Top Documentary Movies


The Top Documentary Movies List is calculated by overall movie ratings and members' "Top Documentary List". Lists are calculated daily.

71. Gimme Shelter

Year of Release: 1970
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles
Actors: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor
Plot: Follows the Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour, mainly focusing on their free concert at Altamont Speedway in California where the decision to use Hell's Angels as security leads to tragic consequences.

72. Searching for Sugar Man

Year of Release: 2012
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Actors: Rodriguez, Malik Bendjelloul, Steve Segerman, Dennis Coffey
Plot: For two South Africans, Rodriguez became an unlikely inspiration in the 1970s. In Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul sets out to find out what happened to the obscure, mysterious rocker.

73. No End in Sight

Year of Release: 2007
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Charles Ferguson
Actors: Campbell Scott, Gerald Burke, Ali Fadhil, Omar Fekeiki
Plot: An unflinching look at how Iraq dissolved into a chaotic state after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Information is supported with interviews from those initially placed in charge of rebuilding Iraq.

74. I Am Divine

Year of Release: 2013
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
Actors: Jayne Mansfield, John Waters, Divine, Ricki Lake

75. Red Obsession

Year of Release: 2013
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: David Roach, Warwick Ross
Actors: Debra Meiburg, Russell Crowe
Plot: Bordeaux has always been a rare, prized wine among connoisseurs but the long-standing French label finds itself stretched to the brink after China makes the expensive wine their new status symbol.

76. Oklahoma City

Year of Release: 2017
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Barak Goodman
Plot: An in-depth look into Timothy McVeigh and what led to his choice to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

77. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Year of Release: 2015
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alex Gibney
Actors: Paul Haggis, Mike Rinder, Tony Ortega, Lawrence Wright

78. When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

Year of Release: 2006
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Spike Lee
Actors: Spike Lee, Al Sharpton, Sean Penn, Jay Asevedo
Plot: Spike Lee presents an unflinching, artistic, gritty look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the U.S. government's response.

79. Val

Year of Release: 2021
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Ting Poo, Leo Scott
Actors: Val Kilmer, Jack Kilmer
Plot: Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary covers the 40+ year career of Val Kilmer.

80. Sans Soleil

Year of Release: 2003
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Chris Marker
Actors: Florence Delay, Kim Novak, Arielle Dombasle, Riyoko Ikeda

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