Movies like The Beginning of Life 2: Outside (2020)
The best movies like The Beginning of Life 2: Outside (2020) are The Year Earth Changed (2021), Baraka (1992) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). If The Beginning of Life 2: Outside hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBaraka (1992)8.2/10 from 735 votes
- NewestThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026)Released 2026
The Year Earth Changed (2021)
Never-before-seen footage shows how our living in lockdown opened the door for nature to bounce back and thrive. Across the seas, skies, and lands, Earth found its rhythm when we came to a stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBaraka (1992)
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPowaqqatsi (1988)
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this2040 (2019)
A three year self-described labour of love, 2040 takes the form of a visual letter from the filmmaker to his four-year-old daughter Velvet, showing her what the year 2040 could look like “if we simply embraced the best solutions that exist today.”
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 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 thisAn Inconvenient Truth (2006)
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 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 thisSamsara (2011)
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisThe Biggest Little Farm (2019)
The successes and failures of a couple determined to live in harmony with nature on a farm outside of Los Angeles are lovingly chronicled by filmmaking farmer John Chester, in this inspiring documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026)
A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity, and explores the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what's at stake if we get it wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014)
Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEarth: One Amazing Day (2017)
An astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.
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 thisPromises (2001)
Documentarians Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg traveled to Israel to interview Palestinian and Israeli kids ages 11 to 13, assembling their views on living in a society afflicted with violence, separatism and religious and political extremism. This 2002 Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary culminates in an astonishing day in which two Israeli children meet Palestinian youngsters at a refugee camp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTears in the Amazon (2010)
A documentary about environment destruction in the Amazon and the tribes living there. Produced for the 48th anniversary of MBC, Korea. A brilliant records of the itinerary for 250 days through the Amazon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Fire in the Forest (2019)
The film shows the daily life of indigenous village Piyulaga, home of Waurá tribe --an ethnicity of 560 people who live at Xingu Park in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It also reveals how the indigenous community keeps its traditional culture while incorporating habits and technologies from the “white”.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Wild Women (2022)
At the beginning of winter, a filmmaker retires for six months to a hermit's cabin in the middle of the forest, cut off from the world and its means of communication. Through the words of four women she has filmed previously, all of whom have dedicated their lives to different forms of spirituality, she embarks on a mysterious inner adventure, on the edge of solitude and nature. A journey that invites us to connect with the world in a different way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Beavers (1988)
A story about several beaver families in their wild surroundings. The interesting process of building a dam can be watched as well as the dangers arising from hungry bears and other influences on the new-built home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
5 Times Chico: The San Francisco River and His People (2019)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cannabis : Une enquête de Mathieu Kassovitz et Antoine Robin (2024)
In many countries, cannabis legislation is becoming more relaxed, whether for therapeutic reasons or to combat illegal trafficking. In France, the country with the highest number of cannabis users in Europe, this issue is still a subject of debate. To understand why some countries are legalizing it and how they regulate its use, Mathieu Kassovitz and Antoine Robin spent a year investigating ten different countries. This documentary explores the organization, successes, and failures of this legislation and questions the adaptability of these different models to France.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
78 days: A Tree Planting Documentary (2014)
Tree planting is one of the most physically and mentally demanding jobs in Canada. Working long days in the baking sun of desolate clear cuts, you can expect rain storms and snow covered tents: that's tree planting in Northern Alberta. In this documentary, veteran planters share their experiences as they struggle through each day of what has become the longest and most difficult season ever!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
7 Days in Syria (2015)
In the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, Newsweek Middle East editor, Janine di Giovanni, risks it all to bear witness, ensuring that the world knows about the suffering of the Syrian people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Beginning of Life 2: Outside?
The closest matches to The Beginning of Life 2: Outside are The Year Earth Changed (2021), Baraka (1992) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Beginning of Life 2: Outside?
Start with The Year Earth Changed (2021), the closest match to The Beginning of Life 2: Outside.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Beginning of Life 2: Outside?
Baraka (1992), rated 8.2/10 by 735 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Beginning of Life 2: Outside?
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Beginning of Life 2: Outside chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Beginning of Life 2: Outside, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.