Movies Like The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

If you liked The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1985), a documentary movie directed by Nan Goldin, 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)
★ 7.2/10Also 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
Nude (2017)
★ 9.2/10Also documentary
NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.
3
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…
4
Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
5
Girl Model (2011)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
A documentary on the modeling industry's 'supply chain' between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S., told through the experiences of the scouts, agencies, and a 13-year-old model.
6
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed…
7
Crumb (1995)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through…
8
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they…
9
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
10
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.
11
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…
12
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…
13
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
Nude men in rubber suits, close-ups of erections, objects shoved in the most intimate of places—these are photographs taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, known by many as the most controversial photographer of the twentieth…
14
You Can See Everything (2026)
★ 8.9/10Also documentary
Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon…
15
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.
16
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also documentary
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.
17
Stop Making Sense (1984)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a…
18
Paris Is Burning (1991)
★ 8/10Also documentary
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball…
19
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
20
Nothing Like a Dame (2018)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend…