50 True Crime Documentaries You Really Shouldn’t Miss
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The only thing that would make the following roundup of riveting true-crime documentaries better is playing armchair detective from the penthouse of the Arconia with Selena Gomez. Now, we love a good Only Murders in the Building binge, but true crime is whole different animal. There’s nothing like digging into true-crime docs, true-crime shows, and true-crime movie adaptations; eyes glued to the screen as investigations unfold and revelations drop.
Ahead, we’re detailing the real-life mysteries that are gripping, mind-bending journeys into the darkest corners of humanity. A collection of podcasts, docuseries, and films, they showcase tales of intrigue, injustice, and the unrelenting pursuit of truth, all unraveling the inner workings of the criminal mind and the efforts of the Mabels of the world trying to decipher them. So take your pick, sit back, and let the whodunit do its thing.
Last Call
Subtitled When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, this eye-opening docuseries chronicles the decade a serial killer went unchecked by an indifferent and biased police force, as well as the aftermath. Paying particular attention to the lives of the victims, each episode paints a portrait of a man who is dearly missed, while exploring his murder without exploitation.
Invisible Hate
Another must-listen comes from the hosts of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan and Asad Butt. She's a Pakistani American immigrant, activist, and lover of all things true-crime; he's a media entrepreneur, an adviser, and a Muslim navigating a post-9/11 America; and together, they've launched a true-crime podcast with a specific purpose: shining the spotlight on hate crimes.
Long Shot
Got 40 minutes to spare? Queue up this short doc that weaves the L.A. Dodgers, a man on trial for murder, and an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm into one thrilling yarn. We don't want to give too much away—going in blind is recommended with this one—but in 2003, a teen named Martha Puebla was killed in Los Angeles, Catalan was arrested for her murder, and his alibi? A home run.
The Apology Line
"If you could call a number and say you’re sorry, and no one would know, what would you apologize for?" That's the premise of The Apology Line, a WTAF? hotline open to New Yorkers in the '80s and '90s, run by a man known as Mr. Apology. Now, those confessions, which involve adultery, theft, and even murder, are the driving intrigue behind this Wondery podcast hosted by Mr. Apology's wife, Marissa Bridge. And just like the social experiment it explores, this audio show gets dark.
The Thin Blue Line
Any vintage crime obsessees out there? Meet the daddy of wrongful-conviction documentaries. The time is November 1976. The place is Dallas, Texas. In a total miscarriage of justice, Randall Adams suffered for 12 years following the murder of a police officer during a routine stop. A groundbreaking fact-finding feat, Errol Morris's 1988 deep-dive was instrumental in getting Adams exonerated.
Sound of the Police
The police kill about 1,100 people a year. The highest number to ever face convictions, however, is only 11. That's a sobering statistic dropped in Stanley Nelson and Valerie Scoon's new Hulu film. Exploring the two systems of justice at work in this nation, the directors offer an in-depth look at why the relationship between Black people and the police is like a time bomb ready to explode.
The Crime of the Century
Dopesick, Painkiller, American Pain: The opioid epidemic has spread to the small screen in both documentary and Hollywood reenactment form. But the best chronicling of how Purdue made billions off getting people with chronic pain addicted to opiates comes from Alex Gibney, the filmmaker behind The Inventor and Going Clear. Watch this one before finishing the others.
The Invisible War
In the wake of the Camp Pendleton story, we feel it's necessary to revisit Kirby Dick's engrossing 2012 documentary about another disgusting obstacle women in the military face: rape. Telling the stories of several women who were sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers, the film goes further by exposing an epidemic that's been covered up for decades by higher-ranking officials.
Telemarketers
The latest in wild true-crime comes in the form of this guerilla-style docuseries that reports from the belly of the beast. That belly is a telemarketing firm called CDG, and the beast is the shocking and infuriating umbrella organization pulling the strings and calling the shots. A billion-dollar scam revealed by two former employees, the fraud on display here is both horrendous and heartbreaking.
Shiny Happy People
For 10 seasons, the Duggar family, a massive brood of far-right Baptists, raked in the ratings for TLC with their reality series about Jim Bob and Michelle raising their 19 children "and counting" in Arkansas. Come to find out later, the people on camera were not at all shiny, and most definitely not happy. A web of deception, religion, and abuse, this four-parter is full of so many scandals … we’re still counting.
Athlete A
USA Gymnastics, the massive governing body for the sport, was brought to its knees in 2016, when the IndyStar, a humble newspaper operating out of a small newsroom, broke the story about athletes being molested by Olympic doctor Larry Nassar and the organization turning a blind eye. Unfolding via the story’s heroic reporters, Athlete A gives these survivors, once silenced and abused, their power back.
Black Girl Gone
Giving voices, names, and stories to Black girls and women who have either gone missing or been murdered, the Black Girl Gone podcast wants to “humanize these victims.” Challenging bias and the media’s fascination with missing white women, host and executive producer Amara Cofer hopes to cut through the syndrome and shine a light on underreported cases involving women of color.
Dear Zachary
Docs have a way of unfurling into fascinating tales lightyears beyond their genesis. Dear Zachary, an infuriating and astonishing watch from Kurt Kuenne, more than fits that mold. In what begins as a celebration of life and a way for a little boy named Zachary to get to know the father he’ll never meet, Andrew Bagby, the film takes a devastating detour into deceit, murder, and baffling Canadian law.
Dr. Death
Back in 2011, a Dallas doctor named Christopher Duntsch promised his patients he could fix them. Instead, he maimed most of them, and in two cases, killed them. Podcast host and reporter Laura Beil ventures into twisted mind of this real-life villain, interviewing the surgeon’s former colleagues and patients still suffering from his gross medical malpractice. At once a white-coat thriller and examination of a failed system, Dr. Death is just what the doctor ordered.
LuLaRich
A pyramid scheme infested with actors as bad as the fast-fashion they were hawking, LuLaRoe was the billion-dollar clothing company behind all those patterned leggings that plagued your social media feeds back in the early 2010s. LulaRich is the four-part docuseries that goes behind those busted seams, exposing the founders, DeAnne and Mark Stidham; their lies; and how they misled thousands of women.
Mind Over Murder
You know those riveting true-crime shockers that straight dislodge your jaw from your face and drop it on the dang ground? This is one of those. The gist: A 68-year-old grandmother in Beatrice, Nebraska, is raped and murdered. Six people become suspects. Five confess; one does not. But here’s the kicker: None of the “Beatrix Six” was present at the scene of the crime. Deftly handed by director Nanfu Wang, this six-part series unloads revelations, while also unraveling one officer’s tactics to distort the truth.
O.J.: Made in America
Sports documentarian Ezra Edelman takes on 1995’s Trial of the Century, extending beyond the tabloid fodder that captivated the nation and shedding new light on the making and un-making of Orenthal James Simpson. An ambitious and unflinching feat tackling themes of race, culture, fame, and a nation divided, ESPN’s five-parter holds nothing back, even giving the mic to the jurors behind the verdict.
ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke
ReMastered is a riveting Netflix docuseries that examines high-profile events that shook the music industry. And though every installment is worth your time, it’s The Two Killings of Sam Cooke we’d like to highlight. A robust 72-minute film brimming with archival footage and interviews with music legends, Kelly Duane de la Vega’s film dives into the life and murder of the tenacious civil rights activist and soul icon of the ’60s whose voiced was silenced when he was shot to death in 1964.
Tell Me Who I Am
Alex Lewis, an Englishman whose memory was wiped after a motorcycle crash when he was 18, wants to know who he is, where he came from, what his childhood was like. His twin brother, Marcus, holds the key. But in an effort to protect his brother, Marcus keeps the secrets locked away. Until now. In a gripping film that finally gives the two closure, Marcus peels back the layers of memory and delusion, laying bare a very real, very raw truth that will rock you to the core.
Wild Wild Country
More true crime from Evil Genius executive producers Jay and Mark Duplass, Wild Wild Country is a journey into the notorious Rajneeshpuram cult that left India in the ’80s and set up their utopia in a tiny town in Oregon. A wild ride that includes just about every way to break the law, from attempted murder and biological warfare, the series unloads six glorious hours of bonkers U.S. history.
Abducted in Plain Sight
In '70s-era Idaho, members of a naïve, church-going family fall for the devious charm of their neighbor, Robert Berchtold, who seems overly interested in 12-year-old daughter Jan. Berchtold convinces Jan's parents to allow her to spend disturbing amounts of time with him, eventually abducting her not once, but twice. It’s a shocking example of how easily grooming and manipulation can take place.
Amanda Knox
While studying abroad in Italy, Seattle-born Amanda Knox returns home to find her roommate Meredith Kercher sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. A media frenzy ensues. Amanda and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are primary suspects despite questionable investigatory practices on the part of Italian investigators. Amanda’s personal life is laid bare across international headlines, and to this day, she finds herself defending her innocence.
Atlanta Monster
“It's 10pm, do you know where your children are?” It's a catchphrase made famous by TV news anchors in the '60s and a question families in Atlanta would hear every night decades later. Kids were disappearing; their strangled bodies would turn up in the woods. Between 1979 and 1981, more than 28 Black children and teens were killed in the Georgia capital. The police were baffled, and the parents were desperate for answers. This podcast tells their story.
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
Archival footage and audio recordings of interviews with serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy, made while on death row before his execution in 1989. Over 100 hours of interviews were used to create this four-part series, in which the “highly intelligent” Bundy analyzes his own life and motives. The second season will center on the story of John Wayne Gacy, whose persona Patches the Clown enabled him to assault and murder at least 33 young men and boys.
Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist
Just after 2:30pm on August 28, 2003, a man quietly walked into a PNC Bank in Erie, Pennsylvania. He looked to have something large positioned around his neck and demanded $250,000 or the bomb around his neck would explode. The man — later found to be named Brian Wells — was handcuffed, but just three minutes before the bomb squad arrived, the device detonated, killing him instantly. On his corpse were nine pages of handwritten clues to a treasure hunt that led investigators down a rabbit hole.
Exit Scam
Whether you know a bit or absolutely nothing about Bitcoin, Exit Scam is an intriguing look into Gerald Cotten, the CEO and founder of Quadriga, Canada's largest crypto exchange. Gerry is the only one with the passwords for Quadriga's clients, which are stored on an encrypted laptop only he had access to. But in 2018, Gerry died due to complications from Crohn's disease while honeymooning in Jaipur, India, and those passwords went with him to the grave — along with all his client’s funds. This podcast asks: Did Gerry really die, or did he disappear with $215 million?
Heaven’s Gate
When podcaster Glynn Washington heard the news that 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult had died by ingesting poison to reach the “level above human,” it hit close to home. Washington was a member of an apocalyptic organization which he left at age 19. His podcast series interviews family members, loved ones, and former members of Heaven’s Gate through the lens of someone who can personally relate to their experience.
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich
The crimes of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are laid bare in this (quite frankly infuriating) miniseries—how he used his wealth and influence to manipulate and abuse countless young women and girls. The infuriating part is how many survivors had to speak out before any action was taken against him, and why earlier allegations of molestation went largely ignored. Many survivors speak publicly for the first time about their experiences with this modern-day monster.
Making a Murderer
The series that brought true crime into the modern era. After spending nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit, a Wisconsin man is released and exonerated. But two years later, he's accused of the murder of a young woman. When a local teen is drawn into the story, Making a Murder becomes a bleak look into the ways America's criminal justice system works—and the ways it doesn't work at all.
Misha and the Wolves
A woman comes to a book publisher about her extraordinary tale of survival during the Holocaust. A young Jewish girl's parents are deported; she is left wandering the European wilderness and is adopted by a pack of wolves. The memoir is a global success, but as more details emerge, her publisher starts to question its legitimacy and the threads of her story begin to unravel.
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
A Hollywood icon whose death—purportedly by drug overdose—continues to attract conspiracy theories, Marilyn Monroe returns to the spotlight in this new Netflix series, which explores her mysterious demise through previously unheard interviews. Was the 36-year-old, in fact, murdered? No stone is left unturned in this documentary film, which debuted on April 27.
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Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
Getting into a good college in the US is notoriously difficult, but what if you could pay someone could make it easier? In 2019, some well-off parents of college applicants were accused of funneling bribes to college officials and paying to inflate entrance exam test scores. The FBI investigation into this criminal conspiracy was known as Operation Varsity Blues, and this documentary looks into all the details.
Strong Island
In 1992, Yance Ford's brother William, an African-American teacher, is killed by a white teenager. When the killer faces trial for manslaughter, an all-white jury accepts his claim of self-defense and declines to indict him. Director Yance investigates the death of his brother, not so much on a mission to uncover evidence of guilt, but to explore enduring racial bias and examine how grief ties in with historical injustice. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 2018, making Ford the first transgender director to be nominated for any Academy Award.
The Devil Next Door
After the end of the Second World War, a handful of Nazi commanders managed to escape prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials, where they would surely face execution for crimes against humanity. But could there actually be a Nazi living next door? An unassuming grandfather from Cleveland faces extradition to Israel when he’s accused of being the infamous death camp guard Ivan Demjanjuk, also known as Ivan the Terrible.
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Elizabeth Holmes founded and was the CEO of Theranos, a health technology company. In 2015, she was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, touted as “the next Steve Jobs” for her revolutionary blood-testing technology that promised to obtain “vast amounts of data from just a few droplets of blood,” citing her own fear of needles as motivation for the invention. One medical expert thought it seemed too good to be true and tipped off Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Keepers
This riveting seven-part series exposes the lengths to which the Catholic Church will go to conceal sexual abuse within its ranks. Sister Catherine Cesnik of the Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore is someone students often confide in. When she disappears and is later found dead, it calls into question whether members of this religious institution are capable of murder.
The Staircase
The year is 2001. An author enters his home to find his wife dead at the bottom of the family's staircase. She had an accident, he tells 911 dispatch; "she fell down the stairs." But according to investigators, her head injuries and blood spatter are inconsistent with a fall, and the author is charged with her murder.
There are twists, turns, and strange theories involving an owl (yes, an owl) as filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade follows the family during the trial. Years later, de Lestrade would revisit the story after new details emerged that would call the husband's guilt into question.
Watch the documentary first, then follow up with HBO Max's new dramatized version starring Colin Firth.
Tiger King
Released at the beginning of the pandemic, Tiger King offered many of us a distraction from endless Covid headlines with its depiction of the bizarre, confusingly still-legal world of big cat breeding and roadside zoos. Season one follows the eccentric zookeeper Joe Exotic and his long-time feud with Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue. Season three will center on Baskin and Exotic’s rival, private zoo operator Mahamayavi Bhagavan, aka ‘Doc Antle.’
The Tinder Swindler
The most extreme example of catfishing on dating apps you’ll probably ever hear and a real cautionary tale. Shimon Hayut went by Simon Leviev on social media. Claiming he was the son of an Israeli-Russian diamond tycoon, Shimon allegedly scammed multiple women out of a total of $10 million.
House of Secrets
When 11 members of the Chundawat family (known as the Bhatia family to neighbors) are found dead in their home in Burari, a neighborhood in Delhi, India, a nation is shocked and a frenzied investigation ensues. This was a “normal” family. 10 are hanged, their wrists bound, while the grandmother lays strangled. This three-part series explores the theories, including the occult, surrounding this tragedy. Was it murder or ritualistic mass suicide?
The Imposter
A 13-year-old boy went missing from his neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas. At first, this didn’t seem unusual. He had run away from home before, but when he failed to return after a day, his family started to worry. Days turned into months, and the Barclay family begun to think they’d never see their son again. Three years later, the Barclays receive a jarring call. It’s from Spain. In a youth shelter in Linares, their missing child had been found. But when he returns home, his family finds there is something strange about the boy, who now has different colored eyes and hair.
Enemies of the State
This journey into the dark web follows a former intelligence analyst for the military. A member of the hacktivist movement Anonymous, he claims he received classified documents showing that the CIA was involved in the 2001 anthrax attacks—but when he’s arrested, he alleges he's being framed by the government to keep him quiet.
Tales of the Grim Sleeper
Beginning in 1985 with his first confirmed victim, a serial killer terrorized South Central Los Angeles for 25 years. This documentary explores the crimes of Lonnie Franklin Jr., who was an active murderer during 1984 and 2007. He was dubbed the ‘Grim Sleeper’ because of a 14-year supposed break from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002. He’s believed to have slain as many as 25 young Black women and teenage girls, perhaps more, and was convicted of 10 murders in 2016.
Who Killed Garrett Phillips?
12-year-old Garrett Phillips was murdered in his home, in a mostly white neighborhood in upstate New York. Police are quick to suspect Oral ‘Nick’ Hillary, a local Jamaican-American man who is the ex-boyfriend of Garrett’s mother, Tandy Cyrus. Hillary is interrogated, arrested, and goes to trial for the boy’s murder, but is acquitted and tries to move forward with his life. The documentary chronicles the five years following Garrett’s murder, Hillary’s unwavering proclamations of innocence, a community determined to find closure, and how deeply public opinion can be corrupted by racial bias.
Beware the Slenderman
The mythology of a faceless, eerily thin figure born on the internet poses a real-life threat on impressionable young minds. Two 12-year-old girls lure their friend into the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest to brutally murder her, believing the Slender Man would be waiting to welcome them into his mansion in the woods. The victim, Payton ‘Bella’ Leutner, is stabbed 19 times and left to die.
I Love You, Now Die
In a groundbreaking precedent, 18-year-old Michelle Carter is charged and convicted with involuntary manslaughter in the case of her boyfriend Conrad Roy’s suicide. Text messages between the couple show how Michelle encouraged him to end his life after he talked at length about suicide. It raises difficult questions about mental health in the age of technology and social media, and how much responsibility one person can have for another’s actions.
Waco: The Rules of Engagement
David Koresh, born Vernon Wayne Howell, claims to be the messiah. Ascending to the position of leader of the Branch Davidians, a subsect of the Seventh Day Adventists, he pulls hundreds of followers in with his charisma. But accusations of child and sexual abuse, as well as weapon stockpiling, begin to surface from the group's Mount Carmel Center, and an FBI investigation culminates in a violent siege that would last 51 days.
Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland
Sandra Bland, 28, is on her way to start a new job when a Texas state trooper pulls her over for failing to signal a lane change. She’s arrested, and just three days later, found hanged in a jail cell. Her death is ruled a suicide and Bland's mother settles a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department for $1.9 million. The film explores the lead-up to Sandra's death in custody, for which conspiracy theories still circulate, and racial justice in the South.
The Raincoat Killer
In the early 2000s, residents of South Korea were gripped by fear. For 10 months, people were being attacked in their homes with a hammer and beaten to death, claiming at least 20 total victims. In 2004, South Korea’s most prolific serial killer was captured. He was dubbed the ‘Raincoat Killer’ by the media as he wore a yellow raincoat while leading police to the bodies of his victims. “I had no intention of stopping the killing,” he said in his first trial.
The Central Park Five
When a female jogger is found in Central Park sexually assaulted and almost beaten to death, five teenagers of color—Kevin Richardson, 14, Raymond Santana, 14, Antron McCray, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, and Korey Wise, 16—are convicted. There is no evidence linking them to the crime, but prosecutors lean heavily on false confessions attained through hours of interrogation. This 2012 documentary is the first told from the boys’ perspective. It’s a chilling exploration of racial profiling and failures of justice.
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