Movies Like Gray State: The Rise

If you liked Gray State: The Rise (2015), a documentary and drama movie directed by David Crowley, 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
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.
2
180° South (2010)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
3
Bitter Lake (2015)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
An experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.
4
Room 237 (2012)
★ 6.1/10Also documentary
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation…
5
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.
6
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
Over 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…
7
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
8
Maternal Instinct (2026)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Police 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.
9
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…
10
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.
11
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…
12
Above Majestic (2018)
★ 7.4/10Also documentary
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
13
Life in a Day (2011)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary and drama
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
14
13th (2016)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
15
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…
16
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.
17
For Sama (2019)
★ 8.2/10Also documentary
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all…
18
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
★ 7/10Also documentary
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass…
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
The Yes Men Fix the World (2009)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most…