Movies Like Then and Now: 1981-2004

If you liked Then and Now: 1981-2004 (2004), a documentary movie directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family…
2
How to Survive a Plague (2012)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made…
3
Disclosure (2020)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.
4
Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
★ 7/10Also documentary
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a…
5
28 Up (1985)
★ 7.5/10Also documentary
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
6
Howard (2018)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family…
7
The Last Repair Shop (2024)
★ 7.5/10Also documentary
In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four…
8
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
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.
9
Directed by John Ford (1971)
★ 7/10Also documentary
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
10
Elstree 1976 (2015)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
11
I Am Heath Ledger (2017)
★ 7.4/10Also documentary
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
12
Cameraperson (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What…
13
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
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.
14
Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20 (2022)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
15
American Teen (2008)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.
16
35 Up (1991)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
17
Fuck (2006)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
18
Tongues Untied (1990)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs…
19
Being James Bond (2021)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in…
20
A Toxic Love Story (2026)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.