Movies like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape (2013)
The best movies like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape (2013) are Born to Be Wild (2011), Pandas (2018) and Chimpanzee (2012). If Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEarth (2007)7.7/10 from 388 votes
- NewestWolves Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2026)Released 2026
Born to Be Wild (2011)
Born to Be Wild observes various orphaned jungle animals and their day-to-day behavioural interactions with the individuals who rescue them and raise them to adulthood. The film unfurls in two separate geographic spheres. Half of it takes place in the rain forests of Borneo, where celebrated primatologist Dr. Birute Galdikas assists baby orangutans; the other half takes place on the arid savannahs of Kenya, where zoologist Dame Daphne Sheldrick works with baby elephant calves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPandas (2018)
In the mountains of Sichuan, China, a researcher forms a bond with Qian Qian, a panda who is about to experience nature for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChimpanzee (2012)
A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests. Through Oscar, a little chimpanzee, we discover learning about life in the heart of the African tropical forest and follow his first steps in this world with humor, emotion and anguish. Following a tragedy, he finds himself separated from his mother and left alone to face the hostility of the jungle. Until he is picked up by an older chimpanzee, who will take him under her protection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEarth (2007)
An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in EARTH. Disneynature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElephant (2020)
Disneynature’s Elephant follows African elephant Shani and her spirited son Jomo as their herd make an epic journey hundreds of miles across the vast Kalahari Desert. Led by their great matriarch, Gaia, the family faces brutal heat, dwindling resources and persistent predators, as they follow in their ancestors’ footsteps on a quest to reach a lush, green paradise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Meerkats (2008)
A coming of age story following a young meerkat pup, Kolo, growing up in the Kalahari desert; and an inspiring look at how one family's connection to each other and their surroundings is a model of resilience and fortitude for us all. Shot using ground-breaking techniques, this dramatised documentary is a one-of-a-kind presentation from The Weinstein Company and the BBC, featuring narration by Paul Newman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisS4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGhost Elephants (2026)
In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Kill a Tiger (2023)
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlone in the Wilderness (2004)
Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBehind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfrican Cats (2011)
African Cats captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisSome Kind of Heaven (2021)
Behind the gates of a palm-tree-lined fantasyland, three residents and one interloper at America's largest retirement community strive to find happiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFacing Ali (2009)
Ten of Muhammad Ali's former rivals pay tribute to the three-time world heavyweight champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008)
In the remote and forgotten wilderness of Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, one of nature's last great mysteries unfolds: the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWolves Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2026)
Reconnecting with a pack of wolves he has followed for seven years, Bertie sets out to capture one of the Arctic's most dangerous and rarely filmed hunts: wolves taking on a bull moose, prey roughly ten times their size. Led by Kona, a striking white breeding male, the pack faces a critical winter as dwindling food supplies, an encroaching rival wolf and an aging leader threaten its survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrangutan (2026)
Narrated by Josh Gad, journey high into the rainforest canopy of Southeast Asia where a magnificent and mysterious community filled with playful personalities lives. Witness the exhilarating action, heartwarming encounters, and a closeup look at a stunning jungle teeming with wildlife as the inquisitive adolescent orangutan Indah prepares to leave her family and venture out on her own for the first time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Last Book (2019)
The film focuses on the exciting life journey of Swiss writer Katharina Zimmermann. She follows her husband on a mission to the jungle in Indonesia where she raises their four children and five foster children and lives through the military coup. Back in Switzerland Katharina discovers her voice and finds her path. Now, at eighty, she is writing her life story. Yet suddenly she faces another battle because her publisher is threatening to let her go.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Tawai: A Voice from the Forest (2017)
Explorer Bruce Parry visits nomadic tribes in Borneo and the Amazon in hope to better understand humanity's changing relationship with the world around us.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Person of the Forest (2017)
In the vanishing lowland rainforests of Borneo, research is underway to uncover and understand the unique cultural behaviors in wild orangutans. There, photographer Tim Laman, researcher Cheryl Knott, and young explorer Robert Suro shed new light on the similarities between ourselves and our ancient ancestors, before it’s too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Guilty (2017)
A film about convicted drug smuggler Myuran Sukumaran, who became an accomplished artist before he was executed by firing squad in Indonesia in April 2015.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Bushfire Animal Rescue (2020)
From the ashes of Australia’s devastating bushfires, wildlife survivors begin their long journeys to recovery. Australia’s fauna have evolved to coexist with bushfire, but these Black Summer fires are unprecedented in their scale, speed and intensity. Many native animals are unable to escape, or endure, without human help. We follow iconic species like koalas, kangaroos, wombats, and an endangered parrot through their rescue, rehabilitation and eventual release. Remarkable tales of compassion and dedication are revealed along the way – from an orphan wombat growing too attached to her carer, to audacious helicopter airdrops to feed remote rock wallabies. When the fires finally burn out, Australia looks to the science, innovation and Indigenous knowledge that will be needed to safeguard fragile wildlife in an even hotter future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Sign of Doom (2022)
The pandemic has changed many things. Including Alfia, she is a teacher who has learned a lot from the phenomenon she saw. For Alfia, trash is no longer appropriate to be disposed of in its place.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
On the Track of Robert van Gulik (2016)
Robert van Gulik (1910–1967) served as a diplomat, collected Chinese lutes and invented Judge Dee, yet his own country barely remembers him. Rob Rombout travels from the Netherlands to Indonesia, Japan, the United States and China, through diaries, archives and the people van Gulik still haunts. Somewhere between biography and detective story, the man and his hero merge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The last whale hunters (2021)
The Lamalera village is located in a small volcanic Island, a poor, barren land, and they catch whales to eat. It is the only way for them to survive. The harpooners are called lamafa in the local language. They are the village's pride because they take the whole responsibility for the very dangerous hunting. In 2018. a tragedy struck the village. Benjamin, a young lamafa, was killed during a spear hunting. His father, Ignatius, was devastated, and Benjamin's brother, Demo, was shocked and unable to go hunting. They blame accidents at sea on a victim's family discord in Lamalera. Ignatius, the master boat-builder, decided to build a new traditional whaleboat to reunite the family bond. The whaling boat is 12 meters long, made entirely of hand-crafted wood, not using a single nail, and is considered an intangible cultural asset.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Borneo - Insel der Schönheit, Leidenschaft und Dämonie (1952)
Documentary about Borneo, the island of beauty, passion and demons
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape?
The closest matches to Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape are Born to Be Wild (2011), Pandas (2018) and Chimpanzee (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape?
Start with Born to Be Wild (2011), the closest match to Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape.
What is the highest-rated movie like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape?
Earth (2007), rated 7.7/10 by 388 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape?
Wolves Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape?
Yes: Born to Be Wild (2011), Pandas (2018) and Chimpanzee (2012).
How are movies similar to Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.