Movies like Central (2017)
The best movies like Central (2017) are S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026), Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes (2021) and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000). If Central hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIsle of Flowers (1989)8.2/10 from 244 votes
- NewestS4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)Released 2026
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMemories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes (2021)
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen narrates his life and horrific crimes via a series of chilling audiotapes recorded from his jail cell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisThe U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoman Polanski: A Film Memoir (2012)
An interview with film director Roman Polanski conducted during his period of house arrest, discussing his life and work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)
Follow the evolution of the 'Halloween' movies over the past twenty-five years. It examines why the films are so popular and revisits many of the original locations used in the films - seeing the effects on the local community. For the first time, cast, crew, critics and fans join together in the ultimate 'Halloween' retrospective.
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 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 thisElstree 1976 (2015)
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisNo Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDrew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)
A documentary on legendary movie-poster artist Drew Struzan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mole: Undercover in North Korea (2020)
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
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 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 thisOprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now (2019)
Oprah Winfrey talks with the exonerated men once known as the Central Park Five, plus the cast and producers who tell their story in "When They See Us."
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 thisPowaqqatsi (1988)
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisData Limite segundo Chico Xavier (2014)
UFO experts claim that after the explosion of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was an increase in the number of sightings of UFO'S (Unidentified Flying Objects) worldwide. Just over two decades later, the Brazilian medium Chico Xavier confided to close friends that when man reached the moon on July 20, 1969, happened a meeting with the celestial beings of our solar system to check the progress of humanity. They decided to grant a period of 50 years for humanity to evolve morally and live in peace, without provoking a third world war. If we live in peace until the Deadline, humanity would be ready to enter a new era of its existence, and magnificent feats would be checked everywhere, including our brothers from other planets would be expressly authorized to present themselves publicly and officially to Earth's residents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Other Side of the Atlantic (2015)
The Other Side of the Atlantic is a documentary that builts a bridge in the ocean that separates Brazil and Africa. The film tackles the cultural exchanges, the imaginary created through the mirroring, the prejudice and dreams built in both sides of the atlantic through the life stories of the students of african countries in transit through Brazil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Breaking the Taboo (2011)
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this groundbreaking new documentary uncovers the UN sanctioned war on drugs, charting its origins and its devastating impact on countries like the USA, Colombia and Russia. Featuring prominent statesmen including Presidents Clinton and Carter, the film follows The Global Commission on Drug Policy on a mission to break the political taboo and expose the biggest failure of global policy in the last 50 years
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Hello, Hello, Terezinha! (2009)
Hello, Hello, Terezinha! is a feature-length documentary about the country's biggest communication phenomenon. Politically incorrect, radical, renewing, Chacrinha changed Brazilian television forever and expressed a Brazil that was around it, but was not perceived. The film tells the great adventure of Abelardo Barbosa through the eyes of the presenter. It gathers the nuclei of its constellation - chacretes, fledglings and artists who passed through its programs - to identify their individualities and their emotions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Closed Beaches (TBA)
Beaches are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the middle class must survive the tropicals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Madness Among Us (2016)
Leonor and Elizangela do not appear crazy at first sight in the way that society often imagines. They are victims of violent and uncontrollable seizure, which sometimes result even during filming in forcible confinement. The rest of the time they are endowed with sensitivity and clarity about their condition, which offers anyone who will listen to them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with what madness is, through their words, and also through their tragic and touching destinies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
As Cartas Psicografadas Por Chico Xavier (2010)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Waste Land (2010)
An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIsle of Flowers (1989)
A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCássia (2015)
Cássia Eller Rejane. Cássia Eller. Cássia. A powerful restless force on stage, shined herself out of it. One of the greats of Brazilian music, Cássia Eller marked the 1990s and shocked the country with her early death in 2001. A film about the singer, the mother, the woman who exposed her personal life and broke barriers, leaving a beautiful social and artistic legacy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Central?
The closest matches to Central are S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026), Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes (2021) and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Central?
Start with S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026), the closest match to Central.
What is the highest-rated movie like Central?
Isle of Flowers (1989), rated 8.2/10 by 244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Central?
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Central chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Central, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.