Movies like Paper Run (1956)
The best movies like Paper Run (1956) are David Lynch: The Art Life (2017), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) and Earth: One Amazing Day (2017). If Paper Run hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDavid Lynch: The Art Life (2017)7.0/10 from 228 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
David Lynch: The Art Life (2017)
An intimate journey through the formative years of David Lynch's life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema's most enigmatic directors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDogtown and Z-Boys (2002)
This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEarth: One Amazing Day (2017)
An astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020)
Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStruggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018)
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAndre the Giant (2018)
An ambitious and wide-ranging documentary exploring Andre’s upbringing in France, his celebrated career in WWE, and his forays in the entertainment world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies 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 AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026)
A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity, and explores the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what's at stake if we get it wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
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 thisOur Planet: Behind the Scenes (2019)
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
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 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 thisHitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998)
This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King (2020)
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
Errol Morris interweaves the stories of four men, each driven to create eccentric worlds from their unique obsessions, all of which involve animals: a lion tamer shares his theories on the mental processes of wild animals; a topiary gardener devotes a lifetime to shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; a man fascinated with hairless mole rats; and an MIT scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012)
When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (2017)
The courtroom and publicity battles between the superstar wrestler and the notorious website explode in a sensational trial all about the limits of the First Amendment and the new no holds barred nature of celebrity life in an internet dominated society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThis Place Rules (2022)
Acclaimed for his unfiltered reporting and deadpan humor, Andrew Callaghan brings his gonzo style reporting to the undercurrents that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot. As one of the best-known and hardest working journalists of his generation, the 25-year-old ventures on a wild RV journey through America to take the pulse of a divided nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Film for Discussion (1973)
A docu-drama shot in 1970, but not completed until 1973, the film sought to encapsulate in an experimental form issues that were under discussion within the Women’s Liberation Movement at this time and to thus contribute to action for change. In its numerous community screenings, active debate was encouraged as part of the viewing experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Ripple Effect (2021)
The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Riding Giants (2004)
Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAustralia Says Yes (2018)
Packed with drama, high emotions and cliff-hanger moments, Australia Says Yes is the intimate and personal history of struggle and perseverance that propelled Australia to say Yes to marriage equality. The film shows how a group of determined individuals fought tirelessly against unjust laws that treated LGBTIQ people as second-class citizens, creating a movement that saw them go from criminals to legally equal over the course of five decades.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
A Portrait of Love (2024)
A joyful celebration of the life and loss of Archibald award-winning artist Craig Ruddy, told through the eyes of his loving partner of twenty years. This moving documentary goes behind the scenes of his life with his partner Roberto Meza Mont, in their home and studio in the Northern Rivers, to capture the spirit of the man and artist. Directed by Molly Reynolds (My Name is Gulpilil), utilising footage captured by Roberto throughout the decades, we see Craig Ruddy in all aspects of his life – preparing for exhibitions, painting his most famous portraits and dancing his way through life. An incredible portrait of a creative powerhouse and an exuberant celebration of love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mega Predators of Oz (2021)
In Australia, sharks have recently been recorded with unusual prey-including other sharks. In order to figure out what has caused this shift in diet, Dr. Charlie Huvaneers and team head to shark infested waters to find out what's in the stomach of a great white - and why.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Kartellen - Light up the Shadows (2016)
The Hip hop group Kartellen is one of Sweden's most controversial bands. Here, the members present their chaotic history of musical success, substance abuse, crime and political controversy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Kids On Ice (2014)
Quiet towns across rural Australia are in the grip of an Ice epidemic. Major international drug cartels are working with local outlawed motorcycle gangs to push crystal meth to a captive market of children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Wombats: Bulldozers Of The Bush (1992)
When shipwrecked sailors first encountered wombats, they did what they had to do to survive - they ate them! More than 200 hundred years later, the wombat still suffers at our hands, blamed for damaging fences and fouling pastures, this film examines the myths and realities of wombat life, above and below the ground, as scientists begin to understand these intrepid and resourceful Bulldozers of the Bush.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Search for the Ocean's Super Predator (2014)
There's a mysterious predator lurking in the depths of Australia's wild Southern Ocean, a beast that savagely devoured a great white shark in front of cinematographer David Riggs 11 years ago. Riggs's obsession to find the killer leads him to an aquatic battle zone that's remained hidden until now. Here, killer whales, colossal squid and great white sharks face off in an underwater coliseum where only the fiercest creatures of the marine world survive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Paper Run?
The closest matches to Paper Run are David Lynch: The Art Life (2017), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) and Earth: One Amazing Day (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Paper Run?
Start with David Lynch: The Art Life (2017), the closest match to Paper Run.
What is the highest-rated movie like Paper Run?
David Lynch: The Art Life (2017), rated 7.0/10 by 228 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Paper Run?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Paper Run?
Yes: David Lynch: The Art Life (2017), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) and Earth: One Amazing Day (2017).
How are movies similar to Paper Run chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Paper Run, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.