Movies like Songwriter (2018)
The best movies like Songwriter (2018) are Studio 54 (2018), Roll Red Roll (2019) and Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018). If Songwriter hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWon't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)8.0/10 from 628 votes
- NewestApolonia, Apolonia (2023)Released 2023
Studio 54 (2018)
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism - a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoll Red Roll (2019)
At a 2012 pre-season high-school football party in Steubenville, Ohio, a young woman was raped by members of the beloved high school football team. The aftermath exposed an entire culture of complicity—and Roll Red Roll maps out the roles that peer pressure, denial, sports machismo, and social media each played in the tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisInto the Okavango (2018)
A passionate conservation biologist brings together a river bushman fearful of losing his past and a young scientist uncertain of her future on an epic, four-month expedition across three countries, through unexplored and dangerous landscapes, in order to save the Okavango Delta, one of our planet's last pristine wildernesses.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Obey Giant (2017)
A documentary that profiles the life and work of artist Shepard Fairey. We follow his roots through punk rock and skateboarding to his creation of the iconic Obama HOPE poster, and the controversy that surrounds it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (2019)
One of the most fearless and accomplished athletes of her generation, Bethany Hamilton became a surfing wunderkind when she returned to the sport following a devastating shark attack at age 13. As she continues to chase waves she also now tackles motherhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie (2018)
Barbie, the most popular doll ever created, is a fashion icon and a target for feminists. This telling documentary features new footage, access to Barbie's biggest reinvention, and examines over 60 years of women through the lens of an 11.5-inch plastic doll.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Mister Rogers & Me (2010)
An MTV producer's life is transformed when he meets the recently retired host of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,' Fred Rogers. Friendship with the PBS icon sets the young producer on a hero's quest to find depth and simplicity amidst a shallow and complex world through conversations with Susan Stamberg (NPR), Tim Russert ('Meet The Press'), Marc Brown ('Arthur') and more.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
McQueen (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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWestwood: Punk, Icon, Activist (2018)
The remarkable story of iconoclastic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood as she fights to maintain her brand’s integrity, her principles and her legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Wonder Boy (2019)
At age 25, Olivier Rousteing was named the creative director of the French luxury fashion house, Balmain. At the time, Rousteing was a relatively unknown designer, but in the decade since, he’s proven his business prowess and artistic instinct by leading Balmain to new heights. Wonderboy gives the viewer the rare opportunity to experience the inner sanctum of the fashion world, as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this extraordinary individual while he works.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiana: In Her Own Words (2017)
Using home videos recorded by her voice coach, Diana takes us through the story of her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gospel According to André (2018)
From the segregated American South to the fashion capitals of the world, operatic fashion editor André Leon Talley's life and career are on full display, in a poignant portrait that includes appearances by Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Bethann Hardison, Valentino, and Manolo Blahnik.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Howard (2018)
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThere Are No Fakes (2019)
Norval Morrisseau was the first Indigenous Canadian artist to be taken seriously in the art world. By the turn of this century his work commanded tens of thousands of dollars. So when Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn learned his prized painting was a forgery, he sued. But as Jamie Kastner's doc reveals, there was a cottage industry in fake Morrisseaus, an industry that flourished unchecked for years, feeding on greed, exploitation, racism and contempt.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Woodmans (2011)
The story of a family that suffers a tragedy, but perseveres and finds redemption through each other and their work - making art.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Apolonia, Apolonia (2023)
When Danish filmmaker Lea Glob first portrayed Apolonia Sokol in 2009, she appeared to be leading a storybook life. The talented Apolonia was born in an underground theater in Paris and grew up in an artists’ community—the ultimate bohemian existence. In her 20s, she studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, one of the most prestigious art academies in Europe. Over the years, Lea Glob kept returning to film the charismatic Apolonia and a special bond developed between the two young women.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Ailey (2021)
Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. Told in his own words and through the creation of a dance inspired by his life, this immersive portrait follows a man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, determined to build one that would.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Eva Hesse (2016)
German American artist Eva Hesse (1936 – 1970) created her innovative art in latex and fiberglass in the whirling aesthetic vortex of 1960s New York. Her flowing forms were in part a reaction to the rigid structures of then-popular minimalism, a male-dominated movement. Hesse’s complicated personal life encompassed not only a chaotic 1930s Germany, but also illness and the immigrant culture of New York in the 1940s. One of the twentieth century’s most intriguing artists, she finally receives her due in this film, an emotionally gripping journey with a gifted woman of great courage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
We Are As Gods (2022)
“We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” This is the audacious opening line of the Whole Earth Catalog, a compendium of wonderful tools compiled by counterculture legend Stewart Brand. A psychedelic experimenter, cyberspace pioneer, and environmentalist, he is now urging humanity to use our god-like powers to reframe our relationship with time and life itself. Today, Stewart is using biotech to resurrect extinct species. He and a team of scientists travel to Siberia to collect ancient DNA in an effort to make a hybrid Woolly Mammoth. Former allies in the environmental movement vow to stand in his way, but Stewart forges ahead in his life-long mission to conserve the whole earth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (2020)
In 2008, after a show celebrating the 20th anniversary of his fashion house, Maison Margiela, visionary designer Martin Margiela left the fashion world for good. Throughout his career, the Belgian designer remained anonymous, refusing interviews and never being photographed, leading some to call him the fashion world’s answer to Banksy. Now, more than a decade after his departure, Margiela digs into his meticulous and idiosyncratic personal archives to reflect on his revolutionary career and legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Maria by Callas (2017)
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe First Monday in May (2016)
Chronicles the creation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's most attended fashion exhibition in history, "China: Through The Looking Glass," an exploration of Chinese-inspired Western fashions by Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
California Typewriter (2017)
A story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. A meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Iris (2014)
IRIS pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris’ dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOther Music (2019)
A documentary highlighting the 20 year history of influential indie record store Other Music in Manhattan's East Village.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Bluebird (2019)
Discover the origin stories of megastars like Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift while following emerging singer-songwriters as they chase their dreams inside The Bluebird Cafe, Nashville’s accidental landmark that has altered the course of music history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Keep on Keepin' On (2014)
Eighty-nine year old trumpeting legend Clark Terry has mentored jazz wonders like Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, but Terry’s most unlikely friendship is with Justin Kauflin, a 23-year-old blind piano player with uncanny talent, but debilitating nerves. As Justin prepares for the most pivotal moment in his budding career, Terry’s ailing health threatens to end his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Bathtubs Over Broadway (2018)
When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Breakthrough (2019)
Breakthrough tells the story of a renegade scientist’s quest to find a cure for cancer, the disease that killed his mother. Texan Jim Allison is a 2018 Nobel Prize winner for discovering how to prompt a cancer patient’s own immune system into defeating their disease, but for decades he waged an often-lonely struggle against the painful skepticism of the medical establishment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Like Songwriter and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Songwriter?
The closest matches to Songwriter are Studio 54 (2018), Roll Red Roll (2019) and Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Songwriter?
People who watched Songwriter most often go on to Studio 54 (2018), Roll Red Roll (2019) and Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018).
What is the highest-rated movie like Songwriter?
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), rated 8.0/10 by 628 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Songwriter?
Apolonia, Apolonia (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Songwriter?
Yes: Studio 54 (2018), Roll Red Roll (2019) and Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018).
How are movies similar to Songwriter chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Songwriter, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.