A great documentary can be every bit as great as the best narrative feature. Documentaries chronicle real life, at least ostensibly, but the best ones also acknowledge that it’s impossible to ever depict anything perfectly accurately. That’s why great documentaries often wear their perspectives on their sleeves and are more than willing to do more than simply retell a story in a series of talking heads.
The documentaries on this list don’t actually have much in common with one another besides the fact that they are great movies, and all of them push the bounds of what documentaries can be. These are the best documentaries of all time,
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Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
90m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Alejandro Jodorowsky, H. R. Giger, Brontis Jodorowsky
Directed by
Frank Pavich
Watch on Amazon
A documentary about a movie, Jodorowsky’s Dune is one of the great tributes to creativity ever made. The movie tells the story of Alejandro Jodorowsky, a Chilean surrealist director who had dreams of making Dune all the way back in the 1970s. While he never got as far as actually shooting anything, he put together a team of incredible artists who went on to have a massive influence over the shape of science fiction for decades to come.
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
Hard to imagine a more ambitious movie that Koyaanisqatsi, but the movie works precisely because it’s so unlike most documentaries. The film is a simple examination of nature and industrialization framed entirely as shots with music playing over them. Thanks to its beautiful photography and its amazing Philip Glass score, Koyaanisqatsi is a genuine triumph and a bracing reminder of how much humanity has destroyed a world that is also the only place we’ve got to live.
Fire of Love (2022)
93m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft, Alka Balbir
Directed by
Sara Dosa
Watch on Hulu
One of the best documentary subgenres is focused on people who do some of the most dangerous things imaginable for reasons that they can only sort of articulate. In Fire of Love, we meet Katia and Maurice Krafft, a pair of photographers who fell in love while venturing into exploding volcanoes to capture images of them. It’s not really a spoiler to say that Katia and Maurice died doing what they love, but part of the joy and grief of watching Fire of Love is knowing that, and seeing exactly why they were willing to risk so much.
Stories We Tell (2012)
109m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Michael Polley, Harry Gulkin, Susy Buchan
Directed by
Sarah Polley
Watch on Amazon
Actress and director Sarah Polley has had a fascinating career, and her best movie may still be Stories We Tell. The film takes an intimate look at Polley’s own family, and follows her and she investigates the web of stories and lies that have come to define how she relates to the people she believed she knew best. What Polley learns shocks her, but also leads her to meditate on why people rely on stories to get through their lives, even if those stories don’t bear much resemblance to the truth.
Minding the Gap (2018)
93m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Keire Johnson, Zack Mulligan, Bing Liu
Directed by
Bing Liu
Watch on Hulu
A brilliant, heartbreaking documentary, Minding the Gap tells the story of three friends who come from complex, abusive situations, and find refuge in their love of skateboarding. As they age, these friends take divergent paths, some darker than others, but the movie’s brilliance comes from its sincere empathy with even the least lovable member of the friend group. Minding the Gap is beautiful, but even more importantly, it’s intimate and honest in a way few movies are ever allowed to be.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
95m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Margaret Whitmer, Tom Junod, Joanne Rogers
Directed by
Morgan Neville
Watch on Netflix
Mr. Rogers made an entire career out of kindness, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is brilliant because it both does and does not dig beneath that veneer. The documentary tells the story of Fred Rogers the man, including his faults and flaws. Importantly, though, it does not suggest Rogers was something other than what he was, which was a decent, gentle, slightly strange man who cared deeply about the welfare of children. Mr. Rogers was not a perfect person, but he was better than most of us, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor is a wonderful tribute to his legacy.
The Act of Killing (2012)
159m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin
Directed by
Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn
Watch on Netflix
A brilliant, formally daring documentary, The Act of Killing follows the men who are responsible for killing accused communists in Indonesia, and are celebrated now for the war crimes they committed. By asking many of these killers to reenact their crimes, The Act of Killing examines what it truly means to have ended a life, and the way even men who pretend it doesn’t affect them. The Act of Killing has become an object of study in the years since its release, and in spite of its heavy subject matter, it’s one of the best documentaries ever made.
Free Solo (2018)
100m
Genre
Documentary, Adventure
Stars
Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmy Chin
Directed by
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
Watch on Hulu
A documentary about one of the most insane men on the planet, Free Solo follows Alex Honnold, an elite climber who is determined to climb up the rock face of El Capitan, some 3,000 feet, without a cord. If he falls, he dies. The movie spends much of its time examining Honnold the man and trying to understand what would make a person take that kind of risk. The footage of Honnold attempting the climb is amazing in and of itself, in part because its undercut with the tension of knowing that the filmmakers may have cameras rolling at the moment of his death.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
82m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Jiro Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Yoshikazu Ono
Directed by
David Gelb
Watch on Peacock
One of the most famous documentaries ever made, and with good reason, Jiro Dreams of Sushi tells the story of a Japanese sushi chef who has dedicated his life to perfecting the art of sushi making. In chronicling both Jiro’s pursuit of perfection and his sons attempt to live up to his legacy, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is both whimsical and tragic. It’s one of the great character studies ever made and a perfect example of the fascinating people that make up the world around us.
