Movies like The Real Charlie Chan (2006)
The best movies like The Real Charlie Chan (2006) are I Am Heath Ledger (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013). If The Real Charlie Chan hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Real Charlie Chan
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCitizenfour (2014)7.7/10 from 1,472 votes
- NewestCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)Released 2025
I 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 thisMy Mom Jayne (2025)
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHarry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013)
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
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 thisDMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBruce Lee, the Legend (1984)
The Official Golden Harvest tribute to the Master of the Martial Arts Film, Bruce Lee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJackie Chan: My Story (1998)
Jackie Chan is one of the world's biggest action stars, famed for his wacky sense of humor, remarkable martial arts techniques, and willingness to perform incredible stunts without the use of doubles -- or a net. This video takes a personal look at Chan as he works on screen projects in Hollywood and Beijing and candidly discusses his life and work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisSidney (2022)
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
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 thisKim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (2017)
The larger-than-life story of Kim Dotcom, the 'most wanted man online', is extraordinary enough, but the battle between Dotcom and the US Government and entertainment industry—being fought in New Zealand—is one that goes to the heart of ownership, privacy and piracy in the digital age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisNo Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 thisAbove Majestic (2018)
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVoyeur (2017)
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisDe reparto: retrato de un actor (2009)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Orson Welles y Goya (2008)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Albert Camus, la tragédie du bonheur (1999)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Cinema According to Dalí (2010)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cinéma, de notre temps: Mosso, mosso (Jean Rouch comme si...) (1999)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L'album de famille de Jean Renoir (1956)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Regina (2013)
The first woman rabbi in the world, Regina Jonas, comes to light, courtesy of Rachel Weisz – who plays her – and her father George Weisz, who was the executive producer for this poetic and beautiful documentary. The daughter of an Orthodox Jewish peddler, Jonas was ordained in Berlin in 1935. During the Nazi era and the war, her sermons and her unparalleled devotion brought encouragement to the persecuted German Jews. Regina Jonas was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. The only surviving photo of Jonas serves as a leitmotif for the film, showing a determined young woman gazing at the camera with self-confidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
To Be Frank: Sinatra at 100 (2015)
The life of Frank Sinatra, as an actor and singer and the steps along the way that led him to become such an icon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Comeback (1980)
After an absence of five years, six times Mr Olympia winner Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a comeback and attempts to take the World Body Building Championship for the 7th time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story (2020)
An in-depth profile of the life and career of Willy T. Ribbs - the controversial Black driver who shattered the color barrier of professional auto-racing and became the first Black qualifier in the storied history of the Indy 500.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Real Charlie Chan?
The closest matches to The Real Charlie Chan are I Am Heath Ledger (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Real Charlie Chan?
Start with I Am Heath Ledger (2017), the closest match to The Real Charlie Chan.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Real Charlie Chan?
Citizenfour (2014), rated 7.7/10 by 1,472 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Real Charlie Chan?
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Real Charlie Chan?
Yes: I Am Heath Ledger (2017), My Mom Jayne (2025) and Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013).
How are movies similar to The Real Charlie Chan chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Real Charlie Chan, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.