Movies like Butterfly (2018)
The best movies like Butterfly (2018) are Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), Naqoyqatsi (2002) and The Class of ‘92 (2013). If Butterfly hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTokyo Story (1953)8.1/10 from 1,288 votes
- NewestIn the Light of the Sands (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanMy Love, Don't Cross That River (2014)Also in Korean
Ex 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 thisNaqoyqatsi (2002)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)
Follow the evolution of the 'Halloween' movies over the past twenty-five years. It examines why the films are so popular and revisits many of the original locations used in the films - seeing the effects on the local community. For the first time, cast, crew, critics and fans join together in the ultimate 'Halloween' retrospective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSome Kind of Heaven (2021)
Behind the gates of a palm-tree-lined fantasyland, three residents and one interloper at America's largest retirement community strive to find happiness.
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 thisAfter Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtremis (2016)
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180° South (2010)
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now (2019)
Oprah Winfrey talks with the exonerated men once known as the Central Park Five, plus the cast and producers who tell their story in "When They See Us."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear (2022)
Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCutie and the Boxer (2013)
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
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 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 thisNothing Like a Dame (2018)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye (2022)
Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPick of the Litter (2019)
Follows a litter of puppies from the moment they're born and begin their quest to become Guide Dogs for the Blind, the ultimate canine career. Cameras follow these pups through a two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElstree 1976 (2015)
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDawson City: Frozen Time (2017)
The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (2012)
Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Love, Don't Cross That River (2014)
There lives a couple known as "100-year-old lovebirds". They're like fairy tale characters: the husband is strong like a woodman, and the wife is full of charms like a princess. They dearly love each other, wear Korean traditional clothes together, and still fall asleep hand in hand. However, death, quietly and like a thief, sits between them. This film starts from that moment, and follows the last moments of 76 years of their marriage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Life is Fruity (2017)
90-year-old architect Shuichi Tsubata and his 87-year-old wife Hideko live in Aichi Prefecture. Their garden is bursting with 70 types of vegetables and 50 types of fruits, and they live in harmony with nature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Old Partner (2009)
An elderly farmer lives out his final days with his wife and a loyal ox in the Korean countryside.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Donna Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival (2016)
In Fabrizio Terranova’s film, Donna Haraway – an original thinker and activist, one of the founders of cyberfeminism and the author of A Cyborg Manifesto, which proposed a number of innovative theories about the existence of scientific knowledge – calls for the abandonment of the idea of human exceptionalism and for a conception of the world as complex web of interconnections between people, animals and machines. Jellyfish can be seen flying around her home while she discusses the stories that are necessary for Earth’s preservation and reads her fantastic tale of the art of survival on a broken planet, and of fusion and care between the species.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
In the Light of the Sands (2026)
As a bird warden, Kilian spends seven months alone on a barrier island in the Heligoland Bight. His tasks are simple: monitoring wildlife and collecting flotsam. The rich birdlife, extreme weather and ever-changing landscape are conveyed both through imagery and a soundtrack of wind, rain and birdsong. Contact with others is rare, but the intrusion of the outside world is all the more striking. The film’s melancholic atmosphere echoes both solitude and a sense that this fragile sanctuary is deeply at risk. Beyond its precise observations, an essay on climate change and militarisation emerges.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Salut d'Amour (2015)
Sung-chil works at the Jang-soo Store which is owned by Jang-soo. Sung-chil is stubborn and has a bad temper, but he changes after meeting Geum-nim. Geun-nim runs a flower shop and her daughter Min-jung does not like her meeting Sung-chil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Late Blossom (2011)
Follows the lives of two couples who live in the same neighborhood. Kim Man-Suk delivers milk on a motorbike at dawn. He curses a lot, but actually has a warm heart. One day when he goes up a slope, he meets Ms. Song - a lonely woman who works hards by collecting and selling scrap paper. Man-Suk feels something special toward Ms. Song. Jang Kun-Bong works in a parking lot. Jang Kun-Bong has a wife who suffers from Alzheimer's. He works from dawn until late at night. After work he comes home and takes care of his wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Mistress (2020)
In the middle of her husband’s funeral, Maritere (70) receives a visit from Angela (65), whom she hasn't seen in decades. Maritere reacts as if she has seen a ghost, and wards off all of Angela's approaches. Maritere's overprotective son, Fernando notices the strange interactions between the two women and assumes that Angela is one of his late father's mistresses. However, it is revealed that Maritere and Angela were intimate lovers a long time ago. Under pressure by Fernando who wants to throw Angela out of the house, Maritere will have to decide whether to continue her present life as a widow or give herself the chance to feel love again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Wedding night (1967)
As fate would have it, four newly-weds who aren't quite total strangers unknowingly reunite at a sea-side resort, eager to experience a hot wedding night. However, love isn't always a bed of roses. Will their first night be unforgettable?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Tokyo Story (1953)
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Butterfly?
The closest matches to Butterfly are Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), Naqoyqatsi (2002) and The Class of ‘92 (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Butterfly?
Start with Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017), the closest match to Butterfly.
What is the highest-rated movie like Butterfly?
Tokyo Story (1953), rated 8.1/10 by 1,288 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Butterfly?
In the Light of the Sands (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Butterfly?
Yes: My Love, Don't Cross That River (2014), Old Partner (2009) and Salut d'Amour (2015).
How are movies similar to Butterfly chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Butterfly, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.