Movies Like 1989
If you liked 1989 (2019), a documentary and history movie directed by Michał Bielawski, 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
9/11: Inside the President's War Room (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary and historyExperience the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of President Bush and his closest advisors as they personally detail the crucial hours and key decisions from that historic day.
- 2
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary and historyThe history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
- 3
Fuck (2006)
★ 6.4/10Also documentaryA documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
- 4
The Soviet Story (2008)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary and history“The Soviet Story” is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its…
- 5
Cover-Up (2025)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and historyHe's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh.
- 6
42 Up (1999)
★ 7.6/10Also documentaryDirector 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.
- 7
Directed by John Ford (1971)
★ 7/10Also documentaryA documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
- 8
Audrey (2020)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary and historyAn unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
- 9
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
★ 7.8/10Also documentaryA 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.
- 10
Visions of Light (1992)
★ 7/10Also documentary and historyCameramen 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…
- 11
Heart of a Dog (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also documentaryMusician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
- 12
My Mom Jayne (2025)
★ 7.9/10Also documentaryThrough 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…
- 13
Voyeur (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also documentaryLegendary 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.
- 14
The Unknown Known (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary and historyFormer United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
- 15
Maternal Instinct (2026)
★ 7.2/10Also documentaryPolice pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
- 16
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also documentaryIn 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.
- 17
Seduced and Abandoned (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also documentarySEDUCED 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…
- 18
The Age of Stupid (2009)
★ 6.6/10Also documentary and historyPete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
- 19
The Cheshire Murders (2013)
★ 6.5/10Also documentaryIn the early-morning hours of July 23, 2007, in Cheshire, Conn., ex-convicts Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky broke into the family home of William Petit, his wife, Jennifer, and their daughters, Michaela, 11, and…
- 20
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also documentaryOver 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to…