Movies Like Sweetgrass (2009)

Sweetgrass is a 2009 documentary film from Lucien Castaing-Taylor with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Story of the Weeping Camel and Desert Flower.

Documentary

The Story of the Weeping Camel

2003

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

7.1

MagicScore

Desert Flower

2009

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

7.5

MagicScore

The Piano

1993

When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited daughter to the wilderness of nineteenth-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.

7.4

MagicScore

The Company of Strangers

1990

A busload of women become stranded in an isolated part of the Canadian countryside. As they await rescue, they reflect on their lives through a mostly ad-libbed script.

7.1

MagicScore

Serena

2014

North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s – George and Serena Pemberton, love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers George’s hidden past and faces an unchangeable fate of her own, the Pemberton’s passionate marriage begins to unravel leading toward a dramatic reckoning.

5.6

MagicScore

Darlin'

2019

Found at a Catholic hospital filthy and ferocious, feral teenager Darlin’ is whisked off to a care home run by The Bishop and his obedient nuns, where she’s to be rehabilitated into a "good girl" as an example of the miraculous work of the church. But Darlin’ holds a secret darker than the "sins" she is threatened with, and she is not traveling alone. The Woman who raised her, equally fierce and feral, is ever present in the shadows of Darlin’s psyche and is determined to come for her no matter who tries to get in her way.

5.3

MagicScore

Ishtar

1987

Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.

4.5

MagicScore

Alone in the Wilderness

2004

Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.

7.9

MagicScore

Our Planet: Behind the Scenes

2019

Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.

7.6

MagicScore

#10

Explorer: The Last Tepui

2022

This documentary starring climber Alex Honnold and famous biologist Bruce Means document their expedition to the South American sky islands in search of new species and discoveries. Follows elite climber Alex Honnold and a world-class climbing team led by National Geographic Explorer and climber Mark Synnott on a grueling mission deep in the Amazon jungle as they attempt a first-ascent climb up a 1000 foot sheer cliff.

7.6

MagicScore

#11

Into the Okavango

2018

A passionate conservation biologist brings together a river bushman fearful of losing his past and a young scientist uncertain of her future on an epic, four-month expedition across three countries, through unexplored and dangerous landscapes, in order to save the Okavango Delta, one of our planet's last pristine wildernesses.

7.5

MagicScore

#12

Encounters at the End of the World

2007

Herzog and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger go to Antarctica to meet people who live and work there, and to capture footage of the continent's unique locations. Herzog's voiceover narration explains that his film will not be a typical Antarctica film about "fluffy penguins", but will explore the dreams of the people and the landscape.

7.4

MagicScore

#13

Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet

2021

David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.

7.4

MagicScore

#14

TimeScapes

2012

Stunning slow-motion and timelapse cinematography of the landscapes, people and wildlife of the American South West.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

Antarctica: A Year on Ice

2013

Filling the giant screen with stunning time-lapse vistas of Antarctica, and detailing year-round life at McMurdo and Scott Base, Anthony Powell’s documentary is a potent hymn to the icy continent and the heavens above.

7.3

MagicScore

#16

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

2010

In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a period of a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions.

7.3

MagicScore

#17

The Living Desert

1953

Although first glance reveals little more than stones and sand, the desert is alive. Witness moving rocks, spitting mud pots, gorgeous flowers and the never-ending battle for survival between desert creatures of every shape, size and description.

7.1

MagicScore

#18

Chimpanzee

2012

A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests. Through Oscar, a little chimpanzee, we discover learning about life in the heart of the African tropical forest and follow his first steps in this world with humor, emotion and anguish. Following a tragedy, he finds himself separated from his mother and left alone to face the hostility of the jungle. Until he is picked up by an older chimpanzee, who will take him under her protection.

7.0

MagicScore

#19

Central Station

1998

An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.

8.1

MagicScore

#20

Captain Fantastic

2016

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent.

7.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Sweetgrass?

The top films similar to Sweetgrass by MovieMagicScore are The Story of the Weeping Camel (7.1), Desert Flower (7.5), The Piano (7.4). Each shares documentary themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Sweetgrass worth watching?

Sweetgrass holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 27 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Sweetgrass?

Sweetgrass (2009) is a documentary film directed by Lucien Castaing-Taylor, starring John Ahern, Elaine Allestad, Lawrence Allestad.

Where can I find more recommendations like Sweetgrass?

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 Story of the Weeping Camel Movies like Desert Flower Movies like The Piano Movies like The Company of Strangers Movies like Serena Movies like Darlin'

About movies like Sweetgrass

This ranked list pairs Sweetgrass (2009), a documentary film from Lucien Castaing-Taylor, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of John Ahern 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 Sweetgrass