Movies like Look Away (2021)
The best movies like Look Away (2021) are Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015), The Sparks Brothers (2021) and Sympathy for the Devil (1968). If Look Away hooked you with its documentary and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSelena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)8.4/10 from 623 votes
- NewestThe Wave (2025)Released 2025
Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sparks Brothers (2021)
Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSympathy for the Devil (1968)
While The Rolling Stones rehearse "Sympathy for the Devil" in the studio, an alternating narrative reflects on 1968 society, politics and culture through five different vignettes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTINA (2021)
Tina Turner overcame impossible odds to become one of the first female Black artists to reach a mainstream international audience. Her road to superstardom is an undeniable story of triumph over adversity. It’s the ultimate story of survival – and an inspirational story of our times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMetallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)
After bassist Jason Newsted quits the band in 2001, heavy metal superstars Metallica realize that they need an intervention. In this revealing documentary, filmmakers follow the three rock stars as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression. Between searching for a replacement bass player, creating a new album and confronting their personal demons, the band learns to open up in ways they never thought possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElton John: Never Too Late (2024)
Sir Elton John looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged, full-circle journey. As he prepares for his final concert in North America at Dodger Stadium, Elton takes us back in time and recounts his struggles with adversity, abuse, and addiction, and how he overcame them to become the icon he is today.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley (2024)
He had one chance to show the world he was still the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Discover the story behind Elvis Presley's triumphant '68 comeback special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalftime (2022)
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beach Boys (2024)
A celebration of the legendary band that revolutionized pop music, and the iconic, harmonious sound they created that personified the California dream, captivating fans for generations and generations to come.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Velvet Underground (2021)
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Reputation (2018)
The life and career of rock n' roll icon Joan Jett from her early years ripping it up onstage as the founder and backbone of hard-rock legends The Runaways, to her long time collaboration with Kenny Laguna as Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and her enduring presence in pop culture as a rock pioneer and mentor. With her inimitable singles "I Love Rock n Roll," and "Bad Reputation" Joan Jett inspired a generation of young women to rock.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDemi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017)
A personal and intimate look into Demi Lovato's life as not only a regular 25 year old, but also one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Filth and the Fury (2000)
Julien Temple's second documentary profiling punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols is an enlightening, entertaining trip back to a time when the punk movement was just discovering itself. Featuring archival footage, never-before-seen performances, rehearsals, and recording sessions as well as interviews with group members who lived to tell the tale--including the one and only John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDig! (2004)
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHated: GG Allin and The Murder Junkies (1993)
An overview of the life of the most shocking, vile, and notorious of punk rock legends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSelena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)
Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBritney vs. Spears (2021)
Journalist Jenny Eliscu and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr investigate Britney Spears' fight for freedom by way of exclusive interviews and confidential evidence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeatles '64 (2024)
Featuring never-before-seen footage of the band and the legions of young fans who helped fuel their ascendance, follow McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Starr as they land in New York City in February 1964 and solidify their status as the biggest band in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTangerine Dream - Signals from the Schwäbischen Strasse (1976)
German TV film, also shown on Spanish TV in 1976, this is a film all about TD which includes informal interviews and concert/studio footage, most of which seems to have been done exclusively for the film. The interviews are in the German language. The street name in the title refers to where Edgar Froese used to live in Berlin (apparently Klaus Schulze lived on the same street at the time) and is now the site of the TDI offices.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & music
Wattstax (1973)
A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage from the concert with footage of the living conditions in the current-day Watts neighborhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & documentary
Bono: Stories of Surrender (2025)
Through words, music, and mischief, Bono pulls back the curtain on his deeply personal experiences that have shaped him as a son, father, husband, activist, and U2 frontman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & music
The Wave (2025)
A music student’s testimony ignites a feminist uprising on her campus, where protest becomes performance and collective voice becomes an act of resistance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Coluche, une époque formidable (2021)
Documentary on the French comedian, actor, humanitarian and legend Coluche.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Still Crazy (1998)
In the 1970s, Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. Twenty years on, these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVelvet Goldmine (1998)
Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBang Bang Baby (2014)
A small town teenager in the 1960s believes her dreams of becoming a famous singer will come true when her rock star idol gets stranded in town. But a leak in a nearby chemical plant that is believed to be causing mass mutations threatens to turn her dream into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Down with the King (2021)
Sent to the Berkshires to focus on his next album, disillusioned rap star Money Merc abruptly announces his retirement on Twitter. After Merc's announcement, his manager rushes to the countryside to lure him back into the music industry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
The Freeway Killer: Lost Murder Tapes (2022)
In 1970s California, a serial killer dumps young boys' bodies along the freeways. An L.A. street reporter on the case receives information that embroils him in the dilemma of a lifetime. Decades later, lost confession tapes help experts uncover the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like Look Away and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Look Away?
The closest matches to Look Away are Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015), The Sparks Brothers (2021) and Sympathy for the Devil (1968). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Look Away?
Start with Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015), the closest match to Look Away.
What is the highest-rated movie like Look Away?
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022), rated 8.4/10 by 623 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Look Away?
The Wave (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Look Away?
Yes: Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015), The Sparks Brothers (2021) and Sympathy for the Devil (1968).
How are movies similar to Look Away chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Look Away, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.