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Best Documentary Movies of the 2010s
#1 One Direction: This Is Us (2013) · ★ 8.2 · 1,074 votes · 1h 32m · music, documentary"One Direction: This Is Us" is a captivating and intimate all-access look at life on the road for the global music phenomenon. Weaved with stunning live concert footage, this inspi…
#2 Senna (2010) · ★ 8.1 · 1,242 votes · 1h 46m · history, documentaryThe 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 stat…
#3 Samsara (2011) · ★ 8.1 · 705 votes · 1h 42m · documentaryFilmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disast…
#4 The Salt of the Earth (2014) · ★ 8.1 · 697 votes · 1h 50m · documentaryDuring the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the majo…
#5 Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) · ★ 8.0 · 618 votes · 1h 35m · documentaryFor more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke…
#6 Free Solo (2018) · ★ 7.9 · 1,583 votes · 1h 40m · adventure, documentaryFollow 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…
#7 Blackfish (2013) · ★ 7.9 · 1,217 votes · 1h 23m · documentaryNotorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of k…
#8 Searching for Sugar Man (2012) · ★ 7.9 · 1,063 votes · 1h 25m · music, documentaryTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.…
#9 Apollo 11 (2019) · ★ 7.9 · 732 votes · 1h 33m · drama, history, documentaryA look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.…
#10 13th (2016) · ★ 7.8 · 815 votes · 1h 40m · documentaryAn in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.…
#11 Jodorowsky's Dune (2013) · ★ 7.8 · 781 votes · 1h 27m · documentaryIn 1974, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky embarked on the quixotic project of adapting Frank Herbert's influential novel Dune (1969) for the big screen. After investing…
#12 They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) · ★ 7.8 · 703 votes · 1h 39m · history, war, documentaryA documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.…
#13 Citizenfour (2014) · ★ 7.7 · 1,450 votes · 1h 53m · documentaryIn 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.…
#14 Inside Job (2010) · ★ 7.7 · 1,080 votes · 1h 49m · crime, documentaryA 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 thei…
#15 Before the Flood (2016) · ★ 7.7 · 832 votes · 1h 33m · documentaryA look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.…
#16 Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) · ★ 7.7 · 797 votes · 1h 22m · documentaryRevered sushi chef Jiro Ono strives for perfection in his work, while his eldest son, Yoshikazu, has trouble living up to his father's legacy.…
#17 The Act of Killing (2012) · ★ 7.7 · 790 votes · 2h 39m · history, documentaryAfter befriending documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various American film genres. As the…
#18 I Am Not Your Negro (2017) · ★ 7.7 · 536 votes · 1h 33m · documentaryWorking from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.…
#19 Amy (2015) · ★ 7.6 · 1,336 votes · 2h 8m · music, documentaryA 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 fin…
#20 Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015) · ★ 7.6 · 887 votes · 2h 0m · documentaryThe film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.…
#21 Icarus (2017) · ★ 7.6 · 859 votes · 2h 1m · documentaryWhile investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, director Bryan Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “a…
#22 Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015) · ★ 7.6 · 765 votes · 2h 12m · drama, music, documentaryHailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music…
#23 Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014) · ★ 7.6 · 522 votes · 1h 30m · documentaryFollow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path t…
#24 Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) · ★ 7.5 · 998 votes · 1h 26m · documentaryBanksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercel…
#25 Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017) · ★ 7.5 · 750 votes · 1h 33m · comedy, drama, documentaryOffbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.…
#26 Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) · ★ 7.4 · 607 votes · 1h 41m · music, documentaryFollow pop provocateur Lady Gaga as she releases a new album, preps for her Super Bowl halftime show, and confronts physical and emotional struggles.…
#27 Three Identical Strangers (2018) · ★ 7.3 · 844 votes · 1h 37m · documentaryNew York, 1980. Three complete strangers accidentally discover that they're identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international…
#28 The Imposter (2012) · ★ 7.3 · 817 votes · 1h 39m · crime, mystery, documentaryIn 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later, he is found alive in a village in southern Spain with a ho…
#29 Where to Invade Next (2015) · ★ 7.2 · 551 votes · 2h 1m · comedy, documentaryTo understand firsthand what the United States of America can learn from other nations, Michael Moore playfully “invades” some to see what they have to offer.…
#30 American Factory (2019) · ★ 7.2 · 536 votes · 1h 50m · documentaryIn post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope a…
#31 Fyre (2019) · ★ 6.9 · 1,036 votes · 1h 38m · documentaryHe promised supermodels and yachts, but delivered tents and cheese sandwiches. How one man engineered a music festival disaster.…
#32 The Great Hack (2019) · ★ 6.9 · 604 votes · 1h 54m · documentaryData—arguably the world’s most valuable asset—is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, p…
#33 Catfish (2010) · ★ 6.8 · 570 votes · 1h 27m · documentaryNev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer, has no idea what he's in for when Abby, an eight-year-old girl from rural Michigan, contacts him on Facebook, seeking permission to…
#34 American Animals (2018) · ★ 6.7 · 1,249 votes · 1h 57m · drama, crime, documentaryLexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.…
#35 Jackass 3D (2010) · ★ 6.6 · 1,513 votes · 1h 34m · action, comedy, documentaryJohnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Wee Man and the rest of their fearless and foolhardy friends take part in another round of outrageous pranks and stunts. In addition to stan…
#36 Return to Jurassic Park (2011) · ★ 6.6 · 849 votes · 2h 9m · action, adventure, thrillerA multi-part documentary about the making of the Jurassic Park trilogy. Each part walks through the making of part of one of the films, including the hurricane during the shooting…
#37 Amanda Knox (2016) · ★ 6.6 · 597 votes · 1h 32m · crime, documentaryThis gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange studen…
#38 Jackass 3.5 (2011) · ★ 6.4 · 719 votes · 1h 25m · action, comedy, documentaryJohnny Knoxville of 'Jackass' releases unused material of stunts, tricks, antics and shenanigans shot during the production of 'Jackass 3D' that didn't make it into the film, as we…
#39 Hot Girls Wanted (2015) · ★ 6.1 · 756 votes · 1h 24m · documentaryA first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it.…
#40 Room 237 (2012) · ★ 6.1 · 539 votes · 1h 43m · documentaryA subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated thro…