Movies like The Stanford Prison Experiment (2002)
The best movies like The Stanford Prison Experiment (2002) are Seduced and Abandoned (2013), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and A Toxic Love Story (2026). If The Stanford Prison Experiment 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
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Seduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Will Fall (2014)
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAs 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: 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 this28 Up (1985)
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
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 this35 Up (1991)
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarvel's Behind the Mask (2021)
A documentary special that explores the power of identity behind the iconic superheroes we know and love today. These legendary Marvel creations and stories have not only reflected the world outside our window – they have become a reflection of our own identities and who we truly are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStruggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018)
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLooking for Richard (1996)
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor the Love of Spock (2016)
The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGilbert (2017)
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this21 Up (1977)
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisSigmund Freud - L'invention de la psychanalyse (1997)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Circle (1967)
Produced in 1967, this black and white film is an inmate's view of Daytop, a drug treatment centre on Staten Island, New York, where addicts learn to get along without drugs. Uncompromising, often brutal group therapy sessions are designed to shake loose the excuses a victim makes for himself. The people and situations shown are authentic; only one actor was employed. The results obtained at Daytop are regarded by some psychiatrists as a breakthrough.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Draussen bleiben (2007)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Sous la main de l'autre (2011)
In Their Hands follows the psychotherapy of vulnerable people, sometimes destroyed by acts of torture.Their speech deals with an inhuman past: they want to stop the pain, rule out the folly and protect their family from violence in them, be understood and recognized - these are the issues that drive them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Hugo's Brain (2012)
The Hugo's Brain is a French documentary-drama about autism. The documentary crosses authentic autistic stories with a fiction story about the life of an autistic (Hugo), from childhood to adulthood, portraying his difficulties and his handicap.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Family Forest (TBA)
Epigenetics and psychogenealogy through a VERY personal experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Space: The Longest Goodbye (2024)
Social isolation affects millions of people, even Mars-bound astronauts. A savvy NASA psychologist is tasked with protecting these daring explorers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Animal Studies in the Social Modification of Organically Motivated Behavior (1938)
A record-instructional film showing a few of the many ways in which the behaviour of hungry rats can be modified according to the nature of the prevailing social situation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Year They Discovered People (1974)
In the 1920s, Western Electric Company ordered a series of studies to be conducted at their plant in Cicero, Illinois. At first they wanted to see how lighting affected productivity on the factory floor. Researchers also interviewed employees to hear their ideas and opinions about company policies, management, and other subjects. These were the Hawthorne studies, landmark research in industrial and organizational psychology. In the early 1970s, some of the participants of this study—researchers and workers alike--reunited and reminisced about their involvement.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Kompleta (2025)
The film is an intimate record of a difficult period in the life of the creators. The main character, eight months pregnant, was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. The dramatic event disrupted the joy associated with the birth of her child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Stanford Prison Experiment?
The closest matches to The Stanford Prison Experiment are Seduced and Abandoned (2013), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and A Toxic Love Story (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Stanford Prison Experiment?
Start with Seduced and Abandoned (2013), the closest match to The Stanford Prison Experiment.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Stanford Prison Experiment?
I Am Heath Ledger (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Stanford Prison Experiment?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Stanford Prison Experiment?
Yes: Seduced and Abandoned (2013), Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025) and A Toxic Love Story (2026).
How are movies similar to The Stanford Prison Experiment chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Stanford Prison Experiment, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.