chuy, The Wolf Man (2015)
Jesus 'Chuy' Aceves and a dozen living members of his extended family suffer from the very rare condition of congenital hypertrichosis, meaning they were born with excessive hair on their faces and bodies. Due to their appearance, they suffer from discrimination in all areas of their lives: the children are made fun of at school and abandoned by their 'non-hairy' parents, and the adults cannot find work unless they choose to exhibit themselves as freaks in circuses. This moving and visually arresting documentary is a portrait of Chuy and his family members. It examines their day-to-day lives and their struggle to find love, acceptance and employment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
La ruta de don Quijote (1934)
A poetic journey through the paths and places of old Castile that were traveled and visited by the melancholic knight Don Quixote of La Mancha and his judicious squire Sancho Panza, the immortal characters of Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a candid depiction of rural life in Spain in the early 1930s and illustrates the first sentence of the first article of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, which proclaims that Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all kind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Stolen Kingdom (2026)
A look into the underground community of rule-breakers at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and how their actions led to the disappearance of an Audio-Animatronic named Buzzy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Rat City (2023)
They climb, squeeze through crevices, bite through lead pipes and conquer their environment again and again. A scientific journey of discovery into the world of rats.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Frans Lanting: The Evolution of LIFE (2015)
A dazzling journey through time via the remarkable images of National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting and his epic "LIFE" project, which presents a stunning interpretation of life on Earth, from the Big Bang through the present.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like This Is Not Your Life?
The closest matches to This Is Not Your Life are Being James Bond (2021), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) and Seven Up! (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after This Is Not Your Life?
Start with Being James Bond (2021), the closest match to This Is Not Your Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like This Is Not Your Life?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like This Is Not Your Life?
Stolen Kingdom (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to This Is Not Your Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside This Is Not Your Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.