Movies like The White Helmets (2016)

For Sama (2019)

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Korengal (2014)

Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Father Soldier Son (2020)

When Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch is critically wounded in Afghanistan, it sets him and his sons on a journey of love, loss, redemption and legacy.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

The Battle of Midway (1942)

The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, in 2006.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

City of Ghosts (2017)

With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Restrepo (2010)

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company (2001)

Over a period of two years, Mark Cowen and his crew travelled to thirty U.S. states and ten European cities, to interview the veterans of Easy Company. The stories told by the veterans themselves, create a history of the Second World War from the point of view of this heroic company of men, made famous in the mini-series Band of Brothers.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

The War on Democracy (2007)

Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

Night 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

Maternal 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

A 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

Come 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

The Final: Attack on Wembley (2024)

As England reach the final of the Euros at last, 6,000 ticketless football fans storm Wembley stadium, leaving destruction in their wake.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Mosul (2019)

An Iraqi journalist joins an army of uneasy allies and unforgettable characters in the epic battle to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Game of Thrones: The Last Watch (2019)

For a year, acclaimed British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay was embedded on the set of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” chronicling the creation of the show’s most ambitious and complicated season. Debuting one week after the series 8 finale, GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH delves deep into the mud and blood to reveal the tears and triumphs involved in the challenge of bringing the fantasy world of Westeros to life in the very real studios, fields and car-parks of Northern Ireland. Made with unprecedented access, GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH is an up-close and personal portrait from the trenches of production, following the crew and the cast as they contend with extreme weather, punishing deadlines and an ever-excited fandom hungry for spoilers. Much more than a “making of” documentary, this is a funny, heartbreaking story, told with wit and intimacy, about the bittersweet pleasures of what it means to create a world – and then have to say goodbye to it.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Evil 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

Out of Thin Air (2017)

Set within the stark Icelandic landscape, OUT OF THIN AIR examines the 1976 police investigation into the disappearance of two men in the early 1970s.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Citizenfour (2014)

In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Tian Soepangat: Muslim Sailor (2015)

Tian Soepangat joins the U.S. Navy out of a commitment to helping others. As a Muslim, Tian is uncertain of his shipmates' attitudes toward his religion, and so he hides it. Eventually discovering he doesn't have to hide his faith, he is free to express pride in his heritage.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & documentary

Hearts and Minds (1974)

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & war

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

Gonzalo Suárez: Sam Peckinpah, director salvaje (2011)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Dear Chantal (2021)

Pereda returns with a small, mysterious and moving tribute to Chantal Akerman, conceived as a series of joyful impossible letters addressed to the great disappeared from the cinema, to answer her fictional question about renting her bright apartment in Coyoacán.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Bis weit über's Jahr 2000 (1983)

The Bitterfeld lignite combine includes a large number of lignite plants, open-cast mines, power stations and briquette factories. The film presents several mining professions, shows miners' jobs, mostly in connection with modern mining technology, and points out the great prospects that mining offers in a wide variety of professions.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Wild Australia: The Edge (1996)

From beautiful but dangerous waterfalls to canyons and underground rivers carved into stone millions of years ago, Wild Australia is a stunning look at our fragile world and how it relates to Earth of ninety million years ago

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

The Number of Completion (2017)

Short documentary about Twin Peaks: The Return.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

C-Film (1970)

Two women in a living room: smoking, playing cards, listening to the radio. As often in Dwoskin’s films, the use of masks, make-up and costumes allows the characters to playfully transform themselves. Shot in colour film, C-film exuberates swinging London energy. In the second part of the film, the women appear to be watching the rushes of the film on an editing table. ”We are making a movie” we hear them say. As Dwoskin points out, “C-film asks how much is acting acted”, an ongoing question in Dwoskin’s cinema. Produced by Alan Power, with Esther Anderson & Sally Geeson.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Europe by Bidon (2022)

Biodun is Nigerian. In this animated documentary, he tells the story of his journey on foot from Lagos to Paris, how he survives with a container (un bidon) and thanks to his courage. With his amazing patter, he transforms the events into extraordinary adventures.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary