Movies like ET Contact: They Are Here (2017)
The best movies like ET Contact: They Are Here (2017) are In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Above Majestic (2018). If ET Contact: They Are Here hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAn Inconvenient Truth (2006)6.9/10 from 1,022 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClose Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020)
Dr. Steven Greer’s previous works, SIRIUS and UNACKNOWLEDGED, broke crowdfunding records and ignited a grassroots movement. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIFTH KIND features groundbreaking video and photographic evidence and supporting interviews from prominent figures such as Adam Curry of Princeton’s PEAR Lab; legendary civil rights attorney Daniel Sheehan, and Dr. Russell Targ, who headed the CIA’s top secret remote viewing program. Their message: For thousands of people, contact has begun. This is their 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 thisUnknown: Cave of Bones (2023)
Scientists examine underground clues from over 250,000 years ago that raise questions about our early relatives — and what it truly means to be human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 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 thisGod Grew Tired of Us (2006)
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisS4: 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 thisThe Age of Disclosure (2025)
Director Dan Farah got 34 senior members of the U.S. Government, military, and intelligence community to come on camera. He says they reveal an 80 year cover-up of the existence of non-human intelligent life and a secret war amongst major nations to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin. The film explores the profound impact the situation has on the future of humanity, while providing a look behind-the-scenes with those at the forefront of the bi-partisan disclosure effort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers (2018)
Area 51, flying saucers from another world - and the program to create a fierce technology. Bob Lazar remains the singular most famous and controversial name in the world of UFOs. The reason you know about Area 51 is because Lazar came forward and told you about it. His disclosures have turned his life upside-down and he has tried to stay out of the spotlight. For this reason, he has never let any filmmaker into the private world of his daily life - that is - until now. Corbell’s film explores Lazar’s claims through the lens of thirty years - providing rare and never before revealed footage - guaranteed to alter the landscape of the debate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtraordinary: The Stan Romanek Story (2013)
Stan Romanek is the center of the world's most documented extraterrestrial contact story, and the multitude of evidence accumulated over the past decade has convinced thousands around the world that his story is true. This documentary film takes audiences on a journey through Stan's past, present and future with one goal in mind: help the world understand that no one knowingly chooses the challenges Stan and his family have endured. This film's intention is not to prove the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrials, but it does pose the question' What if this is all true? extraordinary: the stan romanek story is about one man's evolution through a life he did not choose and the messages he is driven to deliver to mankind.
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 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 thisVampir Cuadecuc (1972)
An atmospheric essay, which is an alternative version of Count Dracula, a film directed by Jess Franco in 1970; a ghostly narration between fiction and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaternal 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Planet: Behind the Scenes (2019)
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret (2006)
Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025)
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMission to Mir (1997)
This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice (2012)
Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice is a documentary presented by English anatomist Dr. Alice Roberts that reveals some of the secrets of one of the most widely known extinct animals ever. Humans have been transfixed by the Wolly Mammoth since the end of the last ice age when there were still herds of them roaming the continents of Asia and Europe. Despite many people knowing about the great Woolly Mammoth until recently very little was known about them despite ancient humans living along side them for so long; few documented accounts exist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStem Cell Universe With Stephen Hawking (2014)
The use of embryonic stem cells has ignited fierce debate across the spiritual and political spectrum. But what if we could create manmade stem cells - or find super cells in adults that could forever replace embryonic cells and remove the controversy? Today, we are on the brink of a new era - an age where we may be able to cure our bodies of any illness. Stephen HAWKING has spent his life exploring the mysteries of the cosmos, now there is another universe that fascinates him - the one hidden inside our bodies - our own personal galaxies of cells.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Great Australian Fly (2014)
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN FLY looks at how a national nuisance has shaped Australia and its people, confounding our scientists, influencing our lifestyle and defining the way we speak. But is its value misunderstood? The one-hour documentary explores how this much-maligned spoiler of the Australian summer is in fact a crime solver, healer, pollinator and street sweeper. We'd miss them if they were gone, yet we put huge amounts of energy into wiping them out. Is it time to call a truce? Directed by Tosca Looby and produced by Sally Ingleton, the amusing and intriguing film pays homage to a much-maligned invertebrate and the influence it has had on our world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Life 2,000 Meters Under the Sea (2014)
Deep down at the bottom of the ocean lies the mysterious world of the abyss. In the midst of boiling, toxic geysers, a rich ecosystem flourishes. This miracle is possible thanks to bacteria, micro-organisms crucial to all living beings. How can bacteria survive in such extreme conditions?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Truth Is in the Stars (2017)
William Shatner sits down with scientists, innovators and celebrities to discuss how the optimism of 'Star Trek' influenced multiple generations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mastodon in your Backyard (2001)
A documentary about the 1999 discovery of a Mastodon skeleton in a Hyde Park backyard.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Divertimento (1968)
BP documentary film exploring the natural beauty of oil under the microscope, and through a variety of other techniques.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like ET Contact: They Are Here?
The closest matches to ET Contact: They Are Here are In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Above Majestic (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after ET Contact: They Are Here?
Start with In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), the closest match to ET Contact: They Are Here.
What is the highest-rated movie like ET Contact: They Are Here?
An Inconvenient Truth (2006), rated 6.9/10 by 1,022 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like ET Contact: They Are Here?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like ET Contact: They Are Here?
Yes: In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Above Majestic (2018).
How are movies similar to ET Contact: They Are Here chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside ET Contact: They Are Here, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.