Reddit's Best Documentaries

The most upvoted documentary recommendations from the r/MovieSuggestions thread "What's the Best Documentary You've Ever Seen?" A crowd-sourced list of must-watch docs spanning decades and genres.

16 films

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1h43m

Grizzly Man

2005•1h43m•★7.5TMDB

Over 100 hours of footage recorded by Timothy Treadwell documents his interactions with grizzly bears before he and his girlfriend were killed by one in 2003.

Grizzly Man

2005•1h43m•★7.5TMDB

1h27m

Exit Through the Gift Shop

2010•1h27m•★7.5TMDB

Over several years, Thierry Guetta films numerous street artists, including Banksy, but never watches the footage he collects.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

2010•1h27m•★7.5TMDB

1h50m

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

2005•1h50m•★7.2TMDB

Enron Corporation's rise and fall illustrates the fraudulent practices and ethical failures of executives like Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, culminating in a major scandal.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

2005•1h50m•★7.2TMDB

1h49m

Stories We Tell

2012•1h49m•★7.1TMDB

Five years passed from the start of production to the completion of the film, which reveals family secrets tied to Sarah Polley's identity.

Stories We Tell

2012•1h49m•★7.1TMDB

1h47m

Capturing the Friedmans

2003•1h47m•★7.1TMDB

In 1984, a magazine of child pornography sent to Arnold Friedman led to an investigation that accused him and his son Jesse of sexually abusing multiple children.

Capturing the Friedmans

2003•1h47m•★7.1TMDB

2h54m

Hoop Dreams

1994•2h54m•★7.6TMDB

William Gates and Arthur Agee navigate the challenges of high school basketball at St. Joseph High School in Illinois while pursuing their dreams of professional careers.

Hoop Dreams

1994•2h54m•★7.6TMDB

1h25m

Searching for Sugar Man

2012•1h25m•★7.9TMDB

Two superfans from Cape Town embarked on a quest to find a Detroit singer-songwriter whose music became anti-apartheid anthems in South Africa.

Searching for Sugar Man

2012•1h25m•★7.9TMDB

1h34m

Man on Wire

2008•1h34m•★7.4TMDB

1,350 feet above the ground, Philippe Petit performs an illegal high-wire act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974.

Man on Wire

2008•1h34m•★7.4TMDB

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

2015•2h•★7.6TMDB

Five former members of the Church of Scientology recount their experiences in a film that won three Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

2015•2h•★7.6TMDB

1h49m

Inside Job

2010•1h49m•★7.7TMDB

Over $20 trillion in losses resulted from the 2008 financial crisis, leading to millions of foreclosures and job losses across the United States.

Inside Job

2010•1h49m•★7.7TMDB

1h58m

Cocaine Cowboys

2006•1h58m•★7.3TMDB

During the 1970s and 1980s, cocaine imports replaced marijuana as the primary drug in Miami, leading to a significant rise in drug-related crime.

Cocaine Cowboys

2006•1h58m•★7.3TMDB

1h34m

20 Days in Mariupol

2023•1h34m•★8.1TMDB

Thirty hours of footage were collected by Mstyslav Chernov and his team during the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Mariupol.

20 Days in Mariupol

2023•1h34m•★8.1TMDB

Crumb

1994•2h•★7.5TMDB

78-rpm blues records from the 1920s and '30s are a passion for Robert Crumb, who shares his views on art and consumer culture in candid interviews.

Crumb

1994•2h•★7.5TMDB

1h12m

Project Grizzly

2015•1h12m

Troy James Hurtubise tests his homemade grizzly-proof suit against Canada's grizzly bears, blending humor and bravery in a unique exploration of human ingenuity.