Documentary backdrop

Documentary movies

Fascinating real-life stories, historical accounts, and educational deep dives that reveal the truth about our world.

Subgenres include: True Crime Documentary, Biographical Documentary, Social & Political Documentary.

Bridegroom

231. Bridegroom

Documentary Drama
8.0

20131h 20min

Director: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

A documentary that tells the emotional journey of Shane and Tom, two young men in a loving and committed relationship — a relationship that was cut tragically short by a misstep off the side of a roof.


Elena

232. Elena

Documentary Drama
7.5

20131h 22min

Director: Petra Costa

Petra heads to New York in search of her older sister after a long time of being separated. They are both movie actresses and heirs of the wounds of the Brazilian dictatorship. But Petra has only a few clues: home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary...


Milius

233. Milius

Documentary
7.4

20131h 43min

Director: Joey Figueroa

The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.


Sound City

234. Sound City

Music Documentary Music Documentary Backstage & Showbiz Music
7.8

20131h 46min

United States

Director: Dave Grohl

The history of Sound City and their huge recording device; exploring how digital change has allowed 'people that have no place' in music to become stars. It follows former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighter David Grohl as he attempts to resurrect the studio back to former glories.

Themes

Heritage vs modernization, Recording studio identity, Studio system constraints, Economic and creative tensions, Collaborative craft under pressure, Technological disruption and adaptation

Available on

Apple TV
Qello Concerts by Stingray Amazon Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Dirty Wars

235. Dirty Wars

Documentary Drama Crime
7.4

20131h 27min

Director: Rick Rowley

Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars, and examines how the US government has responded to international terrorist threats in ways that seem to go against the established laws of the land.


Bad 25

236. Bad 25

Documentary Music
7.9

20122h 11min

Director: Spike Lee

Spike Lee pays tribute to Michael Jackson's Bad on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the epochal album, offering behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson recording the album and interviews with confidants, musicians, choreographers, and such music-world superstars as Kanye West, Sheryl Crow, Cee Lo Green and Mariah Carey.


Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

237. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

Documentary
8.0

20121h 46min

Director: Alex Gibney

Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.


The Pervert's Guide to Ideology

238. The Pervert's Guide to Ideology

Documentary
7.6

20122h 11min

Director: Sophie Fiennes

A journey into the labyrinthine heart of ideology, which shapes and justifies both collective and personal beliefs and practices: with an infectious zeal and voracious appetite for popular culture, Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek analyzes several of the most important films in the history of cinema to explain how cinematic narrative helps to reinforce prevailing ethics and political ideas.


Crossfire Hurricane

239. Crossfire Hurricane

Documentary Music
7.4

20121h 51min

Director: Brett Morgen

This film is released as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of the Rolling Stones. It tells the story of the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues obsessed teens in the early 60s to their undisputed status as rock royalty. All of the Stones have been newly interviewed and their words form the narrative arc that links together archive footage of performances, news coverage, and interviews, much of it previously unseen. Taking its title from a lyric in "Jumpin' Jack Flash," this film gives the viewer an intimate insight into exactly what it's like to be part of the Rolling Stones as they overcome denunciation, drugs, dissensions, and death to become the definitive survivors. Over a year in the making and produced with the full cooperation and involvement of the Stones, this film is and will remain the definitive story of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band


Stories We Tell

240. Stories We Tell

Documentary Biographical Documentary
7.5

20121h 49min

Canada

Director: Sarah Polley

Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.

Themes

Unreliable family narratives, Archival reconstruction of life, Memory as narrative construction, Familial lineage and secrecy, Documentary self-portrait, Private life in public memory

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.