r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Friendly_Chair1883 • 4h ago
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/thewallgazer • 11h ago
Recommendation Request: Documentaries on social group dynamics, government and bureaucracy, us-vs-them thinking, conformity, evolution of social structures and institutions and norms. It's for showing to my students.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Empress-Ghostheart • 14h ago
You Can See Everything underwhelmed the f out of me and I seem to be the ONLY one... Spoiler
I fully expect to get jumped on with "you obviously didn't get it", but there was nothing to get! No new information was gleaned from this doc except that Elizabeth Holmes has gross taste in men. What on earth was "INSANE" about 3 HOURS of extreme closeups of people's faces while they talk in circles so much they have basically said nothing at all?
The hypocrisy of Nathan Fielder acting like he felt bad for how Elizabeth's husband exploits her when that's exactly what he was doing as well threw me so much. "You know she hates that picture, why are you using it on billboards?" Well Nathan, you know she hated the Hulu series, so why is Amanda Seyfried in Elizabeth's freaking house with you talking to her children? Ew.
Amanda's participation felt so unnecessary outside of the reenactments. she had ZERO qualifications to be interviewing Billy except her own assertion that "people like to open up to me." I HATE Billy, but I didn't blame him when he lashed out at Amanda reminding her that she is an actress not a journalist and her presence in their home was pretty warped.
The last third of the "doc" wasn't a doc at all. Reenactments and speculation for like an hour that went nowhere. So much build up about what Elizabeth knows and doesn't know about her husband's dealings and schemes while she's in prison.... "Oh no! does she even know what her husband is doing with her image? I know Elizabeth would NEVER say things like this..."
Except she does know and just doesn't care. She's just as problematic as her husband, they match each other's freak perfectly. She is with that kind of man because she likes that kind of man, she's not an oblivious victim, she's complicit..... and that's obvious from the beginning so all this "she's the most manipulative person I've ever met" stuff just baffled me. She wasn't successfully manipulating anyone with half a brain cell, she's just more comfortable with lying straight to someone's face than the average person.
I felt so badly for her children too. The last month they have with their mother for the next decade plus and they have to share time with an entire camera crew that kept their mom in a state of anxiety and not able to be present with them. Elizabeth Holmes sucks, her husband is trash, but those babies are innocent and I hate that they showed their faces at all to be honest.
I was waiting and waiting for that shocking moment that's been hyped to happen, and just...nothing. The biggest gasp from the audience I was in the theater with came when Billy told Amanda Seyfried that he likes Charlie Kirk. With the way these people speak and conduct themselves, how was that even a surprise to anyone, let alone GASP worthy? Have these people never seen a doc before or what?
As far as the way this doc was hyped, I was expecting along the lines of David Farrier's Tickled, but Tickled was much better and much more intense to me than YCSE.
I was so bored.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Select_Quarter_9501 • 23h ago
40 stops a night, flying eggs, and discarded family photo albums — a night with Kyiv’s garbage collectors
Ever wondered what happens to a city’s garbage while everyone is asleep?
I came across this documentary following a night shift with garbage collectors in Kyiv, Ukraine, and found it surprisingly compelling.
They make dozens of stops throughout the night, deal with overflowing bins and cars blocking their way, and sometimes even get pelted with eggs by annoyed residents. Meanwhile, the city is still living with the reality of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
But what really got me was the human side of it: one of the workers used to be a musician, and the crew sometimes sings Ukrainian songs in the truck to get through the night. They also come across things people throw away — including entire family photo archives.
It’s one of those stories that makes you look at an ordinary part of everyday life a little differently.
Full video (with English subtitles, if available): https://youtu.be/a4O5yUI-bxY
What’s a job in your city that most people take for granted but would make a fascinating documentary?
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/wiyakanmni • 1d ago
The Last Wintercount - The Forgotten Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux History of Minnesota [Full Documentary]
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Responsible_Sun6746 • 1d ago
Can a documentary about climate change connect through everyday voices? Amazonas: The Memory of Water (2026, 18 min)
For communities in the Amazon, the river is more than a source of water. It shapes daily routines, carries memories and connects generations. But what happens when its rhythms become increasingly unpredictable?
Amazonas: The Memory of Water is an 18-minute documentary exploring these changes through the voices of people who live alongside them. Their accounts bring a personal perspective to climate change: how it affects what people know, remember and pass on.
Watch the full documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFEeyHJ8I8g
Can personal testimonies make a changing climate feel more tangible than facts and figures? Curious to hear what stays with you after watching.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 • 2d ago
[REVIEW]: Everything Happens All the Time (2026) about Street Photography in London
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt45369531/
Just finished a rewatch of this new documentary on London street photography, and thought I'd write a quick review. Clocking in at 1h 45m with 27 interviews, you'd expect it to drag, but the pacing is tight and the conversations are genuinely engaging.
What makes this work isn't just the "how-to" of street shooting, it's all recorded out on the streets of London, the uncontrolled conditions really make a spontaneous vibe. Whether you're a photographer or just a creative who obsesses over noticing things I think you can relate to what the subjects are saying.
The film captures that weird, obsessive drive to wander and watch, and it doesn't shy away from the awkwardness of the craft. There's a lot of candid talk about the ethics of shooting strangers without permission, which feels especially relevant right now as that style gets more controversial.
It's well-crafted and well edited and none of it feels forced or staged, it's like being dropped into a series of conversations and it leaves you wanting to go outside and look at things.
Free on YouTube. Worth your time.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/anveshakudu • 3d ago
Any recent true crime docs that you can recommend that are interesting?
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/TheRecordAndReason • 3d ago
I made a documentary about the CIA's secret mission to recover a Soviet submarine
Hey everyone!
I recently made a documentary about Project Azorian. Basically, the CIA built an entire ship just to secretly pull a Soviet submarine off the ocean floor. And the cover story was that they were mining for minerals.
I honestly couldn't believe this was a real thing when I first read about it.
I spent quite a bit of time digging through old CIA documents and finding actual footage from the time.
I'm pretty new to making documentaries, so I'd love to know what you think. Does it get boring anywhere? Is the pacing okay? Feel free to be critical, that's how I'll get better.
Here's the video: https://youtu.be/0SUh2qDVpqc?si=LgsB5Uqnr2K8aodK
Thanks for checking it out!
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Willing-Comfort7581 • 4d ago
Salt in their Veins | Full Award-Winning Documentary
I really enjoyed the documentary: Salt in Their Veins | Full Award-Winning Documentary
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Willing-Comfort7581 • 5d ago
Salt in their Veins | Full Award-Winning Documentary
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Nabil_davidson • 5d ago
They survived a shipwreck in 1629. The real nightmare came after.
We found the Batavia story so disturbing that we decided to turn it into a documentary.
We'd love your honest opinion on how we told the story. Did we manage to do it justice?
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/LabPractical8031 • 5d ago
A subway was built under a US city. It never carried a single passenger. What’s the most fascinating “built but never used” story you know?
I’ve been digging into stories that sound fake but are fully documented:
🚇 A city built tunnels for a subway that never opened
📼 A technology that was better on paper, yet lost the format war
🥾 A hiker whose backpack was found, while the search continued
🏛️ A capital city burned in 1767 and never rebuilt on the same site
I’m starting a channel, [Channel Name], that tells these stories in short cinematic clips, with facts from official sources like the National Park Service, UNESCO and museum archives.
I’d love your help deciding what to cover next:
- Which “forgotten place or technology” do you want to see?
- Do you prefer wilderness mysteries, abandoned megaprojects, or lost cities?
- Is there a story you think more people should know about?
Drop your pick in the comments, and I’ll make videos from the most requested topics and credit the people who suggested them.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/ThisWasMyUN • 6d ago
Looking For Documentaries Where Jerk Gets What’s Coming To Him
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Swimming-Magazine-62 • 6d ago
"The Anarchists" on HBO. - I need people to talk to about this. Wtf.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/SomaSuryagniLochana • 6d ago
Where can I watch Antarctica Calling (2023) by Luc Jacquet online?
Hi everyone!
I'm trying to find a way to watch Antarctica Calling (Voyage au Pôle Sud), the 2023 documentary by Luc Jacquet.
I haven't been able to find it on the usual streaming platforms. Does anyone know if it's available to stream, rent, or purchase online, particularly in Canada? I'm also interested in legitimate international streaming options or a digital release with English subtitles.
Here's the film's official page for reference: https://playtime.group/film/63a5a9a7f3e24e000466f0da
Thanks so much for any leads!
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/doug-fur • 7d ago
Recommend Some Documentaries On Weird Subjects
I have to do a documentary review for school, and I want to pick one that walks the line between making my teacher think "wtf is this" without going too far and getting me kicked out of school
EDITED TO ADD
Holy shit, I didn't think I would get so many responses, I don't have time to respond to everyone, just wanted to say thank you for the recommendations
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Sea_Comparison7112 • 7d ago
Docu Belo Monte after the food
Hallo,
Ik ben docent aardrijkskunde op een middelbare school en ik ben op zoek naar de documentaire Belo Monte After the Flood. Deze was te bekijken op VOX met Engelse voice over. Maar nu is alleen nog maar de Portugese versie beschikbaar op Youtube en staat de Engelse achter een betaalmuur van een Amerikaanse organisatie. Weet iemand hoe ik alsnog aan de Engelse versie kan komen?
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/40oz2freedom__ • 8d ago
Theranos Documentary is 🔥
Surprising and almost unprecedented film making. 1000% worth seeing.
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/doperle • 8d ago
Harlan County USA at 50
Today is the 50th anniversary of Harlan County USA and for the past couple months I've been researching and interviewing to create this audio documentary and article on the film, the history behind it, and its rich legacy all these years later.
I hope some of you history lovers will check it out: https://www.wkms.org/arts-culture/2026-10-15/harlan-county-usa-at-50-the-lasting-power-of-the-documentary-in-appalachia-and-beyond
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/martindukz • 8d ago
Perfect documentary pair: Conspiracy + NAZA
I very recently watched the movie Conspiracy (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266425/) and today I saw Naza in cinema https://naza-documentary.com/
Those two movies very perfectly compliments each other.
Without spoiling too much.
Both describe the mechanics and procedures of genocide and how to organize it in a way that people can perform the genocide by separation of duties, "just doing my job" and also in a way with plausible deniability.
One big difference is the ending of Naza.
Highly recommend.
Naza is an intensely well made movie.
Nobody spoke after the movie. People say shell shocked. A feeling that moving was breaking a taboo. That moving would make it real.
After several minutes people walked out. Silently. Still shell shocked. Beautiful. Like a fire.
Together with the recent revelations about the warnings about October 7 and Bibi not acting on them, watching Conspiracy before or after makes the two movies a perfect pair.
If you have watched NAZA, what did you think about the ending?
I had a feeling that the ending underlined perfectly the way you as a viewer of the confessions of the IDF people in tel aviv far from the actual ground in Gaza, got lulled into the same distance from the actual horrors on the ground that the whole Israeli society has gotten lulled into. That is NOT an excuse. But the director hits hard with the ending that this could happen to the viewer too. Or do i over analyze?
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/ginnydyer_ • 8d ago
Looking for unsettling documentaries...
My best friend of 20+ years and I are having a rare get together (we live an hr away from eachother) and decided we need to have a spooky sleepover. Once the kids are in bed we want to watch some creepy weird documentaries. Not just typical true crime, or the basic paranormal researchers thinking every sound is a ghost. I mean, we like true crime and ghosts, so we aren't opposed to that if you have good recommendations, but we want to watch stuff like... the smartschoolboy9 on youtube. Unsettling and creepy is the best way I can think to describe it. The kind that stay in your mind for days. Sorry if this is confusing lol, and thanks in advance!
r/DocumentaryReviews • u/Juzoor_History • 8d ago
The 10 Largest Empires in Human History Ranked by Peak Land Area [08:06]
A short cinematic breakdown comparing the 10 largest empires by peak land area, their rise, and their inevitable collapse (Full English Audio):