Best movies like Art Is...

A coming-of-(old)-age story about Peter Anton, an elderly "outsider" artist living in isolated and crippling conditions whose world changes when two filmmakers discover his work and storied past. Shot over eight years, ALMOST THERE documents Anton's first major exhibition and how the controversy it generates forces him to leave his childhood home. Each layer revealed reflects on the intersections of social norms, elder care, and artistic expression.

Walter Paisley, a busboy at a cappuccino bar called the Jabberjaw, is praised as a genius after he kills his landlady's cat and covers it in plaster. Pressured to produce more work, he goes after bigger subjects.

Sylvie and Maggie are strangers living on opposite coasts, leading very similar lives with husbands that travel for work too much and daughters about to leave the nest. But when their daughters befriend each other on a college tour, they soon discover a shocking secret that threatens to tear both families apart.

Melanie experiences a terminal diagnosis, leading her to leave her husband and life behind for LA and an affair with a tintype photographer.

New York, 1961. Alexander Ivanov, a high-ranked Soviet bureaucrat, reluctantly defects to the West while is part of a diplomatic mission, feeling the grief of being unable to know the fate of his wife Katya, whom he has had to leave behind in Moscow. Only many years later, in 1991, he will finally find out the truth when his niece Lauren travels to Moscow to participate in a painting exhibition.

Jack's job is to fix up the house. Spectral agent Muriel's eternal task is to haunt it. They should be enemies, but they become fascinated by one another and eventually smitten, leading them to question everything about their work, lives, and decisions. But as pressure mounts for them to fulfil their duties, something’s got to give for them to have the time together they both so desperately want.

The first musical comedy from the Grand National assembly line, Hats Off stars John Payne and Mae Clarke as rival press agents Jimmy Maxwell and Jo Allen. Both have been assigned to stir up publicity for separate expositions at the 1936 Texas Centennial (newsreel footage of which predominates throughout the film's short running time). To throw Jimmy off the track, Jo pretends to be a schoolteacher, but by the time the ruse has been revealed, the two leading characters have fallen in love.

A film about the work of the artist most famous for her monuments such as the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Civil Rights Fountain Memorial.

Famed movie director Paul Robaix breaks with tradition by not casting his actress-comedienne wife, Lucy Dell, in his latest film production, a version of Madame Butterfly. Undaunted, the resourceful Lucy wings her way to Tokyo and, masquerading as a Japanese geisha, lands the coveted role from her unsuspecting husband! But in front of the cameras (and behind the pancake makeup), Lucy faces greater challenges: her lecherous leading man - and a husband who is beginning to realize that his talented new "discovery" seems vaguely familiar...

After a deadly home invasion, Emma (Mo'Nique Hicks) copes by writing a book, but when a young psychic and her team perform a reading in her home, a new terror is unleashed.

In the days leading up to a possibly career-changing exhibition, a sculptor navigates her relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Two teenagers, in love in pre-Depression Kansas, cope with parental pressure and the strict sexual mores of the day.

A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.

Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.

Breaking Glass is the story of punk singer Kate and her meteoric rise to stardom. Starting out in the rock pubs of London, Kate, assisted by her manager Danny, becomes a huge star overnight. Once at the top the pressure is immense as Kate's band are squeezed out and she is left to cope alone in the spotlight.

This teen drama follows high-school senior David Wakefield, a talented runner who is set on leading his track-and-field team to victory. As David continues to hone his running skills, he carries on a romance with his pretty sweetheart, Alice Baker, and struggles with other issues that come with the transition to adulthood. Also factoring into David's life is the Vietnam War, with the draft fully underway and young men being regularly called into service.

Alex, a struggling painter, is going through a particularly bad patch. Dumped by his girlfriend and unable to get work, Alex finds his life taking a rare upswing when he moves into a new apartment and falls for his neighbor, Lori. But when things start to go wrong between Alex and Lori, their close proximity to each other proves to have an enormous downside, leading to further amusing antics.

This cinematic journey into the waters off East Africa chronicles the story behind artist Damien Hirst's massive exhibition of oceanic treasures.

A story about talented homeless and formerly homeless fine arts painters in the worst section of Los Angeles known as Skid Row. People will create art no matter how humble the circumstances.

Following the unexpected success of the band’s debut album “No Hopers, Jokers and Rogues”, we re-join them almost a year later, struggling with the pressures, pitfalls and temptations of their newfound fame, second album syndrome, and performing on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury.

The Colucci siblings, in an effort to jog the memory of their grandfather who is struggling with dementia, set out to recreate their late grandmother’s legendary pasta sauce.

Famous by age 9, struggling by age 20 and dead at ripe age of 34, this documentary dives deep into the life of pop singer Aaron Carter. He became a mainstay of the early 2000s pop scene, touring the world as a child solo artist with chart-topping hits like “I Want Candy” and earning the title “The Little Prince of Pop” from Michael Jackson. Just a few years after his rise to fame, Carter began a cycle of mental health struggles, experienced family turmoil, and grappled with addiction ― culminating in his untimely death in November 2022.

Faced with the challenging behaviour of their kids, more and more parents in America are turning to psychoactive medication to help them cope, even though the drugs, and sometimes the diagnoses, remain controversial. Louis travels to one of America's leading children's psychiatric treatment centres, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to get to know the diagnosed children and hoping to understand what drives parents to put their kids on drugs.

Mark Knopfler is one of the most successful musicians in the world. During the past 30 years he has written and recorded over 300 songs including some of the most famous in popular music. In this in-depth documentary he talks about how these songs have defined him and how they have been influenced by his own life and roots. It features previously unseen photographs from his personal collection and comprehensive footage spanning his career from a struggling musician playing in pubs in Leeds in the 1970s, to the record-breaking success with Dire Straits and his world tour as a solo artist. Looking back over the 25 years since he wrote the iconic Brothers In Arms album, the film takes an affectionate look at how this formidable, creative man has operated as a musician for three decades and how he continues to do so as a solo artist who is as much in demand as ever.

The Haywain by John Constable is such a comfortingly familiar image of rural Britain that it is difficult to believe it was ever regarded as a revolutionary painting, but in this film, made in conjunction with a landmark exhibition at the V&A, Alastair Sooke discovers that Constable was painting in a way that was completely new and groundbreaking at the time. Through experimentation and innovation, he managed to make a sublime art from humble things and, though he struggled in his own country during his lifetime, his genius was surprisingly widely admired in France.

Through one year we follow the Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand towards his exhibition: Guernica a turning point.

Alastair Sooke takes us on an exclusive personal tour of the Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective at Tate Modern. Offering an in-depth look at one of the year's most talked about exhibitions, Alastair and guests explore the enduring appeal of Lichtenstein's imagery, debate the controversies around his work and his influence on today's generation of artists and tackle the big question - was Lichtenstein a Pop Art genius and one of the defining image-makers of the 20th century, or a one-trick wonder whose big idea was so powerful he could never let it go?

On the way home from an art gallery featuring her work, a talented artist, Ali, her husband and their young child get into a car accident. The woman's husband and child die on impact, while the woman survives, but loses her eyesight. At her doctor's suggestion, Ali hires a caretaker named Jeff to help her adjust to life as a blind woman, and upon returning home, Jeff's aid proves to be indispensable in helping her acclimate; Ali even meets and quickly befriends her new neighbor, Linda. It is soon apparent, however, that Jeff is becoming increasingly possessive and jealous of Ali, and his obsession rapidly turns violent when Ali decides she needs less of his assistance because she is ready to resume living independently. Unsurprisingly, Jeff does not take the request well, and Ali is soon forced to use her remaining senses to fight for her life.

An intimate examination of a contemporary artist couple, whose living and working patterns are threatened by the imminent sale of their home.

Follows Liza, who retreats to a '70s variety show in her mind as she struggles to cope with the impending death of her mother, trying to work through parts of their past without losing herself in the process.

Nose to Tail stars Aaron Abrams (Hannibal, Blindspot) as a talented but abrasive chef struggling mightily with his personal demons and the relentless pressures of running a high-end restaurant. Over the course of one frantic day and night, he faces a rash of private trials and professional tribulations in a desperate bid to beat the odds and save the business that forms the very core of his identity and self-conception.

Susan, struggling to cope in her new marriage to police officer Mike, is missing the luxurious lifestyle provided by her ex-husband and successful attorney Dillard. His riches, however, are soon challenged as he becomes the target of scam artist Charles Brown. Meanwhile, the bond of two best friends from childhood is threatened by challenges faced within their social club, pressures from work, and temptations. My Side Piece is a drama driven love rectangle: exposing lust, greed and betrayal. Directed and produced by Dewey Allen.

A man struggling with grief sets off across California on a solo motorcycle trip.

Zahid, an American born Muslim who, after struggling with his Islamic roots, explores different aspects of the religion, leading to a deadly calling.

After her latest gallery exhibition literally goes up in flames, struggling artist Liv James accepts a teaching job at a local elementary school to make ends meet. Through this reluctant career move, she discovers her true self, a new sense of purpose, and a surprising romance.