Movies like Merchant Ivory (2024)
The best movies like Merchant Ivory (2024) are Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), These Amazing Shadows (2011) and Seduced and Abandoned (2013). If Merchant Ivory hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife Itself (2014)7.5/10 from 381 votes
- NewestArt Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2025)Released 2025
Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)
Filmmakers discuss the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock and the book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (“Le cinéma selon Hitchcock”), written by François Truffaut and published in 1966.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThese Amazing Shadows (2011)
Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFloyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016)
Animator. Storyman. Troublemaker. At 80 years old, see how Disney Legend Floyd Norman, the first African-American animator at Disney, continues to impact animation and stir up "trouble" after the company forced him to retire at age 65.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Everything or Nothing (2012)
The story of three men with a shared dream: James Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and Bond creator and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history, which began in 1962.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVisions of Light (1992)
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNever-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (2017)
A look at legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki following his retirement in 2013.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSide by Side (2012)
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2015)
A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEames: The Architect and the Painter (2011)
Interviews with the junior designers swept into the 24-7 world of "The Eamery" are the heart of this complex picture of a husband-and-wife creative team that define the era of Mid-Century Modernism. Narrated by James Franco, the film draws from a trove of archival material, primarily the stunning films and photographs produced in mind-boggling volume by Charles, Ray, and their staff during the hyper-creative forty years of the Eames Office.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Love, Marilyn (2013)
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife Itself (2014)
The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArthur Miller: Writer (2017)
One of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, Arthur Miller created such celebrated works as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, which continue to move audiences around the world today. He also made headlines for being targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee at the height of the McCarthy Era and entering into a tumultuous marriage with Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Told from the unique perspective of his daughter, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Arthur Miller: Writer is an illuminating portrait that combines interviews spanning decades and a wealth of personal archival material, and provides new insights into Miller’s life as an artist and exploring his character in all its complexity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Jim Henson Idea Man (2024)
Featuring unprecedented access to Jim Henson's personal archives, filmmaker Ron Howard brings us a fascinating and insightful look at a complex man whose boundless imagination inspired the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArt Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2025)
Explores the life and career of cartoonist Art Spiegelman including the creation and ground-breaking impact of his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel MAUS.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Kubrick by Kubrick (2020)
American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), one of the greatest in history, but also one of the most reserved, gave few interviews throughout his long career, and none of them were filmed. A first-person journey through his life and work, based on a recorded conversation with French film critic Michel Climent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalinger (2013)
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Letter to Elia (2010)
Martin Scorsese reflects on the profound influence of director Elia Kazan, tracing his artistic journey from the Group Theatre to Hollywood success and the controversies of the blacklist era. Co-directed with Kent Jones, the film combines interviews and clips from Kazan’s classics—On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, and America, America—to portray him as a deeply personal filmmaker within an often impersonal industry.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)
This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works, and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics, and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, the United States, and the human condition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb (2022)
Delight in the fascinating, intersecting stories of the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro and his editor of 50 years, the literary giant Robert Gottlieb, as they race to complete their life's work.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Antonio Gaudí (1984)
Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí (1852-1926) designed some of the world's most astonishing buildings, interiors, and parks; Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara constructed some of the most aesthetically audacious films ever made. With camera work as bold and sensual as the curves of his subject's organic structures, Teshigahara immortalizes Gaudí on film.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)
Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (2021)
This documentary chronicles renaissance man Gordon Parks’ stellar career from staff photographer for LIFE magazine, through his artistic development photographing everyday Americans, through his evolution as a novelist and groundbreaking filmmaker.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2013)
Broadway legend Elaine Stritch remains in the spotlight at eighty-seven years old. Join the uncompromising Tony and Emmy Award-winner both on and off stage in this revealing documentary. With interviews from Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, Hal Prince and others, ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME blends rare archival footage and intimate cinema vérité to reach beyond Stritch’s brassy exterior, revealing a multi-dimensional portrait of a complex woman and an inspiring artist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Terry Pratchett: Back in Black (2017)
A poignant and humorous film telling the life story of the hugely popular author of the discworld series of books, in his own words.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Lumière! (2016)
A collection of restored prints from the Lumière Brothers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird (2011)
In this full-length documentary, Mary Murphy explores the enduring power, popularity & mystery that is Harper Lee. She interviews Oprah Winfrey, Wally Lamb Anna Quindlen, James McBride and others, and with rare cooperation from Harper Lee’s family and friends tells the story of a novel that became an American classic. In the newest edition of the film, Harper Lee from Mockingbird to Watchman, Murphy examines the rediscovered novel and its place alongside To Kill A Mockingbird.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Hamilton's America (2016)
This documentary delves deeper into the creation of the Hamilton musical, revealing Lin-Manuel Miranda's process of absorbing and then adapting Hamilton's epic story into ground-breaking musical theater.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMade in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024)
Martin Scorsese presents this very personal and insightful new feature-length documentary about British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Merchant Ivory?
The closest matches to Merchant Ivory are Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), These Amazing Shadows (2011) and Seduced and Abandoned (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Merchant Ivory?
People who watched Merchant Ivory most often go on to Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), These Amazing Shadows (2011) and Seduced and Abandoned (2013).
What is the highest-rated movie like Merchant Ivory?
Life Itself (2014), rated 7.5/10 by 381 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Merchant Ivory?
Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Merchant Ivory?
Yes: Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), These Amazing Shadows (2011) and Seduced and Abandoned (2013).
How are movies similar to Merchant Ivory chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Merchant Ivory, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.