Movies like A Subhistory of Film (1974)
The best movies like A Subhistory of Film (1974) are Corman's World (2011), Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019) and Maria by Callas (2017). If A Subhistory of Film hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFinding Vivian Maier (2014)7.6/10 from 342 votes
- NewestV/H/S/Halloween (2025)Released 2025
Corman's World (2011)
A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaking Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria by Callas (2017)
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVisions of Light (1992)
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)
Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, this is the untold history of black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018)
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bang Bang Club (2011)
In the early to mid '90s, when the South African system of apartheid was in its death throes, four photographers - Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva - bonded by their friendship and a sense of purpose, worked together to chronicle the violence and upheaval leading up to the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as president. Their work is risky and dangerous, potentially fatally so, as they thrust themselves into the middle of chaotic clashes between forces backed by the government (including Inkatha Zulu warriors) and those in support of Mandela's African National Congress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Vivian Maier (2014)
Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Director and the Jedi (2018)
An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Skywalker Legacy (2020)
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMilius (2013)
The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisV/H/S/Halloween (2025)
A collection of Halloween-themed videotapes unleashes a series of twisted, blood-soaked tales, turning trick-or-treat into a struggle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStalked by My Doctor (2015)
When a teenage girl is miraculously saved by a heart surgeon, the doctor begins to flirt with her. Her father doesn’t believe her and unbeknownst to all, the doctor is obsessed with the girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2006)
From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCameraperson (2016)
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Souvenir: Part II (2021)
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLiving with Chucky (2022)
A filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding the Child's Play films as they recount their experiences working on the ongoing franchise and what it means to be a part of the, "Chucky" family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Subhistory of Film?
The closest matches to A Subhistory of Film are Corman's World (2011), Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019) and Maria by Callas (2017). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Subhistory of Film?
Start with Corman's World (2011), the closest match to A Subhistory of Film.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Subhistory of Film?
Finding Vivian Maier (2014), rated 7.6/10 by 342 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Subhistory of Film?
V/H/S/Halloween (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to A Subhistory of Film chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Subhistory of Film, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.