Movies like Happy (2012)
The best movies like Happy (2012) are My Mom Jayne (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and I Am Heath Ledger (2017). If Happy 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 733 votes
- NewestMy Mom Jayne (2025)Released 2025
My 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 thisJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbrace the Panda: Making Turning Red (2022)
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends (2019)
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this56 Up (2012)
When a cross-section of seven-year-olds were interviewed for 7 Up in 1964 it was immediately evident that their social backgrounds influenced their attitudes towards life. While the upper class children were confident and self-assured, those from middle and working class backgrounds were resigned to a challenging life of hard work. This premise was put to the test every seven years when the same group were interviewed about the progression of their lives. 49 years in the making, the changes that occurred to the original 14 make for fascinating television and are in many ways the stories of all our lives. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life has been captured on film. Now, at the age of 56, the group are once more brought together and, with the benefit of hindsight, assess whether their lives have been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.
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 this10-Minute Solution: Pilates (2004)
Lara Hudson is your guide through five workouts: Pilates for Abs, Pilates for Buns & Thighs, Pilates for Flexibility, Sculpting Pilates, and Pilates Burn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
PTSD911 (TBA)
First Responders sign up to serve; they risk their lives and their mental health to respond to someone’s worst day. Who will rescue them? PTSD911 is a documentary film about real people: normal, average human beings who have chosen to work in professions that require above average heroism, fortitude, and resolve. These men and women have jobs that require a willingness to face things that most of us can’t even imagine, yet maintain a high level of dignity and professionalism. First responders in fact repeatedly see and experience things that most of us will never see, causing compound issues related to post-traumatic stress injuries and disorders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
In Praise of Hands (1974)
This short documentary pays tribute to the craftsmen everywhere whose work adds color and richness to life. Filmed in the Canadian Arctic, Finland, India, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Poland, it shows the special skills of artisans working at their crafts - stone sculpture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, dyeing, puppet making, embroidery. Each indigenous skill is a reflection of the culture of the country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Iron Temple (2021)
IFBB Pro Tony Torres built a lucrative lifestyle which came crashing down after covering for a friend who committed a murder. After being chased by the FBI he was sent to prison for five years. Once he did his time, Tony had to build back his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Spring Forest Qigong, Level 1: For Health (2000)
Chunyi Lin teaches introduces viewers to his Spring Forest Qigong system, with a focus on practices for health and wellness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Risking Light (2018)
Dawn Mikkelson’s Risking Light is a meditation on forgiveness, layered with a theme that is rarely seen on the screen—forgiving the unforgivable. Five years prior to making the film, Mikkelson met Mary Johnson and O’Shea Israel, a meeting she describes as a life-changing event that would lead to the development of Risking Light. It was then she learned that Johnson had chosen to forgive Israel for the murder of her son, which motivates the tone of humanistic mission in the film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Happy Dance (2014)
Twice every day, rain hail or shine. That's how often the dancers at Donhuan Lu gather to exercise in the plaza. The music and the moves are hard to pass by, and the personalities are even more captivating! "Happy Dance" is a short exploration of the phenomenon that is 广场舞, and how it turns ordinary neighbours into good friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Twitch (2014)
Twitch follows 18-year-old Kristen Powers as she undergoes genetic testing for the disease that killed her mother. Huntington’s Disease (HD), a neurodegenerative brain disorder, destroys an individual’s ability to walk, talk, think, and reason, eventually leading to death. The film will chronicle the emotional, social and medical journey through this important test, as well as the impact it has on an individual’s future. Twitch explores the science with major Huntington’s Disease experts and activists who will provide deeper insight into the complexities and hopes buried in the disease. Huntington’s has great stigma surrounding it; solving its mystery could potentially lead to the cures of not only HD but also several other neurological illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimers and ALS. This documentary will highlight the pressures people, especially young adults, face when given the chance to be handed their medical fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Way to Happiness (2009)
Using the unabridged and complete text, exactly as written by L. Ron Hubbard, The Way to Happiness book-on-film follows the printed book chapter by chapter, precept by precept. The interweaving stories of a cast of characters illustrate each concept contained in the book. It's a 2-hour feature film containing 23 segments covering each principle of The Way to Happiness, vividly enacted and illustrated. The film educates with effectiveness and ease and so brings these precepts home to anyone. The two-hour book-on-film, produced by the Church of Scientology at Golden Era Productions, its film studio in Southern California, is available on DVD in English and 15 other languages. The DVD has been placed in more than 86,000 school, public, national and academic libraries around the world. Educators, parents, community and religious leaders, law enforcement officers and many others use The Way to Happiness book-on-film in their programs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
A Mindful Choice (2016)
Inner peace and self-fulfillment are possible for each of us. Two modern day monks set off on an international journey to film a diverse range of people making the choice for a better life through meditation. Stunning cinematography combined with the power of people sharing from a place of profound peace delivers a palpable and moving experience. Available to rent or buy in 11 languages - English, Spanish, Portugese, Norwegian, Mandarin, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish. https://vimeo.com
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Happy?
The closest matches to Happy are My Mom Jayne (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and I Am Heath Ledger (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Happy?
Start with My Mom Jayne (2025), the closest match to Happy.
What is the highest-rated movie like Happy?
Baraka (1992), rated 8.2/10 by 733 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Happy?
My Mom Jayne (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Happy?
Yes: My Mom Jayne (2025), Being James Bond (2021) and I Am Heath Ledger (2017).
How are movies similar to Happy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Happy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.