Movies like Ariel Phenomenon (2022)
The best movies like Ariel Phenomenon (2022) are Out of the Blue (2003), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Moment of Contact (2022). If Ariel Phenomenon hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAfrican Cats (2011)7.4/10 from 268 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Out of the Blue (2003)
Narrated by Peter Coyote, Out of The Blue is widely considered the best documentary ever made about Unidentified Objects. The producers traveled around the world to investigate some of the most famous UFO events on record. Through exclusive interviews with high-ranking military and government personnel, this award-winning film supports the theory that some UFOs are of extraterrestrial origin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Close 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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoment of Contact (2022)
An exploration of potential extraterrestrial encounters centered on a series of events in Varginha, Brazil in 1996. Residents reported seeing one or more strange creatures and a UFO crash.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Program (2024)
Explores the unprecedented bipartisan congressional effort to uncover what intelligence agencies really know about UFOs, now referred to as UAP.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Bob 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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnacknowledged (2017)
Dr. Steven Greer presents brand new top-secret evidence supporting extraterrestrial contact, including witness testimony, classified documents, and UFO footage, while also exploring the consequences of ruthlessly enforcing such secrecy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunt for the Skinwalker (2018)
This documentary is an intimate and unnerving portrait of the events surrounding the most extensive scientific study of a paranormal hotspot in human history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Sirius (2013)
Dr. Steven Greer—an Emergency room doctor turned UFO researcher—discloses top secret information about classified energy and propulsion techniques, investigates new technology and sheds light on criminal and murderous suppression. He does so by accumulating over 100 Government, military and Intelligence-community witnesses who testify on record about the cover-up.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Phenomenon (2020)
This documentary examines unidentified aerial phenomenon. With testimony from high-ranking government officials and NASA Astronauts, Senator Harry Reid says it "makes the incredible credible."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lost Century: And How to Reclaim It (2023)
A century of illegal UFO secrecy has cost humanity hundreds of years of spiritual, cultural and technological development. This film, presented by Dr. Steven Greer, will expose the cost of the coverup to the planet, and the human race, and how we can reclaim control of our collective destiny.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThird Eye Spies (2019)
Two physicists discover psychic abilities are real only to have their experiments at Stanford co-opted by the CIA and their research silenced by the demands of secrecy. This is the true story of Russell Targ and America's Cold War psychic spies, disclosed and declassified for the first time, with evidence presented by a Nobel laureate, an Apollo astronaut, and the military and scientific community that has been suppressed for nearly 30 years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008)
In the remote and forgotten wilderness of Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, one of nature's last great mysteries unfolds: the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisBehind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026)
A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity, and explores the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what's at stake if we get it wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn 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 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 this35 Up (1991)
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisJim: The James Foley Story (2016)
In August, 2014, a video of the public execution of American photojournalist James Foley rippled across the globe. Foley wore an orange jumpsuit as he knelt beside an ISIS militant dressed in black. That image challenged the world to deal with a new face of terror. And it tested one American family. Seen through the lens of filmmaker Brian Oakes, Foley’s close childhood friend, Jim takes us from small-town New England to the adrenaline-fueled front lines of Libya and Syria, where Foley pushed the limits of danger to report on the plight of civilians impacted by war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Captains (2011)
The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisAmazing Grace (2018)
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the recording of Aretha Franklin's best-selling album finally sees the light of day more than four decades after the original footage was shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
Errol Morris interweaves the stories of four men, each driven to create eccentric worlds from their unique obsessions, all of which involve animals: a lion tamer shares his theories on the mental processes of wild animals; a topiary gardener devotes a lifetime to shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; a man fascinated with hairless mole rats; and an MIT scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfrican Cats (2011)
African Cats captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLA Originals (2020)
Photographer Estevan Oriol and artist Mister Cartoon turned their Chicano roots into gritty art, impacting street culture, hip hop and beyond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAztec 1948: UFO Crash (2005)
On March 25, 1948 a UFO spacecraft of extraterrestrial origin crashed in a place called Aztec, New Mexico. Sixteen alien bodies were discovered dead inside. The alien bodies and all evidence of their spacecraft were soon transported by government officials to Wright Patterson Air force Base where all traces of this event disappeared in secrecy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception (2018)
A look at UFO's from a Christian point of view.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ariel Phenomenon?
The closest matches to Ariel Phenomenon are Out of the Blue (2003), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Moment of Contact (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ariel Phenomenon?
People who watched Ariel Phenomenon most often go on to Out of the Blue (2003), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Moment of Contact (2022).
What is the highest-rated movie like Ariel Phenomenon?
African Cats (2011), rated 7.4/10 by 268 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ariel Phenomenon?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ariel Phenomenon?
Yes: Out of the Blue (2003), Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020) and Moment of Contact (2022).
How are movies similar to Ariel Phenomenon chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ariel Phenomenon, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.