Movies Like Promised Lands

If you liked Promised Lands (1974), a documentary movie directed by Susan Sontag, 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
In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along…
2
Daguerréotypes (1978)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary
An intimate portrait of the small shops and shopkeepers of the Rue Daguerre in Paris, a picturesque street that has been the filmmaker’s home for more than 50 years.
3
Varda by Agnès (2019)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
An unpredictable documentary from a fascinating storyteller, Agnès Varda’s last film sheds light on her experience as a director, bringing a personal insight to what she calls "cine-writing," traveling from Rue…
4
Woman (2020)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
The film is based on interviews with 2,000 women from 50 countries, and covers the status of women all over the world. The topics covered include forced marriages, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, acid…
5
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…
6
The Cheshire Murders (2013)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
In 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…
7
Heart of a Dog (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
8
Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a…
9
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.
10
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.
11
Seduced and Abandoned (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
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…
12
My Mom Jayne (2025)
★ 8/10Also documentary
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…
13
Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream (2013)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows…
14
Love, Marilyn (2013)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
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…
15
She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014)
★ 7.4/10Also documentary
A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.
16
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
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.
17
Maidentrip (2014)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
18
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.
19
42 Up (1999)
★ 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.
20
Tricked: The Documentary (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also documentary
This character-driven film considers the evolving sex trafficking landscape as seen by the main players: the exploited, the pimps, the johns that fuel the business, and the cops who fight to stop it.