NoBadPicks

Movies Like Pray Away

If you loved Pray Away's Documentary storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

Disclosure
7.8

Disclosure

2020

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Will & Harper
7.3

Will & Harper

2024

When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
7.2

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

2022

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 accountable for the overdose crisis.

American Teen
6.3

American Teen

2008

A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.

Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste
6.1

Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste

2022

A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.

The Celluloid Closet
7.1

The Celluloid Closet

1996

Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.

The Last Repair Shop
7.5

The Last Repair Shop

2024

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 unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story
6.3

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

2025

Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.

More Movies Like Pray Away

Welcome to Chechnya
6.8

Welcome to Chechnya

2020

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 remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
7.5

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond

2017

Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
7.6

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

2015

GOING CLEAR intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.

Whitney: Can I Be Me
6.5

Whitney: Can I Be Me

2017

The life and tragic death of Whitney Houston.

A Decade Under the Influence
7.9

A Decade Under the Influence

2003

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
6.9

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

2013

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.

Cameraperson
6.7

Cameraperson

2016

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 emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
6.0

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

2018

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
6.5

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

2019

Mark Patton sets the records straight about the controversial 1985 sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street, which ended his acting career, just as it was about to begin.

Heart of a Dog
6.5

Heart of a Dog

2015

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.

Paris Is Burning
8.0

Paris Is Burning

1991

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 scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

After Death
7.1

After Death

2023

Based on real near-death experiences, the afterlife is explored with the guidance of New York Times bestselling authors, medical experts, scientists and survivors who shed a light on what awaits us.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Pray Away (2021): Documentary themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Pray Away.

See full details for Pray Away (2021)

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