Movies like Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
The best movies like Standard Operating Procedure (2008) are Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999), The House I Live In (2012) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014). If Standard Operating Procedure hooked you with its documentary and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Look of Silence (2014)7.8/10 from 328 votes
- NewestNAZA (2026)Released 2026
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris investigates the case of a man who became an authority on capital punishment, but was discredited when he got involved on the wrong side of a court case. Leuchter, a meek man whose appearance belies his grim expertise, develops what he says is a more effective electric chair. Before long, he's in demand from officials who want his opinions on other execution methods. But when called to aid the case of an accused Holocaust denier, Leuchter's problems begin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House I Live In (2012)
In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLast Days in Vietnam (2014)
During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHearts and Minds (1974)
Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLouis Theroux: Behind Bars (2008)
For two weeks, Theroux visits the San Quentin State Prison.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gatekeepers (2012)
In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisControl Room (2004)
A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmadillo (2010)
Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal – no actors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRestrepo (2010)
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ground Truth (2006)
Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to tell the truth. Hear and witness our soldiers in this penetrating film. The shocking Iraq War ground conflict is only a prelude to the even more challenging battles these reluctant heroes face upon their return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
The Look of Silence (2014)
An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2013)
In 2010, the media branded a platoon of U.S. Army infantry soldiers “The Kill Team” following reports of its killing for sport in Afghanistan. Now, one of the accused must fight the government he defended on the battlefield, while grappling with his own role in the alleged murders. Dan Krauss’s absorbing documentary examines the stories of four men implicated in heinous war crimes in a stark reminder that, in war, innocence may be relative to the insanity around you.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fog of War (2003)
Former corporate whiz kid Robert McNamara was the controversial Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, during the height of the Vietnam War. Augmented by archival footage and cabinet conversation recordings, Errol Morris gives the conflicted McNamara a platform on which he attempts to confront his and the U.S. government's actions in Southeast Asia in light of the horrors of modern warfare, the end of ideology and the punitive judgment of history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity of Ghosts (2017)
With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKorengal (2014)
Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhosts of Abu Ghraib (2007)
An examination of the prisoner abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers and detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the fall of 2003.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Taxi to the Dark Side (2008)
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unknown Known (2013)
Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003)
On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
Documentary portraying the actions of U.S. corporate contractors in the U.S.-Iraq war. Interviews with employees and former employees of such companies as Halliburton, CACI, and KBR suggest that government cronyism is behind apparent "sweetheart" deals that give such contractors enormous freedom to profit from supplying support and material to American troops while providing little oversight. Survivors of employees who were killed discuss the claim that the companies cared more for profit than for the welfare of their own workers, and soldiers indicate that the quality of services provided is sub-standard and severely in contradiction to the comparatively huge profits being generated. Also depicted are the unsuccessful attempts by the filmmakers to get company spokesmen to respond to the charges made by the interviewees.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
13th (2016)
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Forever Prisoner (2021)
The chilling story of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to the CIA’s program of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, later identified as torture by those outside the agency. Having never been charged with a crime or allowed to challenge his detention, Zubaydah remains imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay in Kafkaesque limbo, in direct contravention of America’s own ideals of justice and due process.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
NAZA (2026)
Filmed at night from Tel Aviv rooftops, this investigative documentary examines the civilian casualties of Israel's military operations in Gaza and the systems behind targeted killings of Palestinians.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Longest War (2020)
The human stories and drama behind America's involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history. First-hand witnesses — ranging from U.S. intelligence operatives, to soldiers and their families, Afghan officials, journalists, top government and military officials — bring their experiences to life through emotional interviews.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Five Broken Cameras (2011)
Five broken cameras – and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Act of Killing (2012)
After befriending documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various American film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Farm: Angola, USA (1998)
Documentary depicting day to day life in Angola Prison mostly from an inmate's perspective. Interviews are with several inmates including one with a life sentence who is about to die.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The True Story of Charlie Wilson (2007)
A playboy congressman, an outcast CIA operative, and a socialite steer over $300 million of the United States Government’s money — in an era when Reagan couldn’t raise $19 million for the Contras — to fund a covert war intended to turn Afghanistan into “Russia’s Vietnam.” Is this a joke? Is this some improbable work of fiction? Who are these wildly eccentric figures? How did they pull it off? In this special presentation from THE HISTORY CHANNEL® discover the intricate details of this incredible, fascinating and completely true series of events. Learn how Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson allied with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Houston philanthropist Joanne Herring to secretly bankroll the Afghan Mujahideen’s resistance to the Soviet Union. Retrace the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the CIA’s largest and most successful campaign ever. And understand the wide-ranging and long-lasting implications of this little-known episode.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Winter Soldier (1972)
For three days in 1971, former US soldiers who were in Vietnam testify in Detroit about their war experiences. Nearly 30 speak, describing atrocities personally committed or witnessed, telling of inaccurate body counts, and recounting the process of destroying a village.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Standard Operating Procedure?
The closest matches to Standard Operating Procedure are Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999), The House I Live In (2012) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Standard Operating Procedure?
People who watched Standard Operating Procedure most often go on to Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999), The House I Live In (2012) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
What is the highest-rated movie like Standard Operating Procedure?
The Look of Silence (2014), rated 7.8/10 by 328 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Standard Operating Procedure?
NAZA (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Standard Operating Procedure?
Yes: Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999), The House I Live In (2012) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
How are movies similar to Standard Operating Procedure chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Standard Operating Procedure, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.