feelsalike.comSign in
The Gleaners and I poster

Movies that feel likeThe Gleaners and I (2000)

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.

If you loved The Gleaners and I, the closest films we have are We Live in Public (2009), The Dog (2013) and Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999). All three share The Gleaners and I'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).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Agnès Vardacontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Fandor · OVID

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

See it on the Mood Map

When is The Gleaners and I streaming? →

If The Gleaners and I hit the spot, these will too

We Live in Public poster
We Live in Public
2009 · dir. Ondi Timoner
🍅 80%★ 7.1documentary

Both lean on stillness more than on documentary

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.

The Dog poster
The Dog
2013 · dir. François Keraudren
🍅 93%★ 6.7documentary

Documentary with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In 1972, John Wojtowicz attempted to rob a Brooklyn bank to pay for his lover’s sex-change operation. The story was the basis for the film Dog Day Afternoon. The Dog captures John, who shares his story for the first time in his own unique, offensive, hilarious and heartbreaking way. We gain a historic perspective on New York's gay liberation movement, in which Wojtowicz played an active role. In later footage, he remains a subversive force, backed by the unconditional love of his mother Terry, whose wit and charm infuse the film. How and why the bank robbery took place is recounted in gripping detail by Wojtowicz and various eyewitnesses.

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. poster
🍅 100%★ 7.5documentary

Documentary built on stillness, twice over

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.

Dogtown and Z-Boys poster
Dogtown and Z-Boys
2002 · dir. Stacy Peralta
🍅 92%★ 7.6documentary

Documentary in the same key

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.

Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary poster
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary
1997 · dir. S.R. Bindler
🍅 84%★ 7.6documentary

Both working the same documentary territory

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

Riding Giants poster
Riding Giants
2004 · dir. Stacy Peralta
🍅 93%★ 7.8documentary

Both know what they want from documentary

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

Little Dieter Needs to Fly poster
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
1997 · dir. Werner Herzog
🍅 93%★ 8documentaryPrime Video

The documentary is handled with the same confidence

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.

Lost in La Mancha poster
Lost in La Mancha
2002 · dir. Louis Pepe
🍅 94%★ 7.3documentary

Documentary of the same temperament

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.

Overnight poster
Overnight
2003 · dir. Mark Brian Smith
🍅 78%★ 7.1documentary

Documentary approached the same way

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.

Brother's Keeper poster
Brother's Keeper
1992 · dir. Bruce Sinofsky
🍅 100%★ 7.5documentary

The same documentary instincts

This documentary by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky details the murder trial of Delbert Ward. Delbert was a member of a family of four elderly brothers, working as semi-literate farmers and living together in isolation from the rest of society until William's death.

Naqoyqatsi poster
Naqoyqatsi
2002 · dir. Godfrey Reggio
🍅 48%★ 6.4documentary

Both are documentary through and through

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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

Nostalgia for the Light poster
Nostalgia for the Light
2010 · dir. Patricio Guzmán
🍅 100%★ 7.6documentary

Both play documentary straight

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?

all contemplative movies →

The best-reviewed films that share The Gleaners and I’s defining feeling.