Movies like Once Upon a Youth (2020)
The best movies like Once Upon a Youth (2020) are Come See Me in the Good Light (2025), Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018) and For the Love of Spock (2016). If Once Upon a Youth hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am Heath Ledger (2017)7.4/10 from 233 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Come 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 thisStruggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018)
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor the Love of Spock (2016)
The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChris Brown: Welcome to My Life (2017)
This compelling Documentary moves beyond the spotlight and past the attention-grabbing headlines to give pop superstar Chris Brown a chance to tell his own story. New interviews with the international phenomenon reveal long-awaited answers about his passion for making music, his tumultuous and much publicized relationships, and the pitfalls of coming of age in the public eye. Also included is new concert footage, behind-the-scenes access, and special interviews from Usher, Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Mike Tyson, Jamie Foxx and others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of the Dragon (1993)
A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.
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 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 thisI Am Heath Ledger (2017)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
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 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 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 thisCameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisDownloaded (2013)
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisNo Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSanjulián: el poder de la ilustración (2021)
An account, in his own words and those of his relatives, of the life and work of the brilliant Manuel Pérez-Sanjulián Clemente, one of the most important Spanish illustrators of all times.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Favio: Chronicle of a Director (2015)
There are very few icons in Argentine culture capable of appealing to both popular and elitist tastes. Leonardo Favio was undoubtedly one of them. An unseasonable Peronist attached to the liturgy of his land, the director, born in the province of Mendoza, was and artist at every craft. a Renassaince man, but above all, a filmmaker. This is how "Favio: Chronicle of a Director" recaptures him, as a man of film who fed from radio, acting, music and painting in order to build up the handful of rhapsodies with which he adorned argentinean cinematography
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Akira Ifukube Biography (2007)
A biography and tribute to one of Japan's most prolific composers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Bergmans början: Ilska. Kärlek. Magknip. (2018)
Documentary relating Ingmar Bergman's life, from his high school graduation up until he became an established filmmaker in the latter half of the 40's.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Godless in America (2006)
Documentary about atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair who, for 30 notorious years, successfully challenged God in America, and was brutally murdered in the summer of 1995. O'Hair had come to occupy a special place in the American psyche since her 1963 campaign which ended compulsory prayer in US schools after a Supreme Court action on behalf of her son William. She journeyed from Cold War paranoia, through to the rise of the neocons and born again Christianity in Reagan's America and beyond. (Storyville)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Father of Godzilla: Eiji Tsuburaya (2007)
The life of Eiji Tsuburaya, pioneer of Japanese special effects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mae West: Dirty Blonde (2020)
Mae West achieved great acclaim in every entertainment medium that existed during her lifetime, spanning eight decades of the 20th century. A full-time actress at seven, a vaudevillian at 14, a dancing sensation at 25, a playwright at 33, a silver screen ingénue at 40, a Vegas nightclub act at 62, a recording artist at 73, a camp icon at 85 - West left no format unconquered. She possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s and still rare today. Though a comedian, West grappled with some of the more complex social issues of the 20th century, including race and class tensions, and imbued even her most salacious plotlines with commentary about gender conformity, societal restrictions and what she perceived as moral hypocrisy. Mae West: Dirty Blonde is the first major documentary film to explore West's life and career, as she "climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong" to become a writer, performer and subversive agitator for social change.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Jarek (2025)
The documentary explores the life and work of Jaromír Nohavica, utilizing hundreds of hours of his archive footage (including previously unreleased material). It offers a glimpse into his personal life, family background, concert dressing rooms, psychiatric clinic, and interrogation rooms of the former secret police (StB). The film is full of emotion, poetry, and harsh confrontations with reality, also reflecting the controversies surrounding Nohavica.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Françoise Hardy : Tant de belles choses... (2005)
An idol of young people in the 1960s, Françoise Hardy agrees to be interviewed and candidly reflects on her successes, disappointments, and love life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
John Cena's Greatest Rivalries (2022)
Reliving all of John Cena's classic feuds, from his early confrontations with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho to career-defining battles with Shawn Michaels, JBL, Triple H, Batista, Randy Orton, CM Punk and The Rock.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Youth?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Youth are Come See Me in the Good Light (2025), Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018) and For the Love of Spock (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Youth?
Start with Come See Me in the Good Light (2025), the closest match to Once Upon a Youth.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Youth?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Youth?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Youth chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Youth, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.