115 Best Documentary Movies to WatchMovies Like The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (Page 8)

I'm still stuck between calling The Tour 23 a clever marketing trick or a feast for the senses. Contradictions have always nested at the heart of the brand, between beauty and its toxic standards, so it's self-aware of them to highlight that in an audience-facing film. It's undeniable that the VS shows have held spectacle in high regard and cultivated a fanbase that outnumbers the actual consumers, but this film will feel like a treat even if you don't care for luxury wear. Even more, it's perhaps a bit too likable: it's lush without being kitschy, it's woke without the overt politics, it's fun, but not a joke, and most of all, it brings us closer to the visions of creators from around the world who have so much more to give than what they've given Victoria's Secret.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Adriana Lima, Adut Akech, Adwoa Aboah, Candice Swanepoel, Doja Cat, Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Imaan Hammam, Iris Law, Julia Fox, Lily Aldridge, Naomi Campbell, Sui He, Taylor Hill, Tess McMillan, Valentina Sampaio, Winnie Harlow, Yseult, Ziwe Fumudoh

Director: Cristina Sánchez Salamanca, Korty Eo, Lola Raban-Oliva, Margot Bowman, Umi Ishihara

Last Stop Larrimah is the rare true-crime doc in which not a single tear is shed throughout its substantial two-hour runtime. That’s because the assumed-dead 70-year-old around whom it's centered had a lot of enemies: nearly all of his neighbors in the titular tiny Outback outpost he lived in, in fact. As the doc reveals, Larrimah — population: 10 (11 before Paddy Moriarty disappeared in 2017) — was a pressure cooker of big personalities roiling with animosity. 

Given the town’s tiny population, the film has the uncommon privilege of being able to explore the potential motives of every possible suspect — and it does, diving into vicious feuds over meat pies, hungry pet crocodiles, and the million grievances Paddy’s neighbors apparently harbored. But, though it presents all motives as equally plausible, it turns out one explanation is much more likely than the rest. That’s the problem here: like so many other true-crime docs, by the end, you can’t help but feel that the journey this takes is ultimately exploitative. Though it’s an entertaining portrait of eccentric Aussie characters, the film is much too devoted to doing just that — entertaining — at the expense of all its participants (including the unremarkable local police, for some reason), and so its late pivot into emotional profundity feels markedly insincere.

Genre: Documentary

Director: Thomas Tancred

As a documentary, The Darkness Within doesn't dig as deep as it probably could have. It doesn't offer a particularly specific account of how La Luz del Mundo has achieved its popularity and what exactly keeps it in power today. However, due to the fact that many church members seem to remain loyal to its corrupt, criminal leaders, a straightforward testimony is also exactly what this film needs to be. In direct, uncompromising detail—but always edited with a solemn respect for the survivors, who get to make their statements without the camera in their face—it lays out the mountain of damning personal experiences that too many La Luz del Mundo have suffered, as the rest of the church has turned a blind eye towards them.

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Director: Carlos Pérez Osorio

If you’re expecting a twisty and thrilling look at a dangerous group of hackers who hide deep within a military bunker in Europe, and who refer to their entire operation as “straight from a James Bond movie,” then you might be disappointed with Cyberbunker, a dragging documentary that relies too heavily on talking heads for momentum. It takes 30 minutes to establish the relevance of these figures, and a full hour before it finally explains the actual crime and wrongdoings they’re complicit in. The most interesting parts of the case, like the FBI’s involvement, Cyberbunker’s links to the propagation of child pornography, and the group’s advocacy on internet privacy, are completely buried beneath a stack of unnecessary tidbits. I appreciate the effort of the filmmakers and the interviewees coming together to make something decently informative, but by the end of it, you’re left wondering whether all this was better off as a Wikipedia article.

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Director: Kilian Lieb, Max Rainer

Rating: PG-13

If you love archeology and prehistory, you’ll love that this documentary is packed with mesmerizing footage of the infamous caves, as well as close-ups of the 130,000 year old skeletal remains that are in pristine condition. If you don’t, you might appreciate discoveries like how neanderthals held burials for their dead and things of that nature, but with a cold open that couldn’t pack any less heat if it tried, I wouldn’t blame you if you just dipped. This documentary is de-energizing and plodding, and that pace can make for a soothing portrayal of archeology at times, but other times it makes for a very run-of-the-mill broadcast.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Caroline Colomei, Gabriel Andreu, Ibbi El Hani, Kareem Alexander, Patrick Stewart, Paula Parunov

Director: Ashley Gething

Rating: PG

The beginning instantly captures Kodama’s essence, and quickly sets lofty expectations with the regal intro sequence and the clean narration and reenactments. But it’s basically a feature length interview of the subject, who shares her screen time with the supporting cast to her action drama life (assistants, love interests, the usual), tackling the big scandals that brought trouble to Kodama. It’s a worthy watch, if only for the deep Nelma Kodama and laundering iceberg; however, it does get very long and redundant in feel, which may be necessary to paint the whole picture, but at some point it’s a bunch of branches that lead to other branches and the tree is big.

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Actor: Anzu Lawson, Nelma Kodama

Director: João Wainer

Rating: R