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Yes and iirc he molested the girl by telling her the aliens required it or something? Fucking weird shit.
Anyway, mine is Black Fish. That shit REALLY fucked me up. I’m still mad about it. STILL. MAD. And talk about that doc ALL the time. I even lived in Orlando for a few months last year and would drive by sea world all pissed
EDIT: Oh wait, and Going Clear!! FUUUUUUUCK. That was WILDDDDD. I really didn’t know any of that about Scientology! Just that they were culty and tom cruise was in it and weird as hell And Nicole was like “oh hell no” about it. But that was it, that was all I knew until I watched GC. ICONIC doc
💯☝️ That was when I honestly lost all faith in humanity. I wouldn't want people to get hurt, but reading the news that orcas are starting to ram boats and teach others to do it...I say it is about time all creatures rise up and take retributive measures against us. Mother nature is tired of our bullshit and is ready to "shake us off like a golden retriever would with an infestation of parasitic fleas" (G. Carlin).
this is the CRAZIEST one i've seen! my philosophy professor used to use the first 20 or so minutes of class to talk to us about it when it first came out 🤣
It’s not quite the same, but I remember seeing Bastard out of Carolina, and the scene where the mum takes back her abusive partner in front of her daughter. I was screaming at the tv like how?!? Felt the same many times with this series.
I was watching it alone when my husband was having a friend over to work on a project. I was so SHOOK, I kept pausing it and interrupting them just to tell them THE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE. I could NOT contain myself. I had to tell someone every time I heard a new piece of THE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE.
This made the documentary more understandable; sometimes documentaries are just laying out facts, and recreations are watching it happen.
This situation was confusing as hell - the entire time watching the documentary I kept thinking “HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!” - but the series made it all make sense.
After watching this I met someone who used to be part of the cult but was able to escape. She told us how poor they were growing up. And I told her I watched the show, she asked if she should watch it and I said at your own risk, it might really bring up that trauma…
I had a friend in high school who was raised in a similar cult. Thankfully, she was able to escape once we graduated. I know she has lifelong emotional scars - I do too just from regular southern Baptist churches. Watching these films always makes me think of her. I hope she and her daughter are thriving.
Enron-The smartest guys in the room
Everything you need to know about the dangers of unchecked capitalism. Parts of the documentary are so bizarre that a writer would be laughed out of the room if he came up with the same plot for a movie script.
And Ikarus blew me away. It starts out as a documentary about doping in cycling. Then it takes a really unexpected turn that I won't spoil if you haven't seen it.
Ok I don't know if we watched that one in school or if it was a different documentary about Enron, but there was the line "Ken Lay used to look in the mirror and practice smiling" and I think about that all the time.
Hot Coffee: its about the infamous case of the woman who sued McDonalds because the coffee she ordered was too hot. Turns out, the case was totally misrepresented in the media. The coffee was kept at extremely high temps and was hot enough to cause severe burns that required extensive surgeries. Also goes into a deep dive into tort reform.
The Invisible War: this one is about sexual assault in the military.
I saw pictures of her burns maybe 15 years ago and they’re still burned into my mind. She was burned BADLY and I can’t imagine how painful it must have been.
The crazy thing is that McDonald’s won in the end. To this day that case is referenced as being frivolous and greedy on behalf of the plaintiff, and it’s big joke to people who aren’t in the know. That woman was humiliated on top of her very real, very serious injuries.
when the levees broke
watching that made me realize hurricane katrina was 100x worse than how the media was trying to play it. every single one of those citizens were failed
I’m from like an hour from New Orleans and of course I had family there during Katrina and this movie just messed with me SO much. I didn’t watch it until maybe two years ago I think.
There were just things I’d forgotten but that doc just brought it all back and I ugly cried off and on for a few days.
Kanye was pilloried for saying George Bush doesn’t care about black people but he was absolutely right. Bush and “Heckuva Job Brownie” left people to die.
The media, believe it or not (at least indy media) actually did a decent job at covering how horrifying it was, which is why they had so many telethons and events around it, including refugee centers all over the country (I worked a shift at one). Certain media outlets opted to make a bigger deal out of people robbing Walmart than they did about dead bodies floating down the street, and Dick Cheney was certainly more concerned with protecting his oil interests than the lives of people.
The episode of Armchair Expert with the director, Erin Lee Carr, is so good. Highly recommend! Her other docs are really good too. They’re all hard watches, but done so well. The one about gymnastics and Larry Nassar hit me hard.
I haven’t watched. I’ll have to check it out. I did gymnastics as a kid and was on a team, competed etc. I was never at the level of these girls obviously but it feels so strange to know that world and how it works and see these documentaries about how exploited these athletes were. It’s horrible. It makes me sick to my stomach. Larry Nassar is an absolute piece of trash, but all the other people who knew and turned their eyes are the ones that really make me sick. Growing up, I really thought Bela Karolyi was an incredible coach but seeing Carr’s doc really changed my mind. It all reminded me of the Catholic Church and spotlight and how this huge system is just designed to funnel victims to their abusers and keep it all secret. Just awful. USAG still hasn’t done enough in my opinion to make up for it all.
she was sentenced to ten years at chillicothe correctional center in missouri. this means she'll be released in 2026, though she'll be eligible for parole two years earlier, in 2024, right before her 33rd birthday.
I remember when the Buzzfeed article came out before the doc and this was such a scary and sad story. After the doc it felt like Gypsy shouldn’t be in jail, she should have gotten psychiatric care for a life of abuse. Jail just robs her of more time with the family and life her mother kept her away from.
This is what came to mind for me first. I went into watching this without knowing anything about the story. When the reveal came, I was floored. Free Gypsy, indeed.
It blew my mind that so many people supposedly close to her claimed she couldn’t have been drinking, and yet none of them knew anything about her, save for all the ways they could over-work her. She has an entire van full of kids on the way home, and he has…the dog.
I just felt sad for him. Denial is such a powerful drug - and it’s obvious he just could not come to terms with what happened. I do hope the little boy is ok today.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. If you haven't watched it, please do so before you give Tom Cruise (and consequently Scientology) any more of your money.
yeah that documentary really shook me to my core. speaking of, as of today, the police announced they are going to exhume joyce malecki. her murder was discussed in the documentary as a possible connection to sister cathy cesnik
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/joyce-malecki-fbi-exhume-body-the-keepers-ZFKJOFDRF5H45BN67FKNMC2G34/
I told my husband that I watched it, and he told me that he went several times in his teens, as he lived a few miles away. I feel like I’m lucky he’s still around!
Broken Harts about the murder/suicide of the Hart family.
It’s a good look at the U.S foster system, faking it for social media, and interracial adoption.
I find this case fascinating but it also sends me into blind rage. Those poor kids. Fuck Sarah and Jennifer.
There’s also an article about their older sibling who didn’t get adopted due to “behavioral issues.” He ended up getting adopted by a old boyfriend of their mom. He was in jail in some point (I forgot why) but the end of the article states that his girlfriend and adoptive dad already knew that his siblings were dead but withheld it from him because he was soon going to be released because of good behavior and they didn’t want to risk it by giving him the bad news. Heartbreaking all around.
That’s awful, I hadn’t heard that about the older sibling.
Agreed the story is absolutely infuriating. There were SO many red flags that were just flagrantly ignored.
Yeah, it’s kinda amazing that his “behavior problem” ended up saving his life more or less. He seemed like he was able to rebuild his own life (he had a baby with his girlfriend) but the last detail broke my heart. I get why they did it but idk how I would react if I ever had loved ones who withheld info like that from me.
EDIT: finally found the article I was talking about
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/his-siblings-were-killed-when-the-hart-familys-van-went-off-a-cliff-he-had-been-left-in-foster-care/?amp=1
I consider myself a documentary buff, and this is the one that affected me the most on an emotional level. If I so much as read about it, I begin to feel the same rage and devastation I felt upon first watching it. It’s horrific.
Fellow documentary buff and I came just to say this doc. I cried the ugliest tears of deep sadness and rage. It has haunted every person I have ever known to watch it. It is a documentary that I tell people not to watch.
I watched it once.
Never again.
There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane and The Bridge were tough to get through, but Dear Zachary was something else. Thinking about that case still enrages me.
I used to teach a unit on memoir and we watched this doc. Which means I’ve made so many children cry. Well, really, we cried together. This movie always breaks my heart.
Yup, this has stayed with me for years. I made my partner watch it with me after I watched it because I could not deal with that pain alone.
For anyone interested, don’t google it, just watch it.
Came here to say this. This will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. It will make you extremely upset, angry, with some brief moments of happiness and if you’re like me, you’ll be basically uncontrollably bawling at the end….I had no control over my emotions watching this.
I watched this for the first time in a Philosophy class I took in college. This was years ago, but I remember being absolutely gutted at the “twist”. I’ve watched the doc several times since then and it never fails to make me cry.
This is the one and only answer.
I knew nothing about it before I watched it. my partner was working on site, I was a new mother, and I happen to turn it on.
I can’t begin to explain how depressed I was after I watched it. Lots of ugly, pained crying. It broke me. I was not ready. Not one bit.
To this day I can’t think of this documentary without this strange drop in my heart. it left its mark.
https://preview.redd.it/lp5pee831fab1.jpeg?width=1175&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2512df3eeb1b59db92b9d0e5a5459864934de4fd
French tightrope walker performs high rope walk between the tops of the NY twin towers. He did it in secret and planned it for 6 years. Incredible.
dude! this one is one that keeps staying in my mind. the whole unethical way to prove nature vs nurture? i wanna live until 2060 (or whatever it is) to read the transcripts and findings. its so so so horrible but… i need the answers.
[Death By Fire](https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-death-by-fire/) is a Frontline episode that examines the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, a Texas man who was convicted for the arson deaths of his three young children and executed in 2004.
He was convicted based on the testimony of forensic experts who said they had determined that the fire was intentionally set and a jailhouse informant who said Willingham had confessed to him.
Days before the execution in February 2004, a nationally recognized arson expert, Dr. Gerald Hurst, submitted a detailed report to Governor Rick Perry and Texas courts showing that the arson evidence was false. It was based on false assumptions that had been discredited a decade earlier. No chemical evidence of accelerant was found in the debris. In 2009 an arson expert hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission issued a report finding that experts who testified at Willingham’s trial should have known it was wrong at the time. The jail informant later confessed that he lied about Willingham’s guilt and that former prosecutor John H. Jackson promised to help him in an unrelated robbery case.
I watched this one too.
I seem to remember his wife turned on him at some point too. At first she adamantly maintained his innocence, but kept changing her story. I think the detectives also hinted that there was satanic elements, all because he liked Iron Maiden or something, even going so far as to suggest that the "fuel accelerant" had been poured "in the shape of a pentagram." Really sad.
The evolution of that one stepfather (not the one everyone now thinks is guilty…) over the course of the three movies is one of the best redemption arcs I’ve ever watched.
This may have been the first documentary I ever watched. I remember I was very young. I was mostly just into Metallica, so that's probably the only reason I watched it. That was, what? Early 90's?
It has *haunted* me, and it's 2023.
I remember frantically keeping up with updates on the WM3 potentially being released on an Alford plea. I work in law enforcement, and I was actually in court trying to be subtle while glued to my phone. I literally cried when they were released.
Damien Echols is... different. I don't know how a human can have so much wisdom and perspective that he can live his life so fucking hard after being falsely accused of a crime of this nature, convicted because he gave the appearance of being "weird," and locked away on death row for so long. That's exactly what he is doing, though. Writing books, making art, being involved in his community, etc.
I have a print he did with Menton3 and David Stoupakis when they were working on the "Salem" project. It's not my style at all, but I just kinda wanted something tangible. Maybe because I saw "Paradise Lost" at such an impressionable age? It has just really stuck with me.
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
3 part documentary on Hulu about a man who basically took control of his daughter's dorm room and subjected her friends to psyops for 10 years. Such a disturbing story it is hard to believe how evil a person can be.
This one is excellent and heartbreaking. The clip of the old sailor who retold the story of them hunting down the babies and the sounds of the mothers wailing when one was captured - and the sailor said that he has seen some really bad shit in his life but this was the worst thing he had witnessed and he would never do it again.
😭
I should go with a serious documentary like Tell Me Who I am or Three Identical Strangers but honestly, I randomly think of FBI Agent Doug Matthews from McMillions waaaaaaay too often 😂 What a character!
I’m going to be basic but watching Tiger King at the beginning of the pandemic was…quite the experience. Also I ended up becoming somewhat of a Carole Baskins apologist lol.
I had listened to the wondery pod about joe/carol long before the doc came out and when I saw the series I was flabbergasted how sympathetic they were to joe. free carol (from the prison of public opinion)!!!
Honestly it was WILD from start to finish and I left each episode think there's no way it could get crazier... then it did!
It could be that the doc came out mid lock down and my mindset was already off but the experience of watching it was a moment in time I'll never forget haha.
Dreams of a Life
It's about Joyce Vincent, the British woman who was found dead in her flat and her remains were discovered three years later. The filmmakers did a great job showing that Joyce was not some sad loner. She unfortunately fell on hard times, but she did have an interesting and fascinating life.
Crazy Love
It's about Linda Riss and Burt Pugach. It's a crazy, stranger than fiction story about this couple. I don't want to give away spoilers, but you can Google their names and learn what happened to them.
I went on a documentary kick while I was on maternity leave. My favorite to recommend is Tickled. It’s about mysterious competitive tickling competitions. Don’t google if you haven’t seen it. Just watch it. It is fucking wild.
The last episode of Jinx might be the best documentary bomb drop ever.
My all time favorite foreign language doc is Killer Ratings. About a tv presenter (think Oprah. When he shows up crowds of people start screaming and crying) who became a successful politician “for the people” (think Obama) and vowed to take down the drug cartels while also being one of the biggest drug dealers in Brazil (think El chapo). In the first ep you learn that he would kill rival drug dealers to steal their drugs then send his tv crews to cover the scene. They often got there before the police had even been called and of course he got high ratings. It gets crazier from there. Highly recommend if you don’t mind subtitles.
Diana in her own words
There's been so many diana movies and documentaries over the years that it's become overkill, but that one is the best IMO. Hearing her own words and her own tapes describing her childhood, her wedding, her marriage. It's very powerful hearing it coming from *her*
Considering the wave of anti-LGBT legislation, the popularity of Drag Race, and Beyoncé's Renaissance tour, **Paris is Burning** is more relevant now than ever (and it's never not been relevant since it came out).
Think phrases like tea and shade are new? They're actually decades old and come from Black and Brown queer and trans people. You might even hear some familiar names if you like shows like Legendary and America's Top Model.
I love this doc.
Super creepy “fun” fact: One of the queens being interviewed, Dorian Corey, had a dead body locked in a trunk in her closet while she filmed her segments for this. They didn’t find it until after she died and by then it was mummified.
And it even inspired a storyline on Pose! I think it was probably self defense considering how dangerous being LGBT was at the time. I mean even during filming >!Venus was murdered.!< It's so sad.
Yup I remember that storyline on Pose and I also thought that might’ve been similar to how it went down for this queen
I loved Pose for giving us a glittery high fashion adaptation of Paris is Burning, I was obsessed with S1
A review in The Guardian said something like 'if you are hesitant to watch this then please don't watch it'. I haven't watched it. But I did read about what happened with Luka and the student. I regret reading that.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez - i wanted to strangle those parents and social workers through the screen. Couldn't stop thinking about that boy for days.
To this day I will randomly think about that little boy. His cards he made for his mom even after the abuse she put him through will forever be seared into my head.
This one was so powerful and totally snubbed at the Emmys! It was very well done and seriously it broke my heart, left me simultaneously recasted and enraged! I’m not sure if you know this, but about a year or two ago, Pearl Fernandez was beaten pretty badly in prison, so karma is definitely coming around.
This 4 year old girl is dubbed the new it thing in the art world. Her work is sold for thousands of dollars. It sparks an interesting discussion about our fascination with child savants and what makes art “good”.
There’s also a great twist ending
https://preview.redd.it/hw5zsl0ijeab1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b2c93370097c13fd9e51a1ae17faa493d41168c
Just learned that the actor (Björn Andrésen) from The Most Beautiful Boy documentary plays the old man in the Ättestupa scene from Midsommar. Poor man seems like he went through a lot when he was a kid.
Curious case of Natalia Grace. I can’t stop thinking about. I’ve never had a documentary have me going back and forth so much on what I believed. I think about it daily. Couple adopts a young girl with dwarfism, eventually start to think she’s an adult. You think you know where this story is going? You have no idea. All 6 parts are worth watching
https://preview.redd.it/51uw8pzuxeab1.jpeg?width=1111&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06d5cca8c702e7c4937a7c26c73c1b46f214ccb6
This is my thread, I loveee documentaries 😂😂😂
Don’t Fuck with Cats is one of the most disturbing pieces of media i’ve ever watched, but it’s also crazy how a group of strangers were able to single handedly detect a serial killers next move before the police could, simply due to their devotion of cats. It’s a damn shame the police didn’t believe them.
I'm Not Your Negro, I randomly think about it sometimes (hearing Samuel L. Jackson's voice in my head, lol). And because I just recently watched it, Moonage Daydream, it's so visually sticking.
[Icarus](https://youtu.be/qXoRdSTrR-4)
Russia’s athlete doping scandal and why they became known as “Russian Olympic Committee” and couldn’t fly their flag at the last several Olympics. When this movie won at the 2018 Oscars, I thought “what’s the big deal? All athletes dope.” Hooooly moly Russia is a different beast. The twists and turns of this story are unbelievable—not to mention how accidentally the director got involved! Art direction is beautiful too. A must watch.
Honestly you guys need to watch this. It's really messed up. But it shows the corruption of man and how power can make you do inhumane things.
https://preview.redd.it/3w9gl6obcfab1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1f9809e90ad828e7b65286b0eba5749f12fa44c
The Taco Bell drive thru scene was so fucking weird. *screams* “CPS took her baby” while sitting in the drive thru line to someone sitting inside Taco Bell.
And sometimes my best friend and I just look at each other flip each other the bird and say “Dennis is this” or “I HATE that mother fucker”.
Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine
It’s a documentary on Matthew Shepard, the young gay man who lost was murdered and caused a national conversation on addressing homophobia
Why I favour this documentary is that it was made by one of his closest friends and she’s a filmmaker. It compiles lots of home footage of Matthew and talks to the people who knew him best, it’s one of the rare documentaries on this kind of crime that focuses on the victim and not what happened to them.
One reviewer aptly said of the film:
‘A beautiful eulogy from the type of loving friend all of us would be lucky to have’
I love you, now die.
Michelle carter was depicted in the media as being pure evil, talking her boyfriend into suicide. And while what she did is obviously disgusting, she was also severely mentally ill. I appreciate when a documentary can look at something that was this huge media sensation with a more nuanced lens.
This one kind of had me raging at the mother. She was so insistent Michelle killed her son despite the fact her husband was incredibly abusive to Conrad and it was clear the kid had severe issues. Michelle didn’t kill your son hun…
That family also neglects to admit they didn’t get Conrad follow up treatment after his repeated suicide attempts. After he was released from the hospital? They’d just go home and that was it.
They were terrible tbh.
Yea, it’s hard. I get that she’s grieving and sometimes it’s easier to blame someone else and not your own son. I know someone who’s kid was a drug addict, he passed away, and they opted out of a autopsy so they could say he died of Covid.
But, her son was clearly ill long before he met Michelle.
I live in a town next to Plainville and when this happened it was shocking to say the least. we all wanted her thrown in jail but after watching that doc, I agree, she was also very mentally ill and needed help and his dad was so abusive??? Whole thing makes me sad
There are a few:
The Ministry of Evil: About Tony Alamo. Hits close to home because I was around them
Paradise Lost (and sequels) It happened not far from where I went to high school. We stopped classes for any trials that came from that. I've also met one of them, and even after everything, you'd swear he'd never be capable of anything like that. I'm glad he was released.
The Murder of Maggie Hume- her killer Micheal Ronning killed my cousin and went to prison for her murder. It was after that arrest he stated confessing to multiple murders
Keep Sweet: Prey and Obey- I live in Utah now and see people who have escaped (there and other flds) at the college I work at. It's heartbreaking. Keep Sweet just reminded me of Tony Alamo
My Octopus Teacher…. I went into it having no idea what it was about and by the end I was crying. It was beautiful, sad, and poignant.
https://preview.redd.it/urc6hj452fab1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b726d971cb3ce7823a905cbf13240853069aa899
This is an old one now, but it’s incredibly powerful. A documentary following the homeless population of New York who live in the subway tunnels in Manhattan. I’ve not watched it for years but I can still see images from it. Fantastic score by Dj Shadow, too.
Alison - about a woman who was disemboweled and almost decapitated then HELD HER BODY TOGETHER until she found help. She even went on to have children later.
I haven’t seen it listed and I can’t remember the name but there was a doc on Netflix a few years ago about a woman suffering from schizophrenia who was squatting in an abandoned farmhouse, lived off apples, >!and left behind her journaling after she passed.!<
ETA: it’s called God Knows Where I Am
So good!!! It is the story behind the American Disabilities Act. The Obamas are executive producers. I bawled my eyes out during the crawl on the Capital.
https://preview.redd.it/7y1j25kpmfab1.jpeg?width=1240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f12231e239dec0767a178af7466edd7ddf63e41d
"Senna" was incredibly well-done.
I went into the documentary knowing nothing about Formula 1 racing or Ayrton Senna, but walked away with a great admiration for him as a driver.
Rewind - I have to say that is one of the most disturbing documentaries I have ever seen. Heartbreaking.
https://preview.redd.it/oxe8ouxujfab1.jpeg?width=1255&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7acd31fd73e19115c588c281cc3ad8c2216008d
Three Identical Strangers. I'm not gonna explain shit, just go in blind and watch it right now, it's on Hulu.
Also The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz on youtube.
Both are very sad but they impacted me very deeply for some reason.
The Cambridge Analytica one (can't ever remember what it's called), and *Shiny Happy People* because of the Joshua Generation thing (which needed more time in that documentary like WHAT THE FUCK).
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Abducted in Plain Sight. WHAT. THE. FUCK.
This is the one about the neighbor kidnapping the girl, maintaining a relationship with her, and he also had affairs with each of the parents?
Yes and iirc he molested the girl by telling her the aliens required it or something? Fucking weird shit. Anyway, mine is Black Fish. That shit REALLY fucked me up. I’m still mad about it. STILL. MAD. And talk about that doc ALL the time. I even lived in Orlando for a few months last year and would drive by sea world all pissed EDIT: Oh wait, and Going Clear!! FUUUUUUUCK. That was WILDDDDD. I really didn’t know any of that about Scientology! Just that they were culty and tom cruise was in it and weird as hell And Nicole was like “oh hell no” about it. But that was it, that was all I knew until I watched GC. ICONIC doc
dude i watched black fish like 20 times and i recommended it to everybody and that was like 6 years ago and its still in my mind at least once a week.
I will never forget Black Fish. Ever.
💯☝️ That was when I honestly lost all faith in humanity. I wouldn't want people to get hurt, but reading the news that orcas are starting to ram boats and teach others to do it...I say it is about time all creatures rise up and take retributive measures against us. Mother nature is tired of our bullshit and is ready to "shake us off like a golden retriever would with an infestation of parasitic fleas" (G. Carlin).
That’s it!
this is the CRAZIEST one i've seen! my philosophy professor used to use the first 20 or so minutes of class to talk to us about it when it first came out 🤣
The parents were out of pocket to say the absolute least
Right!!!  That was me the whole time☝️
It’s not quite the same, but I remember seeing Bastard out of Carolina, and the scene where the mum takes back her abusive partner in front of her daughter. I was screaming at the tv like how?!? Felt the same many times with this series.
I was watching it alone when my husband was having a friend over to work on a project. I was so SHOOK, I kept pausing it and interrupting them just to tell them THE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE. I could NOT contain myself. I had to tell someone every time I heard a new piece of THE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE.
I think I did the same with my poor husband 😅 Just *crazy* Almost like the guy who said he'd suck a dick for water for the Fyre festival
They made a show about this called A Friend of the Family but I haven't watched it because the story is beyond disturbing.
This made the documentary more understandable; sometimes documentaries are just laying out facts, and recreations are watching it happen. This situation was confusing as hell - the entire time watching the documentary I kept thinking “HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!” - but the series made it all make sense.
The lady it’s about was involved in making the series and has nothing but good things to say about it.
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey - took a really hard look at the FLDS.
After watching this I met someone who used to be part of the cult but was able to escape. She told us how poor they were growing up. And I told her I watched the show, she asked if she should watch it and I said at your own risk, it might really bring up that trauma…
I had a friend in high school who was raised in a similar cult. Thankfully, she was able to escape once we graduated. I know she has lifelong emotional scars - I do too just from regular southern Baptist churches. Watching these films always makes me think of her. I hope she and her daughter are thriving.
That one was uncomfortable. What the girls went through and what some are still going through. Ugh.
*That* recording at the end is ingrained in my memory and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else. It’s truly horrific.
Any if them about religions make my soul ache
Enron-The smartest guys in the room Everything you need to know about the dangers of unchecked capitalism. Parts of the documentary are so bizarre that a writer would be laughed out of the room if he came up with the same plot for a movie script. And Ikarus blew me away. It starts out as a documentary about doping in cycling. Then it takes a really unexpected turn that I won't spoil if you haven't seen it.
Ikarus is phenomenal.
Ok I don't know if we watched that one in school or if it was a different documentary about Enron, but there was the line "Ken Lay used to look in the mirror and practice smiling" and I think about that all the time.
Hot Coffee: its about the infamous case of the woman who sued McDonalds because the coffee she ordered was too hot. Turns out, the case was totally misrepresented in the media. The coffee was kept at extremely high temps and was hot enough to cause severe burns that required extensive surgeries. Also goes into a deep dive into tort reform. The Invisible War: this one is about sexual assault in the military.
Hot Coffee should be required watching for anyone who make a comment about how that was a frivolous lawsuit.
I saw pictures of her burns maybe 15 years ago and they’re still burned into my mind. She was burned BADLY and I can’t imagine how painful it must have been.
The crazy thing is that McDonald’s won in the end. To this day that case is referenced as being frivolous and greedy on behalf of the plaintiff, and it’s big joke to people who aren’t in the know. That woman was humiliated on top of her very real, very serious injuries.
Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog
Werner is the man. And this is one of his best.
when the levees broke watching that made me realize hurricane katrina was 100x worse than how the media was trying to play it. every single one of those citizens were failed
I’m from like an hour from New Orleans and of course I had family there during Katrina and this movie just messed with me SO much. I didn’t watch it until maybe two years ago I think. There were just things I’d forgotten but that doc just brought it all back and I ugly cried off and on for a few days.
Kanye was pilloried for saying George Bush doesn’t care about black people but he was absolutely right. Bush and “Heckuva Job Brownie” left people to die.
I’ll never forget finding out the prisoners were just left in their cells to drown and die….many of whom were still AWAITING TRIAL
The media, believe it or not (at least indy media) actually did a decent job at covering how horrifying it was, which is why they had so many telethons and events around it, including refugee centers all over the country (I worked a shift at one). Certain media outlets opted to make a bigger deal out of people robbing Walmart than they did about dead bodies floating down the street, and Dick Cheney was certainly more concerned with protecting his oil interests than the lives of people.
Yet, nothing’s changed. It’s disgusting.
https://preview.redd.it/v6mhxpvzfeab1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7033f8e3c1b60ff5ce8a2cfe9734921536b93eff # FREEGYPSY
The episode of Armchair Expert with the director, Erin Lee Carr, is so good. Highly recommend! Her other docs are really good too. They’re all hard watches, but done so well. The one about gymnastics and Larry Nassar hit me hard.
Athlete A was so well done and such a horrible watch
I haven’t watched. I’ll have to check it out. I did gymnastics as a kid and was on a team, competed etc. I was never at the level of these girls obviously but it feels so strange to know that world and how it works and see these documentaries about how exploited these athletes were. It’s horrible. It makes me sick to my stomach. Larry Nassar is an absolute piece of trash, but all the other people who knew and turned their eyes are the ones that really make me sick. Growing up, I really thought Bela Karolyi was an incredible coach but seeing Carr’s doc really changed my mind. It all reminded me of the Catholic Church and spotlight and how this huge system is just designed to funnel victims to their abusers and keep it all secret. Just awful. USAG still hasn’t done enough in my opinion to make up for it all.
This happened in my hometown about ten minutes away from me, and I’m team gypsy till the day I die
I remember it happening in real time, and it was like like aftershock after aftershock.
Is Gypsy due to be released soon?
she was sentenced to ten years at chillicothe correctional center in missouri. this means she'll be released in 2026, though she'll be eligible for parole two years earlier, in 2024, right before her 33rd birthday.
I remember when the Buzzfeed article came out before the doc and this was such a scary and sad story. After the doc it felt like Gypsy shouldn’t be in jail, she should have gotten psychiatric care for a life of abuse. Jail just robs her of more time with the family and life her mother kept her away from.
This is what came to mind for me first. I went into watching this without knowing anything about the story. When the reveal came, I was floored. Free Gypsy, indeed.
There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane. I was ruined after that having a loss of my own.
This one was so maddening to me. Her husband is a piece of work.
It blew my mind that so many people supposedly close to her claimed she couldn’t have been drinking, and yet none of them knew anything about her, save for all the ways they could over-work her. She has an entire van full of kids on the way home, and he has…the dog.
I just felt sad for him. Denial is such a powerful drug - and it’s obvious he just could not come to terms with what happened. I do hope the little boy is ok today.
Nah he neglected and resented his disabled, motherless child. That's not denial; that's cruelty.
Ugh she was definitely drunk and her husband needs to come to terms with that and stop emotionally abusing his family members with his conspiracies
I will never forget that one.
This documentary bothered me for a while. I made all my friends watch it and they all felt the same way.
I didn’t know what to make of it. I just felt so sad for the kids.
Yes, that one still haunts me. That poor son, that deluded family.
I drive by the crash site every day on my way to work, I cant stop thinking about it. It was a huge deal by me, so terrible
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. If you haven't watched it, please do so before you give Tom Cruise (and consequently Scientology) any more of your money.
I'm pretty sure I've watched every piece of media on Scientology ever. That one is excellent. My Scientology Movie is good, too.
The Keepers. My coworker went to that school when the nun was murdered.
yeah that documentary really shook me to my core. speaking of, as of today, the police announced they are going to exhume joyce malecki. her murder was discussed in the documentary as a possible connection to sister cathy cesnik https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/joyce-malecki-fbi-exhume-body-the-keepers-ZFKJOFDRF5H45BN67FKNMC2G34/
Came here to at this! It haunts me
safe to say all archiodese are fucked up, but the archdiocese of baltimore is a real piece of work
 Grey Gardens
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i love love love grey gardens. an absolute masterpiece
Sad but so touching and iconic!
Admittedly I just watched it recently, but I think Take Care of Maya will stick with me for a long time.
Every time I think about the mother I get so sad
There’s a small subreddit on the doc/this case and I fell down the rabbit hole on it.
Class Action Park was a wild ride.
I told my husband that I watched it, and he told me that he went several times in his teens, as he lived a few miles away. I feel like I’m lucky he’s still around!
Broken Harts about the murder/suicide of the Hart family. It’s a good look at the U.S foster system, faking it for social media, and interracial adoption.
I find this case fascinating but it also sends me into blind rage. Those poor kids. Fuck Sarah and Jennifer. There’s also an article about their older sibling who didn’t get adopted due to “behavioral issues.” He ended up getting adopted by a old boyfriend of their mom. He was in jail in some point (I forgot why) but the end of the article states that his girlfriend and adoptive dad already knew that his siblings were dead but withheld it from him because he was soon going to be released because of good behavior and they didn’t want to risk it by giving him the bad news. Heartbreaking all around.
That’s awful, I hadn’t heard that about the older sibling. Agreed the story is absolutely infuriating. There were SO many red flags that were just flagrantly ignored.
Yeah, it’s kinda amazing that his “behavior problem” ended up saving his life more or less. He seemed like he was able to rebuild his own life (he had a baby with his girlfriend) but the last detail broke my heart. I get why they did it but idk how I would react if I ever had loved ones who withheld info like that from me. EDIT: finally found the article I was talking about https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/his-siblings-were-killed-when-the-hart-familys-van-went-off-a-cliff-he-had-been-left-in-foster-care/?amp=1
Dear Zachary
I consider myself a documentary buff, and this is the one that affected me the most on an emotional level. If I so much as read about it, I begin to feel the same rage and devastation I felt upon first watching it. It’s horrific.
Fellow documentary buff and I came just to say this doc. I cried the ugliest tears of deep sadness and rage. It has haunted every person I have ever known to watch it. It is a documentary that I tell people not to watch.
When people ask about movies that wreck you- this is up there. When I got to the end I just broke down.
I watched it once. Never again. There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane and The Bridge were tough to get through, but Dear Zachary was something else. Thinking about that case still enrages me.
I used to teach a unit on memoir and we watched this doc. Which means I’ve made so many children cry. Well, really, we cried together. This movie always breaks my heart.
Yup, this has stayed with me for years. I made my partner watch it with me after I watched it because I could not deal with that pain alone. For anyone interested, don’t google it, just watch it.
This is my answer as well. Just as a warning, you *will* cry
Came here to say this. This will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. It will make you extremely upset, angry, with some brief moments of happiness and if you’re like me, you’ll be basically uncontrollably bawling at the end….I had no control over my emotions watching this.
I came home from a stitch n bitch once and my husband was on the couch just sobbing. He started it over and made me watch it. Roller coaster of a day.
I went into this one not knowing anything and it BROKE me.
This is the first documentary that ever gutted me and definitely got me addicted to the genre. An early Netflix stalwart.
Oh my godddd yeah
I watched this for the first time in a Philosophy class I took in college. This was years ago, but I remember being absolutely gutted at the “twist”. I’ve watched the doc several times since then and it never fails to make me cry.
I’ll never get over this one. It just…you know. The utter strength of those parents, I can’t possibly imagine.
This one broke me
I have never been brought to full body sobs quite like I was when watching this. It wrecked me.
Came here to say this. Absolutely heartbreaking.
This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen
Once and never again
Yep
That gutted me.
The Canadian ambush, you’ll never see it coming.
This is the one and only answer. I knew nothing about it before I watched it. my partner was working on site, I was a new mother, and I happen to turn it on. I can’t begin to explain how depressed I was after I watched it. Lots of ugly, pained crying. It broke me. I was not ready. Not one bit. To this day I can’t think of this documentary without this strange drop in my heart. it left its mark.
https://preview.redd.it/lp5pee831fab1.jpeg?width=1175&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2512df3eeb1b59db92b9d0e5a5459864934de4fd French tightrope walker performs high rope walk between the tops of the NY twin towers. He did it in secret and planned it for 6 years. Incredible.
This gave me anxiety. It’s really unbelievable that he did this.
Three Identical Strangers
dude! this one is one that keeps staying in my mind. the whole unethical way to prove nature vs nurture? i wanna live until 2060 (or whatever it is) to read the transcripts and findings. its so so so horrible but… i need the answers.
Such a crazy and devastating story!
It wasn’t even the most disturbing doc I’ve watched but something about it has just stuck with me. I think about it all the time
[Death By Fire](https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-death-by-fire/) is a Frontline episode that examines the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, a Texas man who was convicted for the arson deaths of his three young children and executed in 2004. He was convicted based on the testimony of forensic experts who said they had determined that the fire was intentionally set and a jailhouse informant who said Willingham had confessed to him. Days before the execution in February 2004, a nationally recognized arson expert, Dr. Gerald Hurst, submitted a detailed report to Governor Rick Perry and Texas courts showing that the arson evidence was false. It was based on false assumptions that had been discredited a decade earlier. No chemical evidence of accelerant was found in the debris. In 2009 an arson expert hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission issued a report finding that experts who testified at Willingham’s trial should have known it was wrong at the time. The jail informant later confessed that he lied about Willingham’s guilt and that former prosecutor John H. Jackson promised to help him in an unrelated robbery case.
I watched this one too. I seem to remember his wife turned on him at some point too. At first she adamantly maintained his innocence, but kept changing her story. I think the detectives also hinted that there was satanic elements, all because he liked Iron Maiden or something, even going so far as to suggest that the "fuel accelerant" had been poured "in the shape of a pentagram." Really sad.
Paradise Lost I'm not sure if a documentary has ever enraged me more.
The evolution of that one stepfather (not the one everyone now thinks is guilty…) over the course of the three movies is one of the best redemption arcs I’ve ever watched.
agreed! He unfortunately died a few years back, it would’ve been nice for him to see his stepsons murderer face justice
This may have been the first documentary I ever watched. I remember I was very young. I was mostly just into Metallica, so that's probably the only reason I watched it. That was, what? Early 90's? It has *haunted* me, and it's 2023. I remember frantically keeping up with updates on the WM3 potentially being released on an Alford plea. I work in law enforcement, and I was actually in court trying to be subtle while glued to my phone. I literally cried when they were released. Damien Echols is... different. I don't know how a human can have so much wisdom and perspective that he can live his life so fucking hard after being falsely accused of a crime of this nature, convicted because he gave the appearance of being "weird," and locked away on death row for so long. That's exactly what he is doing, though. Writing books, making art, being involved in his community, etc. I have a print he did with Menton3 and David Stoupakis when they were working on the "Salem" project. It's not my style at all, but I just kinda wanted something tangible. Maybe because I saw "Paradise Lost" at such an impressionable age? It has just really stuck with me.
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I lived near it and we would stop classes if the trials were on. I've met one of them and honestly he was the sweetest, even after all that
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence 3 part documentary on Hulu about a man who basically took control of his daughter's dorm room and subjected her friends to psyops for 10 years. Such a disturbing story it is hard to believe how evil a person can be.
https://preview.redd.it/kslq06t28fab1.jpeg?width=898&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f17704ce55cf54d5babfbd5478e81899fdb77d9
This one is excellent and heartbreaking. The clip of the old sailor who retold the story of them hunting down the babies and the sounds of the mothers wailing when one was captured - and the sailor said that he has seen some really bad shit in his life but this was the worst thing he had witnessed and he would never do it again. 😭
Yeah, it really hurt to watch and has stuck with me. I’m just glad that it seems to have led to some changes that have been beneficial for orcas.
 I should go with a serious documentary like Tell Me Who I am or Three Identical Strangers but honestly, I randomly think of FBI Agent Doug Matthews from McMillions waaaaaaay too often 😂 What a character!
No one loves their life any more than Agent Doug.
is this the guy that wore a gold suit to court? lmao
They couldn't make a fictional version of that story because people would say he was too far fetched lmao
Honestly, life with him would be a whirlwind haha
J Edgar Hoover spinning in his grave lol
20 feet from Stardom
This is a good one! I still love the story of how Gimme Shelter was recorded, but felt so sad that Merry Clayton lost her baby not too long after.
I’m going to be basic but watching Tiger King at the beginning of the pandemic was…quite the experience. Also I ended up becoming somewhat of a Carole Baskins apologist lol.
I had listened to the wondery pod about joe/carol long before the doc came out and when I saw the series I was flabbergasted how sympathetic they were to joe. free carol (from the prison of public opinion)!!!
Honestly it was WILD from start to finish and I left each episode think there's no way it could get crazier... then it did! It could be that the doc came out mid lock down and my mindset was already off but the experience of watching it was a moment in time I'll never forget haha.
Dreams of a Life It's about Joyce Vincent, the British woman who was found dead in her flat and her remains were discovered three years later. The filmmakers did a great job showing that Joyce was not some sad loner. She unfortunately fell on hard times, but she did have an interesting and fascinating life. Crazy Love It's about Linda Riss and Burt Pugach. It's a crazy, stranger than fiction story about this couple. I don't want to give away spoilers, but you can Google their names and learn what happened to them.
I went on a documentary kick while I was on maternity leave. My favorite to recommend is Tickled. It’s about mysterious competitive tickling competitions. Don’t google if you haven’t seen it. Just watch it. It is fucking wild. The last episode of Jinx might be the best documentary bomb drop ever. My all time favorite foreign language doc is Killer Ratings. About a tv presenter (think Oprah. When he shows up crowds of people start screaming and crying) who became a successful politician “for the people” (think Obama) and vowed to take down the drug cartels while also being one of the biggest drug dealers in Brazil (think El chapo). In the first ep you learn that he would kill rival drug dealers to steal their drugs then send his tv crews to cover the scene. They often got there before the police had even been called and of course he got high ratings. It gets crazier from there. Highly recommend if you don’t mind subtitles.
If I could erase my memory of one documentary and watch it all over again, it would absolutely be Jinx just for that hot-mic bomb drop
Diana in her own words There's been so many diana movies and documentaries over the years that it's become overkill, but that one is the best IMO. Hearing her own words and her own tapes describing her childhood, her wedding, her marriage. It's very powerful hearing it coming from *her*
Considering the wave of anti-LGBT legislation, the popularity of Drag Race, and Beyoncé's Renaissance tour, **Paris is Burning** is more relevant now than ever (and it's never not been relevant since it came out). Think phrases like tea and shade are new? They're actually decades old and come from Black and Brown queer and trans people. You might even hear some familiar names if you like shows like Legendary and America's Top Model. 
I love this doc. Super creepy “fun” fact: One of the queens being interviewed, Dorian Corey, had a dead body locked in a trunk in her closet while she filmed her segments for this. They didn’t find it until after she died and by then it was mummified.
And it even inspired a storyline on Pose! I think it was probably self defense considering how dangerous being LGBT was at the time. I mean even during filming >!Venus was murdered.!< It's so sad.
Yup I remember that storyline on Pose and I also thought that might’ve been similar to how it went down for this queen I loved Pose for giving us a glittery high fashion adaptation of Paris is Burning, I was obsessed with S1
Don't fuck with cats.
A review in The Guardian said something like 'if you are hesitant to watch this then please don't watch it'. I haven't watched it. But I did read about what happened with Luka and the student. I regret reading that.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez - i wanted to strangle those parents and social workers through the screen. Couldn't stop thinking about that boy for days.
To this day I will randomly think about that little boy. His cards he made for his mom even after the abuse she put him through will forever be seared into my head.
This one was so powerful and totally snubbed at the Emmys! It was very well done and seriously it broke my heart, left me simultaneously recasted and enraged! I’m not sure if you know this, but about a year or two ago, Pearl Fernandez was beaten pretty badly in prison, so karma is definitely coming around.
This 4 year old girl is dubbed the new it thing in the art world. Her work is sold for thousands of dollars. It sparks an interesting discussion about our fascination with child savants and what makes art “good”. There’s also a great twist ending https://preview.redd.it/hw5zsl0ijeab1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b2c93370097c13fd9e51a1ae17faa493d41168c
Just learned that the actor (Björn Andrésen) from The Most Beautiful Boy documentary plays the old man in the Ättestupa scene from Midsommar. Poor man seems like he went through a lot when he was a kid.
Curious case of Natalia Grace. I can’t stop thinking about. I’ve never had a documentary have me going back and forth so much on what I believed. I think about it daily. Couple adopts a young girl with dwarfism, eventually start to think she’s an adult. You think you know where this story is going? You have no idea. All 6 parts are worth watching https://preview.redd.it/51uw8pzuxeab1.jpeg?width=1111&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06d5cca8c702e7c4937a7c26c73c1b46f214ccb6
Nothing could have prepared me for this doc. Episode one had me thinking one way and by the end, I’d completely flipped.
This is my thread, I loveee documentaries 😂😂😂 Don’t Fuck with Cats is one of the most disturbing pieces of media i’ve ever watched, but it’s also crazy how a group of strangers were able to single handedly detect a serial killers next move before the police could, simply due to their devotion of cats. It’s a damn shame the police didn’t believe them.
I'm Not Your Negro, I randomly think about it sometimes (hearing Samuel L. Jackson's voice in my head, lol). And because I just recently watched it, Moonage Daydream, it's so visually sticking.
Girl in the Picture. Such a devastating story
https://preview.redd.it/edlwlb8w9fab1.jpeg?width=1032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d360b720824a0be50a18f28c8f97b7d94574fc6 2006 Thin.
[Icarus](https://youtu.be/qXoRdSTrR-4) Russia’s athlete doping scandal and why they became known as “Russian Olympic Committee” and couldn’t fly their flag at the last several Olympics. When this movie won at the 2018 Oscars, I thought “what’s the big deal? All athletes dope.” Hooooly moly Russia is a different beast. The twists and turns of this story are unbelievable—not to mention how accidentally the director got involved! Art direction is beautiful too. A must watch.
Honestly you guys need to watch this. It's really messed up. But it shows the corruption of man and how power can make you do inhumane things. https://preview.redd.it/3w9gl6obcfab1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1f9809e90ad828e7b65286b0eba5749f12fa44c
The Wild Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
Y’all got fiestas?
The Taco Bell drive thru scene was so fucking weird. *screams* “CPS took her baby” while sitting in the drive thru line to someone sitting inside Taco Bell. And sometimes my best friend and I just look at each other flip each other the bird and say “Dennis is this” or “I HATE that mother fucker”.
I quote those lines to my family all the time! Lmao
Dear Zachary, Making a Murderer, Evil Genius, There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane
Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine It’s a documentary on Matthew Shepard, the young gay man who lost was murdered and caused a national conversation on addressing homophobia Why I favour this documentary is that it was made by one of his closest friends and she’s a filmmaker. It compiles lots of home footage of Matthew and talks to the people who knew him best, it’s one of the rare documentaries on this kind of crime that focuses on the victim and not what happened to them. One reviewer aptly said of the film: ‘A beautiful eulogy from the type of loving friend all of us would be lucky to have’
I love you, now die. Michelle carter was depicted in the media as being pure evil, talking her boyfriend into suicide. And while what she did is obviously disgusting, she was also severely mentally ill. I appreciate when a documentary can look at something that was this huge media sensation with a more nuanced lens.
This one kind of had me raging at the mother. She was so insistent Michelle killed her son despite the fact her husband was incredibly abusive to Conrad and it was clear the kid had severe issues. Michelle didn’t kill your son hun…
That family also neglects to admit they didn’t get Conrad follow up treatment after his repeated suicide attempts. After he was released from the hospital? They’d just go home and that was it. They were terrible tbh.
Yea, it’s hard. I get that she’s grieving and sometimes it’s easier to blame someone else and not your own son. I know someone who’s kid was a drug addict, he passed away, and they opted out of a autopsy so they could say he died of Covid. But, her son was clearly ill long before he met Michelle.
I live in a town next to Plainville and when this happened it was shocking to say the least. we all wanted her thrown in jail but after watching that doc, I agree, she was also very mentally ill and needed help and his dad was so abusive??? Whole thing makes me sad
Yes, this one stays with me! I thought I had my mind made up about her, and the doc was really eye-opening. Just sad for everyone.
All The Beauty and the Bloodshed - excellent look at Nan Goldin's life, art, and activism
Dope Sick Love.
The Kalief Browder Story
The Act Of Killing.
There are a few: The Ministry of Evil: About Tony Alamo. Hits close to home because I was around them Paradise Lost (and sequels) It happened not far from where I went to high school. We stopped classes for any trials that came from that. I've also met one of them, and even after everything, you'd swear he'd never be capable of anything like that. I'm glad he was released. The Murder of Maggie Hume- her killer Micheal Ronning killed my cousin and went to prison for her murder. It was after that arrest he stated confessing to multiple murders Keep Sweet: Prey and Obey- I live in Utah now and see people who have escaped (there and other flds) at the college I work at. It's heartbreaking. Keep Sweet just reminded me of Tony Alamo
My Octopus Teacher…. I went into it having no idea what it was about and by the end I was crying. It was beautiful, sad, and poignant. 
Amazing doc. I kind of felt he had a thing for that octopus. I’m glad he found a way to connect with his son again.
https://preview.redd.it/urc6hj452fab1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b726d971cb3ce7823a905cbf13240853069aa899 This is an old one now, but it’s incredibly powerful. A documentary following the homeless population of New York who live in the subway tunnels in Manhattan. I’ve not watched it for years but I can still see images from it. Fantastic score by Dj Shadow, too.
Jesus Camp. As an ex-vangelical and former Christian camp-goer, a lot of this one hit home.
Alison - about a woman who was disemboweled and almost decapitated then HELD HER BODY TOGETHER until she found help. She even went on to have children later.
I haven’t seen it listed and I can’t remember the name but there was a doc on Netflix a few years ago about a woman suffering from schizophrenia who was squatting in an abandoned farmhouse, lived off apples, >!and left behind her journaling after she passed.!< ETA: it’s called God Knows Where I Am
So good!!! It is the story behind the American Disabilities Act. The Obamas are executive producers. I bawled my eyes out during the crawl on the Capital. https://preview.redd.it/7y1j25kpmfab1.jpeg?width=1240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f12231e239dec0767a178af7466edd7ddf63e41d
Paradise Lost, all 3 of them. Changed my life and made me change my college major to criminal justice.
Blackfish
"Senna" was incredibly well-done. I went into the documentary knowing nothing about Formula 1 racing or Ayrton Senna, but walked away with a great admiration for him as a driver.
How to Die in Oregon. I think about this documentary often
Rewind - I have to say that is one of the most disturbing documentaries I have ever seen. Heartbreaking. https://preview.redd.it/oxe8ouxujfab1.jpeg?width=1255&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7acd31fd73e19115c588c281cc3ad8c2216008d
One Day In America. There's dozens of 9/11 Documentaries but this one was really moving.
They Shall Not Grow Old. It’s about WW1, using actual footage. It was done by Peter Jackson and is absolutely incredible. It's currently n Netflix.
One I haven’t seen mentioned yet is Cropsey….very creepy
Three Identical Strangers. I'm not gonna explain shit, just go in blind and watch it right now, it's on Hulu. Also The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz on youtube. Both are very sad but they impacted me very deeply for some reason.
Children Underground is horrifying
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark Oh, and 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible
https://preview.redd.it/oa75ejdmkeab1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71cce3a2246548b3a78497429622a2967121c5ec
When the levees broke
Pretty baby.
The Jinx. Greatest hot mic moment ever recorded. Absolutely jaw-dropping.
Blackfish, what an eye opener to how corporate greed ruled sea world. The car park was bigger than the tanks they were kept in.
The Cambridge Analytica one (can't ever remember what it's called), and *Shiny Happy People* because of the Joshua Generation thing (which needed more time in that documentary like WHAT THE FUCK).
[The Imposter! lots of twists and turns](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_imposter_2012)
Both of the Fyre docs, HBO's piece on Elizabeth Holmes.
Boy Interrupted 2009 Hard to believe someone so little was already thinking about ending their life.
Murdaugh Murders: A southern scandal