Which documentary is right for you?
Every documentary here says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight.
Not sure yet? Start with these.
The Social Dilemma 2020
Documentary
This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.
The sides of The Social Dilemma
- Former tech insiders explaining what they built
- A fictional family glued to their phones
- The algorithm played by three actors
Good for you if
- you want to hear from the people who designed the like button and the feed.
- you like seeing who profits from the hours you spend scrolling.
Bad for you if
- you roll your eyes at dramatized scenes and warnings about the end of society.
- you can't take figures on teen self-harm and depression.
About: technology · manipulation · addiction
Super Size Me 2004
Documentary
Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.
The sides of Super Size Me
- Thirty days of McDonald's three times a day
- Three doctors watching his health drop
- School lunches and fast food marketing
Good for you if
- you want to see one man's body change over a month of fast food.
- you like a filmmaker who jokes his way through Big Macs and checkups.
Bad for you if
- you roll your eyes at message films. Spurlock turns his month into a warning about fast food.
- you need hard science. It's one man's month, not a study.
About: health · food · the food industry
Bowling for Columbine 2002
Documentary
This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.
The sides of Bowling for Columbine
- A bank that hands out a rifle when you open an account
- Columbine security camera footage
- An interview with Charlton Heston at his home
Good for you if
- you want a road trip through America asking why it has so many shootings.
- you can laugh at a cartoon history of America while the subject is gun deaths.
- you like a sardonic narrator who questions everyone from Marilyn Manson to Charlton Heston.
Bad for you if
- a school shooting and a six-year-old girl's death are too much for you.
- you can't watch real footage from inside a school during a shooting.
About: guns · fear · violence
Cosmos 2014
Documentary
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson provides clarity for the vision of the cosmos as he voyages across the universe with never-before-told stories that delve into the scientific concepts of the laws of gravity and the origins of space and time.
The sides of Cosmos
- The history of the universe compressed into one calendar year
- A ship of the imagination
- Scientists who changed how we see the sky
Good for you if
- you like feeling small in front of billions of years and galaxies.
- you like black holes, the birth of stars and the size of the universe made visible.
- you like the true stories of scientists like Newton or Clair Patterson.
Bad for you if
- you can't take the cartoon scenes that tell each scientist's story.
- a narrator in awe of everything makes you roll your eyes.
About: science · curiosity · time
Free Solo 2018
Documentary
Follow Alex Honnold as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite's 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall. With no ropes or safety gear, this would arguably be the greatest feat in rock climbing history.
The sides of Free Solo
- A free climb of El Capitan with no rope
- A camera crew afraid to film a fall
- A climber who lives in a van
Good for you if
- you like holding your breath through a climb you already know the end of.
- you want the real Alex Honnold, his doubts, his girlfriend and his training.
- you like the granite wall of Yosemite filmed from every angle.
Bad for you if
- you have no interest in sport. It's two years of training for one climb.
- you need momentum, and the climb only comes after months of preparation.
About: fear · ambition · risk
Fahrenheit 9/11 2004
Documentary
Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The sides of Fahrenheit 9/11
- The 2000 election and September 11
- A president in a classroom after the attacks
- A mother from Flint who lost her son in Iraq
Good for you if
- you want news footage and interviews from the Bush years in one film.
- you like following money and oil between Washington and Saudi Arabia.
- you like Michael Moore's mocking edits and pop songs over politicians.
Bad for you if
- a mother reading her dead son's last letter is too much for you.
- you can't watch real footage of wounded civilians and soldiers in Iraq.
About: war · grief · politics
The Last Dance 2020
Documentary
A 10-part documentary chronicling the untold story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty with rare, never-before-seen footage and sound from the 1997-98 championship season – plus over 100 interviews with famous figures and basketball’s biggest names.
The sides of The Last Dance
- The Chicago Bulls' 1997-98 season
- Michael Jordan watching old clips on a tablet
- Rare footage from inside the locker room
Good for you if
- you like basketball games replayed with the players telling you what they felt.
- you want Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Phil Jackson in their own words.
- you like the 1990s NBA, from the Bad Boys Pistons to the sixth title.
Bad for you if
- ten episodes on one team is too much for you.
- a hundred interviews and a whole roster to keep track of lose you.
About: winning · competition · fame
Citizenfour 2014
Documentary
In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.
The sides of Citizenfour
- Edward Snowden in a Hong Kong hotel room
- Journalists deciding what to publish
- A fire alarm that makes everyone freeze
Good for you if
- you like the days before a leak, filmed as they happen in one hotel room.
- you want to watch Snowden explain, in his own words, why he did it.
- you like seeing how governments watch their own citizens.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum, and most of it is people talking at a desk.
- you want scale and sound, not a laptop and a hotel bed.
About: surveillance · privacy · courage
Amy 2015
Documentary
A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.
The sides of Amy
- Home videos of a teenage singer in London
- The recording of Back to Black
- Paparazzi flashes outside her door
Good for you if
- you like hearing Amy Winehouse's lyrics on screen as she sings them.
- you want her life told only through home videos, voicemails and friends' voices.
- you like being moved by someone you watch slip away.
Bad for you if
- you can't take addiction, an eating disorder and an overdose on screen.
- you need some hope, and you know how this one ends.
About: fame · addiction · talent
Planet Earth 2006
Documentary
David Attenborough celebrates the amazing variety of the natural world in this epic documentary series, filmed over four years across 64 different countries.
The sides of Planet Earth
- Snow leopards on a mountain slope
- Birds of paradise dancing for a mate
- Four years of filming in 64 countries
Good for you if
- you like mountains, jungles and deserts filmed from the air.
- you want to feel how big and strange the planet is.
- you want something calm to put on in the evening, with David Attenborough's voice.
Bad for you if
- you need a story to follow. Long shots of herds and ice let the pictures speak.
- you need people on screen. There are only animals here.
About: the natural world · survival · the seasons
March of the Penguins 2005
Documentary
Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!
The sides of March of the Penguins
- Emperor penguins walking 70 miles across the ice
- Fathers keeping an egg warm through the polar winter
- Storms and predators around the chicks
Good for you if
- you like Antarctica, its cold and its silence.
- you want something for the whole family, with chicks and no gore.
- you like watching an animal do something that seems impossible.
Bad for you if
- you roll your eyes at narration about penguin love and devotion.
- you need momentum. Long lines of penguins walking bore you.
About: parenthood · endurance · the cold
Senna 2010
Documentary
The remarkable story of Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained, is the subject of Senna, a documentary feature that spans the racing legend's years as an F1 driver, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later.
The sides of Senna
- Ayrton Senna's Formula One years, 1984 to 1994
- The rivalry with Alain Prost
- Only archive footage, no talking heads on screen
Good for you if
- you like onboard laps in the rain at Monaco.
- you like a life told entirely through real footage from the time.
- you like a rivalry that turns into collisions on the track.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather skip politics. Much of it is the fight with the sport's rulers over penalties and points.
About: ambition · rivalry · faith · death
Blackfish 2013
Documentary
Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
The sides of Blackfish
- Tilikum, a captive killer whale
- Former SeaWorld trainers telling what they saw
- The death of a trainer during a show
Good for you if
- you like former trainers admitting what they didn't want to see.
- you care about how intelligent animals live.
- you like seeing a company's story taken apart piece by piece.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real attacks and a real death described in detail.
- you want a light animal film. This one leaves you angry.
About: captivity · guilt · profit
The Tinder Swindler 2022
Documentary
Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now, some victims plan for payback.
The sides of The Tinder Swindler
- A man posing as a diamond heir on a dating app
- Private jets paid for with other women's loans
- Three women who decide to fight back
Good for you if
- you like seeing exactly how a con works, message by message.
- you like hearing the women he fooled tell it themselves.
- you like the moment the money runs out and the threats start.
Bad for you if
- you came for a love story. This is about how one was faked.
- you can't watch real people sink into debt and fear.
About: trust · money · betrayal
My Octopus Teacher 2020
Documentary
After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
The sides of My Octopus Teacher
- A diver in a kelp forest off South Africa
- A year following one octopus
- A shark hunting her in the shallows
Good for you if
- you like cold water, kelp and the life hidden in it.
- you like seeing how clever an animal can be up close.
- you can be moved to tears by a bond with an octopus.
Bad for you if
- a man's voice-over about his feelings for an animal makes you roll your eyes.
- you need a story that moves. This is slow dives, day after day.
About: connection · healing · the life cycle
Inside Job 2010
Documentary
A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.
The sides of Inside Job
- The 2008 financial crisis, from Iceland to Wall Street
- Bankers, regulators and economists in front of the camera
- Professors who can't answer a simple question
Good for you if
- you want to know who made money from the crash and who paid.
- you like a case built with real figures, real names and real interviews.
- you like interviews where the person in the chair starts to squirm.
Bad for you if
- you don't want to follow derivatives and credit default swaps for an evening.
- you want a reassuring ending. Here almost nobody goes to jail.
About: greed · corruption · the economy
Searching for Sugar Man 2012
Documentary
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.
The sides of Searching for Sugar Man
- Rodriguez, a Detroit singer who sold almost nothing at home
- His record everywhere in apartheid South Africa
- Two fans trying to find out how he died
Good for you if
- you like discovering songs you've never heard, and hearing why they mattered.
- you like an investigation that starts with record sleeves and royalties.
- you can be moved by how much a few songs meant to people on the other side of the world.
Bad for you if
- you want more happening than interviews and songs.
- you'd rather a made-up story than a documentary about real people.
About: fame · humility · second chances
Fyre 2019
Documentary
He promised supermodels and yachts, but delivered tents and cheese sandwiches. How one man engineered a music festival disaster.
The sides of Fyre
- A luxury festival sold with supermodels on a beach
- Guests arriving to disaster tents and a cheese sandwich
- The staff who tried to keep the promise alive
Good for you if
- you laugh at a disaster you can watch coming from the first ad.
- you like seeing how a fraud keeps going one lie after another.
- you like the people who built it explaining how it all went wrong.
Bad for you if
- you want a patient film. This one moves like a social media feed.
- you want to understand the man behind it. The film stays on the fallout.
About: hype · greed · influence
An Inconvenient Truth 2006
Documentary
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
The sides of An Inconvenient Truth
- Al Gore's slideshow on global warming
- Melting glaciers, before and after
- A politician's own story between the charts
Good for you if
- you like a clear case built on data and photographs.
- you care about glaciers, oceans and the climate.
- you like a man who believes every word he says on stage.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum. Most of it is a lecture with graphs.
- you'd rather keep politics out of it. A former US vice president makes the case.
About: climate · responsibility · politics
Man on Wire 2008
Documentary
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.
The sides of Man on Wire
- A wire strung between the Twin Towers in 1974
- Months of planning like a heist
- A Frenchman walking on air for nearly an hour
Good for you if
- you like a plan where one mistake gets everyone caught.
- you like hearing the accomplices tell it decades later.
- you like the image of a man lying down on a wire above New York.
Bad for you if
- you're afraid of heights. A man walks a wire between the Twin Towers with nothing below him.
- you roll your eyes at grand talk about art and beauty. Petit tells his walk like a poem.
About: daring · friendship · freedom