Movies like Where's Foster? (2021)
The best movies like Where's Foster? (2021) are Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023), Minding the Gap (2018) and Capturing the Friedmans (2003). If Where's Foster? hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)8.1/10 from 621 votes
- NewestCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)Released 2025
Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023)
Survivors, whistleblowers, and experts recount the Boy Scouts of America's decadeslong cover-up of sexual abuse cases and its heartbreaking impact.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinding the Gap (2018)
Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCapturing the Friedmans (2003)
An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoing Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree Identical Strangers (2018)
New York, 1980. Three complete strangers accidentally discover that they're identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMommy Dead and Dearest (2017)
Child abuse, mental illness, and forbidden love converge in this mystery involving a mother and daughter who were thought to be living a fairy tale life that turned out to be a living nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this49 Up (2006)
49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me (2023)
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife Overtakes Me (2019)
Hundreds of refugee children in Sweden, who have fled with their families from extreme trauma, have become afflicted with 'uppgivenhetssyndrom,' or Resignation Syndrome. Facing deportation, they withdraw from the world into a coma-like state, as if frozen, for months, or even years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAileen: Queen of the Serial Killers (2025)
Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell Camp: Teen Nightmare (2023)
Out-of-control teens across America were sent to a therapy camp in the harsh Utah desert. The conditions were brutal, but the staff were even worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisJohn Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAbducted in Plain Sight (2017)
A family falls prey to the manipulative charms of a neighbor, who abducts their adolescent daughter. Twice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025)
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Menendez Brothers (2024)
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015)
How might your life be better with less? The popular simple-living duo The Minimalists examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from various walks of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing Compares (2022)
Since the beginning of her career, Sinéad O’Connor has used her powerful voice to challenge the narratives she was surrounded by while growing up in predominantly Roman Catholic Ireland. Despite her agency, depth and perspective, O’Connor’s unflinching refusal to conform means that she has often been patronized and unfairly dismissed as an attention-seeking pop star.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLeaving Beginnings Behind (2021)
In her most recent film, Linda Kallistová Jablonská observes three girls growing up in a residential facility in Počátky, Czech Republic, over the course of ten years. She explores their dreams about liberty, the reality they must face as well as their ideas about their own future families. The sequel to her first longitudinal documentary about Adéla, Denisa and Pavla captures the rocky road to independence after leaving the facility, their reconciliation with the past, job search, new relationships, small joys and big disappointments. Not only does the director draw an empathic portrait of three young girls with no-one to rely on but themselves; she also explores the ways in which public institutions form young people’s attitudes to life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
7:11 Cuarzo (2023)
Suffering child abuse marks you, conditions you and limits you. But what's next? 7:11 Cuarzo is a documentary short film that delves into the consequences and shows us various ways of experiencing grief after suffering it: the aftermath, the path after breaking the silence and destroying the stigma. It talks about the treatment and care of wounds with testimonials from those who have suffered abuse and aggression. Learning to live again when the most precious thing, innocence, is taken from you.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Placed - The Journey Through Foster Care (2025)
Placed: The Journey Through Foster Care explores the reality of the Foster Care System that is hidden in plain sight. By going into the homes of foster parents, and asking social care workers for answers, this student documentary sheds light on the real voices and untold stories of the Foster System.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The State of Texas vs. Melissa (2021)
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Interrupters (2011)
The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters — former gang members who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once caused.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChampagne (1996)
The true story of a young teenage girl whose mother is incarcerated for murder. Living in a Catholic Children's home run by an order of nuns, she provides poignant commentary about her mother, her own situation and her outlook for the future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Join Us (2007)
At the Mountain Rock Church in South Carolina, Pastor Raimund Melz leads a small Christian cult that justifies brutal actions like child abuse with the words of the Old Testament. Documentarian Ondi Timoner focuses on one family in particular, who left the church with plans to file charges against Melz before eventually checking into a one-of-a-kind cult treatment center. Timoner's film follows their journey as they receive psychological help and then return home to confront their former pastor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer (1992)
Richard Kuklinski was a devoted husband, loving father--and ruthless killer of over 100 people. You'll meet him in this powerful documentary that features one of the most vivid and disturbing interviews ever recorded--taped behind the walls of the prison where Kuklinski is serving two consecutive life sentences for multiple homicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Where's Foster??
The closest matches to Where's Foster? are Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023), Minding the Gap (2018) and Capturing the Friedmans (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Where's Foster??
Start with Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023), the closest match to Where's Foster?.
What is the highest-rated movie like Where's Foster??
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008), rated 8.1/10 by 621 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Where's Foster??
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Where's Foster??
Yes: Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023), Minding the Gap (2018) and Capturing the Friedmans (2003).
How are movies similar to Where's Foster? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Where's Foster?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.