True crime documentary movies are sometimes stranger than fiction and often way more unsettling. You usually couldn’t make these stories up if you tried. However, someone had to make up the stories, and those are the murderers, ruthless serial killers, and criminals that we as a society are so fascinated and obsessed with. True crime documentary films investigate the unbelievable and crazy stories behind real-life crimes. They tell us the story as it unfolded for the police or, in many cases, from the point of view of the offender(s), witnesses, or survivors.


Perhaps that’s why we are so enthralled with them, for the chance to get a glance into the mindset of someone who could commit such heinous acts of violence. Or perhaps it’s the fact that we love a good mystery to riddle over and solve, and every crime is essentially a puzzle to piece together. Whatever the reason, there are countless true crime documentaries available for our viewing pleasure, and even if the genre has mostly transitioned to TV shows and great limited series (like The Jinx, Making a Murderer, or Tiger King) or podcasts (like Serial or Dirty John), many documentary films have paved the way for the genre’s success. Here is a collection of some of the best ones ever made.

8 OJ: Made in America

As the title implies, OJ: Made in America is the in-depth story of O. J. Simpson, and his life as a promising football star at the University of Southern California, his fame, the trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, his acquittal, and finally, his imprisonment for robbery many years later. This 2016 documentary explores themes of race, power, culture, and celebrity, and how they all intertwine in a distinctly American way.

The longest title on this list, this film was released as a five-part miniseries and runs for seven and a half hours; however, it was released in select theaters in order to compete during awards season, and rightfully won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film (becoming the longest movie ever nominated). The powerful epic accurately captures prominent details of O. J. Simpson’s life, but also reflects American culture simultaneously.

7 The Imposter

As the title implies, The Imposter is about an imposter, specifically the 1997 case of Frédéric Bourdin, a 16-year-old Frenchman who pretended to be a missing boy, Nicholas Patrick Barclay, who disappeared from Texas at the age of 13 three years ago. Barclay’s family welcomed Frédéric Bourdin into their home with open arms. Do they really believe it’s him or are they trying to cover up what actually happened to their son, as Frédéric suggests to the police after he is found out? Find out in this thrilling, multilayered documentary that’s almost too strange to believe.

Related: Best British Crime Dramas of 2021, Ranked

6 Tales of the Grim Sleeper

Directed, written, and produced by Nick Broomfield, who has become a modern master of documentary filmmaking, Tales of the Grim Sleeper relates the chilling events that took place from 1984 to 2007. For 25 years, the serial killer Lonnie David Franklin Jr. (nicknamed the Grim Sleeper) terrorized the residents of South-Central Los Angeles. This 2014 documentary film is shocking, outlandish, and yet, all true.

Perhaps the most haunting part of all was how long the murders were unaccounted for until Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was finally captured by police and brought to justice; the fact that he often killed Black women and prostitutes meant that the police hadn’t cared as much about the crimes as others, and Tales of the Grim Sleeper explores this economic and racial element with striking honesty.

5 My Brother’s Keeper

My Brother’s Keeper is a 1992 documentary about an alleged murder that happened in 1990 in Munnsville, New York between two brothers. After suffering from an illness for years, William Ward was found dead one morning in a bed that he shared with his younger brother, Delbert. Rumors soon spread that Delbert had smothered William with a pillow as a mercy killing.

Yet, the town defended Delbert, and rallied behind him, even collecting money for him for legal fees. They claimed that Delbert was harmless and could never hurt his big brother. Delbert was acquitted by the jury but is he really innocent or is he actually guilty? Find out in the gripping documentary My Brother’s Keeper from Joe Berlinger, the same great filmmaker behind the lauded true crime trilogy Paradise Lost and the docuseries Conversations with a Killer.

4 Murder on a Sunday Morning

The Oscar-winning documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning, chronicles the events that led to the wrongful arrest and treatment of 15-year-old Brenton Butler after a tourist was shot and killed in his hometown. On Sunday, May 7, 2000, in Jacksonville, Florida, Brenton is stopped by police when walking by the crime scene which was near his house. Despite being a different build than the shooter who was seen by the victim’s husband, police arrested Brenton and proceeded to question him for hours, eventually coercing him into confessing. A jury found Brenton not guilty and later criticized the actions of the police and the prosecutors.

3 The Act of Killing

The Act of Killing is a 2012 documentary film about all those who participated in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966. Director Joshua Oppenheimer challenged the former Indonesian death-squad leaders to actually recreate their mass killings however they wished. The result is a disturbing documentary that details elaborate killings in the forms of lavish musical numbers, epic westerns, and classic crime scenarios. Raw and terrifying, this haunting documentary film is very difficult to watch; it’s not just emotionally devastating, but it also interrogates the audience’s desire to watch true crime as a form of entertainment in the first place.

Related: Best True Crime Docuseries on Hulu, Ranked

2 Tower

Tower is a hybrid documentary combining animation and archival footage to tell the story of the first mass school shooting in 1966 at the University of Texas. On that tragic day, Charles Whitman took the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and began his killing spree, opening fire on the campus below him. The film is told from the perspective of several of the survivors, recreating the events of that fateful day with rotoscope animation, capturing the fear, terror, and confusion of what was a previously unimaginable (and currently predictable) crime.

1 The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line is an award-winning documentary by former private detective-turned-filmmaker Errol Morris about the murder of a police officer in Dallas County, Texas, and the wrongful conviction of Randall Adams who served 13 years under a death sentence. Piece by piece, the documentary paints the picture of how Randall Adams was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got involved with 16-year-old David Harris who was the real killer. The film tells the story of what actually happened that night and how the evidence was skewed to convict Randall Adams who became a scapegoat. The movie was so important and convincing that it actually led to the overturning of Adams’ conviction.

Morris’ movie was extremely innovative in the realm of documentary filmmaking, utilizing a distinct interview style and beautifully cinematic recreations scored by Philip Glass (who would collaborate with Morris several times). Because of these recreations, the Academy Awards actually refused to let the film compete, a stylistic decision they’ve since overturned. At the time, Roger Ebert “attributed its rejection to the inability of academy voters to appreciate innovative film making,” according to The Los Angeles Times.