Movies like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind (2015)
The best movies like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind (2015) are Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021), Tower (2016) and Piece by Piece (2024). If Spectrum: A Story of the Mind hooked you with its animation and documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTower (2016)7.6/10 from 213 votes
- NewestPiece by Piece (2024)Released 2024
Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021)
Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTower (2016)
Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation, Tower reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America's first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPiece by Piece (2024)
A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCamp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis (2021)
Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis, is a documentary short featuring animation that focuses on the story of a top secret POW camp that was classified for over 5 decades. In the midst of WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees are assigned to guard a top secret POW camp near Washington D.C. The Jewish soldiers soon discover that their prisoners are no other than Hitler's top scientists - What starts out as an intelligence mission to gather information from the Nazis, soon gets a shocking twist when the Jewish soldiers are tasked with a very different mission altogether. A mission that would question their moral values - exposing a dark secret from America's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)
A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear (2022)
Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife, Animated (2016)
At three years old, a chatty, energetic little boy named Owen Suskind ceased to speak, disappearing into autism with apparently no way out. Almost four years passed and the only stimuli that engaged Owen were Disney films. Then one day, his father donned a puppet—Iago, the wisecracking parrot from Aladdin—and asked “what’s it like to be you?” And poof! Owen replied, with dialogue from the movie. Life, Animated tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world.
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 thisAvatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010)
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Repair Shop (2024)
In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema (2022)
With mesmerizing footage and time lapses of animators at work, this behind-the-scenes special captures the artistry of a unique tale years in the making.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisGlee: The Concert Movie (2011)
A concert documentary shot during the Glee Live! In Concert! summer 2011 tour, featuring song performances and fans' life stories and how the show influenced them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHarmontown (2014)
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavid Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
A filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway show, a unifying musical celebration that inspires audiences to connect to each other and to the global community.
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 thisAvatar Spirits (2010)
Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creators of the hit television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, reflect on the creation of the masterful series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisAfter Man (1989)
A stop-motion adaptation of the 1981 novel by geologist Dougal Dixon of the same name, which explores the speculative paths of evolution of modern animals into the far future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & animation
Surf's Up (2007)
With a documentary crew in tow, Cody Maverick—a young surfer from Antarctica—travels to the pacific for his first professional competition. Determined to earn respect and live up to his idol, Big Z, Cody pushes himself to the limit. But all that changes when an encounter with a laid-back local forces him to rethink his values.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoodwinked! (2005)
Little Red Riding Hood: A classic story, but there's more to every tale than meets the eye. Before you judge a book by its cover, you've got to flip through the pages. In the re-telling of this classic fable, the story begins at the end of the tale and winds its way back. Chief Grizzly and Detective Bill Stork investigate a domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage, involving a karate-kicking Red Riding Hood, a sarcastic wolf and an oafish Woodsman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJunk Head (2021)
Mankind can no longer reproduce because of gene manipulation aimed at making life longer. The clones ruling the bottomless underworld may have become fertile. Parton is selected to go on a mission through a subterranean labyrinth crawling with monsters to secure humanity's future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetr Brandl – malíř světla v době temna (1953)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Impy's Island (2006)
On a magical tropical island, a fun-loving group of misfit animals and people discover a baby dinosaur frozen since prehistoric times. When a king from a faraway country vows to capture the loveable baby dino for his private collection, all the inhabitants must join together to save their new friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnimated Hair Cartoon, No.18 (1926)
The “Animated Hair” films, featuring artwork by “Marcus” (not well-known animator Sid Marcus, but a caricaturist for the original humorous Life Magazine) were relatively easy for the studio to produce, using one artist (his hand usually seen on screen drawing the image) and the gimmick of manipulating one caricature with stop motion to create a second caricature (usually by rearranging a hair-do). Audiences were thrilled. Fifty one “Animated Hair” shorts were produced between 1924 and 1927. (from: thekidshouldseethis.com/post/animated-hair-cartoon-no-18-1925)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Anjé: The Legend of the Pyrenees (2002)
Progress is not always a panacea, and sometimes, if the principles that unite man with nature are not respected, it can become dangerous. The internationally renowned scientist, Don Fernando Salazar, returns to his hometown with his daughter to launch his most ambitious project: the construction of a hydroelectric power plant. This will cause a series of tensions among the inhabitants of the small village, especially between an old charcoal burner and the scientist. The small village nestled in the Pyrenees will experience a series of extraordinary events following the intervention of a mysterious and magical character, Olentzero, who, together with the charcoal burner's grandson, will star in an adventure they will never forget.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Unstable Fables: Goldilocks and the Three Bears (2010)
When Goldilocks, a sassy reality TV star decides to film her next show at the humble home of the Bears, she gives them a taste of the celebrity sweet life they've never had before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Set in Motion (1987)
Colored bars and other shapes travel across objects inside the rooms of a house.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind?
The closest matches to Spectrum: A Story of the Mind are Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021), Tower (2016) and Piece by Piece (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Spectrum: A Story of the Mind?
Start with Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021), the closest match to Spectrum: A Story of the Mind.
What is the highest-rated movie like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind?
Tower (2016), rated 7.6/10 by 213 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind?
Piece by Piece (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Spectrum: A Story of the Mind?
Yes: Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021), Tower (2016) and Piece by Piece (2024).
How are movies similar to Spectrum: A Story of the Mind chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Spectrum: A Story of the Mind, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.