Documentary reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 151 Reddit reviews across 22 subreddits and 27 posts to rank the best Documentary brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/MovieSuggestions, r/NetflixBestOf, r/serialkillers, r/documentaryfilmmaking, r/vegan. Top-rated brands include Netflix (4.8/5), Documentary (4.4/5), The Alpinist (5.0/5).
Stats
Reviews151
Subreddits22
Posts27
Brands83
Products33
151 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Netflix
4.8
(13)
"Dont fuck with cats"
"The Keepers on Netflix"
"Tiger King … series on Netflix. Completely over the top true story of competing big cat zoo owners."
"They’re amazing"
"My Octopus teacher was AMAZING!!"
"Tiger King 😉"
"I think My Octopus Teacher on Netflix is up there."
"A must see"
"I’m a documentary whore tbh but the one that has always stuck with me."
"I enjoyed How to Change Your Mind and Miss Americana."
#2
Documentary
4.4
(7)
"Documentaries:
- Moment of Contact
- Ariel Phenomenon
- The Phenomenon
- Investigation Alien
- Investigating the unknown
Start there."
"There's a documentary on Netflix called "Turning Point: 9/11 and the War On Terror"."
"Personally, Stanley Nelson’s “The Life and Death of Peoples Temple.”"
"Cowspiracy. It’s a bit dated (2014, I think), but is on Netflix in the US."
"Bitter Lake (2015)"
"*Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown* is rather informative."
"The documentary based on the Jeff Guinn book "The Road to Jonestown" would probably be a good choice."
#3
The Alpinist
5.0
(5)
"The Alpinist (2021) makes Free Solo look like a guy in a climbing gym."
"The most amazing documentary I’ve seen."
"Is pretty incredible"
"The Alpinist. Amazing movie about an even more amazing person."
"An amazing documentary!"
#4
Free Solo
5.0
(4)
"Free Solo (2018) is pretty amazing."
"I really liked Free Solo (2018)..."
"So well done, so gripping and frightening."
#5
Capturing The Friedmans
4.5
(4)
"Ooooooooooo I love docs too! Here are some of my faves. 6. Capturing The Friedmans..."
"It’s really messed up and can be difficult to watch. I don’t often bring it up because It’s pretty disturbing but it was captivating and mind blowing."
"Capturing the Friedmans"
#6
Man on Wire
5.0
(3)
"About the guy who tightrope walked between the twin towers without permission."
"Is wonderful!"
"Man on Wire (2008) and Samsara (2011) are probably my two favorite documentaries."
#7
Wild Wild Country
5.0
(3)
"Wild wild country"
"Wild, Wild Country. True story about a foreign cult that tries to take control of Oregon."
"Wild Wild Country..."
#8
My Octopus Teacher
5.0
(3)
"My Octopus Teacher was pretty damn good."
"I would suggest My Octopus Teacher."
"My octopus teacher ❤️."
#9
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
5.0
(3)
"Jiro Dreams of Sushi"
"Jiro Dreams of Sushi."
"A great look at the devotion certain (arguably many) Japanese people have for their work."
#10
Grey Gardens
5.0
(3)
"Grey Gardens! You can find a copy on YouTube in excellent quality."
"Grey Gardens (1975)"
"And of course Grey Gardens is a classic."
#11
Honeyland
5.0
(3)
"Honeyland"
"Honeyland"
"First documentary to get an Oscar."
#12
Muscle Shoals
5.0
(3)
"It's about a bunch of white session players in a Mississippi town."
"So much incredible music has come out from this studio"
"So much incredible music has come out from this studio"
#13
Blackfish
5.0
(3)
"Blackfish"
"Blackfish. I watched it twice in one day because I was so blown away, and upset."
"A pretty top drawer documentary"
#14
The Thin Blue Line
5.0
(3)
"Game changer in documentaries involving a crime"
"Ooooooooooo I love docs too! Here are some of my faves. 1. The Thin Blue Line..."
#15
Searching for Sugar Man
5.0
(3)
"Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero."
"Searching for Sugar Man."
"Searching for Sugar Man"
#16
Grizzly Man
5.0
(3)
"Ooooooooooo I love docs too! Here are some of my faves. 3. Grizzly Man..."
"For me, it's a toss-up, between 'Grizzly Man' (2005) and 'The Bridge' (2006)"
"I will never, ever forget 'Grizzly Man' (2005)."
#17
Zoom
3.8
(4)
"On the small scale the F3 is a good choice but no built in mics, the upshot is that it's very small and if you had to you could always plug your sennheiser into it as a backup for the ambience."
"If you need those controls, the f6 is the way, at a greater cost, I just don’t like the preamps on the H4, especially for anything that needs more than a couple DB of gain."
"If you want xlr inputs, good preamps and 32 but float, you can’t go wrong with the zoom f3."
"But you can go wrong with the f3! Besides a full lack of gain control both the headphone and stereo out mix down the two channels so you can’t properly monitor."
#18
Sony
5.0
(3)
"I'm a big fan of ND filters. Sony FX6, BM Ursa line up, etc...and xls inputs. I've used both styles for years."
"Song FX6/FX9 are like default doc cameras right now."
"Fx3 is a great suggestion, C70/80 would be another if you want to go Canon. For doc, especially verite, you really need internal ND filters, XLR audio inputs, and both media and battery life that will last for extended filming."
#19
Hoop Dreams
5.0
(2)
"Hoop Dreams is one of my top documentaries."
"Ooooooooooo I love docs too! Here are some of my faves. 5. Hoop Dreams..."
#20
13th
5.0
(2)
"13th"
"13th..."
#21
Paradise Lost
5.0
(2)
"The story of three teenagers in Arkansas that are accused of raping and killing three children."
"The Paradise Lost documentary on HBO about the West Memphis 3 satanic killings is still imo the best documentary ever made."
#22
Sour Grapes
5.0
(2)
"Another one is 2016's "Sour Grapes" about a vintage wine fraudster."
"Was also insane and will make you laugh and question expensive wine for the rest of your life"
#23
The Act of Killing
5.0
(2)
"Ooooooooooo I love docs too! Here are some of my faves. 9. The Act of Killing..."
"Like no other documentary I’ve ever seen, even the premise itself is mind-blowing."
#24
Three Identical Strangers
5.0
(2)
"Three Identical Strangers..."
"This was mind blowing, truth is indeed stranger than fiction."
#25
Peter Jackson
5.0
(2)
"Is incredible."
"They shall not grow old by Peter Jackson. Yes, that Peter Jackson."
#26
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
5.0
(2)
"I wouldn’t make one when I knew I couldn’t even land in the ball park of how good, how well researched, how well thought out I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is."
"I’ll Be Gone In the Dark is on HBO max. It’s a series and it’s fantastic."
#27
Gates of Heaven
5.0
(2)
"Appears to be available on Youtube!"
"I'll give you five of the greatest I have ever seen. Gates of Heaven."
#28
American Movie
5.0
(2)
"American Movie (if you like getting a look into the process of filmmaking)."
"American Movie (1999) is one of the greatest documentaries of all time..."
#29
The Keepers
5.0
(2)
"The Keepers (2017 miniseries) 'Who killed Sister Cathy?'"
"The Keepers is one of my favorite true crime documentaries"
#30
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
5.0
(2)
"Both of these great documentaries are directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin."
"Both of these great documentaries are directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin."
#31
Cowspiracy
4.5
(2)
"Cowspiracy is the best "soft" ethical documentary."
"Cowspiracy or Seaspiracy would meet that brief."
#32
Ultimate Survival Everest
5.0
(1)
"I personally think Ultimate Survival Everest would interest you."
#33
Discovery Channel
5.0
(1)
"Omg YES- idk if they’re easy to find online..."
#34
PBS Home Videos
5.0
(1)
"Omg YES- idk if they’re easy to find online..."
#35
YouTube
5.0
(1)
"Shrouded Hand on YouTube covers all kinds of documentaries from human experiments to unsolved cases."
#36
Canon
5.0
(1)
"Canon C70 are pretty “cheap” now. I’ve owned a bunch of their cinema line, BMPCC 6K, Sony FS-5 and FS-7. I like the Canon C70 the best of all those."
#37
Joshua Oppenheimer
5.0
(1)
"The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer) is pretty mind blowing"
#38
Ken Burns
5.0
(1)
"Ken Burns: The Civil War & The National Parks. 2 amazing docs."
#39
Abducted in Plain Sight
5.0
(1)
"Abducted In Plain Sight had me going WTF WTF WTF constantly."
#40
Agnes Varda
5.0
(1)
"Anything by agnes varda :) i never knew documentaries could be like that."
#41
Tell Me Who I Am
5.0
(1)
"Tell Me Who I Am covers the story of a twin with amnesia."
#42
This is the Zodiac
5.0
(1)
"This is the Zodiac on Netflix. It’s brand new. Trust me."
#43
The Bridge
5.0
(1)
"The Bridge is a great documentary about people who unalive themselves."
#44
Dear Zachary
5.0
(1)
"Dear Zachary is also a very good but grueling documentary."
#45
Unseen
5.0
(1)
"UNSEEN, about Tony Sowell, is excellent."
#46
I'll Be Gone in the Dark
5.0
(1)
"I'll Be Gone in the Dark is incredible."
#47
Chernobyl
5.0
(1)
"Chernobyl. It’s one of the finest docuseries ever made."
#48
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
5.0
(1)
"The Remarkable Life of Ibelin on Netflix. It's easily in my top 10 docs."
#49
Man on a Wire
5.0
(1)
"Man on a wire documentary about French daredevil/tightrope walker Philippe Petit."
#50
In Plain Sight
5.0
(1)
"In plain sight is the doc, friend of the family is the drama about it. It is INSANE"
#51
Richard Dolan
5.0
(1)
"ANYTHING by Richard Dolan. He's a former history teacher and has a really well-rounded grip on the vastness of the history. His videos are always great."
#52
Harry and Snowman
5.0
(1)
"If you like horses, Harry and Snowman, also amazing."
#53
The Barkley Marathons
5.0
(1)
"The Barkley Marathons (2014) is the greatest documentary about an absolutely bananas race."
#54
Paris is Burning
5.0
(1)
"Paris is Burning"
#55
Emily Goldberg
5.0
(1)
"This documentary is about the Minneapolis based transgender artist/musician Venus de Mars."
#56
Mark Bone
5.0
(1)
"Bone's YouTube videos were invaluable to me when I branched out from narrative."
#57
Dan Carlin
5.0
(1)
"Dan Carlin did a good one called blueprint for Armageddon."
#58
The Great War
5.0
(1)
"The Great War youtube series. Goes week by week what happened during the war."
#59
Silverlake Life: The View from Here
5.0
(1)
"Silverlake Life: The View from Here - lord, how I cried"
#60
Falling for a Killer
5.0
(1)
"Falling for a Killer is an excellent docu series on Ted Bundy told by his girlfriend and her daughter."
#61
Dating Death
5.0
(1)
"Dating Death is the best one on Rodney Alcala Ive seen."
#62
Violent Minds: Killers on Tape
5.0
(1)
"Violent Minds: Killers on Tape is also very good."
#63
Iraq in Fragments
5.0
(1)
"This is my favorite documentary and it's extraordinary."
#64
Icarus
5.0
(1)
"Icarus is great. I think it won an Oscar."
#65
Mountain Queen
5.0
(1)
"Mountain Queen is a recent one that’s pretty inspirational."
#66
Going Varsity in Mariachi
5.0
(1)
"Going Varsity in Mariachi just came out and it is fun."
#67
Fyre
5.0
(1)
"Fyre is 100% hilarious."
#68
Disney Nature Documentaries
5.0
(1)
"Disney Nature Documentaries."
#69
Tim’s Vermeer
5.0
(1)
"Tim’s Vermeer."
#70
Chimp Empire
5.0
(1)
"Chimp Empire."
#71
Bathtubs over Broadway
5.0
(1)
"Bathtubs over Broadway."
#72
BBC
5.0
(1)
"Anything on BBC by Historian Lucy Worsley."
#73
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
4.0
(1)
"Bigger, Stronger, Faster"
#74
Some Kind of Heaven
4.0
(1)
"Some Kind of Heaven"
#75
The Apple
4.0
(1)
"The Apple"
#76
The Donut King
4.0
(1)
"The Donut King"
#77
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
4.0
(1)
"Believe it or not, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster."
#78
Menendez Brothers
4.0
(1)
"If you are into crime documentaries than I would recommend Menendez brothers."
#79
The Dahmer Documentary
4.0
(1)
"The Dahmer documentary."
#80
City of Angels: City of Death
4.0
(1)
"City of Angels: City of death."
#81
Tales of the Grim Sleeper
4.0
(1)
"Tales of the Grim Sleeper. Documentary on decades of murders."
#82
Panasonic
4.0
(1)
"You may want to consider a Lumix S5II or S9. I find its optical image stabilization way better than any other brand’s."
#83
Amazon Prime
4.0
(1)
"I like Hangar 1. It's on Amazon prime right now."
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