Movies Like The Venerable W. (2017)

The Venerable W. is a 2017 documentary, drama film from Barbet Schroeder with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Burmese Harp and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring.

Documentary Drama

The Burmese Harp

1956

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

7.9

MagicScore

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

2003

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

7.8

MagicScore

Samsara

2002

A love story situated in the Himalayas. A Buddhist monk can't choose between life and the way of the Buddha.

7.4

MagicScore

Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?

1989

About three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.

7.3

MagicScore

Seven Years in Tibet

1997

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

7.2

MagicScore

Kundun

1997

The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.

6.8

MagicScore

Walk with Me

2017

Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.

5.8

MagicScore

The Long Goodbye

2020

A short about racism and Islamophobia in the UK.

6.7

MagicScore

Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress

2019

An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.

7.7

MagicScore

#10

HyperNormalisation

2016

We live in a world where the powerful deceive us. We know they lie. They know we know they lie. They do not care. We say we care, but we do nothing, and nothing ever changes. It is normal. Welcome to the post-truth world. How we got to where we are now…

7.5

MagicScore

#11

Time

2020

Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.

6.8

MagicScore

#12

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

2020

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

The One Percent

2006

Jamie Johnson takes the exploration of wealth that he began in Born Rich one step further. The One Percent, refers to the tiny percentage of Americans who control nearly half the wealth of the U.S. Johnson's thesis is that this wealth in the hands of so few people is a danger to our very way of life.

5.9

MagicScore

#14

Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be

2019

Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 2017. Twenty-five years after the murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone, on May 23, 1992, and Paolo Borsellino, on July 19, 1992; and on the occasion of the tributes held in memory of both heroes, skeptical photographer Letizia Battaglia, chronicler of their titanic combat, criticizes the opportunism of shady characters who, like businessman Ciccio Mira, profit from the commemoration of both tragedies.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

A Night at the Garden

2017

Archival footage of an American Nazi rally that attracted 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in 1939, shortly before the beginning of World War II.

6.3

MagicScore

#16

Hard Target 2

2016

Forced into a deadly cat-and-mouse game, a disgraced mixed martial arts fighter is hunted through the jungles of Southeast Asia.

6.2

MagicScore

#17

PK

2014

A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.

7.7

MagicScore

#18

Mulk

2018

The youngest son of a Muslim family settled in Benaras gets involved in terrorist activities, leading to a bomb blast massacre. His actions have an adverse effect on the family who are left to defend themselves as people who are innocent and not anti-nationals.

6.7

MagicScore

#19

Stranger at the Gate

2022

A U.S. Marine plots a terrorist attack on a small-town American mosque, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face to face with the people he sets out to kill.

6.2

MagicScore

#20

The Kerala Story

2023

A converted Muslim woman narrates her ordeal of how she once wanted to become a nurse but was abducted from her home and manipulated by religious vanguards and turned into an ISIS terrorist and landed in Afghanistan jail.

4.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Venerable W.?

The top films similar to The Venerable W. by MovieMagicScore are The Burmese Harp (7.9), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (7.8), Samsara (7.4). Each shares documentary/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Venerable W. worth watching?

The Venerable W. holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 52 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Venerable W.?

The Venerable W. (2017) is a documentary, drama film directed by Barbet Schroeder, starring Bulle Ogier, Barbet Schroeder, Ashin Wirathu.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Venerable W.?

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 The Burmese Harp Movies like Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring Movies like Samsara Movies like Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?Movies like Seven Years in Tibet Movies like Kundun

About movies like The Venerable W.

This ranked list pairs The Venerable W. (2017), a documentary and drama film from Barbet Schroeder, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Bulle Ogier 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.

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