Movies like The Silence (2017)
The best movies like The Silence (2017) are In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003) and Strip Down, Rise Up (2021). If The Silence hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- NewestS4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseSenso Daughters (1990)Also in Japanese
In 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 thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrip Down, Rise Up (2021)
The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShe's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014)
A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisS4: 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeart of a Dog (2015)
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mole: Undercover in North Korea (2020)
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFeminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018)
In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Representation (2011)
The film MISS REPRESENTATION exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHalftime (2022)
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisGilbert (2017)
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this42 Up (1999)
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 thisOrgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste (2022)
A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2012)
A journey into the labyrinthine heart of ideology, which shapes and justifies both collective and personal beliefs and practices: with an infectious zeal and voracious appetite for popular culture, Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek analyzes several of the most important films in the history of cinema to explain how cinematic narrative helps to reinforce prevailing ethics and political ideas.
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 thisEvil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl Model (2011)
A documentary on the modeling industry's 'supply chain' between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S., told through the experiences of the scouts, agencies, and a 13-year-old model.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLooking for the Wolf: East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front (2020)
On August 30th, 1974,a time bomb set by the "Wolf" brigade of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front destroyed the Tokyo Headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. "Fangs of the Earth" and "Scorpion" soon followed with more bombings. Unlike other leftist groups at the time that sought to seize the Japanese state to build socialism, the EAAJAF were explicitly opposed to the Japanese nation-state, understanding it as an imperialist power in East Asia and a junior partner to American imperialism. Over 50 years have passed since the Mitsubishi bombing; some EAAJAF members have passed, others are still incarcerated, and some have been recently released. In the intervening years, a group of friends and family members stepped forward to support their incarcerated loved ones, answering questions about how to provide long-term prisoner support for people incarcerated by the state and condemned by society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Comfort (2022)
KIM Soonak is a survivor of sex slavery by the Japanese military. The war may have ended, but her life was still at a war. She lived in the prostitute quarters to survive, did sex business in the US military camp town, and peddled goods from the US military. She raised two kids on her own as she worked as a maid. We’ll listen to her story in her absence. The film reconstructs the life story of the deceased KIM Soonak with interviews with activists, archive videos, animation, and read-aloud testimony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
A Secret Buried for 50 Years: The Story of Taiwanese "Comfort Women" (1998)
This is Taiwan's first documentary about comfort women. The audience gets a glimpse of history as 13 "grandmothers" speak of their unspeakable past, unknown even to their family, in front of the camera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Land of My Father (2020)
Byeong-man, a farmer whose father was enslaved during Japan's occupation of Korea, protests the Japanese government's claim over the disputed island territory of Dokdo. Kyeong Sook, a woman who lived on Dokdo with her father, struggles to keep his legacy alive after the Korean government mysteriously erased their history. Set in the unresolved trauma of the Japanese occupation of Korea, Land of My Father (아버지의 땅) is a story about two lives that are intertwined with a remote disputed island.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Origin of Miracles (2023)
A nation's architect battles war and chaos to forge a country from the ashes—can he secure its future before freedom slips away?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Syngman Rhee's Thirty Years in Hawaii (2022)
Syngman Rhee, the founding president of the Republic of Korea spent a total of thirty years in Hawaii. The first 25 years occurred before he was elected the founding president and five years were after he resigned from the presidency. What is the significance of 30 years in one’s life span?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Forty Years of Diplomacy For Independence: Syngman Rhee's Lonely Struggle (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Murmuring (1995)
Every Wednesday at noon, women who were kidnapped for sexual purpose by the Japanese army during its imperialism and their supporters demonstrate against Japanese government to request official apology and indemnity for their crimes. This documentary portrays sexually abused old women's suppressed story of overcoming of their shame and forced silence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Twenty Two (2017)
Follow the lives of the elderly survivors who were forced into sex slavery as “Comfort Women” by the Japanese during World War II. At the time of filming, only 22 of these women were still alive to tell their story. Through their own personal histories and perspectives, they tell a tale that should never be forgotten to generations unaware of the brutalization that occurred.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Senso Daughters (1990)
Senso Daughters focuses on the legacy of the Japanese occupation of Papua New Guinea during the Second World War. It is a legacy that arises from rape, starvation and terror. Sekiguchi's documentary lets the residents of Papua New Guinea, especially the women, tell the story of their three years under Japanese Army rule.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like The Silence and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Silence?
The closest matches to The Silence are In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003) and Strip Down, Rise Up (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Silence?
Start with In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), the closest match to The Silence.
What is the newest movie like The Silence?
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Silence?
Yes: Senso Daughters (1990).
How are movies similar to The Silence chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Silence, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.