Movies like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson (2017)
The best movies like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson (2017) are Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013). If My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am Heath Ledger (2017)7.4/10 from 233 votes
- NewestHitler’s Games: Berlin 1936 in Colour (2026)Released 2026
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
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 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 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 thisLove, Marilyn (2013)
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
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 thisShawn Mendes: In Wonder (2020)
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMemories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes (2021)
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen narrates his life and horrific crimes via a series of chilling audiotapes recorded from his jail cell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe September Issue (2009)
A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisDangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007)
The definitive 3½-hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic 'Blade Runner', culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaty Perry: Part of Me (2012)
Giving fans unprecedented access to the real life of the music sensation, Katy Perry: Part of Me exposes the hard work, dedication and phenomenal talent of a girl who remained true to herself and her vision in order to achieve her dreams. Featuring rare behind-the-scenes interviews, personal moments between Katy and her friends, and all-access footage of rehearsals, choreography, Katy’s signature style and more, Katy Perry: Part of Me reveals the singer’s unwavering belief that if you can be yourself, then you can be anything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyoncé: Life Is But a Dream (2013)
Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCasting By (2012)
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)
Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Heath Ledger (2017)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
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 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 thisSherman's March (1986)
Documentarian Ross McElwee originally set out to make a travelogue of sorts tracing General William T. Sherman's infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War. Instead, haunted by a recent breakup with a girlfriend, McElwee ends up documenting his progress -- or lack thereof -- in starting a new relationship. His journey then becomes one of self-reflection and self-discovery rather than a historical/sociological exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWorkers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895)
“The workers leave the Lumière factory.” Workers pass through the gate of the Lumière factory and are followed by a carriage drawn by two horses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hope (TBA)
The Navy left the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico in 2003 due to local protests. They left behind toxic waste from bombs tested for Vietnam and other wars. Today, only one-third of the island is habitable, and now residents face a new battleground: Gentrification.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Lillie & Leander: A Legacy of Violence (2007)
Documentarian Jeffrey Morgan set out to the track one woman's search for the truth about her great-great-aunt's 1908 murder. But his film quickly became a fascinating study of racism, revenge and family secrets. In the process of uncovering information about her ancestor's violent death at the hands of an African-American suspect, the woman learns that her family tree might have also produced a few murderers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn (2007)
The story of Tasmanian-born actor Errol Flynn whose short & flamboyant life, full of scandals, adventures, loves and excess was largely played out in front of the camera - either making movies or filling the newsreels and gossip magazines. Tragically he was dead from the effects of drugs and alcohol by the time he was only 50 & the myths live on. But there is another side of Flynn that is less well known - his ambitions to be a serious writer and newspaper correspondent, his documentary films and his interest in the Spanish Civil War and Castro's Cuba
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Rire (enfin) au féminin (2024)
For a long time, in France, comedy was the preserve of men. Female roles were mostly secondary and corresponded to stereotypes such as the pretty doll, the funny but unattractive woman, or the troublesome, even cantankerous wife
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Searching for Skylab, America's Forgotten Triumph (2019)
The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Bed Peace (1969)
John and Yoko in the presidential suite at the Hilton Amsterdam, which they had decorated with hand-drawn signs above their bed reading "Bed Peace." They invited the global press into their room to discuss peace for 12 hours every day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Hitler’s Games: Berlin 1936 in Colour (2026)
In 1931, Germany was awarded the Olympic Games in the hope this would draw them into the international community and world peace would be promoted through sport. For two weeks in August 1936 cameras captured the world’s greatest sporting spectacle, including the Gold Medal triumphs of record-breaking sprinter Jesse Owens. The Berlin Olympics were groundbreaking – many innovations introduced in 1936 such as television coverage and the torch relay became part of every subsequent Games. Hitler’s Games in Colour tells the story of the remarkable amateurs who excelled, but also how Hitler used the Games as propaganda for his brutal regime, to show the Nazis as benign and their military ambitions as modest. Using black and white archive, transformed by cutting-edge restoration and colourisation, this is the story of 16 days that fooled the world…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Stealing Klimt (2007)
Stealing Klimt recounts the struggle by 90-year-old Maria Altmann to recover five Gustav Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in Vienna. From the end of the War up until last year, these paintings hung in the Austrian National Gallery. The film covers Maria's early life in glittering fin-de-siècle Vienna, her dramatic escape from Nazi terror and her courageous fight to recover the five Klimt's against all the odds. Maria's fight to reclaim the paintings eventually took her to the United States Supreme Court and pitted her not just against Austria but also against the US Government which asked the Supreme Court to reject her case. After Maria finally emerged victorious in 2006, one of the paintings - the "Golden Portrait" of Maria's aunt, Adele Bloch Bauer - was sold to cosmetics tycoon Ronald Lauder for $135m, becoming the world's most expensive painting ever sold. The other four paintings were recently auctioned at Christie's for record prices.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Real Right Stuff (2020)
The story of America's first astronauts, known as the Mercury 7, told through archival news & radio reports, newly transferred & previously unheard NASA mission audio recordings, and more rare & unseen material.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson?
The closest matches to My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson are Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson?
Start with Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017), the closest match to My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson.
What is the highest-rated movie like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson?
Hitler’s Games: Berlin 1936 in Colour (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson?
Yes: Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013).
How are movies similar to My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside My Letter to the World: A Journey Through the Life of Emily Dickinson, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.