Movies Like This Ain't California (2012)

This Ain't California is a 2012 animation, documentary, history film from Marten Persiel with a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with TINA and The Sparks Brothers.

Animation Documentary History

TINA

2021

Tina Turner overcame impossible odds to become one of the first female Black artists to reach a mainstream international audience. Her road to superstardom is an undeniable story of triumph over adversity. It’s the ultimate story of survival – and an inspirational story of our times.

7.8

MagicScore

The Sparks Brothers

2021

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

7.3

MagicScore

Corman's World

2011

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.

7.1

MagicScore

Little Girl Blue

2023

In 2016, French writer and photographer Carole Achache took her own life. After Carole's death, her daughter Mona Achache, a film director, discovers thousands of photos, letters and recordings that Carole left behind, but these buried secrets make her disappearance even more of an enigma. Through the power of filmmaking and the beauty of incarnation with the help of actress Marion Cotillard, the director brings her mother back to life to retrace her journey and find out who she really was.

6.2

MagicScore

Rob Peace

2024

An underprivileged, gifted young black man from Newark reaches Yale University, only for shadows and injustices from his past to threaten his future.

6.8

MagicScore

Back to Black

2024

The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making of her groundbreaking album, Back to Black that catapulted Winehouse to global fame. Told through Amy’s eyes and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film explores and embraces the many layers of the iconic artist and the tumultuous love story at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.

6.7

MagicScore

Putin

2025

A portrait of a formidable political figure, unraveling the contrasting facets of an iron-fisted tyrant and a man haunted by fear.

5.9

MagicScore

Dìdi (弟弟)

2024

In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

7.2

MagicScore

Challengers

2024

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

6.9

MagicScore

#10

The Wizard of the Kremlin

2026

In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever.

6.5

MagicScore

#11

I Saw the TV Glow

2024

Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate Maddy introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.

6.1

MagicScore

#12

I'm Still Here

2024

A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

8.0

MagicScore

#13

Reds

1981

An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

Better Man

2024

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

7.7

MagicScore

#15

The Traitor

2019

Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.

7.7

MagicScore

#16

The Ruthless

2019

Milan, Italy, 1967. Santo Russo, a boy of Calabrian origin, arrives north with his parents and younger brother to find better living conditions. Due to an absurd misunderstanding and his father's contempt, Santo ends up in prison, where he gets a “true education.” In 1978, he and his friends Slim and Mario embark on a 15-year criminal career, a successful and ruthless spiral of robberies, kidnappings, murders and heroin smuggling.

6.3

MagicScore

#17

Balloon

2018

Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.

7.5

MagicScore

#18

Porn to Be Free

2016

Italy, 1970. An increasing legion of harmless warriors begins a peaceful struggle for sexual freedom through pornography, shaking and shocking religious authorities and conservative political institutions. They are ironic, happy, crazy. They are dreamers, defenders of definitive communion between body and soul. But they were censored and humiliated. They were mistreated and arrested for demanding loud a new cultural renaissance.

5.6

MagicScore

#19

Still Crazy

1998

In the 1970s, Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. Twenty years on, these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.

6.8

MagicScore

#20

The Lives of Others

2006

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

8.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like This Ain't California?

The top films similar to This Ain't California by MovieMagicScore are TINA (7.8), The Sparks Brothers (7.3), Corman's World (7.1). Each shares animation/documentary/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is This Ain't California worth watching?

This Ain't California holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10 from 29 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is This Ain't California?

This Ain't California (2012) is a animation, documentary, history film directed by Marten Persiel, starring Kai Hillebrand, David Nathan, Nora Decker.

Where can I find more recommendations like This Ain't California?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like TINA Movies like The Sparks Brothers Movies like Corman's World Movies like Little Girl Blue Movies like Rob Peace Movies like Back to Black

About movies like This Ain't California

This ranked list pairs This Ain't California (2012), a animation and documentary and history film from Marten Persiel, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Kai Hillebrand 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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