Movies like Butterfly in the Sky (2024)
The best movies like Butterfly in the Sky (2024) are Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), Tell them anything you want: A portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009) and Alive Inside (2014). If Butterfly in the Sky 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 ratedWon't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)8.0/10 from 628 votes
- NewestSecret Mall Apartment (2025)Released 2025
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTell them anything you want: A portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009)
A loving look at one of the most cherished and controversial figures in children's literature, Maurice Sendak. In this deeply moving tribute, spend time with the man who spoke to children through his stories and illustrations in a way no one else could.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Alive Inside (2014)
Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia—many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural fears over aging are confronted.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRBG (2018)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg’s life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg’s consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life’s work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCat Ladies (2009)
The real story behind the oft-ridiculed 'cat lady' - a cultural stereotype and figure of ridicule for women of a certain age with too many furry companions. Through the intimate portrait of four unique 'cat ladies' we create a sensitive and emotionally honest portrait of women whose lives and self-worth have become intractably linked to cats. It's not the number of cats that defines someone as a 'cat lady', but rather their attachment, or non-attachment, to human beings. They create a world with their cats in which they are accepted and in control - a world where they ultimately have value.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Waiting for "Superman" (2010)
Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife, Animated (2016)
At three years old, a chatty, energetic little boy named Owen Suskind ceased to speak, disappearing into autism with apparently no way out. Almost four years passed and the only stimuli that engaged Owen were Disney films. Then one day, his father donned a puppet—Iago, the wisecracking parrot from Aladdin—and asked “what’s it like to be you?” And poof! Owen replied, with dialogue from the movie. Life, Animated tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMerchants of Doubt (2014)
Spin doctors spread misinformation and confusion among American citizens to delay progress on such important issues as global climate change.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMister Rogers & Me (2010)
An MTV producer's life is transformed when he meets the recently retired host of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,' Fred Rogers. Friendship with the PBS icon sets the young producer on a hero's quest to find depth and simplicity amidst a shallow and complex world through conversations with Susan Stamberg (NPR), Tim Russert ('Meet The Press'), Marc Brown ('Arthur') and more.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Biggest Little Farm (2019)
The successes and failures of a couple determined to live in harmony with nature on a farm outside of Los Angeles are lovingly chronicled by filmmaking farmer John Chester, in this inspiring documentary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWordplay (2006)
From the masters who create the mind-bending diversions to the tense competition at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Patrick Creadon's documentary reveals a fascinating look at a decidedly addictive pastime. Creadon captures New York Times editor Will Shortz at work, talks to celebrity solvers -- including Bill Clinton and Ken Burns -- and presents an intimate look at the national tournament and its competitors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan (2023)
Ed Sullivan broke barriers by booking Black artists on his Sunday night variety show. This documentary spotlights the TV pioneer's legacy of equality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015)
A fresh perspective on a modern-day miracle that many of us take for granted: flying. Narrated by Harrison Ford and featuring an original score from Academy Award® winning composer James Horner, the film takes viewers to 18 countries across all seven continents to illuminate how airplanes have empowered a century of global connectedness our ancestors could never have imagined.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Spellbound (2002)
This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKnock Down the House (2019)
In 2018, a young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri join a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. Without political experience or corporate money, these four women are attempting to do what many consider impossible.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBecoming Cousteau (2021)
Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
American Promise (2013)
In 1999, filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson turned the camera on themselves and began filming their five-year-old son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they started kindergarten at the prestigious Dalton School just as the private institution was committing to diversify its student body. Their cameras continued to follow both families for another 12 years as the paths of the two boys diverged—one continued private school while the other pursued a very different route through the public education system.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
I Am Greta (2020)
Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old student in Sweden, started a school strike for the climate as her question for adults was, if you don’t care about my future on earth, why should I care about my future in school? Within months, her strike evolved into a global movement as the quiet teenage girl on the autism spectrum becomes a world-famous activist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisDavid Holmes: The Boy Who Lived (2023)
As Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter films, David Holmes' work has been seen worldwide by millions of people. Tragically an on-set accident ended what David calls "the best job in the world," leaving him paralyzed. Like the on-screen character he helped bring to life, David is determined to continue seeking adventure and living life to the fullest despite mounting obstacles.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCitizenfour (2014)
In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpaceship Earth (2020)
In 1991 a group of countercultural visionaries built an enormous replica of earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2. When eight “biospherians” lived sealed inside, they faced ecological calamities and cult accusations. Their epic adventure is a cautionary tale but also a testament to the power of small groups reimagining the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Inconvenient Truth (2006)
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (2021)
Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child's surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Jane (2017)
Drawing from never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives, director Brett Morgen tells the story of Jane Goodall, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecret Mall Apartment (2025)
In 2003, eight Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment inside a busy mall and lived there for four years, filming everything along the way. Far more than a prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all involved.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPage One: Inside the New York Times (2011)
Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of the transformation of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021)
Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBatkid Begins (2015)
On November 15, 2013, the world came together to grant one 5-year-old leukemia patient his wish to be Batman for a day. "Batkid Begins" looks at why and how this phenomenon took place, becoming one of the biggest "good news" stories of all time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Dark Horse (2015)
The larger than life true story of how a barmaid in a poor Welsh mining village convinces some of her fellow residents to pool their resources to compete in the "sport of kings" with a racehorse they would breed and raise.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisHoward (2018)
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Butterfly in the Sky?
The closest matches to Butterfly in the Sky are Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), Tell them anything you want: A portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009) and Alive Inside (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Butterfly in the Sky?
People who watched Butterfly in the Sky most often go on to Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), Tell them anything you want: A portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009) and Alive Inside (2014).
What is the highest-rated movie like Butterfly in the Sky?
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), rated 8.0/10 by 628 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Butterfly in the Sky?
Secret Mall Apartment (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Butterfly in the Sky?
Yes: Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), Tell them anything you want: A portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009) and Alive Inside (2014).
How are movies similar to Butterfly in the Sky chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Butterfly in the Sky, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.