Movies like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1 (2020)
The best movies like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1 (2020) are As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010) and Come See Me in the Good Light (2025). If A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1 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
- NewestOutside/Inside (2026)Released 2026
As 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 thisAvatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010)
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome 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 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 thisDrew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)
A documentary on legendary movie-poster artist Drew Struzan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCapital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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 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 thisMcQueen (2018)
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisHarmontown (2014)
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Repair Shop (2024)
In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHarry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013)
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisShawn Mendes: In Wonder (2020)
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Sound of Crickets (2022)
After the disappearance of Aldemar his wife decided to get overall uncertainty by including him in the list of deaths in the 1938 Colombian National Census. Today, 83 years later, I repeat her. I try to find myself among the numbers in the digital database in order to finish the torture that has also implied my own disappearance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
ET Contact: They Are Here (2017)
ET CONTACT: THEY ARE HERE documents the jaw-dropping stories of individuals from around the world who share similar accounts of extraterrestrial and otherworldly encounters. Producer and host Caroline Cory, who has her own extensive history with the supernatural, takes the viewers on an extraordinary journey to uncover whether these seemingly independent yet parallel reports may actually be scientific evidence of a greater phenomenon at work. Through a series of groundbreaking on-camera experiments on human DNA, and interviews with leading scientists, viewers will find themselves pondering the nature of their own reality or yet the true origin of the human species. ET CONTACT may ultimately show that the traditionally unexplained is, in fact, far more attributable to science than fiction. NOTE: This film has been released in some territories under the title: "Among Us".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Fishing Dreams (2021)
Someone tells of a dream he had, which was to go fishing and get lots of fish, this kind of dream is often associated with a symbol of good luck. But he was afraid that the dream would happen again and again, from generation to generation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Among Us (2017)
Based on the jaw-dropping contact accounts of individuals from around the world, AMONG US explores the suspicious phenomenon of non-human presence on Earth, from angels to ETs, and unveils the many ways they may be interacting, communicating and transferring subliminal information into our consciousness and potentially our DNA. The film ultimately shows that the interconnectedness of all species may be beneficial and most likely inevitable for the evolution of an intelligent universe. This film has been released in some territories under the title: "ET Contact: They are here".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Fragments on the flow (2025)
Fragments from Brussels, about the flow of the city, A cinema, A body, A film, and a wind that blows through the town. The film is a Schizomentry experience that blends real stories and fiction. After all, where is the border?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Liam (2018)
Just after Isidore moves to France to study filmmaking, his best friend dies back in the US. Through documentary, performance, and animation, a ghostly portrait emerges, prompting Isidore to question his relationships with his parents and his boyfriend in Paris.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Other Side of Sadness (2018)
In a hybrid film, both documentary and fiction, five young women describe the feeling of grief when losing a parent at a young age. Anna returns to her father's home, a year after his death. In one weekend, she lives through a storm of emotions as these may come and go in the process of grief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Binibining Detainee (2018)
A slice of the eccentric lives of Roca and Sammy, two members of the Gay Inmates Organization detained at the Pampanga Provincial Jail, intertwined with animated sequences of an inmate's incarceration story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Land of the Enlightened (2016)
A group of Kuchi children are living in a minefield around Bagram airfield, Afghanistan. They dig out anti-personal mines in order to sell the explosives to child workers mining in a Lappis Lazulli mine. The trajectory of the blue precious stones goes towards Tajikistan and China, through an area controlled by child soldiers. When they are not waging their own mini-wars in the daily madness of life in Afghanistan, the children are fleeing away in their personal fantasies and dreams, while the American soldiers are planning their retreat...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Outside/Inside (2026)
From Ji-hlava film festival catalogue: For seven years, the director follows the life of Ceci, a stray cat that gradually settles into his home without ever completely leaving the world of the streets. Their ever-changing relationship forms the backbone of this time-lapse narrative, into which other cats and fragments of the director’s life are woven: unfinished film projects, relationships with neighbours, his deteriorating health, and events unfolding in the city and across the country. (...)This intimate chronicle of an unusual friendship simultaneously records the passage of time and the transformations of a human life, which becomes ever more closely intertwined with that of the cat. “The presence of the cat is central, but not as a character in a narrative sense. Rather, she becomes a point of departure, a way to move away from a human-centred perspective, without replacing it with another fixed position.” — Maani Petgar
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1?
The closest matches to A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1 are As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010) and Come See Me in the Good Light (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1?
Start with As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), the closest match to A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1?
Outside/Inside (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1?
Yes: As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010) and Come See Me in the Good Light (2025).
How are movies similar to A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Compendium of Brief Encounters with People I Might Be, Vol. 1, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.