Movies are one of the greatest things in the world. I honestly believe that. And I think a lot of people will agree.
However, when talking about movies, a lot of people aren't thinking about documentaries.
Documentaries are movies about the real world, where the cameras capture candid moments, experts are consulted on the subject matter, and the end result is the viewers always learn something new.
My favorite is the documentary series Wild Wild Country, which never ceases to entertain me, no matter how many times I rewatch it. I’m not the only one who loves them, of course.
My best friend found her whole worldview had changed after she saw Blackfish for the first time. My brother pulled up his entire GPA after doing a report on Jon Cartwright’s Lighting Up the World, and of course, no health class was complete without a viewing of Supersize Me.
Redditors love documentaries too and were ready to share their favorites.
It all started when Redditor joeduncanhull asked:
“What’s the best documentary you’ve ever seen?”
Every Family Has Its Quirks
"I didn't mention Capturing the Friedmans, but I should have. That was a really good documentary."
"What a freaking twisted family."
– SweetCosmicPope
Camera Work Matters
"The Planet Earth documentaries. Praise to the people behind the camera."
– teethalarm
"Also Blue Planet 2 is f*cking amazing"
– IzaacLUXMRKT
"It was a colossal undertaking. To get a couple moments of the snow leopard took 3 months."
– External_Recipe_3562
"Absolutely unparalleled"
– joeduncanhull
The Athletes Will Celebrate
"Baseball by Ken Burns, not really a fan of baseball the sport, but the history was interesting."
– biggertheboobs
"Icarus was absolutely wild. Started with a pretty interesting premise, and then took a sharp turn and kept getting crazier. If you're even remotely interested in sport, it's worth your time."
– Spartannia
Disney Always Wins
"Kevin Perjurer's deep dive on the Fastpass System at Disney Themeparks. For such a seemlingly dull topic, it's shocking how interesting and surprising the whole thing winds up being."
– Notmiefault
"Totally agree here. That was amazing."
– mynewme
The Artsy Folk Will Celebrate
"Exit Through the Gift Shop"
"Documentary on Street Art. I literally thought Bansky was gas lighting us with this movie. No way could the story of ‘Mr Brainwash’ could be true."
– AwareParking
Higher and Higher
"Free Solo"
– Crocodile-toes-ten
"Anyone who enjoys this film should also check out The Dawn Wall. It's another climbing documentary on El Capitan in Yosemite. But it tells a very different story about two guys who try to become the first people to climb a route that many of the world's best climbers thought impossible."
– MasteringTheFlames
The Musicians Will Celebrates
"Not the best, but a favorite of mine...Dig ! A doc about the Dandy Warhols and BJM...one band's somewhat rise to fame, with the implosion/self-sabotage of the other. Half of it was embellished, and both bands had issues with the final product, but it was highly entertaining. Check it out if you're into music docs."
– Ok_Fact5541
"I would also recommend "We Jam Econo", about the 1980s punk rock band The Minutemen, who were on the cusp of the big time when their singer died in a freak accident."
"The "Jacka*s" theme is from their song "Corona."
– notthesedays
The Arts Save Lives
"Crumb"
"About the cartoonist Robert Crumb and his 2 brothers, and how abuse and mental illness plagued them. Crumb's cartooning got him out of it, but the other 2 brothers had a hard time."
– TooDeeGuy
Epic Animals
"Africa. It’s from the BBC like Planet Earth, Blue Planet."
"Why Africa? Well Africa has really varied environments and the best and most abundant wildlife by a mile. The first episode in particular has 2 awesome things: an epic Giraffe Fight and a Rhino Orgy. The Rhino Orgy is so unexpected. No one knew that Rhinos get together and party late at night. The Rhinos snuggle! And it’s especially poignant because there’s so few of them left."
– watchingsongsDL
The Truth About Vietnam
"Ken Burns’s Vietnam War docuseries was fairly eye-opening for someone like me, who only had the typical US high school history take on that conflict with a handful of fictional films to supplement it."
– Jaebird0388
"I really enjoyed that one, very eye opening indeed"
– Miggel1973
Next Level
"I remember watching the first Paradise Lost documentary so long ago and was just blown away. I know it’s not the first ever true crime doc, but sure felt like it took it to the next level. If I had to choose a favorite, that would probably be it."
– illmattic12345
Look Into Their Minds
"The Architecture of Doom was the first documentary that let me see how people could actually have bought into Nazi propaganda. Not that I agree with it, but it seemed so preposterous that anyone could believe what they were doing was somehow good."
– johnnylongpants1
A Fan Favorite
"Wild Wild Country"
– PalmerEldritch2319
All The Yesses!
"Avengers: age of ultron"
– ReapersEatApples05
"It's amazing how the camera crew caught these robots in their natural environment"
– joeduncanhull
Emotional Ending
"The six part DefunctTV about Jim Henson."
"It's a really engaging and endearing watch about Henson's life. I really appreciate all the behind the scenes footage the team was able to gather."
"The last episode leaves me sobbing every time."
– nocleverusername190
I want to watch all of these!
Documentaries can give the average person valuable information about issues they might otherwise not be exposed to. They are essential if you want to challenge your perspective.
Thankfully, there are so many wonderful ones out there. Documentarians are filmmakers too and a great documentary can inform you and move you while providing you with a profound cinematic experience.
I recently rewatched Hoop Dreams. Even if you don't like or care about basketball, it says a lot about the film that it manages to be so engrossing. I loved it! Highly recommended.
But we haven't even scratched the surface here, just so you know. There are so many documentaries of equal value out there, just waiting for you to discover them!
People shared their recommendations with us after Redditor Main-Acrobatic asked the online community,
"What is the best documentary that you've ever seen?"
Harlan County, USA (1976)
"Harlan County, USA is a documentary about the warring sides of unionization in a Kentucky coal town and is the greatest documentary film I've ever seen."
innikiki
This film is more relevant than others. Should be considered necessary viewing, particularly for anyone who would like to know more about the labor movement in the United States.
Thou Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
"Thou Shall Not Grow Old. It's jaw dropping good. Seriously. The amount of attention to details to make that era come to life is just absolutely amazing."
AlreadyGone77
This film can best be described as an immersive experience. The people I've showed it to over the years have fallen in love with it.
The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
"The Woman Who Wasn't There. It’s a documentary about a woman who lied about being in the WTC during 9/11. She became head of the 9/11 survivors group and was giving official tours of Ground Zero to government officials before anyone figured out that she wasn’t even in the United States on September 11 2001."
Nerve-Familiar
The weirdest part of the entire story is that it was technically legal. She never profited financially so it wasn't legally fraud, and lying isn't against the law.
Touching the Void (2003)
"Touching the Void. The most insane mountaineering/survival story you will ever hear."
Ready_The_Rhinos
This one definitely had me glued to the screen. Saw it about twelve or thirteen years ago and I still think about it from time to time.
9/11 (2002)
9/11 by the Naudet Brothers.
"It's pretty raw and is the original footage of the first plane hitting North Tower. Not much for graphic injuries which is fine by me, but the part where you and the firefighters realize that a very specific slamming sound are bodies hitting the pavement is pretty brutal."
[deleted]
This one definitely stuck with me and yes... I remember that moment. Not easy viewing.
Grizzly Man (2005)
"Grizzly Man. This is the perfect doc. Hands down. Stays with you forever and captures secret angles of life with confident twists of the gut and mind."
Saladcitypig
Timothy Treadwell was clearly very ill. This documentary is so sad and frustrating.
Three Identical Strangers (2018)
"Three Identical Strangers. Do not read or watch anything about it until after you watch the film. Crazy twists and turns."
gotthelowdown
This is a film that made me say "no way!" at least a few times out loud while watching.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
"Dear Zachary. Don’t Google it before watching. This movie wrecked me."
[deleted]
Probably one of the most emotionally devastating documentaries I've seen and it hits even harder when you realize how the film developed as the story unfolded in real time.
Icarus (2017)
"Icarus. It's not necessarily great technically, but the timeline of the documentary is absolutely fascinating. The coincidences that lined up just right that ended up capturing a behind the scenes look into the biggest Olympic doping scandal ever. It blows my mind."
WowThatsRelevant
I concur! So many factors had to line up for us to get the film that we got!
The Act of Killing (2012)
"The Act of Killing. Truly the most fascinating documentary I have ever seen. There's something captured near the end that I thought would have been impossible to catch on film and near-impossible to happen in the first place. Strong stuff though."
Porrick
This documentary truly represents one of the darkest journeys into the human soul that I've ever seen.
Well, what are you waiting for? Get watching. Some of these are bound to change your life. Documentaries can absolutely offer a window into experiences you might never have thought about before.
Have some recommendations of your own? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
I recently sat down and rewatched Capturing the Friedmans, about a family whose life is rocked after finding themselves in the crosshairs of a child abuse investigation. It's a searing documentary, achingly personal, and yes... utterly disturbing. It's also one of the most affecting documentaries that I've had the pleasure of seeing. It's just not for everyone, of course.
A good documentary series can be quite riveting, too. I've seen Wild Wild Country at least twice over the last few years–for those of you who don't know, it's about the circumstances that led to the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack–and every time I do, I wonder why Netflix can't make more documentaries that are as well-made and self-contained as this one.
If you're looking for some recommendations, you've come to the right place. People shared their opinions with us after Redditor tandyman234 asked the online community,
"What documentary would you rate a 10/10?"
Thou Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
"Thou Shall Not Grow Old. It's jaw dropping good. Seriously. The amount of attention to details to make that era come to life is just absolutely amazing."
AlreadyGone77
This is one I've enjoyed showing to people. It's incredibly immersive.
Harlan County, USA (1976)
"Harlan County, USA is a documentary about the warring sides of unionization in a Kentucky coal town and is the greatest documentary film I've ever seen."
innikiki
This film is more relevant than others. Should be considered necessary viewing, particularly for anyone who would like to know more about the labor movement in the United States.
Touching the Void (2003)
"Touching the Void. The most insane mountaineering/survival story you will ever hear."
Ready_The_Rhinos
This one definitely had me glued to the screen. Saw it about twelve or thirteen years ago and I still think about it from time to time.
9/11 (2002)
"9/11 by the Naudet Brothers.
"It's pretty raw and is the original footage of the first plane hitting North Tower. Not much for graphic injuries which is fine by me, but the part where you and the firefighters realize that a very specific slamming sound are bodies hitting the pavement is pretty brutal."
[deleted]
This one definitely stuck with me and yes... I remember that moment. Not easy viewing.
Grizzly Man (2005)
"Grizzly Man. This is the perfect doc. Hands down. Stays with you forever and captures secret angles of life with confident twists of the gut and mind."
Saladcitypig
This documentary is sad, fascinating, and frustrating all at once.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
"Dear Zachary. Don’t Google it before watching. This movie wrecked me."
[deleted]
I agree – Google nothing.
This documentary is gorgeous... but it emotionally devastated me.
Three Identical Strangers (2018)
"Three Identical Strangers. I legit was obsessed with this story after watching."
PolarizingFigure
I can't decide how I feel about the twist, admittedly. There's always a twist.
Icarus (2017)
"Icarus. It's not necessarily great technically, but the timeline of the documentary is absolutely fascinating. The coincidences that lined up just right that ended up capturing a behind the scenes look into the biggest Olympic doping scandal ever. It blows my mind."
WowThatsRelevant
I concur! So many factors had to line up for us to get the film that we got!
The Act of Killing (2012)
"The Act of Killing. Truly the most fascinating documentary I have ever seen. There's something captured near the end that I thought would have been impossible to catch on film and near-impossible to happen in the first place. Strong stuff though."
Porrick
This documentary truly represents one of the darkest journeys into the human soul that I've ever seen.
Hoop Dreams (1994)
"Hoop Dreams. Absolutely fantastic documentary! I don't even like basketball that much, but this was such a worthwhile watch."
megapixel
If you like this, I highly recommend checking out Steve James’ other doc Stevie. It’s very bizarre.
Well, what are you waiting for? Get watching. Some of these are bound to change your life. Documentaries can absolutely offer a window into experiences you might never have thought about before.
Have some recommendations of your own? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
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Documentaries are at the bottom of the priority list for many moviegoers.
And who can blame them?
Action films that include a succession of explosions and high-speed car chases can be more engaging than watching a history lesson.
Even horror films, where sadistic audiences repeatedly subject themselves to fakeout scares, are a popular choice for those with short attention spans.
However, if people gave documentaries a chance, they might be surprised at how enlightening the experience can be.
But with so many documentaries out there, the uninitiated can be overwhelmed with not knowing where to start to explore their curiosity.
Lucky for us, Redditor zeusdreaming asked,
"What is a must-watch documentary?"
And plenty of Redditors shared a great selection of options.
True crime and mysteries are usually good places to start. Because sometimes, truth is wilder than fiction.
The Road To Execution
"The Fear of Thirteen."
"A man on death row for 20 years, he's had enough and petitions the court to execute him. Which triggers an investigation into his case..... It's fascinating."
A Kidnapping
"Abducted in Plain Sight."
"Easily the most f'king bonkers documentary I have ever seen."
Family Tragedy
"American Murder on Netflix. Although I will warn you, it left me feeling sick for a week..."
Good historical documentaries are the ones that give us deeper insight than what is typically taught in classrooms.
About WWI
"They Shall Not Grow Old, directed and produced by Peter Jackson, about World War 1."
"100% this. That documentary is mind f'k, and really destroys the old timey feeling you normally get when watching old footage."
Indonesian Genocide
"The Act of Killing."
"A film about some of the perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide, but that doesn't do it justice. You will simply never see anything like this."
Ken Burns' Vietnam War
"Really fantastic docu-series."
"For anyone who hasn't seen it (and is unfamiliar with Burns style docu-series), it's a comprehensive, critical look at the Vietnam War. Like, you legitimately need two or more days to watch it in its entirety. The starting episode of the series kicks off back in the 1800s. But it's still riveting the whole way through. You hear from soldiers and civilians on both side of the conflict, and there are plenty of surprising (to many/most people) tidbits of information. For example, Ho Chi Minh was originally, well, a U.S. fanboy, before geopolitics stepped in and he and the U.S. were opponents. A fair warning though, it can get graphic at points (e.g. video of the napalm girl, and a raw, uncut, and close up video of an execution)."
– loony123
An intimate glimpse inside unfamiliar worlds and lifestyles always make for compelling viewing.
"Tickled"
"Go in blind, it's better that way."
"Blindfolded tickling… you know me too well."
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Insane Marathon
"The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats its Young on Amazon Prime."
"Absolutely f'king nuts that it is possible for people to run for that long over that terrain and elevation. Plus the guy who organizes it is hilarious and crazy."
"I recommend this documentary to everyone I can and so far I've never had any complaints."
"Jesus Camp"
"This was just too close to home for me. I grew up with parents as batsh*t insane as all the people in this movie. I've never seen a documentary I related to more in my life and still haven't. This level of religion is dangerous and it's bullsh*t how they use children."
Redditors insist these films about twins and triplets are fascinating must-see docs.
The Separated Triplets
"Three Identical Strangers was a great documentary which started very wholesome then got Darker yet more mysterious."
"I was in high school when the story broke! I knew that at the time, multiple birth babies were often split up if they were placed for adoption, but I had no idea that the story was much deeper, and darker."
"There were also rumors that they were actually identical quadruplets, but that wasn't true."
Twins And Memory Loss
"Tell Me Who I Am"
"It follows two twin brothers recalling their youth and childhood. One of them suffered severe amnesia after an accident. Their childhood was horrible, but after one of them forgot everything, the other brother could not bear to tell the truth. It's extremely thought provoking."
– non-all
Some documentaries can be more thrilling than any action movie.
Vertigo, Much?
"Free solo, I still get sweaty palms every time I think about Alex Honnold."
My favorite documentary has to be The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Narrated by RuPaul, this film chronicling the scandalous rise and fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Christian empire kept my eyes glued to the screen.
I didn't know much about Tammy Faye beyond her wild eyelashes, but I found myself adoring this compassionate woman who became a pro-LGBTQ icon.
The 2000 film wound up holding the 23rd spot on the 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die.
And for good reason.
Truth is stranger than fiction – which is why documentaries are so fascinating to watch.
Even some fictional movies are stories derived from real-life events or people, past or present.
In my humble opinion, Michael Moore makes excellent documentaries about social injustices and he fearlessly reveals the cracks and corruption within our government.
But some topics are meant to be explored beyond the two-hour-plus running time in movies. Which is why Netflix brought Tiger King as a docuseries, and it left audiences completely dumbfounded.
Wanting to find out about compelling documentaries Redditor cryosyske asked:
"What is the most insane documentary you've ever seen?"
People with unstable minds do the unthinkable, and our eyes are glued to the screen.
The Tragedy Of Timothy Treadwell
"Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog. It's a documentary about Timothy Treadwell, an environmentalist who spent 13 summers in Alaska camping out with grizzly bears and eventually gets eaten along with his girlfriend. And it was caught on tape, because he filmed everything. Dude was clearly not all there, just a sad story, but fascinating."
– 007100
Devils In Our Midst
"Evil Genius. It's about the aftermath of a bank robbery in which the bank robber was a captive who had a bomb collar strapped to their neck. It's definitely one hell of a watch."
Crazy Investigation
"There's an excellent documentary on an incident during the Troubles in Northern Ireland called 'No Stone Unturned'. It's an investigative journalism piece about British forces' collusion and coverup of the 1994 Loughinisland Massacre, when six people in a bar watching Ireland play in the World Cup were murdered by masked paramilitary gunmen with assault rifles."
"The methodical, step-by-step investigation and laying out of the (very incriminating!) evidence makes for a truly fascinating watch. Two of the filmmakers were later arrested by the PSNI and then released."
"Not an easy watch, but highly recommend it."
The Unthinkable
"The Trials of Gabriel Fernández on Netflix. This precious little boy was tortured to death by his mom and her boyfriend. His mom recently tried to have her conviction overturned."
These are apparently psychologically riveting.
Leaving The Past In The Past
"Tell me who I am was the most heartbreaking documentary I've ever seen. It's about these twin brothers and one of them gets into a bad motorcycle accident when he was 18 and doesn't remember anything from before. His brother has to decide whether to tell him everything or let him live in ignorant bliss."
Master Manipulator
"Imposter"
"It's the story of this kid who went missing when he was 12 or 13 and then reappeared something like 10 years later. It documents him getting back to and reuniting with his family. But get this: it wasn't the actual missing kid, but instead a French scam artist who did this sh*t serially."
"Now what makes the doc crazy is the story is told with interviews from the family and the f'king scam artist. He obviously a sociopath so he just calmy explains his motives and justifications for getting this poor family's hopes up. There's footage of all this as well as reenactments with the guy. It's super creepy."
Cinematic Scrapbook
"I haven't seen too many but so far Dear Zachary."
"On top of being one of the saddest movies I've ever seen, that reveal was immensely f'ked up. Not to mention f'king terrifying with all that red light and screaming sounds."
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A Father Looking For Answers
"The Pharmacist. A guy who goes searching for his sons murderer and winds up uncovering the beginnings of the opioid addiction in New Orleans."
And these films are considered completely wackadoodle.
Kink Takes A Turn
"Tickled. Thought it was going to be just a fun and weird look at a goofy sport but it was so disturbing and wild."
Deadly Amusement Park
"Class Action Park. It's about this old amusement park in New Jersey called Action Park that had an insane number of injuries. Former employees and guests talk about each ride and what made it fun and unsafe. There are animations of people getting hurt so those parts aren't too hard to watch. It also includes interviews about a specific fatality so I do want to make that clear as a trigger warning. But mostly it's a fascinating look at how kids grew up in the 80's and 90's and whether that was the best thing. There's a lot of nostalgia but I don't think anyone wants their kid to be the one who's fatally electrocuted on a kayak ride."
McScam Scandal
"The McDonald's monopoly scam documentary, McMillion$. I'd never heard of it before, so it was really interesting and pretty insane."
Good Time Country
"The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia! Produced by Johnny Knoxville, it's about backwoods toe-dancer Jeaco White and his hillbilly family. Wildly entertaining - seen it 4 times."
Festival Con
"I watched one about fyre festival."
"The sh*t that went down was insane."
"Internet historian does a good take on things."
Scaling New Heights
"Free Solo."
"The Dawn Wall is another climbing doc that is absolutely riveting."
Insane Competition
"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters."
"About the man whose goal was to set the world record on Donkey Kong, and the record holder he sought to dethrone trying to stop him."
"The people in this flick are bonkers."
"Operation Odessa"
"It's a documentary about this group of guys who managed to obtain and sell military equipment from the collapsed USSR to Cuba from Florida among other things. It's fascinating and hilarious, but also shockingly all true. The name actually comes from the name of the DEA operation that brought them down. One of them managed to get away, but they secured an interview with him in an undisclosed location on the documentary."
Honorable Mentions
"Man on Wire was pretty interesting, especially for a guy like me who is afraid of heights."
"I'd also go with Who the #{replace2}amp;% is Jackson Pollock is brilliant who buys a suspected real Pollock painting at a yard sale, potentially worth millions."
One docuseries that stayed with me was Don't F**k With Cats.
It was a Netflix doc about how amateur sleuths of the internet managed to lead a manhunt looking for Canadian pornographic actor, Luka Magnotta – whose penchant for torturing cute kittens for fun and posting his cruel acts on social media led him to murder Chinese international student, Jun Lin.
At the end of the series, I didn't know what I just saw and it took a while to process the absolutely bonkers turn of events.
And it's not for the faint of heart to watch.