Murders, Scams and Cults: 25 Great True Crime Docs to Stream Right Now

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction… and more fun to watch, too.

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We’re living in a golden era of true crime documentaries, with the major streaming services all locked in an arms race to see who can pump out the most nonfiction content, and it’s led to some great movies and docuseries in recent years. Whether you’re obsessed with unsolved murders, an expert on scammers or a cult aficionado, these documentaries have you covered with fascinating stories that are so filled with unbelievable twists, they have to be real. (Many of these docs are such great stories, in fact, that they’ve already been turned into scripted series.)

It can be tough to navigate the overwhelming avalanche of documentaries out there these days, though, so we here at TVLine are making it easy on you. Below, we’ve collected 25 of the very best true crime documentaries from the past few years, all of which come with our personal seal of approval. We’ve got murder (I’ll Be Gone in the Dark), we’ve got scams (The Tinder Swindler), we’ve got cults (Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults)… and we’ve got some that are a little of all three.

So read on to see which docs we’d add to your watchlist, and hit the comments to share your own favorites we may have missed.

Allen v. Farrow

In the mode of the Michael Jackson exposé Leaving Neverland, this devastating documentary dismantles the public persona of a famous entertainer. This time, it’s Woody Allen, whose daughter Dylan Farrow accuses him of repulsive acts of sexual abuse. Allen’s camp dismissed the doc as full of lies, but the case presented here is comprehensive and damning, aided by extensive and emotional interviews with Dylan and her mother Mia Farrow. (Max, 4 episodes)

Bad Vegan

With a hot New York City restaurant packed with stars and tastemakers, vegan chef Sarma Melngailis was well on her way to culinary celebrity — until a toxic romance with a con man torpedoed her promising career and put her in serious legal jeopardy, leaving a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of her investors. (But was she in on the con, too?) This delectable docuseries chronicles her rise and fall, which includes plenty of outrageous twists and turns, along with a revealing interview with Melngailis herself. (Netflix, 4 episodes)

Curse of the Chippendales

True stories don’t get much wilder than the rise and fall of the Chippendales male dancer empire that took the world by storm in the 1980s. The Chippendales may have sold an oiled-up fantasy to frenzied housewives, but there was serious turmoil behind the scenes, including jealousy, arson and a brazen murder-for-hire scheme. This one takes some truly shocking turns, and it fleshes out its sordid tale with vintage footage and interviews with former dancers and executives. (Max, 4 episodes)

The Deep End

Like its title says, this mesmerizing documentary dives deep into the life of controversial self-help guru Teal Swan, who amassed a huge following with her YouTube videos — and faces accusations of psychological abuse and encouraging suicide. The filmmakers spent three years following Swan, taking us inside her inner circle and giving us unprecedented access to her retreats, where she aggressively provokes her acolytes to reach spiritual catharsis. Swan has criticized the documentary for being unfair, but her words and actions speak for themselves. (Hulu, 4 episodes)

Escaping Twin Flames

What better way to entice someone into a cult than with the promise of true love? This docuseries delves into the online community known as Twin Flames, with cheerful messiah Jeff and his loyal wife Shaleia guaranteeing they can find a romantic match for anyone… as long as they follow the rules. A sweet idea turns into a horror story with accusations of stalking, coercion and abuse, and a few of Jeff and Shaleia’s followers break out of the spell and decide to bring the illusion crashing down once and for all. (Netflix, 3 episodes)

Framing Britney Spears

This doc puts the media under the microscope for putting pop starlet Britney Spears under the microscope in the early 2000s, shining a light on the cruel treatment she received in the spotlight. It’s sobering to look back on how Spears was incessantly criticized, scrutinized and laughed at even at the height of her fame, and it’s infuriating to see how her father Jamie used that criticism to lock her into a constrictive conservatorship. Thankfully, that conservatorship has been dissolved — and we have this doc to thank. (Hulu, 74 minutes)

Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults

You may only know the end of this notorious cult’s story, when dozens of members took their own lives in a 1997 mass suicide, but this comprehensive doc fills in the decades of bizarre backstory that led up to it. With messianic leader Marshall Applewhite at the helm, Heaven’s Gate combined New Age philosophy with sci-fi fantasy, and the doc’s probing interviews with ex-members paint a captivating portrait of how a simple journey towards self-improvement can go way, way too far. (Max, 4 episodes)

Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed

The ultra-successful church Hillsong has brought Christianity to the masses with its seductive blend of music, community and celebrity — Justin Bieber was a regular — but it has a dark side, too. This doc fires off lots of bombshell claims about church founder Brian Houston, but it’s most effective when taking on rock-star pastor Carl Lentz, who became a celebrity in his own right… before resigning in disgrace after his so-called “moral failings” came to light. (Max, 3 episodes)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

This gripping docuseries followed the work of late author Michelle McNamara as she investigated the Golden State Killer, a serial rapist and murderer who terrorized the state of California from 1974 to 1986. As McNamara delved deeper into the case, the unsettling details of the masked, lurking predator had us checking our own locks at night. But thanks to her tenacity, her book and findings helped nail the culprit more than 30 years later, and the whole ordeal quickly became one of the most intriguing and terrifying true crime tales of late. (Max, 7 episodes) 

The Inventor

If you watched Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout and said, “There’s no way that woman really talked like that,” here’s the proof. Master documentarian Alex Gibney (Going Clear, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) trains his expert eye on Elizabeth Holmes and her medical start-up Theranos, which wowed investors with its promises of cheap and easy in-home blood tests. Those promises were empty, though, and Holmes takes a precipitous fall from Silicon Valley darling to convicted fraudster. (Max, 119 minutes)

The Lady and the Dale

This one starts out as a straightforward tale of corporate disruption, with brash executive Elizabeth Carmichael taking on the Big 3 automakers in 1970 by rolling out a revolutionary three-wheeled car called “The Dale.” But then filmmakers Nick Cammilleri and Zackary Drucker jerk the steering wheel suddenly to the right as people start to look into Elizabeth’s past and discover a stunning secret. With trippy animation and revealing interviews, The Lady and the Dale tells a fascinating story with massive cultural repercussions that we’re still feeling today. (Max, 4 episodes)

Love Fraud

Every good documentary needs a compelling main character, and boy, we definitely got a great one in unflappable bounty hunter Carla, the chain-smoking, no-guff-taking star of this addictive scam investigation. When Carla hears from a number of women who were wooed and then quickly fleeced and dumped by a roving lothario named Richard Scott Smith, she makes it her mission to bring him to justice, teaming up with the women to track down the slippery Smith across several states. We won’t spoil the ending — but we’ll definitely take an ongoing series starring Carla, please. (Showtime, 4 episodes)

LuLaRich

They might just look like cute leggings, but LuLaRoe became a billion-dollar clothing empire with thousands of moms hawking its wares on social media. Was it all just a big rip-off, though? This doc digs deep into LuLaRoe’s questionable business practices, using testimonials from ex-employees to bolster its case, along with a revealing interview with the company’s larger-than-life founders DeAnne Brady and Mark Stidham. (Prime Video, 4 episodes)

The Most Hated Man on the Internet

Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned. That’s the lesson online prankster Hunter Moore learned when his website published nude photos of a young woman named Kayla without her consent — and inspired her mother Charlotte to stop Hunter once and for all. Moore makes for a perfectly obnoxious villain, so we can’t help but root for Charlotte to take him down a peg or two, and the story spins out in wildly unpredictable ways. It’s both a provocative crime drama for the Internet age and a sobering tale of how lives can be ruined by a single click of the mouse. (Netflix, 3 episodes)

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal

This buzzy true-crime documentary benefitted from perfect timing, as it aired right in the middle of the high-profile murder trial of South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, accused of killing his wife and son. A sensational case with crimes layered on top of crimes that date back decades, the Murdaugh family saga gave the filmmakers plenty of material to comb through, and the series stands as a damning indictment of how wealth can insulate criminals from justice. Not forever, though: Alex Murdaugh was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in March, just weeks after the documentary was released. (Netflix, 3 episodes)

Murder on Middle Beach

Documentaries that put the filmmaker front and center can often feel self-indulgent, but Madison Hamburg’s tireless investigation into his mother Barbara’s unsolved murder actually benefits from that personal touch, skillfully examining the acute emotional trauma that follows a tragedy like this. Hamburg fights through years of police stonewalling and frustrating dead ends in pursuit of the truth, even turning his lens on his own family members in the process. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s a rewarding one. (Max, 4 episodes)

Surviving R. Kelly

Three seasons, 15 episodes and dozens of gut-wrenching anecdotes and interviews. This is what made Surviving R. Kelly must-see TV and an unexpected catalyst for change when the R&B singer was convicted on nine counts of federal racketeering and sex trafficking in 2021. What is even more compelling is that one of his survivors, Azriel Clary, broke free, reunited with her family and testified against him. (Netflix, 15 episodes)

Telemarketers

Produced by Hollywood luminaries like Danny McBride and the Safdie brothers, this too-wild-to-be-true story takes us inside the cubicles of a New Jersey telemarketing call center with footage shot by the employees themselves. But when the workers find out that the charitable donations they’ve been soliciting are going into their sleazy bosses’ pockets instead, they kick off an investigation that leads to federal prosecution and a $18 million penalty. It’s an invigorating call to arms against corrupt white-collar crooks, and the fact that it’s all true just makes the ultimate justice all the sweeter. (Max, 3 episodes)

The Tinder Swindler

We all know that dating apps are fertile ground for deception, but this cautionary tale takes that to the extreme. Smooth-talking con man Simon Leviev is accused of using Tinder to seduce women with lavish displays of wealth and affection, only to drain their bank accounts before disappearing. It’s a chilling tale, and the interviews with Leviev’s spurned lovers are heartbreaking… and fascinating. (Netflix, 114 minutes)

Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist

You may think you know the story of football star Manti Te’o and his “imaginary girlfriend,” but this new documentary — part of Netflix’s sports-themed Untold series — sheds surprising new light on the scandal that made headlines a decade ago. While Te’o’s ordeal helped popularize the concept of “catfishing,” it also made him a national laughingstock, and the documentary takes a hard look at how the media gleefully piled on Te’o when he was at his most vulnerable. Thoughtful new interviews with Te’o and the person behind his fake relationship give us a fresh perspective… and remind us that the story doesn’t end when the jokes dry up. (Netflix, 2 episodes)

The Vow/Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult

The twisted saga of the NXIVM cult was so juicy — Hollywood starlets! Sex slaves! — it actually inspired two TV docs, and both inform each other in illuminating ways. The Vow got more press, with former NXIVM members revealing reams of incriminating details about leader Keith Raniere and the cult’s shocking rituals. But Seduced is more focused and more moving, following ex-cult member India Oxenberg as she shines a harsh light on Raniere’s sins and struggles to process the trauma of what NXIVM put her through. (Max/Starz, 15 episodes/4 episodes)

The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin

Every good documentary needs a good main character, and we have a great one here in church leader Gwen Shamblin — yes, that’s her with the sky-high hair — who forms her own sect of Christianity powered by her huge personality and Bible-based weight-loss program. It all goes bad, of course, and Gwen’s life story takes a number of jaw-dropping twists and turns as a godly pursuit turns into a desperate grab for money and power, leaving bodies in its wake. (Max, 5 episodes)

We Need to Talk About Cosby

He was once TV’s most beloved dad, but now Bill Cosby’s name is forever tainted by the dozens of accusations of rape and sexual assault against him that have come to light. That uncomfortable dichotomy gets interrogated head-on by W. Kamau Bell, who grapples with how much Cosby meant to a generation of Black comedians — and how the entertainment industry could have allowed his alleged crimes to go unpunished for so long. It’s a complicated look at a complicated subject, illuminated by interviews with Bell’s fellow Black comics who candidly share their mixed feelings about Cosby’s fall from grace. (Showtime, 4 episodes)

WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn

Tech companies can rocket to the top and then flame out in no time, and no company better exemplifies that than WeWork, the co-working venture that billed itself as the future of office work. Founder Adam Neumann considered himself a prophet, and his passion for his vision drew in big investors and gave WeWork an eye-popping valuation… until someone took a hard look at the numbers. The story was so good, Apple TV+ turned it into a scripted series starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway — but we prefer the nonfiction version. (Hulu, 104 minutes)

Who Killed Malcolm X?

Historian and investigative journalist Adbur-Rahman Muhammad takes viewers on a journey through conspiracies — wild and plausible — to get to the bottom of the famous, revered and feared civil rights activist’s bloody 1965 assassination. Muhammad not only establishes how Malcolm X made deadly enemies within the Nation of Islam but dissects the motives and actions of his killers using rarely seen photos and video footage. This is a must-see for history buffs and pop culture fanatics alike. (Netflix, 6 episodes)

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