Movies like Detroit Lives (2010)
The best movies like Detroit Lives (2010) are Searching for Sugar Man (2012), Girl Rising (2013) and Baraka (1992). If Detroit Lives hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedO.J.: Made in America (2016)8.4/10 from 271 votes
- NewestAre WE Beautiful? (2025)Released 2025
Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGirl Rising (2013)
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisOLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022)
Grammy® winner singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo takes a familiar road trip from Salt Lake City, where she began writing her debut album “SOUR,” to Los Angeles. Along the way, Rodrigo recounts the memories of writing and creating her record-breaking debut album and shares her feelings as a young woman navigating a specific time in her life. Through new live arrangements of her songs, intimate interviews and never-before-seen footage from the making of the album, audiences will follow Olivia along on a cinematic journey exploring the story of “SOUR.”
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 thisEx Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love Song for Latasha (2019)
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisO.J.: Made in America (2016)
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMichael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015)
How might your life be better with less? The popular simple-living duo The Minimalists examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from various walks of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavid Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
A filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway show, a unifying musical celebration that inspires audiences to connect to each other and to the global community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011)
A presentation of a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter will transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical 'life ground' attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a 'Resource-Based Economy'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018)
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvicii: True Stories (2017)
Documentary about the arena-packing Swedish DJ, chronicling his explosive rise to fame and surprising decision to retire from live performances in 2016.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Am Ali (2014)
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mole: Undercover in North Korea (2020)
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSide by Side (2012)
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn the Other Side (2022)
The oldest Quebecois Benedictine convent open its gates to a documentary filmmaker for the first time. Observed up close, life behind its walls is busier than one would expect. About twenty cloistered nuns, most of them over 70, share their daily life with diligence and humor. A contemplative portrait of a community of sisterhood and solidarity emerges, punctuated by prayer, work and games evenings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Ableism in São Paulo (2024)
Through intimate stories and day-to-day routines we get a naturalistic glimpse into the lives of individuals with disabilities in the bustling urban landscape of São Paulo. The film captures personal moments and how modern societies confront (or fail to confront) ableism and inclusion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Radiant City (2007)
Since the end of World War II, one of kind of urban residential development has dominate how cities in North America have grown, the suburbs. In these artificial neighborhoods, there is a sense of careless sprawl in an car dominated culture that ineffectually tries to create the more organically grown older communities. Interspersed with the comments of various experts about the nature of suburbia
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Strike or Die (2020)
In October 1995, Forbach witnessed one of the most violent strikes in the history of contemporary France. A thousand or so miners took to the streets for a merciless struggle against a reform in their rights. Twenty years after the mines shut down, people’s will to fight is still alive, just hidden away somewhere.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle White Lie (2014)
Lacey Schwartz grew up in a typical upper-middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity - despite the open questions from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin. She believes her family's explanation that her looks were inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather. But when her parents abruptly split, her gut starts to tell her something different. At age of 18, she finally confronts her mother and learns the truth: her biological father was not the man who raised her, but a black man named Rodney with whom her mother had had an affair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Where We Goin?: The Power of Place (2025)
Devin Boss is on a quest. And he wants you to join him as he explores this simple question: Where We Goin? A millennial Black filmmaker and artist raised in the heart of the whitest city in America, Portland, OR, Boss ventures out to uncover the deeper truths that have shaped not just his city — but his very identity. Boss invites us all along for the ride as he explores the work of Black creatives, cultural stewards and changemakers - past and present - snatching the narratives back, about community resilience and innovation as he examines his roots, to dream of what’s next for him, and all the future ancestors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Are WE Beautiful? (2025)
"Are WE Beautiful?” is an exploration of the way societal views affect the Black self-image. Told through a series of interviews with real New Yorkers of different ages and gender expressions, exploring and discussing the titular question: are we beautiful?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
DeRosa: Life, Love & Art in Transition (2021)
Chronicles the extraordinary life of artist Felicia DeRosa, who came out as transgender at the age of 41. With her life, career, and marriage potentially at risk, Felicia embarks on a journey towards authenticity and self-acceptance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Detroit Pistons: 1988-1989 NBA Champions - Motor City Madness (1989)
The 1989 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1988–89 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the 1989 NBA Playoffs. The series was a rematch of the previous year's championship round between the Eastern Conference playoff champion Detroit Pistons and the Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Detroit Lives?
The closest matches to Detroit Lives are Searching for Sugar Man (2012), Girl Rising (2013) and Baraka (1992). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Detroit Lives?
Start with Searching for Sugar Man (2012), the closest match to Detroit Lives.
What is the highest-rated movie like Detroit Lives?
O.J.: Made in America (2016), rated 8.4/10 by 271 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Detroit Lives?
Are WE Beautiful? (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Detroit Lives?
Yes: Searching for Sugar Man (2012), Girl Rising (2013) and Baraka (1992).
How are movies similar to Detroit Lives chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Detroit Lives, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.