Movies Like Waiting for "Superman" (2010)

Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 documentary film from Davis Guggenheim with a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with To Be and to Have and Tokyo Story.

Documentary

To Be and to Have

2002

The documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the French language. It is about a primary school in the commune of Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France, the population of which is just over 200. The school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years), with a dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year.

7.3

MagicScore

Tokyo Story

1953

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

8.1

MagicScore

Strings

2013

María's routine at school is altered by the arrival of a very special child. Soon, they become close friends.

8.0

MagicScore

Melody

1971

Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future but as soon as possible.

7.1

MagicScore

Far from Men

2015

A French teacher in a small Algerian village during the Algerian War forms an unexpected bond with a dissident who is ordered to be turned in to the authorities.

6.8

MagicScore

Bad Teacher

2011

A lazy, incompetent middle school teacher who hates her job and her students is forced to return to her job to make enough money for a boob job after her rich fiancé dumps her.

5.6

MagicScore

To Sir, with Love

1967

A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.

7.5

MagicScore

The First Grader

2010

The true story of an 84 year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau freedom fighter who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford.

7.1

MagicScore

The Class

2008

Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.

7.0

MagicScore

#10

Hurricane Bianca

2016

A teacher from New York moves to a small town in Texas, gets fired for being gay, and returns disguised in drag to get revenge on the people who were nasty to him.

6.1

MagicScore

#11

Mrs. Hyde

2018

Mrs. Géquil is an eccentric teacher despised by her colleagues and students. On a stormy night, she is struck by lightning and faints. When she wakes up, she feels different. Will she now be able to keep the powerful and dangerous Mrs. Hyde contained?

4.3

MagicScore

#12

The Wave

2008

A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.

7.5

MagicScore

#13

On the Way to School

2008

One year in the life of a Turkish teacher, teaching the Turkish language to Kurdish children in a remote village in Turkey. The children can't speak Turkish, the teacher can't speak Kurdish and is forced to become an exile in his own country. On the Way to School is a film about a Turkish teacher who is alone in a village as an authority of the state, and about his interaction with the Kurdish children who have to learn Turkish. The film witnesses the communication problem emphasizing the loneliness of a teacher in a different community and culture; and the changes brought up by his presence into this different community during one year. The film chronicles one school year, starting from September 2007 until the departure of the teacher for summer holiday in June 2008. During this period, they begin to know and understand each other mutually and slowly.

7.0

MagicScore

#14

On the Way to School

2013

These children live in the four corners of the earth, but share the same thirst for learning. They understand that only education will allow them a better future and that is why, every day, they must set out on the long and perilous journey that will lead them to knowledge. Jackson and his younger sister from Kenya walk 15 kilometres each way through a savannah populated by wild animals; Carlito rides more than 18 kilometres twice a day with his younger sister, across the plains of Argentina; Zahira lives in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains who has an exhausting 22 kilometres walk along punishing mountain paths before she reaches her boarding school; Samuel from India sits in a clumsy DIY wheelchair and the 4 kilometres journey is an ordeal each day, as his two younger brothers have to push him all the way to school…

6.8

MagicScore

#15

The Awakening

2011

In post–War England, a writer and sometime-ghost hunter investigates a reported haunting at a boys boarding school.

6.4

MagicScore

#16

The Good Teacher

2024

Julien, a young teacher, is wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl from his class. As he faces mounting pressures from the girl’s older brother and her classmates, the situation spirals out of control. Allegations spread, the entire school is thrown into turmoil, and the teacher has to fight to clear his name.

6.3

MagicScore

#17

Leo

2023

Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle. When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students — including an impossibly mean substitute teacher.

7.4

MagicScore

#18

Larry Crowne

2011

When he suddenly finds himself without his long-standing blue-collar job, Larry Crowne enrolls at his local college to start over. There, he becomes part of an eclectic community of students and develops a crush on his teacher.

6.0

MagicScore

#19

Elephant

2003

Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.

7.0

MagicScore

#20

Horror High

1973

A nerdy high school super whiz experiments with a chemical which will transform his guinea pig "Mr. Mumps" from a gentle pet into a ravenous monster. In a fit of rage against his tormentors at the high school, Vernon Potts goes on a killing spree, eliminating all of those who ever picked on him - the Gym Coach, the School Jock, The Creepy Janitor & his hated teacher, Ms. Grindstaff.

5.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Waiting for "Superman"?

The top films similar to Waiting for "Superman" by MovieMagicScore are To Be and to Have (7.3), Tokyo Story (8.1), Strings (8.0). Each shares documentary themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Waiting for "Superman" worth watching?

Waiting for "Superman" holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10 from 139 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Waiting for "Superman"?

Waiting for "Superman" (2010) is a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim, starring Charles Adams, Jonathan Alter.

Where can I find more recommendations like Waiting for "Superman"?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more documentary recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like To Be and to Have Movies like Tokyo Story Movies like Strings Movies like Melody Movies like Far from Men Movies like Bad Teacher

About movies like Waiting for "Superman"

This ranked list pairs Waiting for "Superman" (2010), a documentary film from Davis Guggenheim, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Charles Adams take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to Waiting for "Superman"