Movies like Spiral (2018)
The best movies like Spiral (2018) are Fuck (2006), Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) and Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022). If Spiral hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- NewestCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)Released 2025
Fuck (2006)
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022)
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLouis Theroux: Louis and the Nazis (2003)
Louis Theroux travels to California to meet the man dubbed "the most dangerous racist in America"; Tom Metzger. Louis meets him, his family and his publicity manager as well as following him to skinhead rallies and on a visit to Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Mom Jayne (2025)
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)
Marcel Ophuls' riveting film details the heinous legacy of the Gestapo head dubbed "The Butcher of Lyon." Responsible for over 4,000 deaths in occupied France during World War II, Barbie would escape—with U.S. help—to South America in 1951, where he lived until a global manhunt led to his 1983 arrest and subsequent trial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisOne of Us (2017)
Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisLouis Theroux: The Settlers (2025)
Fourteen years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.
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 thisAbacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017)
The incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFeels Good Man (2020)
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLooking for Richard (1996)
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 this21 Up (1977)
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. 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 thisNever Again? (2020)
"Never Again?" seeks to educate others on the horrors and consequences of anti-Semitism. The film follows the journey of a Holocaust Survivor and former radical Islamist as they seek to leave behind a legacy of love over hate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
« Je ne suis pas chinetoque » : Histoire du racisme anti-asiatique (2024)
Journalist Émilie Tran Nguyen invites the viewer to follow her in her quest and discover, at the same time as her, the historical origins of this anti-Asian racism. Told in the first person, alternating archive images, interviews with historians, sociologists and field sequences, this film traces the making of prejudices in the French imagination and pop culture, to twist the neck of stereotypes, deconstruct and act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Les yeux dans les Bleus (1998)
This documentary follows the French soccer team on their way to victory in the 1998 World Cup in France. Stéphane Meunier spent the whole time filming the players, the coach and some other important characters of this victory, giving us a very intimate and nice view of them, as if we were with them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLe château d'Hérouville, une folie rock française (2024)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L’homme-vertige: Tales of a City (2024)
Apartment blocks with no future are being torn down in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Malaury Eloi-Paisley follows those lost in the city through the empty streets. Their accounts form a valuable commodity, circulating in carefully developed relationships.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L'Adieu à Solférino (2019)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Concrete Football (2016)
The development of professional soccer worldwide owes a great debt to the soccer – or "football" – that is played on the streets of France.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
ABC Primetime: Mel Gibson's Passion (2004)
In this special edition of Primetime, ABC News' Diane Sawyer interviews filmmaker Mel Gibson about his highly controversial movie, ""The Passion of the Christ."" He responds to charges that the movie's portrayal of the Jewish role in the death of Christ will encourage anti-Semitism. He also elaborates on comments he's made about the Holocaust. In addition, Gibson tells why he felt it necessary to exhibit such a graphic depiction of Christ's crucifixion on film and discusses his decision to tell the story in Aramaic and Latin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
St. Louis (2019)
Hamburg, Germany, 1939. Getting a passage aboard the passenger liner St. Louis seems to be the last hope of salvation for more than nine hundred German Jews who, desperate to escape the atrocious persecution to which they are subjected by the Nazi regime, intend to emigrate to Cuba.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Spiral?
The closest matches to Spiral are Fuck (2006), Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) and Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Spiral?
Start with Fuck (2006), the closest match to Spiral.
What is the newest movie like Spiral?
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Spiral?
Yes: Fuck (2006), Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) and Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022).
How are movies similar to Spiral chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Spiral, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.