Movies like The Secrets of the Colosseum (2014)
The best movies like The Secrets of the Colosseum (2014) are Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron (2017), Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006) and Alone in the Wilderness (2004). If The Secrets of the Colosseum hooked you with its documentary and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaul, Apostle of Christ (2018)7.6/10 from 427 votes
- NewestDe caballos y guitarras (2024)Released 2024
- In FrenchWhat Killed the Roman Empire? (2022)Also in French
Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron (2017)
For the 20th anniversary of "Titanic," James Cameron reopens the file on the disaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlone in the Wilderness (2004)
Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Green Book: Guide to Freedom (2019)
In 1936, Victor H. Green (1892-1960) published The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that was both a travel guide and a survival manual, to help African-Americans navigate safe those regions of the United States where segregation and Jim Crow laws were disgracefully applied.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAudrey (2020)
An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Godfather Family: A Look Inside (1990)
A documentary on the making of the three Godfather films, with interviews and recollections from the film makers and cast. This feature also includes the original screen tests of some of the actors for "The Godfather" film, and some candid moments on the set of "The Godfather: Part III."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaking The Witcher (2020)
Journey into the extraordinary world of "The Witcher" — from casting the roles to Jaskier's catchy song — in this behind-the-scenes look at the series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
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 · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like this4 Little Girls (1997)
On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarvel Studios: Assembling a Universe (2014)
A look at the story behind Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from all of the Marvel films, the Marvel One-Shots and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
"Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLouis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (2012)
In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998)
This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
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 · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDavid Bowie: Five Years (2013)
Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive, this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved: from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the ‘Thin White Duke’. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let’s Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, David Bowie - Five Years presents a unique account of why Bowie has become an ‘icon of our times’.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this9/11: Inside the President's War Room (2021)
Experience the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of President Bush and his closest advisors as they personally detail the crucial hours and key decisions from that historic day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unknown Known (2013)
Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnlocking Sherlock (2014)
Explore how writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss created the hit television sensation. Take a personal voyage through the versions of Holmes that have served as inspirations for the new series - the original stories, their factual origins, hundreds of film adaptations - to arrive at their thoroughly modern Sherlock. Moffat and Gatiss explain the challenges they encountered adapting the original adventures of the iconic super-sleuth. Go behind the scenes on the set of the hit television series, including interviews with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Lara Pulver, who talk about the reinvention of their fictional characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBehind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChaos on the Bridge (2014)
Canadian acting legend William Shatner takes viewers inside the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the bold attempt in 1986 to recreate the success of the original television series, in which Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Killed the Roman Empire? (2022)
Why did the Roman Empire, which dominated Europe and the Mediterranean for five centuries, inexorably weaken until it disappeared? Archaeologists, specialists in ancient pathologies and climate historians are now accumulating clues converging on the same factors: a powerful cooling and pandemics. A disease, whose symptoms described by the Greek physician Galen are reminiscent of those of smallpox, struck Rome in 167, soon devastating its army. At the same time, a sudden climatic disorder that was underway as far as Eurasia caused agricultural yields to plummet and led to the westward migration of the Huns. Plagued by economic and military difficulties, attacked from all sides by barbarian tribes, the Roman edifice gradually cracked.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
Agora (2009)
A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Degenerates (1969)
A series of bawdy and satirical episodes written during the reign of the emperor Nero and set in imperial Rome. Like the more famous version made by Federico Fellini, an adaptation of Petronius' Satyricon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
De caballos y guitarras (2024)
A musical, and also a reflection on watching, on trying to escape an anthropocentric gaze and also on watching itself in cinema. Featuring mares and horses: Triana, Víctor K, Bambi Sailor, San Special Solano, Buck Red Skin, Onkaia, Cool Boy, the donkey Agostino, the mule Guapa. And also Alfredo Lagos, Raül Refree, María Marín, Pepe Habichuela, Virgina García del Pino, María García Ruiz, Pilar Monsell, María Pérez Sanz.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mercedes as Butterfly (2024)
In the suburbs of Montpellier, France, in the spring of 2024, a Roma wedding celebration is about to begin. In the bedroom of a small apartment, Luisa and her cousins meet up to talk about their dreams, their traditions, and their desire for emancipation. The ritual of flamenco dancing became for Luisa a space of freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Vatican Museums (2007)
Originally produced in 1997 on the threshold of the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, and in celebration of the Jubilee of the Year of Our Lord 2000, The Vatican Museums was the culmination of three years of research and filming, the collaboration of thirty-two scholars and historians from around the world, a crew of forty directors of photography, operators, and lighting technicians, state-of-the-art digital cinematography, lighting, animation, and computerized editing, and the work of a famous composer with original performances by master musicians. Now available on DVD for the first time, this historic three-disc collection features seven hours of magnificent documentary film that illuminates and chronicles the great journey of the human spirit. Here then is the world's most spectacular and sacred repository of art, history, and faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Automobile (1971)
An ex-prostitute, feeling an emptiness in her life, decides to fill it by buying a car.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Tre donne - 1943: Un incontro (1971)
This vehicle for the great actress Anna Magnani was one of the four made for Italian television and shown in 1971-1972 at the end of her career. The other three were "La sciantosa," "Correva l'anno di grazia 1870," and "L'automobile" and were all directed by Alfredo Giannetti.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)
Luke risks his life to visit Paul in a Roman prison, where the apostle awaits execution under Nero. As Paul reflects on his past and the Christian community faces persecution, Luke resolves to record the story of the early church.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Secrets of the Colosseum and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Secrets of the Colosseum?
The closest matches to The Secrets of the Colosseum are Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron (2017), Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006) and Alone in the Wilderness (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Secrets of the Colosseum?
Start with Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron (2017), the closest match to The Secrets of the Colosseum.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Secrets of the Colosseum?
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), rated 7.6/10 by 427 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Secrets of the Colosseum?
De caballos y guitarras (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Secrets of the Colosseum?
Yes: What Killed the Roman Empire? (2022) and Mercedes as Butterfly (2024).
How are movies similar to The Secrets of the Colosseum chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Secrets of the Colosseum, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.