Movies like Riding the Rails (1997)
The best movies like Riding the Rails (1997) are American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and McQueen (2018). If Riding the Rails hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Queen of Versailles (2012)6.9/10 from 221 votes
- NewestYou Can See Everything (2026)Released 2026
American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978)
Martin Scorsese spends an evening with larger-than-life raconteur Steven Prince—a former drug addict, road manager for Neil Diamond, and actor—as he recounts stories from his colorful life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvil 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 thisMcQueen (2018)
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPublic Speaking (2011)
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 (2026)
An inside look at the years of effort and craft that went into the final installment of the Duffer Brothers' generation-defining series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSherman's March (1986)
Documentarian Ross McElwee originally set out to make a travelogue of sorts tracing General William T. Sherman's infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War. Instead, haunted by a recent breakup with a girlfriend, McElwee ends up documenting his progress -- or lack thereof -- in starting a new relationship. His journey then becomes one of self-reflection and self-discovery rather than a historical/sociological exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight 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 thisCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Can See Everything (2026)
Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon becomes a mind-bending three-year journey into the abyss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy 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 thisCrips and Bloods: Made in America (2009)
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Flight (2011)
Iconic snowboarder Travis Rice and friends redefine what is possible in the mountains. Experience the highs, as new tricks are landed and new zones opened, alongside the lows, where avalanches, accidents, and wrong-turns strike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Queen of Versailles (2012)
With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of their American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180° South (2010)
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBillie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) (2026)
Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNothing Like a Dame (2018)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (2026)
Never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts trace the 2012 shipwreck of a luxury cruise and the disaster that ensued, in this immersive documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDavid Bowie: Five Years (2013)
Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive, this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved: from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the ‘Thin White Duke’. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let’s Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, David Bowie - Five Years presents a unique account of why Bowie has become an ‘icon of our times’.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Twister: Caught in the Storm (2025)
In May 2011, a massive tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. With pulse-pounding firsthand footage, this documentary goes inside a deadly twister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2018)
The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Massie Affair (2005)
In the waning days of summer 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made a drastic allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders. What unfolded in the following days and weeks was a racially-charged murder case that would make headlines across the nation, enrage Hawai'i's native population, and galvanize the island's law enforcers and the nation's social elite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
FDR: A Presidency Revealed (2005)
For twelve years he stood as America's 32nd President, a man who overcame the ravages of polio to pull America through the Great Depression and WWII. From his legendary Fireside Chats to his sweeping New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt revolutionized the American way of life. FDR: A Presidency Revealed examines one of history's most compelling figures. Inspired by his cousin Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt rose to the nation's highest office during the depths of one of its darkest periods. A man of few words, he brought a nation together through his revolutionary Fireside Chats. He introduced vast reforms like Social Security and work relief for the unemployed. At the same time, his administration hid a dark underbelly teeming with covert maneuvers, spy rings, and powerful enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popular Science J-8-1 (1938)
A variety of scientific subjects, including the laboratory of a plastic surgeon in London, and his method for applying permanent makeup; a new school for kiddies employing finger paint so they can express their urge to put things on paper; Army aviation, showing the latest development in blind landing. Produced in Cinecolor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
After Mein Kampf? (1961)
By combining actual footage with reenactments, this film offers both a documentary and fictional account of the life of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood in Vienna, through the rise of the Third Reich, to his final act of suicide in the waning days of WWII. The film also provides considerable, and often shocking, detail of the atrocities enacted by the Nazi regime under Hitler's command.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker (2003)
Ernest Borgnine, star of the classic train movie Emperor of the North, hosts and narrates this remarkable examination of the uniquely American Hobo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Biancaneve e i sette nani: la realizzazione dell’impossibile (2026)
In 1934, Walt Disney set out to do what no one had dared before: transform animation, until then confined to short, rhythmic gags, into a feature-length film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs forced his studio to reinvent techniques, working methods, and even the art of visual storytelling itself. Amid delays, runaway budgets, and hundreds of artists at work, what seemed like madness turned into an unprecedented challenge. This is the story of making the impossible a reality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Comrades under Edelweiss (1943)
This rare documentary was filmed with the participation and personal camera of Wolfgang Gorther, a German military cinematographer of the 1st mining division, who participated in the legendary ascent of Elbrus on the night of August 21, 1942. From the beginning of the Second World War and the last international winter sports week in Garmisch-Partenkirchen follows the invasion of the German troops into the Soviet Union: Dnieper, Zaporozhy, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, Nogaean Steppe, Caucasus – fighting at 50 degrees below zero, military expedition into the world of ice and snow; – ascent of mountain arrows and subsequent hoisting of flags on the Elbrus at an altitude of 5,633 meters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Moje Praha (2002)
Otakar Vávra walks through Prague in front of the camera and with the camera, and remembers those who in the 1930s determined the pulse of the cultural and political life of that time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Land Without Bread (1933)
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Riding the Rails?
The closest matches to Riding the Rails are American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and McQueen (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Riding the Rails?
Start with American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978), the closest match to Riding the Rails.
What is the highest-rated movie like Riding the Rails?
The Queen of Versailles (2012), rated 6.9/10 by 221 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Riding the Rails?
You Can See Everything (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Riding the Rails?
Yes: American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and McQueen (2018).
How are movies similar to Riding the Rails chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Riding the Rails, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.