Movies like Mermaids Against Plastic (2020)
The best movies like Mermaids Against Plastic (2020) are A Plastic Ocean (2016), Blackfish (2013) and Mission Blue (2014). If Mermaids Against Plastic hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMy Octopus Teacher (2020)7.9/10 from 1,115 votes
- NewestOcean with David Attenborough (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishDear Chantal (2021)Also in Spanish
A Plastic Ocean (2016)
A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlackfish (2013)
Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMission Blue (2014)
This documentary follows oceanographer Sylvia Earle's campaign to save the world's oceans from threats such as overfishing and toxic waste.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeaspiracy (2021)
Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species — and uncovers an alarming global conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOcean with David Attenborough (2025)
David Attenborough takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Octopus Teacher (2020)
After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn 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 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 · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Planet: Behind the Scenes (2019)
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisLeviathan (2013)
An experimental portrait of the North American commercial fishing industry through the lens of GoPro cameras placed on a fishing vessel off the coast of New England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisDolphin Reef (2018)
Echo is a youngster who can't quite decide if it's time to grow up and take on new responsibilities-or give in to her silly side and just have fun. Dolphin society is tricky, and the coral reef that Echo and his family call home depends on all of its inhabitants to keep it healthy. But Echo has a tough time resisting the many adventures the ocean has to offer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (2009)
A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEn Rang Par Deux (2020)
The idea for this film comes from the encounter with two African boys who live in Rome, and is based on their music. Tunisian Afif and Senegalese Aliou tell their different stories, talk about friendship, immigration, freedom and, above all, about the fundamental value of making music together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Dear Chantal (2021)
Pereda returns with a small, mysterious and moving tribute to Chantal Akerman, conceived as a series of joyful impossible letters addressed to the great disappeared from the cinema, to answer her fictional question about renting her bright apartment in Coyoacán.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Terror in Times Square: A Guide To Nightmare's Grindhouse Kingdom (2015)
2015 featurette documentary behind the experience of Nightmare and grindhouse cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966)
Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966-79) documents life in a deprived district in the south of Tehran. The images of destitution in Tehran's poor areas is accompanied by a variety of spoken accounts: the official viewpoint on the district's living conditions, what the inhabitants have to say, and occasional extracts read out of school manuals. The key element in Shirdel's film is the counterpoint effect he creates with image and sound. His impressively powerful portrayal of social unease helps reinforce the impact of his astonishing documentary images and social themes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896)
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCassini's Grand Finale (2017)
To help visualize the dramatic final chapter in Cassini's remarkable story, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory produced this short film that features beautiful computer-generated animation, thoughtful narration and a rousing score. Producers at JPL worked with filmmaker Erik Wernquist, known for his 2014 short film "Wanderers," to create a stirring finale video befitting one of NASA's most successful missions of exploration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Hollywood - The Second Step (1936)
This short follows the early career of actress Jane Barnes. She starts by doing extra work. After several months she is offered a studio contract (the "first step"). However, her work consists mostly of fashion shoots and bit parts that end up on the cutting room floor. She is even used as a stand-in for Maureen O'Sullivan on the set of a Tarzan movie when camera angles and lighting must be set up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Big Swim (1964)
This short documentary shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. Under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practice long hours in the gym and in the pool to build strength and stamina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Land Without Bread (1933)
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSatan’s Top Forty (2001)
Documentary on Heavy Metal music featuring Adam Sandler, Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons and Ronnie Dio. Produced for the "Little Nicky" Special Edition DVD.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Mermaids Against Plastic?
The closest matches to Mermaids Against Plastic are A Plastic Ocean (2016), Blackfish (2013) and Mission Blue (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Mermaids Against Plastic?
Start with A Plastic Ocean (2016), the closest match to Mermaids Against Plastic.
What is the highest-rated movie like Mermaids Against Plastic?
My Octopus Teacher (2020), rated 7.9/10 by 1,115 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Mermaids Against Plastic?
Ocean with David Attenborough (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Mermaids Against Plastic?
Yes: Dear Chantal (2021) and Land Without Bread (1933).
How are movies similar to Mermaids Against Plastic chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Mermaids Against Plastic, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.