Using MetaCritic data, Newsweek has compiled the best documentary films available to watch on HBO Max right now, from miscarriages of justice to musical retrospectives.
1. Hoop Dreams
1994 ‧ Documentary/Drama ‧ 2h 55m
This documentary follows the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys chasing their dreams of becoming professional basketball players.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumping-off point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern America.”
2. King in the Wilderness
2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 51m
Martin Luther King Jr’s final years are examined, from the activist’s involvement in the seminal 1965 Voting Rights Act to his 1968 assassination.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “Refreshingly frank and soberingly insightful, King in the Wild goes beyond the myth and finds the human being who inspired the world.”
3. First Cousin Once Removed
2012 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 18m
A filmmaker documents the deteriorating mind of an academic older first cousin as he struggles with Alzheimer’s disease.
IndieWire’s movie critic Eric Kohn writes: “Using a powerful focal point to manifest the movie’s central concerns, Berliner makes his interest in the topic relevant to everyone.”
4. American Utopia
2020 ‧ Musical/Music ‧ 2h 15m
Singer David Byrne and musicians perform songs from his hit Broadway musical American Utopia.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “Helmed in elegant and exhilarating style by Spike Lee, David Byrne’s American Utopia is a concert film that doubles as a joyously cathartic celebration.”
5. Capturing the Friedmans
2003 ‧ Documentary/Mystery ‧ 1h 47m
While working on an unrelated documentary, a filmmaker discovers one of its subjects was the son and brother of men convicted of a high-profile child sexual abuse scandal.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “A haunting depiction of a disintegrating family, and a powerful argument on the elusiveness of truth.”
6. Man on Wire
2008 ‧ Documentary/Indie film ‧ 1h 34m
High-wire daredevil Philippe Petit’s 1974 stunt performing acrobatics while balanced between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers is recreated in this documentary.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “James Marsh’s doc about artist Philippe Petit’s artful caper brings you every ounce of suspense that can be wrung from a man on a (suspended) wire.”
7. Uncertain
2015 ‧ Drama/Comedy ‧ 1h 30m
This documentary examines the lives of those inhabiting a tiny Texan town beset by an invasive aquatic plant.
The Observer’s movie critic Wendy Ide writes: “The film is shot and edited with a wry humor that balances out the darker themes of life on the periphery.”
8. No End in Sight
2007 ‧ Documentary/War ‧ 1h 42m
Using extensive interviews with numerous government officials, the U.S. military’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 is examined.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “Charles Ferguson’s documentary provides a good summary of the decisions that led to the mess in post-war Iraq, and offers politically interested audiences something they’d been looking for: a lowdown on the decision-making.”
9. Dead Souls
2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 8h 27m
Survivors of a hard-labor camp in the Gobi Desert document China’s political brutality.
The Guardian’s movie critic Phil Hoad writes: “Wang Bing’s shocking eight-hour oral history of the Jiabiangou ’re-education’ camp is a grueling—and necessary—account.”
10. 4 Little Girls
1997 ‧ Documentary/Indie film ‧ 1h 42m
4 Little Girls documents the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights movement.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “4 Little Girls finds Spike Lee moving into documentary filmmaking with his signature style intact—and all the palpable fury the subject requires.”
11. Crime + Punishment
2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 52m
Black and Latino NYPD officers battle to expose the truth about illegal quota practices in police departments.
Vulture movie critic David Edelstein writes: “Crime + Punishment makes you angry and scared in equal measure. What it doesn’t do is illuminate the sources of this evil.”
12. Everything/Copy
2015 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 29m
Jacob Bernstein presents a candid portrait of the life and legacy of his mother, filmmaker Nora Ephron.
Movie critic Jeannette Catsoulis, of The New York Times, writes: “Celebrities and family members discuss and honor Ephron’s tartness in this documentary from Jacob Bernstein.”
13. Jane Fonda in Five Acts
2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 2h 13m
Jane Fonda’s controversial, tragic and transformative life and career is documented by filmmaker Susan Lacy.
The Guardian movie critic Julia Raeside writes: “The actor has had a tempestuous life—but you wouldn’t know it from this polite and polished performance.”
14. Welcome to Chechnya
2020 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 47m
Activists attempt to confront Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s government-directed campaign to detain, torture and murder LGBTQ+ Chechens.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “An illuminating and urgent call to action, Welcome to Chechnya portrays the horrors of the mass persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in the Chechen Republic with tenacity and tenderness.”
15. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
2011 ‧ Documentary/Crime ‧ 2h 1m
Eighteen years after three boys were murdered in Arkansas, the men imprisoned for the crime continue to protest their innocence.
Movie critic Mike Hale of The New York Times writes: “The new film, despite the astounding story it tells, is the most conventional, least urgent and, cinematically, the least interesting of the three.”
16. Neil Young: Heart of Gold
2006 ‧ Documentary/Music ‧ 1h 43m
A summer 2005 concert in Nashville combines interviews with Neil Young and other band members with the premiere of several select tracks from the singer-songwriter’s Prairie Wind LP
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “Proving that it’s neither better to burn out nor fade away, Neil Young: Heart of Gold works both as a concert film and a meditation on mortality.”
17. Behemoth
2015 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 35m
The environmental, sociological, and public health effects of coal mining in China and Inner Mongolia are examined in this documentary.
Movie critic Richard Brody of The New Yorker writes: “The film seems to shudder with the destructive power of invisible, ubiquitous, and cruelly indifferent authority.”
18. One Child Nation
2019 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 29m
A filmmaker uncovers the untold history and societal ramifications of China’s controversial one-child policy.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “As illuminating as it is accessible, One Child Nation probes a painful chapter in Chinese history with piercing clarity.”
19. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 34m
The life and legacy of Fred Rogers, popular host of the hit children’s TV show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood are examined in this documentary.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus states: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes a fittingly patient and honest look at the life and legacy of a television pioneer whose work has enriched generations.”
20. Watchers of the Sky
2014 ‧ Documentary ‧ 2 hours
This documentary explores holding to account those who commit genocide and other global atrocities.
Variety movie critic Dennis Harvey writes: “Edet Belzberg’s sweeping survey of global genocide is an impressive and artful cinematic thesis of palpable substance.”
