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Lost in La Mancha poster

Movies that feel likeLost in La Mancha (2002)

Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project.

If you loved Lost in La Mancha, the closest films we have are Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002), Overnight (2003) and Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999). All three share Lost in La Mancha's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997).

πŸ… 94% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Louis Pepecontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video Β· OVID Β· AMC+

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If Lost in La Mancha hit the spot, these will too

Dogtown and Z-Boys poster
Dogtown and Z-Boys
2002 Β· dir. Stacy Peralta
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.6documentary

Documentary with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.

Overnight poster
Overnight
2003 Β· dir. Mark Brian Smith
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7.1documentary

Both lean on stillness more than on documentary

Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. poster
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.5documentary

Contemplative documentary, and it commits to that

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris investigates the case of a man who became an authority on capital punishment, but was discredited when he got involved on the wrong side of a court case. Leuchter, a meek man whose appearance belies his grim expertise, develops what he says is a more effective electric chair. Before long, he's in demand from officials who want his opinions on other execution methods. But when called to aid the case of an accused Holocaust denier, Leuchter's problems begin.

The Gleaners and I poster
The Gleaners and I
2000 · dir. Agnès Varda
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.7documentary

Both play documentary straight

Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Her investigation leads from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism.

Riding Giants poster
Riding Giants
2004 Β· dir. Stacy Peralta
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.8documentary

The same documentary instincts

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary poster
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary
1997 Β· dir. S.R. Bindler
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.6documentary

Both are documentary through and through

Filmmaker S.R. Bindler profiles Texas contestants trying to win a truck by keeping one hand on it longer than everyone else.

Naqoyqatsi poster
Naqoyqatsi
2002 Β· dir. Godfrey Reggio
πŸ… 48%β˜… 6.4documentary

Documentary approached the same way

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

We Live in Public poster
We Live in Public
2009 Β· dir. Ondi Timoner
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.1documentary

Documentary of the same temperament

In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.

Marwencol poster
Marwencol
2010 Β· dir. Jeff Malmberg
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.5documentary

The documentary is handled with the same confidence

After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly poster
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
1997 Β· dir. Werner Herzog
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8documentaryPrime Video

Cut from the same documentary cloth

Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles poster
πŸ… 65%β˜… 7.2documentary

Documentary in the same key

An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have been appearing in city streets across the U.S. and South America.

Nostalgia for the Light poster
Nostalgia for the Light
2010 Β· dir. Patricio GuzmΓ‘n
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6documentary

Both working the same documentary territory

In Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet's regime.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Lost in La Mancha’s defining feeling.