What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to A first
Wild Wild Country 2018
Documentary
When a controversial cult leader builds a utopian city in the Oregon desert, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal.
The sides of Wild Wild Country
- A guru's followers building a city in the Oregon desert
- Ma Anand Sheela, his right hand
- A small town fighting back
Good for you if
- you like a fight between a commune and a town that becomes a national case.
- you can't look away from Sheela telling her own story decades later.
- you like a true story that gets stranger with each episode, and you can't guess where it goes.
Bad for you if
- six episodes of over an hour each is too much for you.
- you need momentum, and the archives and interviews take their time.
About: faith · power · utopia
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths 2021
Documentary
Suicide, murder... or something else? This docuseries examines chilling truths and theories around the deaths of 11 members of a Delhi family.
The sides of House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths
- Eleven members of one Delhi family found dead
- Police, reporters and relatives looking for answers
- Handwritten diaries left in the house
Good for you if
- you want to understand a real case that shook Delhi.
- you like an investigation weighing suicide, murder and belief.
- you want to see how one family's history and shared beliefs shaped what happened.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch a documentary about the deaths of a whole family.
- you need some hope or comfort at the end.
About: family · belief · grief · the media
Shoah 1985
Documentary
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
The sides of Shoah
- Survivors, bystanders and perpetrators interviewed
- The sites of the camps filmed decades later
- No archive footage at all
Good for you if
- you want the Holocaust told by those who were there.
- you can sit with long silences and slow train journeys.
- you can be moved to tears by a barber breaking down as he recalls Treblinka.
Bad for you if
- you can't give more than nine hours to one film.
- you won't read subtitles, and the film moves between many languages.
- you can't hear first-hand accounts of mass murder.
About: memory · testimony · genocide
The Staircase 2004
Documentary
Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, presents a gripping courtroom thriller, offering a rare and revealing inside look at a high-profile murder trial. In 2001, author Michael Peterson was arraigned for the murder of his wife Kathleen, whose body was discovered lying in a pool of blood on the stairway of their home. Granted unusual access to Peterson's lawyers, home and immediate family, de Lestrade's cameras capture the defense team as it considers its strategic options. The series is an engrossing look at contemporary American justice that features more twists than a legal bestseller.
The sides of The Staircase
- A writer charged with his wife's death
- His defense team at work, filmed from inside
- A murder trial in North Carolina
Good for you if
- you want to weigh the evidence in a real death yourself.
- you like a camera inside a real defense team during a murder trial.
- you can live with never knowing what happened on that staircase.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch a family grieve a real death.
- you need momentum, and courtroom procedure loses you.
About: justice · doubt · family
Until the Light Takes Us 2008
Documentary
Chronicles the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal, a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics. This is the first film to truly shed light on a movement that has heretofore been shrouded by rumor and obscured by inaccurate and shallow depictions. Featuring exclusive interviews with the musicians themselves, Until the Light Takes Us explores every aspect of the controversial movement that has captured the attention of the world.
The sides of Until the Light Takes Us
- Norwegian black metal in the early 1990s
- Church burnings and a murder
- Musicians interviewed years later, one of them in prison
Good for you if
- you want to understand where Norwegian black metal came from.
- you're drawn to the true story of the church fires and the killing behind the scene.
- you'd rather hear the musicians themselves than the rumours.
Bad for you if
- you can't sit with a real murder told by the people involved.
- you want a warm music documentary, not a cold and dark one.
About: subculture · violence · identity · notoriety
Waco: American Apocalypse 2023
Documentary
This docuseries includes never-before-seen material from the infamous 51-day standoff between federal agents and a heavily armed religious group in 1993.
The sides of Waco: American Apocalypse
- A 51-day standoff in Texas in 1993
- Federal agents facing an armed religious group
- Footage never shown before
Good for you if
- you want to understand what really happened at Waco.
- you like a defining American event told from the inside.
- you like following a siege day by day toward its end.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand real gunfights on screen.
- you'd rather not watch a tragedy where children died.
About: faith · authority · tragedy
Making a Murderer 2015
Documentary
Filmed over 10 years, this real-life thriller follows a DNA exoneree who, while exposing police corruption, becomes a suspect in a grisly new crime.
The sides of Making a Murderer
- A man freed by DNA after 18 years in prison
- A new murder charge two years later
- A nephew's confession and the trials that follow
Good for you if
- you want to weigh the evidence in the Steven Avery case yourself.
- you like seeing how a county police force and a court work up close.
- you like a case followed over ten years, hearing by hearing.
Bad for you if
- a real young woman's murder and a teenager's interrogation are too much for you.
- you need some hope, and a family's ten-year fight through prison visits and appeals wears you down.
About: justice · doubt · family
Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi 2022
Documentary
Rome, 1983. After leaving a music lesson, 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi vanishes — embroiling the Vatican in a decades-long mystery.
The sides of Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi
- A 15-year-old girl who vanished in Rome in 1983
- A brother who never stopped searching
- Questions that reach the Vatican
Good for you if
- you want a careful account of a real family's long search.
- you like following theories and leads across four decades.
- you want to see how powerful institutions answer hard questions.
Bad for you if
- you won't read subtitles for an Italian documentary.
- you need a case with a clear answer at the end.
About: grief · secrecy · the Church · justice
Voyeur 2017
Documentary
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
The sides of Voyeur
- Gay Talese, a famous journalist
- A Colorado motel owner who spied on his guests
- A magazine story that turned into a scandal
Good for you if
- you like a true story about how a big article gets made.
- you like not knowing which of the two men to believe.
- you like watching a reporter and his source get tangled together.
Bad for you if
- you can't sit with a man calmly describing years of spying on strangers.
- you need things to happen, and this is mostly interviews.
About: privacy · truth · journalism
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory 2012
Documentary
A further investigation into the arrest of three teenagers convicted of killing three young boys in Arkansas who spent nearly 20 years in prison before being released after new DNA evidence indicated they may be innocent.
The sides of Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
- The West Memphis Three after years in prison
- New DNA evidence
- A release through a plea deal
Good for you if
- you followed the West Memphis Three case and want to see how it ended.
- you like seeing how a murder case is built and taken apart.
- you like weighing evidence that points in a new direction.
Bad for you if
- you can't take the murder of three children, even told soberly.
- you need a case closed with a clear answer.
About: justice · innocence · time lost
The Vow 2020
Documentary
The docuseries follows people deeply involved in the group NXIVM — which is faced with various charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy — over the course of several years.
The sides of The Vow
- Former NXIVM members telling their story
- A self-help group that hid a secret society
- Years of footage filmed from the inside
Good for you if
- you want to understand how thoughtful people were drawn into NXIVM.
- you follow true crime through the eyes of those who walked away.
- you want to see how Keith Raniere controlled the people around him.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch accounts of abuse, branding and coercion.
- you need momentum, and this story unfolds over many hours.
About: manipulation · belief · betrayal
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple 2006
Documentary
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
The sides of Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
- Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple
- Former members and survivors speaking
- The move to Guyana in 1978
Good for you if
- you want to understand how ordinary people followed Jim Jones.
- you like archive footage that shows a story from the inside.
- you can watch a slow descent you know will end in tragedy.
Bad for you if
- you can't face the deaths of more than 900 people, children among them.
- you need some hope at the end of a story.
About: faith · manipulation · belonging
Murder Among the Mormons 2021
Documentary
High-stakes exploits turn deadly — and shake a global church to its core — in this extraordinary true crime story.
The sides of Murder Among the Mormons
- Bombings in Salt Lake City in 1985
- Forged historical documents
- A church shaken by a scandal
Good for you if
- you like true crime that rebuilds a real case with the people who lived it.
- you like an investigation where forged papers lead to the truth.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not dwell on real victims of a bombing.
- you lose track of a crowd of dealers, collectors and church leaders.
About: faith · deception · greed
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief 2015
Documentary
The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
The sides of Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
- Eight former members of the Church of Scientology
- How a science fiction writer founded a religion
- Testimony about abuse inside the church
Good for you if
- you like hearing people explain how they came to believe, and how they left.
- you want to know how an organisation keeps control of its members.
- you like long testimonies where people choose every word.
Bad for you if
- you can't listen to accounts of psychological abuse and broken families.
- you lose track when names pile up. Eight former members, two church leaders and a few film stars come and go.
About: belief · control · leaving
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey 2022
Documentary
In interviews and rare home video footage, ex-FLDS members share the truth about their isolated community — and the events that pushed them to leave.
The sides of Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
- A closed polygamist church in the American West
- Warren Jeffs, a self-declared prophet
- Former members and their home videos
Good for you if
- you want former members telling the truth about a world they escaped.
- you like seeing how one man took control of a whole community.
- you are drawn to stories of mothers and daughters breaking away.
Bad for you if
- you can't take real stories of child abuse and underage marriage.
- you need some light in a story, and this one stays dark for long stretches.
About: faith · control · escape
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations 2000
Documentary
Revisiting the 1994 Arkansas murder of three 8-year-old boys and the three teenagers convicted of the crime. A follow up to Paradise Lost, Revelations features new interviews with the convicted men, as well as with the original judge and police investigators.
The sides of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
- Three young boys murdered in Arkansas
- Three teenagers convicted and still in prison
- New interviews with the judge and the police
Good for you if
- you want to follow a real case that kept doubting its own verdict.
- you like weighing the evidence yourself.
- you want to see how a trial can go wrong.
Bad for you if
- you can't sit with the murder of children and the grief of their parents.
- two hours and ten minutes is too much for you.
About: justice · grief · doubt
West of Memphis 2012
Documentary
The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense allows the film to show the investigation, research, and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.
The sides of West of Memphis
- Three teenagers convicted of murdering three boys in 1993
- Damien Echols on death row
- A defence team chasing new evidence
Good for you if
- you want to follow the long fight to free Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley.
- you like new evidence reopening a case everyone thought was closed.
- you like seeing how a murder trial is built, and how it can go wrong.
Bad for you if
- you can't hear the details of the murder of three eight-year-old boys.
- two and a half hours is too much for you.
About: wrongful conviction · grief · justice
This Is Not a Film 2011
Documentary
Renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi received a 6-year prison sentence and a 20-year ban from filmmaking and conducting interviews with foreign press due to his open support for the opposition party in Iran's 2009 election. In this film, which was shot secretly by Panahi's close friend Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and smuggled into France on a USB stick concealed inside a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, Panahi documents his daily life under house arrest as he awaits a decision on his appeal.
The sides of This Is Not a Film
- A director banned from making films
- An apartment in Tehran under house arrest
- A film smuggled out inside a cake
Good for you if
- you want to see a ban on filmmaking from the inside.
- you care about Jafar Panahi defying a state that silenced him.
- you like a quiet day at home, phone calls and a pet iguana.
Bad for you if
- you won't read subtitles in Persian.
- you need clear answers, and this film leaves you unsure what is staged and how Panahi's appeal ends.
About: censorship · freedom · creation
The Look of Silence 2014
Documentary
An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.
The sides of The Look of Silence
- A man facing those who killed his brother
- Eye tests as a way into conversations
- Indonesia's 1965 killings
Good for you if
- you want to see a family ask the questions it was never allowed to ask.
- you want to understand a mass killing that is rarely talked about.
- you like quiet, patient conversations that say a lot.
Bad for you if
- you can't bear to hear killers calmly describe what they did.
About: guilt · memory · justice · grief
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills 1996
Documentary
A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
The sides of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
- Three boys murdered in West Memphis
- Three teenagers put on trial
- A town gripped by fear of satanism
Good for you if
- you want the true story of the West Memphis Three, told as it unfolded.
- you want to see a murder trial from inside the courtroom.
- you like weighing the evidence yourself.
Bad for you if
- you can't take the murder of children and their families' grief on screen.
- two and a half hours is too much for you.
About: justice · fear · prejudice