Movies Like The First Wave (2021)

The First Wave is a 2021 documentary, history film from Matthew Heineman with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Alone Together and Bo Burnham: Inside.

Documentary History

Alone Together

2022

Strangers June and Charlie wind up double-booked in the same upstate New York Airbnb during the start of COVID-19. Exasperating the situation, the lockdown forces them both to stay and confront the unexpected feelings that develop between them.

5.1

MagicScore

Bo Burnham: Inside

2021

Stuck in COVID-19 lockdown, US comedian and musician Bo Burnham attempts to stay sane and happy by writing, shooting and performing a one-man comedy special.

8.0

MagicScore

Songbird

2020

During a pandemic lockdown, Nico, a young man with rare immunity, must overcome martial law, murderous vigilantes and a powerful family to reunite with his love, Sara.

6.2

MagicScore

Sick

2022

While quarantining at her family's lake house during the pandemic, Parker and her best friend are threatened by an unexpected visitor.

6.2

MagicScore

Carry On Doctor

1967

Francis Bigger, a notorious charlatan who tours the country lecturing on the subject of mind over matter, slips off the platform in the middle of his performance and ends up in hospital under the care of Dr Tinkle. The hospital is about to enter a period of total chaos.

6.5

MagicScore

Doc Hollywood

1991

After leaving Washington D.C. hospital, plastic surgeon Ben Stone heads for California, where a lucrative practice in Beverly Hills awaits. After a car accident, he's sentenced to perform as the community's general practitioner.

6.3

MagicScore

Too Fat Too Furious

2005

Bennie, a clumsy criminal who's touchy about his weight, teams up with his adoptive father's biological (serial killer) son, his employees who in his absence turned his snack-bar into a quiche bakery, a suicidal manic-depressive woman and a Yugoslavian who keeps blowing things up unintended. They need to get 300000 Euro to get Bennies father a new liver.

5.7

MagicScore

Bringing Out the Dead

1999

Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.

6.6

MagicScore

The Ambulance

1990

When the woman of his dreams is snatched by a strange ambulance, a young man risks it all to find her and tracks down a trafficking ring.

5.8

MagicScore

#10

The Immigrant

2013

1921 New York. An immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.

6.3

MagicScore

#11

76 Days

2020

Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.

7.2

MagicScore

#12

Totally Under Control

2021

This documentary puts a spotlight on the White House’s failed response to the global pandemic and how it could have been prevented. Featuring damning testimony from public health officials and hard investigative reporting, director Alex Gibney reveals a system-wide collapse caused by a profound dereliction of presidential leadership.

6.8

MagicScore

#13

My Last Best Friend

2023

New York City. March - April 2020. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, two men, both named Walter Stoyanov, watch their lives getting turned upside down, as one of them falls ill and the other one is being investigated by FBI Special Agent John McCallany.

9.7

MagicScore

#14

Host

2020

Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance via Zoom during lockdown — but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they begin to realise they might not survive the night.

6.5

MagicScore

#15

An Unfinished Film

2024

A film crew gathers in a hotel near Wuhan to resume production of a film that was interrupted ten years earlier, but an unexpected event once again disrupts the preparations.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

South Park: Post COVID: The Return of COVID

2021

If Stan, Kyle and Cartman could just work together, they could go back in time to make sure Covid never happened. But traveling back to the past seems to be the easy answer until they meet Victor Chaos.

7.4

MagicScore

#17

South Park: Post COVID

2021

What happened to the children who lived through the Pandemic? Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny survived but will never be the same Post Covid.

7.2

MagicScore

#18

The Bubble

2022

Sneaking out. Hooking up. Melting down. The cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise attempt to shoot a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel.

4.6

MagicScore

#19

Stuck Together

2021

Seven families live in the Parisian apartment building at 8, Rue de l’Humanite - and they didn’t escape to the countryside at the arrival of the coronavirus. Three months of life under lockdown will reveal the best and worst of these neighbours.

5.9

MagicScore

#20

Together

2021

A husband and wife are forced to re-evaluate themselves and their relationship through the reality of the Covid-19 lockdown.

5.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The First Wave?

The top films similar to The First Wave by MovieMagicScore are Alone Together (5.1), Bo Burnham: Inside (8.0), Songbird (6.2). Each shares documentary/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The First Wave worth watching?

The First Wave holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 29 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The First Wave?

The First Wave (2021) is a documentary, history film directed by Matthew Heineman, starring Nathalie Dougé, Alexis Ellis, Kellie Wunsch.

Where can I find more recommendations like The First Wave?

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 Alone Together Movies like Bo Burnham: Inside Movies like Songbird Movies like Sick Movies like Carry On Doctor Movies like Doc Hollywood

About movies like The First Wave

This ranked list pairs The First Wave (2021), a documentary and history film from Matthew Heineman, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Nathalie Dougé 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 The First Wave