The best documentaries on Amazon Prime right now
We live in a truly bizarre time on a truly bizarre planet. But that means there’s so much to learn! Documentaries are one of the best ways to examine the real issues and ideas that are shaping the world we live in.
Amazon Prime, fortunately, is a great repository for documentary film. If you’re looking to go on an adventure without leaving your living room, Amazon Prime offers many fascinating options on myriad subjects. We’ve sorted through all of the options to give you the best documentaries available to watch on Amazon Prime right now.
None of these fit the bill? Check out the best documentaries on Netflix right now. If you’re really into true crime, here are the best true crime shows you can stream right now.
Hale County, This Morning This Evening (2018)
Hale County, This Morning This Evening is important viewing for how extraordinarily ordinary it is. Director RaMell Ross purposely avoids narrative in this documentary about Black lives in the 2010s. It takes a big-picture view of the Black experience through an intimate lens that immerses the audience better than any real story could. This is life, writ small. Hale County, This Morning This Evening isn’t for everybody (read: if you don’t appreciate art house, you may find it pretentious), but if you’d like to sit back and truly appreciate the beauty of life for a while, you’re in for a treat.
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Director: RaMell Ross
Rating: NR
Runtime: 76 minutes
That Sugar Film (2015)
That Sugar Film is in the same mold as Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, except it’s Australian and focuses on an even more pervasive food industry evil: sugar. Director Damon Gameau decides to consume a high-sugar diet — through foods commonly assumed to be healthy — for 30 straight days. No, he’s not stuffing his face with candy and soda; Gameau instead illuminates how massive amounts of sugar are often found in places you likely thought were safe. With entertaining cameos from Hugh Jackman and Stephen Fry, That Sugar Film feels like a sugar high, right until the eye-opening crash.
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Stars: Damon Gameau, Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry
Director: Damon Gameau
Rating: PG
Runtime: 94 minutes
More Than a Game (2008)
Before LeBron James became one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he was just a high schooler from Akron, just like his teammates. James famously appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior and spent the rest of his career validating the early hype. It’s easy to forget that he had teammates at St. Vincent-St. Mary. More Than a Game actually follows his AAU team (think elite high school basketball) as they traverse the country as James’ star continues to grow through everyone’s eyes. It serves as a bit of an origin story for James but never shies away from the harder truths he and his teammates had to endure. New to Amazon Prime in November, More Than a Game is a must-watch for more than just basketball fanatics.
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Stars: LeBron James, Dru Joyce, Romeo Travis
Director: Kristopher Belman
Rating: PG
Runtime: 105 minutes
One Child Nation (2019)
Arguably one of the most controversial policies in the world during its heyday, China’s one-child policy was enacted in 1979 in an attempt to control the population of the country, which was expanding at unsustainable rates. The policy eventually reverted to the previous law, a two-child policy, in 2015. For the 36 years in which the policy was active, however, there were numerous consequences, both intended and unintended, as parents had to grapple with impossible choices largely stemming from the preferred status of being born a male in modern-day China. The filmmakers delve into the personal trauma resulting from a policy that drew the attention of the world as China developed into a global superpower.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Stars: Nanfu Wang, Zaodi Wang, Zhimei Wang
Directors: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang
Rating: R
Runtime: 88 minutes
Super Size Me (2004)
This film was so powerful that many credit it with influencing McDonald’s Restaurants to eliminate their super-sizing options, even though the company swears their decision had nothing to do with the documentary. Morgan Spurlock set out to undergo a crazy experiment: Only eat food from McDonald’s for 30 days straight, three meals a day, to see how it affects him. Without giving too much away, Spurlock documents the various changes he undergoes in body and mind throughout the 30-day period, and it’s staggering, to say the least. The intent was to raise awareness around fast-food companies that encourage poor nutrition for the sake of their own profits and to shed light on America’s obesity problem. It’s a fascinating watch that shows just how much of a difference what you eat can make in your life.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Star: Morgan Spurlock
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 98 minutes
Cartel Land (2015)
You might have seen plenty of cartel-based films and TV series, but this documentary takes you right into the thick of the Mexican drug war through the perspective of vigilante groups trying to take them down. Central to the film are two brave men: Dr. Jose Mireles, known locally as “El Doctor,” who rallied citizens of the state of Michoacan to drive the Knights Templar Cartel out of the region; and American veteran Tim “Nailer” Foley, who formed a group called Arizona Border Recon that he hopes will help stop the Mexican cartel from doing business in the United States. Nominated for an Academy Award, the film takes a raw and honest look at a pressing issue that has too often been glamorized instead of addressed. Cartel Land leaves Amazon Prime on November 14.
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Stars: Dr. Jose Mireles, Tim Foley
Director: Matthew Heineman
Rating: R
Runtime: 100 minutes
Chasing Happiness (2019)
In recent years, the Jonas Brothers have worked hard to shed their Disney Channel-tinged image and enter the next phase of their musical career. To do so, however, they had to discover what life was like apart from one another. Chasing Happiness documents the lives of the three brothers, from their publicized breakup in 2013 to their reunion in 2019. The documentary in part promoted their first new record in years, Happiness Begins, but it’s far from being a public relations-palooza, as it also contains previously unreleased footage and personal interviews with the brothers.
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Stars: Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas
Director: John Lloyd Taylor
Rating: 16+
Runtime: 96 minutes
McQueen (2018)
If your interests fall more to fashion, this biographical documentary will be right up your alley. It takes an intimate look at the life and career of Alexander McQueen, who rose to fame from a tailor to a chief designer at Givenchy and finally became a respected British fashion designer in his own right. While the movie was not made with the help of McQueen’s family (McQueen took his own life in 2010 at age 40), the tireless work of the creators resulted in a well-sourced, moving, and respectful look at a young life, and a brilliant design talent gone too soon. McQueen leaves Prime on November 17.
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Stars: Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Isabella Blow, Kate Moss
Directors: Ian Bonhote, Peter Ettedgui
Rating: R
Runtime: 111 minutes
The Invisible War (2012)
An eye-opening look at rape cases in the U.S. military and how they were handled in the past, The Invisible War puts the spotlight on Coast Guard veteran Seaman Kori Cioca, who, after being unable to get benefits to cover the medical difficulties resulting from her rape, filed a civil suit against the Department of Defense. Many credit this documentary with influencing policy and culture changes relating to rape allegations in the military. It blew the lid off a systemic problem and helped not only to prompt the military to look into sexual assault cases but also to encourage more women to come forward with their own harrowing stories.
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Stars: Helen Benedict, Kori Cioca
Director: Kirby Dick
Rating: 13+
Runtime: 97 minutes
Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
Michael Moore is known for his controversial documentaries that polarize viewers, and this, his latest, is no exception. You didn’t read the title wrong — it’s a callback to his previous documentary called Fahrenheit 9/11 about the September 11 attacks. Except this time, the date referenced is November 9, when Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential win was officially announced. Like Moore’s previous work, this film encourages Americans to take action, presenting controversial topics in a jarring, shocking, and sometimes even comedic manner.
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Stars: Jim Acosta, Roger Ailes, Brooke Baldwin
Director: Michael Moore
Rating: R
Runtime: 127 minutes
Grizzly Man (2005)
Tragically, Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed by a grizzly bear in 2003, but Treadwell, a bear enthusiast, environmentalist, and documentary filmmaker himself, managed to capture incredible footage of the attack, including an audio recording that has never been released. Grizzly Man combines bits and pieces from more than 100 hours of footage that Treadwell shot through the last five years of his life, as well as interviews with his family and friends and experts on bears and nature. While Treadwell believed he gained the trust of some bears and was confident enough to go close to and even pet them, park rangers claim that Treadwell’s actions actually put the bears at greater risk, making them more comfortable with human contact and thus more likely to approach human habitations for food. It’s a really fascinating look at wild bears and one man’s attempt to become one with them.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Stars: Timothy Treadwell, Werner Herzog
Director: Werner Herzog
Rating: R
Runtime: 104 minutes
Samsara (2013)
“Samsara” is Sanskrit for “wandering” or “world,” and describes the concept of rebirth. And that’s exactly the focus of this non-narrative documentary that took five years to complete. Shot in 70mm format before being output to digital, the film explores the wonders of the world through visits to 25 different countries across five continents. Described as a nonverbal guided meditation rather than a traditional documentary, it’s a great one to put on when you want to sit back, relax, and enjoy a spiritual and visually stunning journey around the world.
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Director: Ron Fricke
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 102 minutes
Gleason (2016)
Steve Gleason was on top of the world as a defensive back for the New Orleans Saints, and was best known for monumentally blocking a punt by the opposing Atlanta Falcons during the Saints’ first game back at the Superdome in nearly two years following Hurricane Katrina. The team would go on to win that game, sparking one of the most successful seasons in Saints history. But in 2011, Gleason’s life changed forever when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The documentary, filmed over a period of five years, looks at his life after diagnosis, including the announcement of his wife’s pregnancy, how the diagnosis has played into his family life, and the advancement of his disease to today, where he relies on assistive technology to communicate. It’s an emotional journey of strength, resilience, and determination.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Star: Steve Gleason
Director: Clay Tweel
Rating: R
Runtime: 111 minutes
All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020)
The lead-up to the 2020 election has been one of the most contentious periods in recent American history. From the coronavirus pandemic to the fight for racial justice to the staggering economic downturn affecting millions around the country, it’s never been more important to head to the ballots and vote. That’s the message behind All In, an Amazon Original released in September, less than two months before Election Day. The filmmakers get their message across by zeroing in on the issue of voter suppression, focusing on the 2018 gubernatorial race in Georgia, where Stacey Abrams allegedly lost due to voter suppression. Abrams has since founded Fair Fight Action, an organization dedicated to addressing the issue.
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Stars: Stacey Abrams, Ari Berman, David Pepper
Directors: Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortes
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 102 minutes
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