Movies like An Army of Lovers (2018)
The best movies like An Army of Lovers (2018) are Circus of Books (2019), Welcome to Chechnya (2020) and Queen: Days of Our Lives (2011). If An Army of Lovers hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSelena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)8.4/10 from 623 votes
- NewestBecoming Led Zeppelin (2025)Released 2025
Circus of Books (2019)
For decades, a nice Jewish couple ran Circus of Books, a porn shop and epicenter for gay LA. Their director daughter documents their life and times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to Chechnya (2020)
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQueen: Days of Our Lives (2011)
In 1971, four college students got together to form a rock band. Since then, that certain band called Queen have released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is stronger than ever 40 years on. But it was no bed of roses. No pleasure cruise. Queen had their share of kicks in the face, but they came through and this is how they did it, set against the backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances from every corner of the globe. In this film, for the first time, it is the band that tells their story. Featuring brand new interviews with the band and unseen archive footage (including their recently unearthed, first ever TV performance), it is a compelling story told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humor and painful honesty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisScotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018)
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
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 thisTongues Untied (1990)
Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisclosure (2020)
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDavid Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017)
In the last five years of his life, David Bowie ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical. David Bowie: The Last Five Years explores this unexpected end to a remarkable career. Made with remarkable access, Francis Whately’s documentary is a revelatory follow-up to his acclaimed 2013 documentary David Bowie: Five Years, which chronicled Bowie’s golden ‘70s and early-‘80s period.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Decade Under the Influence (2003)
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016)
Nude men in rubber suits, close-ups of erections, objects shoved in the most intimate of places—these are photographs taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, known by many as the most controversial photographer of the twentieth century. Openly gay, Mapplethorpe took images of male sex, nudity, and fetish to extremes that resulted in his work still being labelled by some as pornography masquerading as art. But less talked about are the more serene, yet striking portraits of flowers, sculptures, and perfectly framed human forms that are equally pioneering and powerful.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoward (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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Waltz (1978)
Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisProject Nim (2011)
From the team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beach Boys (2024)
A celebration of the legendary band that revolutionized pop music, and the iconic, harmonious sound they created that personified the California dream, captivating fans for generations and generations to come.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Survive a Plague (2012)
A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this28 Up (1985)
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPray Away (2021)
In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay" movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBecoming Led Zeppelin (2025)
The individual journeys of the four members of the band, as they move through the music scene of the 1960s, playing small clubs throughout Britain and performing some of the biggest hits of the era, until their meeting in the summer of 1968 for a rehearsal that changes their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTab Hunter Confidential (2015)
Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSelena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBarbara ou ma plus belle histoire d'amour (1973)
In the early 70s, Barbara discovered herself backstage on her French tour. The artist plays with intimacy and camera glances. Between concerts, she talks to herself and the men in her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’ (2006)
First there was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, then ‘My Brilliant Career’, and now best of all ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It is incomparably moving and powerful.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Girl Like You (2021)
Over six years, a couple battles to stay together as one of them transitions genders; confronting the effects of new body parts, changing gender roles as well as navigating their own evolving sexual identities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Pleasure in Pain (2022)
A short film that follows key figures of the London kink scene on an exploration into BDSM and the notorious fetish event Klub Verboten. The film touches upon themes of psychology, trauma, LGBTQ+ rights and black representation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
When Liberty Burns (2020)
An in-depth analysis on the 40th Anniversary of the life and untimely death of Arthur Lee McDuffie at the hands of Miami Dade police officers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Lua (2024)
Joseph Wilson meets the dance teacher fighting transphobic violence through voguing in Rio’s favelas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Drag is my Ecstasy (2014)
Drag Is My Ecstasy explores the lives of three young men, in and out of drag.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Lesbian Bar Project: FLINTA (2024)
The Lesbian Bar Project: FLINTA documents the complex and triumphant stories of the FLINTA communities in Cologne & Berlin; a reflection of where the queer community is headed internationally. Despite Lesbian Bars disappearing in Germany, there’s a growing FLINTA movement that epitomizes the evolution of queer culture. Featuring Boize Bar owner Payman Neziri, comedian Ricarda Hofmann, human rights activist Anbid Zaman, politician Tessa Ganserer, and party collectives Bebex and Girlstown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Veronica (1970)
The film focuses on Veronica Glover, a black teenager who has been elected to the Student Congress of her predominantly white high school in New Haven, Connecticut. Hoping to use her position to encourage conversation between her black and white classmates, Veronica narrates her experience in voiceover as we see brief, revealing scenes from her life: a debate in an African Literature class, discussions with her friends, and time spent with a teacher/counselor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Safe Space (2023)
Following the lives of Queer creatives behind Norwich’s queer collaborative ‘Stripped Sets’. We discover the reasoning behind the need for safe spaces, and the stories that come with them. Through live events, photoshoots and history, we see the process in creating such an important event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like An Army of Lovers?
The closest matches to An Army of Lovers are Circus of Books (2019), Welcome to Chechnya (2020) and Queen: Days of Our Lives (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after An Army of Lovers?
Start with Circus of Books (2019), the closest match to An Army of Lovers.
What is the highest-rated movie like An Army of Lovers?
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022), rated 8.4/10 by 623 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like An Army of Lovers?
Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to An Army of Lovers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside An Army of Lovers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.