best biography documentaries on youtube

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The Best YouTube Documentaries You Don’t Need A Subscription To Watch

Vote up the YouTube docs that keep you on the edge of your seat

No Hulu? No Max? Not even Netflix? No problem. Although you might feel overwhelmed or too financially strapped for keeping up with all the paid streaming services, YouTube , which does have a subscription option, also offers tons of free content. Yes, you'll find (and should watch) cat videos and how-to-fix-a-faucet clips, but the platform also offers longer quality content, including full-length documentaries.

Whether you're interested in thought-provoking deep dives into unsolved missing persons cases , or world champion board game players battling against machines, these free-to-watch YouTube documentaries will keep you entertained and educated. 

The Kennedy Assassination: Inside the Book Depository

Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes

The Premise: Ever since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a cloud of controversy has hovered over how it happened, and who was involved. This LEMMiNO documentary explores the mysteries and conspiracy theories surrounding the historic event, tracing the sequence of events that transpired on that dark day in 1963.

The Deep Dive: LEMMiNO provides compelling transcripts from people who were in the Texas School Book Depository - where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired shots from - on the day of the assassination. For decades, speculation has circulated that Oswald did not act alone. Although this documentary explores many different theories, it also offers the possibility of a “benign conspiracy," adding another perspective on one of history's most complex cases.

Watch the documentary here.

The Search for D.B. Cooper

Runtime: 29 minutes

The Premise:  In 1971, a man known only by his alias, D.B. Cooper, parachuted out of a hijacked plane with $200,000 in ransom money. Although the money and his belongings were recovered, Cooper was never found or identified. 

The Deep Dive: This LEMMiNO YouTube channel documentary offers an in-depth breakdown of the mysterious hijacking case that remains unsolved today. The animated visuals and slick production quality has all the trappings of a Netflix documentary (maybe even better), and the storytelling is nothing short of captivating. Divided into five parts, the investigative documentary features a final chapter that explores various suspects, inviting the viewer to decide which suspect - if any - is the elusive D.B. Cooper.

The Atomic Café

Runtime: 1 hour, 26 minutes

The Premise: Added to the National Film Registry in 2016, a full-length restoration of this 1982 cult classic documentary is now available on YouTube. With dark humor, it deconstructs a dark chapter in history.

The Deep-Dive: Weaving together Cold War archival footage consisting of newsreels, commercials, government propaganda, and military training videos, The Atomic Café depicts the startling misinformation being fed to the public regarding the dangers of nuclear war. There are even clips from instructional videos telling people to “duck and cover” in the event of a nuclear explosion. This blast from the problematic past pairs well with a viewing of Oppenheimer.

Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History

Runtime: 1 hour, 43 minutes

The Premise:  This in-depth history of Disney park ticketing systems, from ticket books to the FastPass, meticulously explores attempts to cut down on wait times at the famous theme parks. 

The Deep Dive:  Raise your hand if you’ve ever had an existential crisis waiting in a Disney park line. With this documentary clocking in at just over 100 minutes, you could likely watch it waiting in line for Space Mountain and still not make it to the front. Better yet, skip the ride, and have fun watching this instead. This surprisingly gripping feature-length documentary delves into the mechanics of Disney’s defunct ticketing systems, how they worked (or didn’t work), and the modern time-saving solutions implemented after the fall of the FastPass.

Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes

The Premise: The world champion of a complex Chinese board game plays against an AI-generated opponent. Man and machine are put to the test in this documentary that is more than just fun and games. 

The Deep Dive: Believed to have been created 2,500 to 4,000 years ago , the chess-like board game Go is as competitive as it is challenging. This award-winning 2016 documentary digs into the history of the popular game, highlighting its intricacies and the brilliant minds who have mastered it. Because the game relies heavily on human intuition, the ability for a machine to master it is considered a technological achievement. Chronicling the lead-up to a definitive face-off between South Korean Go champion Lee Se-dol and his computerized opponent, AlphaGo, the burning question is: Does artificial intelligence threaten to replace every uniquely human quality?

In Search of a Flat Earth

Runtime: 1 hour, 16 minutes

The Premise: This documentary explores the archaic conspiracy theory that the Earth is flat rather than spherical. 

The Deep Dive: Flat out: this documentary by the Folding Ideas channel isn't flat-Earther friendly. Creator Dan Olson takes viewers on a journey to Lake Minnewanka in Alberta, Canada - revered as a specific spot that supports the flat-Earth theory - to debunk the theory himself. It's a fascinating experiment that illustrates not only the curvature of the Earth, but also the details of an infamously divisive topic. 

RUIN: Money, Ego and Deception at FTX

Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes

The Premise: This feature-length documentary narrated by Bloomberg journalists follows the rise and fall of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency exchange. 

The Deep Dive: The title of the documentary might sound like a tabloid headline, but unfortunately, it's absolutely true, because FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, initially heralded as a crypto-genius, created massive crypto-ruin. Released the week before Bankman-Fried took the stand at his fraud trial, the documentary offers a walk-through of the events that turned his financial legacy into a cautionary tale. Whether or not you actually comprehend how cryptocurrency functions (or doesn't function), you'll be astonished by the greed and arrogance that brought down this man and his company. 

The Man Who Tried to Fake an Element

Runtime: 1 hour, 19 minutes

The Premise: This documentary tells the story of an Italian physicist and his mission to create a new element on the periodic table. 

The Deep Dive: This science-heavy, intriguing documentary delves into the history of the Cold War race to discover a new periodic element. YouTube's BobbyBroccoli gives viewers an informative, research-based look at physicist Victor Ninov's quest to form the superheavy element 118, and how he - almost successfully - faked the whole thing.

The Dark Side of the Silk Road

Runtime: 1 hour, 14 minutes

The Premise: Contrary to the title, this isn't a documentary about the ancient Chinese trade route. It's about something much darker: the online black market.

The Deep Dive: This investigative documentary tells the story of Ross William Ulbricht, the founder of a digital black market site called Silk Road that used Bitcoin for money laundering and illegal drug transactions. YouTube creator Barely Sociable dives deep into the sordid tale, showing all the receipts, and asking viewers to “hold all opinions” and what they've previously read about the unraveling of the Silk Road until the end of the video.

Inside the Wellness Festival for Millionaires

Runtime: 22 minutes

The Premise: This bite-sized Vice documentary captures A-Fest, an invite-only four-day festival for millionaires and aspiring millionaires with a desire to change the world while transforming their own lives. It's described in the film as “somewhere between Burning Man and a TED Talk.”

The Deep Dive: The documentary shows clips of an optimistic crowd of self-proclaimed visionaries pepping each other up in a five-star hotel conference room and learning self-improvement techniques like how to breathe orgasmically. A co-host announces at the opening event: “This is not a normal conference. This is a serendipity accelerator, pressure cooker, social-connecting portal of transformation.” Founded by online personal growth entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani, the festival costs a pretty penny ($3,000 a ticket). Luckily, it's free to watch the documentary.

The Pemberton Incident - An Unsolved Mystery

Runtime: 48 minutes

The Premise: Deep in the Canadian back country, hikers find a burned car along with personal items that belong to a missing person named Marshal Iwaasa. The discovery links his disappearance to the case of another missing person, Daniel Reoch, yet neither of them are any closer to being found. 

The Deep-Dive: Intriguing from start to finish, this investigative documentary explores two disappearances in harrowing detail. Riddled with suspicious evidence, inconsistent narratives, and incompetent authorities, the story is as compelling as it is frustrating. Perhaps if the police put as much time into solving the case as Barely Sociable put into making this documentary, the case would be solved.

Arctic Sinkholes

Runtime: 53 minutes 

The Premise: This NOVA documentary, which originally aired on PBS, explores a mysterious phenomenon: methane sinkholes in the Arctic. 

The Deep Dive: Scientists in Alaska and Siberia study the source of these sinkholes, finding that they are a result of thawing permafrost and greenhouse gasses causing explosions. While certainly not light-hearted, it's an environmentally enlightening account of the rapid effects of climate change. 

Deep Blue | Down the Rabbit Hole

Runtime: 2 hours, 8 minutes

The Premise: Chronicling the history of early chess computer programs, this feature-length documentary centers on the creation of Deep Blue, an IBM software program designed to beat the world chess champion. 

The Deep-Dive: The quest to design a “chess machine” dates back decades. In 1997, when IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer played a six-match game against world chess champion Garry Kasparov, it was a monumental advancement in computer science. This in-depth documentary offers a captivating narrative on the rivalry between human and machine.

The Quest to Beat abney317

Runtime: 55 minutes

The Premise: A secret shortcut in the popular video game Mario Kart 64 is revealed, blowing the mind of a seasoned gamer. 

The Deep-Dive: Even if you know nothing about video games, this documentary is a fun, wild ride: the surprisingly intriguing story of Mario Kart 64 world record breaker abney317. When a mysterious gamer with the username forest64 tells abney317 about a shortcut in the popular Royal Roadway racetrack, it proves to be a literal game changer. Take a scroll through the YouTube comments to see how abney317's world record is holding up.

Disastrous Indifference: The Loss of SS El Faro

Runtime: 1 hour, 13 minutes

The Premise: This documentary tells the tragic tale of the SS El Faro, a ship that sailed directly into a Category 4 storm near the Bahamas in 2015. Perhaps even more tragic - and infuriating - is that the incident could have been avoided. 

The Deep Dive: This high-quality documentary delves not only into the mechanics of the ship, but also the human complacency that steered it to its doom. The detailed breakdowns and thoughtful animations make it easy to follow, even if you're afraid to see the perilous ending. It may have you yelling at the ship's captain on your screen, but it's certainly worth a watch.

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The Best Biographical Documentaries Ever Made — IndieWire Critics Survey

David ehrlich.

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Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post).

This past weekend saw the release of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” the latest in a recent string of impressively strong and commercially successful biographical documentaries (other recent standouts include “RBG” and “Won’t You Be my Neighbor?”). 

This week’s question: What is the best biographical documentary ever made?

Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice, /Film

The best and arguably most important documentaries ever made are complimentary pieces by Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Act of Killing” (2013) and “The Look of Silence (2015). They’re set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 1965-66 genocide, believed to be sponsored by the C.I.A., but they’re each rooted in the lives of singular subjects and their diametrically opposed journeys.

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The cleansing, of an estimated three million ethnic Chinese, changed the face of the nation in terrifying ways, created a longstanding socio-political status quo that deifies its perpetrators while continuing to villainize its victims to this day. The first film, “The Act of Killing,” follows mass murderer Anwar Congo over the course of seven years, exploring the personal cognitive dissonance that permeates the culture around him. Congo, an avowed American film fan, re-enacts each of his many killings in stylized manner akin to the genre films he grew up on. Though as he reflects on his actions through a lens of cinema, his bizarre cinematic journey results in the peeling back of the layers of his humanity until he’s forced, as if by something within, to face up to what he’s done.

Its sequel, “The Look of Silence,” tells the story of traveling optometrist Adi Rukun, Oppenheimer’s guide during the production of the first film. Adi sits across from the various people responsible for the murder of his brother in ’65-’66, from local prison guards to people at the highest levels of government in an attempt to find closure. All it would take is those responsible for the massacre owning up to their deeds fifty years after the fact, but the collective dissonance and cultural justifications for the genocide prevent Adi, his blind father (who keeps re-living the horrors of the past) and his culture at large from healing.

Both films feel like impossible feats of filmmaking; watching them feels like being dangerously privy to the darkest parts of the human soul. They are, however, explorations of character, time and place that feel necessary for any person or culture trying to reckon with their past.

Christopher Campbell (@thefilmcynic), Nonfics, Film School Rejects, Thrillist

The best biographical documentaries that mostly look back on a life tend to be based on books. The top three are: “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” about Hollywood mogul Robert Evans; “Life Itself,” about film critic Roger Ebert, and “Man on Wire,” about high-wire legend Philippe Petit. Each of those also benefit from their subjects being alive at the time of filming (or most of the filming) to add an extra level or chapter to the story — even Evans manages to give his story a little extra simply by narrating his own life. I also highly recommend “The Internet’s Own Boy,” which is impressive for how quickly it was made following subject Aaron Swartz’s death.

But the greatest biographical documentaries for me are the two films about Aileen Wuornos made by Nick Broomfield. The first one, “Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer,” is more about her life leading up to the making of the film, told through interviews as well as her murder trial. The second doc, “Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer,” revisits Wuornos as she’s about to be executed. Both documentaries also, as most of Broomfield’s do, contain an autobiographical element on the part of the filmmaker. And between the two of them, we see Broomfield as a more complex character than ever before, particularly as he’s dealing with the fate of Wuornos and the documentarian/subject relationship. It’s a fascinating twofer in that way, and emotionally difficult to come to terms with as a viewer.

Max Weiss (@maxthegirl), Baltimore Magazine

Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle), Freelance for FreshFiction, SassyMamaInLA

Carl Broughton II(@Carlislegendary), Editor-in-chief for thefilmera.com

The documentary will always be relevant not because it is about a music artist with immense talent dying young, but because of the underlying problems that led to her death. The toxic relationship with her boyfriend, the drugs, and the mental problems she suffered due to the prior mentioned subjects are things we are still tackling as a society. Amy Winehouse will always be a prime example of what happens when we make a spectacle and joke of serious problems. “Amy” is a little longer than 2 hours, but by the time it is over you not only feel you got her full story, but come out appreciating what she did for the music world. Overall Amy is the perfect documentary to showcase that people accept the love they think they deserve.

Deborah Krieger (@debonthearts) BUST Magazine, Paste Magazine

Pedro Strazza (@pedrosazevedo), B9

What it stands from the documentary for me, though, is the way it reveals the truth (or at least the version that it is trying to build) about the real Cássia, fighting some generalizations and prejudices that were made about the singer even on the wake of her death. Killed by a sudden heart attack that latter was attributed to an excess of work load (she did one hundred shows in seven months, according to her manager), Eller’s decease at the time was falsely linked to drugs by some news magazines, which contributed to a legal dispute about the fate of her son, Francisco – it was the musician’s wish that his caring would be assumed by her partner, Maria Eugênia, if anything happened, but the parents of the biological father tried to intervene. This way, it’s fascinating to me how “Cássia” in the end poses itself as some sort of justice corrector of mistakes made in the past, a feeling that in my judgment is present on the best productions of the genre.

Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks), Film School Rejects, Birth.Movies.Death., Chicago Reader

Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui), /Film

For the 40 years that they had been married, artist Noriko Shinohara lived in the shadow of her husband Ushio Shinohara, a gifted artist whose use of boxing gloves in his art had him declared one of the most promising artists of the ’70s New York art scene. But as the elderly couple struggles to make their rent while Ushio bemoans his feverish glory days, Noriko begins to tire of always supporting the genius. She starts telling her story through her alter ego “Cutie,” a talented and abused young artist whose life plays out in surreal illustrations which are sprinkled throughout Zachary Heinzerling’s documentary. “Cutie and the Boxer” is a touching and slightly tragic portrait of a pair of artists whose love has been defined and hindered by art. It’s a beautiful little example of how behind every “brilliant artist,” there’s a just as brilliant woman.

Kristen Lopez (@Journeys_Film), Culturess, The Young Folks

Director Kurt Kuenne started out making a documentary about his best friend, Andrew Bagby and his murder. What Kuenne ended up doing was memorializing his best friend and Bagby’s young son who never knew his father. There’s a lot of sadness that runs throughout the film that, at times, makes you hurt. You hurt at what could have been, at what will never be known. In the end, all that’s left is what remains on-screen, family and friends telling the audience (and Zachary himself) about the man Andrew Bagby was. It’s a story that will make you cry because the guy sounded so average, he could have been anyone and it’s a shame that the circle of death that swirled around him is what made him famous. But, at the same time, if these tragic events had never happened, audiences would never know his name. It’s a movie that leaves you with questions not just about the nature of life and death, parentage and paternity, but how film narrative creates immortality.

Sean Mulvihill (@NotSPMulvihill), FanboyNation.com

Completely removed from any hopes of working within the modern studio system and knowing that his legacy is secure thanks to a critical reevaluation, the Brian De Palma shown in “De Palma” is a filmmaker with plenty of entertaining stories and no need to play nice. The result is a film that takes into the creative process of a great filmmaker, rife with amusing anecdotes about his famous collaborators and moments of earnest reflection about his critical and commercial flops.

Of course, almost all biographical documentaries have an element of hagiography to them. These are the type of movies that would exist without having some kind of myth to build upon, and “De Palma” only bucks this trend because Paltrow and Baumbach allow Brian De Palma to build his own myth in his own words without inserting their own commentary on their subject’s claims. When compared to the similar and saccharine portrait of a filmmaking legend, “Spielberg,” “De Palma” stands out so much because it takes on the unvarnished attitude of its subject, becoming a perfect reflection and distillation of his body of work. It’s that style that pulls De Palma devotees, like myself, further and further into the film. He’s talented. He’s prickly. He’s egotistical. He’s one of cinema’s greatest. Holy mackerel!

Ethan Warren (@ethanrawarren), Bright Wall/Dark Room

Emily Sears (@emily_dawn), Birth.Movies.Death., Fandor

Joel Mayward (@joelmayward), Cinemayward.com, Freelance

The film’s title reminds us that we often leave an art gallery or museum through their gift shop with an expectation to buy a trinket to remind us of our experience. The art is not simply there to be enjoyed and appreciated; it is now a commodity to be purchased and consumed. Whether we like it or not, our consumer culture defines value monetarily. This is nothing new; for hundreds of years and across divergent cultures, artists have needed wealthy patrons to fund projects. What is new is how technology, social media, marketing, and the American economic system have all intensified this process. Bizarre, subversive, and often hilarious, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” questions and critiques celebrity culture, capitalism, and Western culture itself in the best way: by making interesting art and inviting us to consider it.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@chrisreedfilm), Hammer to Nail/Film Festival Today

In that spirit, I’d like to go back over 20 years and cast my ultimate vote for Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury’s 1996 “Halving the Bones,” which similarly challenges the conventions of documentary filmmaking. In the movie, Lounsbury traces her family history on the maternal side, following the titular bones (those of her grandmother) on their journey from Japan to America, a trip that allows her to revisit the immigrant saga of her mother, as well as her own life as a biracial woman. Mixing real archival footage with reenactments – all blended together in one exciting whole – Lounsbury creates an evocative and poignant tribute to her foremothers, and to her own indomitable will as cineaste and historian.

Daniel Joyaux (@thirdmanmovies), Freelance for Vanity Fair, The Verge, MovieMaker Magazine, and The Independent

“Jane” gets all of this in a way that overwhelms me. The restored and color-corrected footage (shot by Hugo Van Lawick in the ’60s and ’70s) is simply gorgeous, and the Philip Glass score that emotes it is powerful. There’s a final, climactic montage where the score reaches operatic heights, and those flickering images moved me to watery eyes both times I saw the film. One of my critic friends didn’t like “Jane” because he said it devolved into hagiography and never mentioned the valid criticisms of her work. Maybe he’s right, I don’t know. I’ll embarrassingly admit I knew very little about Goodall before seeing the film. But I also think the relative success or failure of “Jane” as a perfect portrayal of its subject misses the point. Regardless of how well it embodies great journalism, it absolutely embodies great cinema.

Luiz Gustavo (@luizgvt), Cronico de Cinema

But he knows that that’s the path to make João Bérnard in nothing but an echo, a shadow of itself, in the film. To know someone like him is, actually, to know what touched him deeply. That’s why, as we learn about his life and work, we’re also walking through the movies that he loved the most: Lubitsch’s “The Shop Around the Corner”, Mankiewicz’s “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” and, of course, Ray’s “Johnny Guitar”. It is very hard not to fall in love with these movies, like the title foreshadows. The final line, a frase used by João Bénard da Cost when writing about Kiarostami’s “Taste of Cherry”, encapsulates the whole spirit of this very delicate film: “Fundamental é a vida. A vida continua sempre. É de vida que fala este filme de morte” (“Life is fundamental. Life goes on forever. It is about life that this movie of death speaks of”). After watching this documentary, those words will haunt you forever.

Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), Freelance

Miyazaki’s grumpy, humorous, and at times bleak observations about the world are interspersed with archival footage from his early days in animation. “Kingdom” is as much a documentary about the studio itself, as it is about the man at the center of it and those who, through their complementing talents, have been part of his remarkable creative life. With Takhata’s recent passing, the final minutes of the film now serve as a heartwarming eulogy to his friendship with Miyazaki and his own breathtaking oeuvre.

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The best documentaries on YouTube: 15 free titles to watch in 2024

Published on April 19, 2024

The global video-sharing service YouTube doesn’t often come up in discussions of the best streaming services or Netflix alternatives . It’s plenty popular, but it’s probably not where you go for the hottest new streaming shows and movies every week. There are plenty of awesome documentaries on YouTube you can stream for free. We’ve rounded up the best ones from different genres including crime, business, and technology, some of which have amassed millions of views.

Unlike the best free movies on YouTube , these YouTube documentaries aren’t geo-restricted, meaning they are available globally.

The best documentaries on YouTube

• Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware
• This is the Zodiac Speaking
• The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
• Pumping Iron
• Robin’s Wish
• Beyond the Spotlight
• The White Helmets
• With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story
• Holy Land: Startup Nations
• Life In A Day
• The September Issue
• Super Size Me
• Citizenfour

Editor’s note: We’ll be updating this list of the best documentaries on YouTube regularly as new ones hit the service.

Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (2016)

What you need to know:

• Rating: Unrated
• Runtime: 68 minutes
• Director: Jim Demuth
• Main cast: Various
• Genre: Documentary, Technology, Science
• IMDB rating: NA

This documentary takes you inside the bustling city of Shenzhen, China, which has been dubbed The Silicon Valley of Hardware. Shenzhen is home to various companies manufacturing all sorts of consumer electronics including smartphones , tablets , and TVs, to name a few. It’s also a city where tons of copycat versions of the latest and greatest smartphones are made and sold. For a tech enthusiast, this YouTube documentary is a must-watch.

Ready to watch? You can find the movie right here on YouTube .

This is the Zodiac Speaking (2007)

• Rating: 19+
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Director: David Prior
• Main cast: George Bawart, Pierre Bidou, Russell T. Butterbach
• Genre: Documentary, Crime
• IMDB rating: 7

Back in the 1960s, a serial killer was on the prowl in California. Called the Zodiac killer, this vicious individual managed to outsmart law enforcement and never got caught. The killer even sent a series of letters to the press that included cryptograms believed to contain his identity. This is the Zodiac Speaking revolves around the murders of the serial killer and the person who may be behind them.

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)

• Runtime: 105 minutes
• Director: Brian Knappenberger
• Main cast: Aaron Swartz, Tim Berners-Lee, Cory Doctorow, Peter Eckersley, Lawrence Lessig, Brewster Kahle
• Genre: Documentary, Biography, Crime
• IMDB rating: 8

If you’re into technology, you probably know or have at least heard of Aaron Swartz. He was a programming prodigy who helped develop the RSS web feed and was one of the co-founders of Reddit. He was also an internet activist who got into trouble with the law, which did not end well for him. This YouTube documentary follows the life of Aaron Swartz, showing you all his accomplishments along with his legal troubles.

Pumping Iron (1977)

• Runtime: 86 minutes
• Director: George Butler
• Main cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Mike Katz, Franco Columbu, Serge Nubret, Ed Corney, Ken Waller
• Genre: Documentary, Sport
• IMDB rating: 7.3

This 1977 docudrama offers a look at the wild world of competitive bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and 1975 Mr. Olympia competitions. While covering a lot of ground, the film does zero in on the competition between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno for the title of Mr. Olympia. The documentary is a fascinating time capsule, especially for fans of the two men — Schwarzenegger would go on to star in The Terminator and become an action movie icon and governor of California, while Ferrigno became the first live-action Incredible Hulk.

Robin’s Wish (2020)

• Runtime: 76 minutes
• Director: Tylor Norwood
• Main cast: Robin Williams, Susan Schneider Williams, Shawn Levy, John R. Montgomery, David E. Kelley, Rick Overton
• Genre: Documentary, Biography

Authorized by Robin Williams’s widow, Robin’s Wish looks at the late actor’s career and final days. While the documentary explores Williams’s life and career, it puts a special focus on the beloved actor’s final days, his struggles with diffuse Lewy body disease, and his eventual death by suicide, offering a loving portrait as well as shedding light on the disease.

Beyond the Spotlight (2020)

• Creator: Leonardo DiCaprio
• Main cast: Shaquille O’Neal, Kristen Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, LeVar Burton, Jimmy Donaldson, Joe Namath
• Genre: Documentary
• IMDB rating: 7.2

Want to be a YouTuber? Follow the journey of Mr. Beast to know what makes for an exceptional career in the limelight. Although he is perceived in a certain way, perhaps as a frat boy with a lot of money, the truth is far from it, as you’ll find from the interviews with his friends and family.

13th (2016)

• Rating: 17+
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Director: Ava DuVernay
• Main cast: Jelani Cobb, Angela Davis, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Marie Gottschalk, Michael Hough
• Genre: Documentary, Crime, History
• IMDB rating: 8.2

Selma director Ava DuVernay takes a look at the current US prison system in this Academy Award-nominated documentary. The movie’s premise is that even after the passage of the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which ostensibly outlawed slavery, Black men and women are still being criminalized and incarcerated in large numbers to keep them oppressed and enslaved.

The White Helmets (2016)

• Runtime: 40
• Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
• Main cast: Khalid Farah, Mohammed Farah, Abu Omar, Raed Saleh
• Genre:  Documentary, Short, War
• IMDB rating: 7.5

Von Einsiedel was inspired to make this film after he watched a low-quality, grainy video of a baby being rescued from under a pile of rubble. The documentary is based on volunteer workers in Syria, the ones who brave the dangers of war to help people. It follows three such workers as they work and train in Syria.

Our Planet (2019)

• Main cast: David Attenborough
• Genre:  Documentary
• IMDB rating: 9.3

Narrated by the charming David Attenborough, Our Planet is a nature documentary that highlights the magic Earth offers, and then combines it with the bitterness of the fact that we are slowly but surely — ruining it.

Ready to watch? You can find the show right here on YouTube .

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2010)

• Runtime: 80
• Director: Terry Dougas
• Main cast: Stan Lee, Joan Lee, Sean Astin, Kenneth Branagh, Nicolas Cage, Michael Chiklis, Thomas Haden Church
• Genre:  Documentary, Biography
• IMDB rating: 7.1

Marvel fans wouldn’t want to give this one a miss, especially if every Stan Lee cameo has you feeling just a little bit excited. Stan Lee has created an unbelievably versatile world during a single lifetime, one that is way more complex than anything Harry Potter or its equivalents offer. You cannot walk into a Comic Con without being amassed with Spier Man, Iron Man, or Hulk. Want to know how he did it? Watch this documentary.

 Holy Land: Startup Nations (2017)

• Runtime: 89 minutes
• Genre: Documentary, Business

Israel is known as The Startup Nation, as it has the most tech startups and venture capital per capita in the world. This documentary takes you behind the scenes, showing you how technology and innovation are becoming the country’s dominant industries. It’s produced by Wired and shot in various cities throughout the country including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It’s a must-watch for those who love technology.

Life In A Day (2011)

• Rating: 11+
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Main cast: Cindy Baer, Moica, Caryn Waechter, Drake Shannon
• Genre: Documentary, Drama
• IMDB rating: 7.6

Another one of the best documentaries on YouTube is called Life In A Day, which is very unique. It’s aimed at future generations who can check out what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010. The documentary was created entirely from footage uploaded by YouTube users and shows various people living their day-to-day lives along with the challenges that come with it.

The September Issue (2009)

• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Director: R.J. Cutler
• Main cast: Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, André Leon Talley, Hamish Bowles, Tonne Goodman, Sienna Miller, Thakoon Panichgul

The Vogue September issue is legendary, as is the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. In The September Issue, director R.J. Cutler gives us a peek behind the scenes, as Wintour works (and often butts heads) with model-turned-creative-director Grace Coddington. The two strong personalities clash but ultimately collaborate on the 2007 issue in this compulsively watchable exposé.

Super Size Me (2004)

• Director: Morgan Spurlock
• Main cast: Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs, Lisa Ganjhu, Stephen Siegel, Bridget Bennett, Eric Rowley, Mark Fenton

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock spent 30 days eating only food from fast food giant McDonald’s. As an added challenge, he never refused the option to “Super Size” his meal when offered. The results, which he filmed were catastrophic, as his health rapidly declined. While many of Spurlock’s findings have been debunked, this blockbuster documentary film was such a hit with audiences that it drove McDonald’s to abandon its Super Size offerings.

Citizenfour (2014)

• Runtime: 114
• Director: Laura Poitras
• Main cast: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, William Binney, Barack Obama, Jacob Appelbaum, Julian Assange

Watch Laura Poitras and Glen Greenwald interview Edward Snowden over many sessions about why he did what did. Edward Snowden was the ultimate whistleblower — a complicated one at that because his reasons for espionage were wide and varied.

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20 incredible documentaries on YouTube that will blow your mind

Fall down the youtube rabbit hole..

Eddie Strait

Posted on Aug 26, 2013   Updated on Oct 1, 2021, 10:21 am CDT

Fall down the rabbit hole of YouTube documentaries and you’ll find a goldmine of fascinating, heartwarming, and good documentaries available in their entirety for free. Clicking on one can lead to hours of binge-viewing, stumbling from one true story to the next, the subjects ranging from unsettling conspiracy theories to supernatural possibilities that will blow your mind. Some are scary, some are sweet. Either way, they’re epic time-wasters available for free online. Get the popcorn and check out these great flicks. Here are the best documentaries on YouTube.

The best YouTube documentaries

1)  the internet’s own boy.

Aaron Schwartz lived a lifetime online. As an internet pioneer, activist, writer, and computer programmer (among various other hats he wore), Schwartz had a meteoric rise and fall, one that involves the creation of Reddit, RSS, and Creative Commons. The Internet’s Own Boy documents his life, primarily using interviews with Schwartz’s family, friends, and peers, as well as footage of Schwartz himself. Schwartz was a prodigy—he took his own life at age 26, after being indicted for alleged computer crimes—and his story is as compelling as you’ll see in any documentary. — Eddie Strait

2)  The Family That Walks on All Fours

This documentary by an English psychologist named Nicholas Humphrey follows a Turkish family where most of the members walk on all fours. The debate sparks a conversation about the possibility of human devolution. — Gaby Dunn

3)  3D Printed Guns

This  Vice  documentary follows Cody Wilson, the man at the center of the 3D-printed gun revolution. With the advent and popularization of 3D printers, gun control may be moot. Wilson, then a college student, shows how he can “print” illegal firearms right in his home. The government has no way of stopping or regulating this practice. In the wake of the Newtown and other school shootings, this documentary is particularly poignant and scary. — G.D.

4)  Child of Rage

This chilling 1989 documentary follows Beth Thomas, a young girl who, as a result of sexual abuse when she was 1 year old, wants to kill her brother and adoptive parents. She’s interviewed by researchers who ask her about snapping baby birds’ necks, stealing knives from her mother, and excessively masturbating until her vagina bled. Today, Thomas is a nurse and an advocate for abused children. She’s gone through a lot of therapy and purports to be healed. But in this documentary, she coldly describes wanting to murder her family by stabbing them at night. It’s very unnerving. — G.D.

5)  The Scariest Drug in the World

Vice  reporter Ryan Duffy travels to Colombia to find the world’s scariest drug, scopolamine. The drug keeps the person lucid but makes them amenable to doing whatever you say. It’s been used to convince people to rob themselves and hand the money to strangers, as a rape drug, and as a way to humiliate people. It’s essentially “chemical hypnosis,” where you lose total control of your actions, despite being completely awake. The stories from people who’ve been drugged with scopolamine are harrowing. — G.D.

6)  Too Ugly For Love

This is a multipart documentary about average people who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder. The pain these people feel over their looks may seem surreal given a lot of them are normal to attractive. But they really do not see in the mirror the reality of their appearance. You’ll never think of your own “fat days” the same way again. — G.D.

7) Real Sports: Tyson Fury

Some people are compelling because they’re interesting, and some people are compelling because they’re repellent. Heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury is absolutely in the latter category. He grew up an outcast because of his gypsy heritage—this part of his story is informative. But he’s a man with antiquated views regarding sexuality and gender roles, and neither Real Sports or Fury are shy about showing the uglier aspects of his upbringing. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating and intimate look into Fury’s life.

8)  The Extraordinary Genius of Albert Einstein

This History Channel documentary provides an informative look at Albert Einstein. It’s like watching a book report on a genius with other geniuses, such as Twitter’s master of “Actually…” Neil Degrasse Tyson, offering annotations. It’s a bit stuffy at points, but otherwise moves along at the pace you expect of more TV documentaries. With this much intelligence on display, you are guaranteed to leave Extraordinary Genius relatively wiser than you went in. — E.S.

9)  This Is the Zodiac Speaking

The story of the Zodiac serial killer is riveting but terrifying—especially since he was never officially caught after terrorizing San Francisco for years. Not only did the Zodiac kill, he taunted the police openly for years and they still weren’t able to apprehend him. — G.D.

10)  Just Melvin, Just Evil

This YouTube documentary follows years of sexual and physical abuse across multiple families by their shared step-father, Melvin. It’s made by one of the families’ sons, who confronts Melvin about what he did. Melvin denies he hurt any of his step-children, but they all have memories of being abused by him for over a decade. Some accuse him of marrying their mother only because she already had young daughters for him to prey on. It’s one of the most manipulative and expansive stories of child abuse ever told on film, and you’ll be outraged by what happens in the end. — G.D.

11)  Inside North Korea

This three-part  Vice  documentary on YouTube takes founder Shane Smith on a trip to North Korea that unveils some of the most confounding facts about the company and its relationship to foreign travelers. There have been several follow-ups on the situation in North Korea by  Vice  and other outlets since, but this take on the restrictions, pageantry, and strife in the hermit country is a must-watch. — Rae Votta

12)  The Men Who Killed Kennedy

For a crash-course on how to get censured by the British Parliament and draw the ire of  two  former presidents, look no further than  The Men Who Killed Kennedy .  Multiple conspiracy theories surround the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (“theories” being the operative word), and this nine-part British documentary series covers many of them, in a way that some criticized as blurring the line between facts and speculation.

The most troubling theory—that President Lyndon B. Johnson was behind Kennedy’s assassination—surfaces in the ninth episode. After  “The Guilty Men”  aired in 2003 on the History Channel, the network and its parent companies got in a whole heap of trouble with Johnson’s former aides, including  former Johnson press secretary Bill Moyer , along with former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. In a  letter  to network executives, President Ford called the charges made in the documentary, “’the most damaging accusations ever made against a former vice president and president in American history.”

The controversy behind  The Men Who Killed Kennedy  didn’t begin stateside; the series’ questionable research ethics resulted in documentarian Nigel Turner  getting censured  by the British Parliament after the initial two-part series aired in 1988. Watch  The Men Who Killed Kennedy  with the discerning eye it deserves, and you’ll give your critical thinking skills a real workout. — Amrita Khalid

13) Real Sports: John Urschel

This Real Sports profile of football player and bona fide math genius has taken on new weight in light of events that happened after the profile aired. The feature highlights Urschel’s playful personality and the counterintuitive nature of a man whose passion for sports puts his passion for mathematics in jeopardy on every play. Urschel ended up retiring prior to the start of the 2017 NFL season in large part due to the latest findings regarding football, CTE, concussions, and other brain trauma.

14) The Trial: A Murder in the Family

This BBC documentary on YouTube starts off in typical fashion, introducing us to the crime: a husband stands accused of murdering his wife. The doc tracks the husband’s trial, but there’s a wrinkle: the defendant, victim, and even some of the police involved are actually actors, but the jury is comprised of real people. It’s a fascinating premise. Part documentary, part drama, and part social experiment, A Murder in the Family is must-see.

15) A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity

If you’ve ever considered freeing yourself from the rigors of modern living or making changes to help the environment, watch A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity . It’s about an Australian community out to lighten Mother Earth’s load by living… simpler. Tiny houses, gardens—it’s all covered. Watching a group of people work together makes A Simpler Way more interesting because there’s more discussion about what’s going on, compared to watching a single person working toward a goal. That discussion and the interviews with various experts help form a compelling case.

16) Fentanyl: The Drug Deadlier Than Heroin

The rise of opioids in America is getting more and more attention, especially as it pertains to potential changes to the healthcare system. Fentanyl is an extremely potent opiate, one that can cause an overdose simply by touching your skin (according to a recent episode of the New York Times podcast The Daily ). The drug gets the deep dive treatment from Vice, and the results are about as harrowing as you can imagine. Hard as it is to watch, it’s an important topic and more people should know about it.

17)  Craig Sager: Real Sports 

This HBO documentary on YouTube goes inside the closet of Craig Sager, the longtime NBA sideline reporter whose colorful suits never ceased to raise eyebrows, and gives you an up-close look at his life as he battled cancer. The segment only runs 12 minutes, but it’s powerful all the same. And you might want to bring some tissues.

18) Charlottesville: Race and Terror

Vice News had a front row seat at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that culminated in an act of domestic terrorism that left one person dead. The 22-minute doc takes viewers behind the scenes to detail some of the planning that went into the rally. Then it takes you to the front lines where the tension and danger is palpable. The doc immediately went viral and Vice and HBO made it available for all online, making it one of the most essential YouTube documentaries available. In trying times, Race and Terror is important for how it exposes the toxic mindset that spurs division and propagates dangerous rhetoric.

19)  Psychopaths (No Longer Available on YouTube)

This documentary looks at psychopathy and the quest, led by American and British researchers, to understand what makes a psychopath. Psychopaths offers a crash course on the stigma and fascination with psychopaths, so some of the information will be familiar to anyone who has already looked into the subject. Still, the science offers a new angle that is undeniably compelling and could lead to new information and understanding of something most of us are only familiar with through movies and books. — Eddie Strait

20)  Steroids in Sports

Steroids in Sports takes a clinical look at the use of steroids (in sports, of course). It explains what the substances are and how they affect the body. The doc also shows why they’re effective in sports. It features interviews with people on various sides of the matter. Between the players and doctors, a comprehensive picture is presented. There’s more nuance to the conversation than you would think, as the issue is much more complex than some players wanting to cheat. Despite whatever you think you know about steroids, the documentary will teach you some new things. All in under an hour , no less.

Still not sure what to watch tonight? Here’s our guide to the best free movies on YouTube and classic YouTube movies to rent . 

Editor’s note: This article is regularly updated for relevance.

Gaby Dunn is an actress, comedian, and blogger who covered YouTube for the Daily Dot. Since 2016, she’s hosted the podcast ‘Bad with Money,’ and operates a successful YouTube channel. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Vice, and Salon.

Eddie Strait is a member of the Austin Film Critic Association. His reviews focus primarily on streaming entertainment, with an emphasis on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other on-demand services.

A former YouTube reporter for the Daily Dot, Rae Votta has more than a decade of experience in the digital and entertainment industries. Her work has appeared on AOL, Huffington Post, Out Magazine, Logo, VH1, Current TV, Billboard, and NYMag. She joined Netflix in 2016.

The Best Free Documentaries You Can Watch On YouTube Right Now

Documentaries are the bee's knees. Without them, how would we know what goes on outside? By going outside? What are we, lumberjacks? And here's the really wild part: It wasn't all that long ago — fifteen years, maybe? — that you had to go to a video store to rent these things. People had to go outside to find movies about what was happening outside. Talk about redundant. And they charged you for the privilege, too! Blockbuster , man. She was a harsh mistress.

Luckily for all of us, the world has moved forward, and films of all stripes can now be streamed directly to the device of your choice. Even more luckily, YouTube now features a cornucopia of feature films from around the world, with many of them available to watch for free. We've combed through their offerings and put together a list of some of the best documentaries on the menu. From chronicles of artistic endeavors to the shady underside of American politics, here's what we came up with.

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story

At this point, Marvel Comics' contributions to the cultural landscape are hard to overstate. The MCU has become the closest thing that Disney will ever have to an actual machine that prints money, taking the title of "most profitable franchise" by a wide margin. The iconography is omnipresent, and the catchphrases are a shared language. "Wakanda Forever." "I am Iron Man." "With great power comes great responsibility."

And all of that, in part anyway, is thanks to Stan Lee , the smoky celebrity uncle of every nerd's dreams. Fans of the face of Marvel will already be familiar with the folkloric stories that he tells during "With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story," but they've also watched a dozen different takes on Spider-Man's origin story by now. Classics are classics for a reason.

For a good idea of the range of Lee's legacy, "With Great Power" features George W. Bush, Kevin Feige, Patrick Stewart, and Nicolas Cage in the first minute alone. By the end of the second minute, you'll have seen clips of interviews with Kevin Smith, Larry King, James Franco, Jon Favreau, Ringo Starr, and Paris Hilton. Excelsior, sir.

Dan Harmon, probably best known as the co-creator of "Rick and Morty," pulled off a difficult maneuver after he was fired from " Community " after Season 3, crossing the cultural blood/brain barrier from behind-the-scenes entity to recognizable celebrity. The secret seems to stem from his smartest-guy-in-the-frat charisma, his self-deprecating humor, and the fact that he built up a legion of swarming, devoted fans through his podcast, "Harmontown."

In 2014, a documentary of the same name was produced, following Harmon and company across the country as they performed live episodes of "Harmontown" at sold-out bars, clubs, and comic book shops.

The result is a bleak but heartwarming look at the life of a troubled, but beloved creator — one that follows Harmon's own "Story 101" format for making relatable, imperfect characters suspiciously closely. If you triangulate between quotes like "I'm either John Belushi or I'm unprofessional" and "I'm the Oprah of ineffectual white people," maybe you'll get something close to an accurate read on the guy.

Citizenfour

In 2015, the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature went to "Citizenfour." It's kind of hard to argue with the decision.

"Citizenfour" was the third of three films in Laura Poitras' 9/11 trilogy, following her exploration of the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2006's "My Country, My Country" and her close-up look at the lives of people orbiting Osama bin Laden in 2010's "The Oath." Here, she turns the camera toward a shadowy figure calling himself Citizenfour, who claims to have information on U.S. government programs dedicated to the illegal surveillance of Americans.

The result is a real-life international spy thriller with wide-ranging consequences. The documentary's eponymous contributor turns out to be Edward Snowden , and the filmmakers wind up capturing a significant amount of his struggle following the massive intelligence leak that he spearheaded, including the cancellation of his passport and attempts to extradite him back to the United States. The drama keeps unfolding the more you learn about it, too — The New York Times ran an extensive piece about the creation of the film that reads like an espionage novel.

My Scientology Movie

Maybe it's schadenfreude, maybe it's the human inclination toward feeling courageous by proxy, but some of the most striking documentaries are the ones that make you feel like you're watching someone chuck rocks at a wasp nest for an hour and a half. With that in mind, "My Scientology Movie" is a 99-minute recreation of the third act of "My Girl."

The way the filmmakers tell it, they had wanted to explore the inner workings of the Church of Scientology for a while, but the organization's renowned ability to circle its wagons made an inside look impossible to obtain. The solution: following in the footsteps of "The Act of Killing," they brought former members of the church in on the project and encouraged them to carry out dramatic reenactments of their experiences. The result is a story that tells itself. The documentary's featured subject, journalist Louis Theroux, finds himself at odds with not just ex-Scientologists, but with current members purportedly sent by the church to stop him from documenting the exact behaviors that they exhibit in front of the camera.

I Am Not Your Negro

"I Am Not Your Negro," one of the only movies on Metacritic to receive a near-perfect rating , takes its inspiration from an unfinished, 30-page collection of notes by James Baldwin titled "Remember This House." The film points out that the notes were originally conceived as a way to "tell his story of America through the lives of three of his murdered friends: Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcolm X."

Going beyond the documentary's astonishing reconsideration of these three killings, one of its most astonishing qualities is its ability to frame 60-year-old struggles as a mirror image of the issues of the present. Footage from the mid-20th century is juxtaposed against contemporary photographs of the Black Lives Matter movement in the film's opening sequence, making it difficult to stop thinking about the parallels as the story continues and after the credits roll. The result is an Academy Award-nominated, BAFTA award-winning motion picture that's almost impossible to get out of your head.

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Best Documentaries on YouTube

Last updated: May 13, 2024

If you love Documentaries and are looking for your next favorite, then you're in luck. We've compiled a list of the best Documentaries available to watch now on YouTube. Scroll through and find the perfect one for your family. And check back often -- we're updating regularly with new additions. See more best-of lists like this .

No titles in this list match your selected age range. Try aging up or down.

pop culture

The 21 best documentaries on youtube that you can watch right now, for a little entertainment.

Documentary lovers unite! Whether you are a long-time lover of documentaries or you're new to the genre, you may be on the hunt for some new docs to watch as you've probably watched every one currently available on every streaming service . You mustn't worry, however, as we have you covered with a roundup of the best documentaries on YouTube that you can watch right now. These docs are captivating, great conversation starters for when people ask you what you have been watching lately, and best of all — free! You don't have to be subscribed to any platforms, nor do you pay to rent/buy these films which always a good thing.

We've tried to include something in here for everybody be it crime documentaries for those that love a good crime mystery, fashion documentaries for those super into style, history docs for that can't get enough of history, and more. So grab your popcorn, candy, and any other movie snacks you might enjoy because we have a feeling you're going to be here a while.

RELATED: The 20 Best 'Black Mirror' Episodes, Ranked

1. Why Did American Abandon Route 66?

• Channel: VICE
• Views: 2.4 Million
• Directed by: Alex Craig, Jason Ford, and David Galloway
• Runtime: 43:55
• IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
• Watch if you Like: Departure

If you're someone who's heavily into traveling, national monuments, filming locations, etc., then VICE's "Why Did American Abandon Route 66?" episode as part of their Abandoned series is a super interesting watch. The episode is hosted by professional skateboarder Rick McCrank and co-pilot Frank Gerwer as they personally embark on a journey to find out what's left of the legendary pipeline. The episode also highlights the impact of the mudslides on Route 66, and how they played a major role in shutting in down. Once again, a very good watch for those interested in this type of stuff.

2. The Marathon (Cultivation)

• Channel: Nipsey Hussle
• Views: 1.3 Million
• Directed by: Nipsey Hussle and Samiel Asghedom
• Runtime: 35:22
• IMDB Rating: N/A
• Watch if you Like: Hip hop culture

Fans of the late Nipsey Hussle can get an inside look behind the cannabis business the rapper was developing alongside his brother Samiel Asghedom in The Marathon (Cultivation) , which was released in May 2022 ahead of the opening of second Marathon Clothing Store, which was also spearheaded by Asghedom. The film documents the development of their Marathon OG Cannabis, taking you through the ins and outs of the project. Another great way to commemorate Nipsey through something he was very passionate about.

3. OLDEST RELIGIONS: the Entire History

• Channel: Gnostic Informant TV
• Views: 246K
• Likes: 5.9K
• Directed by: N/A
• Runtime: 11:35:44
• Watch if you Like: One of Us

This is moreso a docu-series as opposed to being a full blown documentary, so you're probably going to need at least a few days to watch it. In OLDEST RELIGIONS: the Entire History , Gnostic Informant TV breaks down the world's oldest religions one by one from nature worship and Paganism, all the way down to the Syncretic Roman Imperial Cult and Judeo-Christian and Islamic Monotheistic Religions. Even if you don't particularly have a religion you identify with (or you already do), this is still an informative watch because it gives you a chance to learn more about the countries/cultures/regions associated with each respective religion.

4. Decoding da Vinci

• Channel: PBS
• Views: 2.5 Million
• Directed by: Doug Hamilton
• Runtime: 53:35
• IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
• Watch if you Like: The Strange Attraction of Mona Lisa

Art and history lovers, this is the documentary for you. Decoding da Vinci highlights the science behind many of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces, which includes the Mona Lisa, and the mystery surrounding her style. We scrolled through the comments just to make sure we were suggesting an interesting documentary for you guys, and one of the comments said "I am impressed with the scientific methods and engineering tools used to study the painting by the talented Leonardo, who was an engineer, a scientist , and an artist." Sounds like it's a good one folks.

5. The Worst Jobs in the World

• Channel: Best Documentary
• Views: 1.9 Million
• Runtime: 47:10
• Watch if you Like: Career documentaries

If you hate your job and think it's the worst in the world, you might want to take a look at The Worst Jobs in the World by Best Documentary, as it's bound to make you leave with a greater appreciation for the things you do have—even if it's not exactly the best situation to be in at the moment. We'll let you watch and determine what you think on your own as many who have watched the doc came out on the other side with a different mentality.

6. The Flood

• Channel: National Geographic
• Views: 6.7 Million
• Runtime: 1:32:49
• IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
• Watch if you Like: Hostile Planet

This National Geographic television special from 2018 takes an in-depth look at the animals who fight for survival in the unpredictable Okavango Delta in Botswana, which was transformed by a miracle flood from a desert into a water wonderland. The program was created by Brad Bestelink, narrated by Angela Bassett, and earned two Emmy Award nominations in 2019.

7. Ben & Jerry

• Channel: Biography
• Runtime: 45:03
• Watch if you Like: Food, Inc

The Biography Channel just released a relatively new documentary on to their channel highlighting the lives and careers of Ben & Jerry co-founder Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. The doc explores how Ben & Jerry's Homemade ice cream has been able to build an excellent reputation amongst foodies and ice cream lovers, the early makings of which started in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont. This is a great doc to check out if you want to learn more about the history of one of the world's most beloved ice creams.

8. How 50 Cent Got Rich And Nearly Died Tryin'

• Channel: Diverse Mentality
• Views: 274K
• Likes: 8.3K
• Runtime: 2:03:54
• Watch if you Like: Get Rich or Die Tryin’

50 Cent's classic debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and Diverse Mentality is celebrating the monumental occasion by exploring the makings of the album. How 50 Cent Got Rich And Nearly Died Tryin' reflects on the album's hit singles and impact, along with offering rare facts and behind the scenes of footage. A good doc if you like hip-hop and are feeling nostalgic.

9. Patient Seventeen

• Channel: UNIDENTIFIED
• Likes: 1.2K
• Directed by: Jeremy Kenyon, Lockyer Corbell
• Runtime: 1:07:41
• IMDB Rating: 3.7/10
• Watch if you Like: The First Wave

Admittedly, Patient Seventeen didn't get the greatest reviews at the time of its release in 2017, but six years later it might be worth a revisit. In short, there's a surgeon who claims to have removed highly advance implants, microchips imbedded by aliens, non-humans monitoring our earth. What follows is an exploration into the world of abductions, scalar wave transmissions, and a program to study or manipulate the human race. Quite interesting if the supernatural is something that interests you, but we could also understand if you want to skip this one.

10. Age of Easy Money

• Channel: FRONTLINE PBS
• Views: 11 Million
• Directed by: James Jacoby
• Runtime: 1:53:17
• IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
• Watch if you Like: Financial documentaries

Age of Easy Money may be a little too close to comfort depending on what you've experienced, but it's a highly informative watch that goes into the 2008 recession, inflation issues, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, how the U.S. Economy got to where it's currently at in the first place, the mistakes that have been made along the way, the previous mistakes that weren't learned from, and everything in-between.

11. A Man With a Past

• Channel: 48 Hours
• Views: 1.2 Million
• Runtime: 41:14
• IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
• Watch if you Like: 48 Hours and Dateline

Crime documentaries are a tough watch for a lot of people (to the point where they can't watch), but there is a certain sector of the community highly interested in them. One of the latest episodes of 48 Hours is "A Man With a Past," which chronicles a young woman being reported missing after her vehicle is found engulfed in flames. The person of interest in her disappearance has a disturbing past where he apparently murdered his parents, and the doc takes a look at the investigation.

12. The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story

• Channel: YouTube Originals
• Directed by: Aaron Kunkel
• Runtime: 1:39:23
• IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
• Watch if you Like: Music documentaries and biopics

Famed boy band impresario Lou Pearlman is the mastermind behind popular boy bands such as *NYSNC, The Backstreet Boys, and more. As great as his music resume is, however, there are some dark spots as he was also a part of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history. The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story covers Lou Pearlman's life, career, and legal troubles, and features Lance Bass and JC Chasez of *NYSNC, AJ McClean of The Backstreet Boys, and more.

13. The Man Who Knew

• Views: 1.4 Million
• Directed by: Michael Kirk
• Runtime: 1:25:05
• IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
• Watch if you Like: The Man Who Predicted 9/11

The 2002 PBS documentary The Man Who Knew is available to be watched on YouTube. The doc centers around Agent John O'Neill, who previously knew of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the events of which caused him to separate from the FBI. Agent O'Neill was hired as World Trade Center security director just a few weeks before 9/11, and was killed during the attacks.

14. Sunken Artifacts from Atlantis Recovered

• Channel: History
• Views: 796K
• Likes: 6.6K
• Runtime: 1:30:23
• Watch if you Like: History's Greatest Mysteries

An episode of the History Channel's Digging for the Truth , the "Sunken Artifacts from Atlantis Recovered" goes into just that—the sunken artifacts that have apparently been recovered from Atlantis. We scoured through the comments again, and this one was our favorite: "There is no doubt that Atlantis existed regardless of whether we can find the proof of it remains to be seen - finding the evidence after so may thousands of years may require technology yet to be invented." Seems like the debate surrounding Atlantis continues.

15. Coachella: 20 Years In The Desert

• Views: 7 Million
• Directed by: Chris Perkel
• Runtime: 1:43:37
• Watch if you Like: FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

While Coachella didn't really start popping off until the late 2000s/early 2010s, the event itself has been around for over twenty years. Coachella: 20 Years In The Desert celebrates its 20th anniversary (which occurred in 2020) by looking back on twenty years of performances, artists and the behind-the-scenes stories that shaped the music festival.

16. Camp Century - The Hidden City Beneath the Ice

• Channel: Get.factual
• Views: 1.1 Million
• Runtime: 51:58
• Watch if you Like: Learning about unknown history

Camp Century - The Hidden City Beneath the Ice investigates the U.S. Army building the first tunnel settlement beneath the ice of Greenland whilst also looking at the consequences of the city’s tons of nuclear waste that were left behind and are now slowly emerging from the melting ice. Another fascinating watch about the past and what may be awaiting us in the future.

17. I PROMISE

• Views: 2.8 Million
• Likes: 5.5K
• Directed by: Marc Levin
• Runtime: 1:41:35
• Watch if you Like: The Last Dance

If you want an inside look at LeBron James' I Promise school in Akron, Ohio, then you should definitely watch I PROMISE , which is available via YouTube Originals. The documentary details the the day-to-day trials, tribulations and triumphs of students and families growing up in Akron, while also actively highlighting the stories of resilience, and what the kids are learning day in and day out. I PROMISE was produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter.

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18. Nirvana – Behind the Music

• Channel: Coda Records
• Views: 384,059
• Likes: 6.1K
• Runtime: 1:04:28
• Watch if you Like: Music documentaries

Fan of Nirvana and want to see performance footage from concerts and shows, in-depth interviews with Kurt Cobain's closest relatives and friends, and a general look at how the band became the most influential of the 1990s and one of the most influential of all-time period? Check out Nirvana – Behind the Music .

19. Arctic Sinkholes

• Channel: NOVA PBS
• Views: 9.7 Million
• Directed by: Nick Tanner, Brice Habeger
• Runtime: 53:27
• IMDB Rating: 8/10
• Watch if you Like: The intersection of history and environmental science

Arctic Sinkholes is an investigation of the explosions in Siberia and other evidence that potentially showcases that thawing permafrost in the Arctic is releasing vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which in turn is threatening our climate. This is actually a scary realization of the damage that has been done to our climate, and what we could potentially be facing in the future.

20. Egypt's Lost Wonders

• Views: 4.1 Million
• Directed by: Sophie Elwin-Harris
• Runtime: 47:22
• Watch if you Like: Treasures of Ancient Egypt

Want to know what the waters of Egypt hold and their some fascinating historical secrets? Want to know some of the mysteries surrounding these same water of Egypt? Are you obsessed with Egypt as a whole? Then Egypt's Lost Wonders "Drain the Oceans" is the perfect documentary for you.

21. The Real Story of Paris Hilton

• Channel: Paris Hilton
• Views: 76 Million
• Likes: 801K
• Directed by: Alexandra Dean
• Runtime: 1:45:12
• Watch if you Like: Fashion and entertainment

If you thought you knew Paris Hilton, watching The Real Story of Paris Hilton will show you that you didn't. Directed by Alexandra Dean, this doc uncovers the untold true story that shaped the woman, and the iconic character she created.

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38 Best Documentaries to Watch on YouTube [2024 Update]

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In this age, information has become so accessible. It’s a challenge to sift what’s real from what’s false. Thus, it’s more crucial than ever that we get our information from reliable sources. And in this regard, documentaries are the perfect tool.

Well-made documentaries captivate us and promote discussion of the topics that they feature. They are a great resource for educating ourselves on topics and issues that matter.

Watching documentaries benefits you in the following ways:

• You are introduced to a new topic and provided a deeper understanding of it.
• It gives you a glimpse into new cultures and lifestyles.
• It inspires you to action or change in beliefs.
• They provide great conversation starters.

Simon Kilmurry, Executive Director of the International Documentary Association, sums up the social importance of documentary films:

“ Documentary film is a form that allows us to walk in another’s shoes, to build a sense of shared humanity, that gives voice to the marginalized and scorned, that strives to hold those in power to account. In these challenging times… it is all the more important to support the ever-risky endeavor that documentary filmmaking is becoming. ”

And YouTube provides one of the best venues for watching documentaries for free. So we’ve chosen 38 of the best documentaries on YouTube and collected them for today’s post.

These films are selected for their ability to promote a new way of thinking. All these let you learn something new about social issues, notable personalities, and the world we live in.

Table of Contents

Best Crime Documentaries on YouTube

WARNING: Some films featured in this post are extremely disturbing.

1. The Crime of Josef Fritzl

Discover how a family has been torn apart because of the evil actions of the father.

In 2008, the world was horrified to learn that a woman has been kept prisoner in a basement for 24 years. But what truly shocked the world was the identity of the perpetrator. Elizabeth Fritzl’s own father, Josef, kept her locked in a basement, raped her, and fathered 7 children by her.

How this man concealed his abominable actions and how it affected the members of the family, their community, and the world is the subject of this 53-minute documentary that features interviews from family members, psychology experts, lawyers, and journalists who followed the case of Josef Fritzl.

2. The Iceman Tapes: Conversations With a Killer

Do you want to know what goes on in the mind of a killer?

This documentary allows you a glimpse into the mind of hitman Richard Kulinski. He is known for the calm, detached way he dealt with his victims, thus earning him the nickname “The Iceman.”

The most unbelievable aspect of the documentary is that despite the hundreds of murders Kulinski committed, his family did not have an inkling of his double life and he appeared to be a loving, devoted family man.

3. The Hacker Wars

This film features the US government’s targeting of hacktivists and several journalists who are critical of the country’s administrative body. The story revolves around 3 hacktivists who battled against the government over the control of information in the age of the Internet.

4. Meet the Scammers Breaking Hearts and Stealing Billions Online

In this documentary, you’ll meet teenagers who establish online romantic relationships with people and scam them out of thousands of dollars.

Reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop uncovers that what the teenagers are doing is merely small-timer crime compared to the drug trafficking and money laundering he uncovers while doing this film.

Best YouTube History Documentaries

5. finding atlantis.

Over the years, a lot of scientists have gone on a quest in an effort to find the ancient city of Atlantis. This documentary follows a group of scientists as they search for Atlantis using state-of-the-art equipment.

Their search brings them to Spain, where some scientists and scholars believed that Atlantis was located.

6. Why the Romans Were so Effective in Battle

The ancient Roman army was known to be highly effective system in battle. It was this ability that allowed Rome to become a superpower in historic times.

This documentary showcases the genius of the Roman army in battle. It shows how its strategies and equipment were used to great effect in defeating enemies and conquering new and larger territories.

7. The Extraordinary Genius of Albert Einstein

Do you want to know how geniuses arrive at a breakthrough that deepens our understanding of our world and of life?

Produced by History.com, this 1 ½-hour documentary centers on Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, not for viewers to comprehend the theory itself, but to serve as a case study for demonstrating how humans think.

The film attempts to show how the real thought processes of human beings happen beyond opinions and perceptions.

8. Picasso’s Last Stand

Do you love art? This documentary features one of the greatest artists of all time.

The film reveals the life of Picasso a decade before his death. At that time, he was faced with criticism for his output and for his lifestyle. However, in the midst of this turmoil, he found impetus to bring forth his wittiest, most profound work.

9. The First Human

In this evolution documentary, we travel through time to uncover a new theory about the approximate time, the reason, and the way human beings began walking upright.

This film presents the story of scientists’ new discovery of a fossil much older than “Lucy” who was initially thought to be humans’ ancestors. This discovery challenges a lot of set ideas about how human beings have evolved.

10. Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home

What is the price of increased wealth and consumerism? For many Victorians, they paid for the luxury of their homes with their lives. In this film, Suzannah Lipscomb takes viewers on a tour of Victorian houses and reveals killers hiding in plain sight in the place where we are supposed to feel safe.

11. Human Zoos

This documentary tells the heartbreaking story of how indigenous people were put on display in 20 th century America. The human zoos had the backing of prominent scientist. The film reveals how some people still channel Social Darwinism for them to oppress others.

This film also features eugenics and the tragedy it caused as some people attempted to breed humans using Darwinian principles.

12. The Real Jesus Christ

After Jesus’ death, there was a power struggle among his followers. This resulted into a split between Paul’s group and those of Jesus’ family and closest disciples. This latter group left no written references that could point to their version of the Christ’s message.

This documentary explores what could have happened if Jesus’ story was told by those who actually knew him: his family and closest followers.

Interesting Things to Watch on YouTube

13. laos wonderland.

This documentary is about the glorious natural wonders of Laos, a country in Southeast Asia. It shows many of the unexplored spots in the country, as well as the wildlife that flourish there.

The film also features some festivals and traditions observed in Laos, which are strongly tied to the surroundings where they are celebrated. This film is treat for those who are interested in world cultures.

14. All Is Self

This documentary shows us that we are one with the whole creation. It proposes that the state of our thoughts and emotions is reflected in the state of our society. The film shows the concept of unity of all creation through different belief systems all over the world.

15. The Human Brain

If you’re interested to learn about the human brain, this documentary can supply you with the information you need. The creators of this film show viewers the physical features and structure of our brain. It explores the different areas of our own gray matter, and identifies the function of each.

16. The Truth About Sugar

Thinking about quitting sugar ?

Many nations have an obesity crisis among its citizens. In this documentary, BBC pinpoints sugar as a major culprit. The film also reveals the amount of sugar in our meals and drinks. It also reports on the reasons for our sugar addiction .

17. Food Choices

This film by Michal Siewierski is an exposé on the impact of our food choices on our health, our planet, and the lives of other species.

The documentary was three years in the making, and features interviews with 28 of the world’s leading experts in various fields. Misconceptions about diets and food are discussed in the film, too.

18. Mat Fraser: Making a Champion

Ever wondered how top athletes go about their day?

In this documentary, Mat Fraser – winner of the CrossFit Games in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 – shares a day in the life of a CrossFit champ. He also shares his personal backstory. This serves as an inspiration for those who aspire for greatness in the realm of sports.

19. SEALFIT 20X SLTC

SEALFIT 20X is a documentary about the challenges that members of the Southeast Lineman Training Center encountered when they volunteered for the 20X program of SEALFIT. The goal of the program is to train apprentice lineworkers to become better qualified, physically, for the job.

The film shows the grit and determination of these lineworkers as they struggled to overcome the challenges of the grueling training to become the best at what they do.

20. The Cola Wars

This film showcases the intense marketing campaigns of the two leading soft drink companies, PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company. The competition between these two companies reached a peak in intensity during the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, and this period was dubbed as the “cola wars”.

In recent times, the rivalry between the two companies is still strong, with no sign of letting up as consumers are still almost equally divided in their soft drink preference.

21. Where Dreams Go to Die

People are saying that this is a magnificent running documentary.

This inspirational documentary is about Canadian ultrarunner Gary Robbins and his attempts to complete the Barkley Marathons. The Barkley Marathons has a full course of a hundred miles and is considered one of the toughest ultramarathon races in the world.

Learn about the sacrifices Robbins made to participate in this grueling test of strength, stamina, and spirit.

22. Self-Medicated: A Film About Art

While we’re on the topic of art, here is another documentary featuring art and artists.

In 2000, several artists who got fed up from getting excluded from the fine art scene formed a movement in defiance to this exclusivity. They called themselves The Antagonists, and they preferred to express their art through physical media – walls and the outdoors. The movement has spread throughout the globe.

This documentary tracks several Antagonists. We get to know them through their stories often of loneliness and depression and how art helps them cope.

23. The Next Black – A Film About the Future of Clothing

Do you want to know what clothes will look like in the future?

In this film, sustainability advocates, clothing companies, and a bio firm all give their opinions and forecasts about the clothes we’ll be wearing in the future. One interesting thing to see in this documentary is the way living organisms are being made to grow wearables.

24. The Reality of Truth

This film was created by spiritual guru Deepak Chopra and entrepreneur Mike Zappolin. It introduces viewers to the ways by which people throughout history have transcended into an alternate reality, such as through meditation, music, and the use of psychotropics.

The content it features makes this film controversial. Top scientists, spiritual gurus, and thought leaders discuss the common understanding of reality, as well as the methods for transcending that and reaching an alternate reality.

25. Organic Food – Hype or Hope?

These days, we are made to believe that eating organic food is healthier, so people are willing to pay a higher amount to get these products on their tables.

In this DW documentary, viewers are taken behind the scenes of the organic food industry. The lack of consistent testing, quality control, and monitoring of organic food products makes the consumers vulnerable to labeling fraud.

26. Four Horsemen

This documentary, produced by Renegade Inc. and directed by Ross Ashcroft, explains how the world works and what could be done to create a better society.

The title refers to what the film creators identify as American-led ills: financial misconducts, violence, appalling poverty, and the environmental crisis. The film hopes to inspire the audience to take action for change.

27. The Power of Meditation

If you’re not new to this blog, you’ve probably come across several articles about meditation and mindfulness . We believe that these practices have a positive effect on health and well-being.

The Power of Meditation features various practices of meditation for achieving relaxation, healing, and happiness, as well as developing positive emotions. The film is a good starting point for those who want to gain a deeper understanding about meditation

28. Enlightenment

This film, produced by Anthony Chene, attempts to find answers to the question, “Who are we really?”

If you are looking for ways to develop self-awareness , this movie is a good jump-off point to find answers. The film contains insightful interviews that create modern-day interpretations of our true purpose here on earth.

29. A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity

More and more people are waking up to find solutions to global crises. Some of these individuals formed an off-the-grid community in Australia, living a simpler lifestyle to help save the planet.

This documentary was made by several members while they stayed in the community for a year. During that period, they built tiny houses, planted vegetable gardens, and experienced what it’s like to live in a sustainable community.

30. Without Bound – Perspectives on Mobile Living

This film features people who made a choice to trade the comforts of living in a house for the freedom of living on the road. In this documentary, you’ll get to know a group of people who live in trailers, RVs, and other vehicles of their choice to experience freedom through mobile and minimalistic living .

Without Bound attempts to answer the question: “How much do we need?” The documentary focuses on people who live in mobile homes by choice, and not on people rendered homeless by various social and economic circumstances.

The subjects have significantly scaled down their possessions, living day to day with the most basic essentials.

31. Real Value

These days, the demand for business enterprises that give back to society is rising. This inspiring documentary explores the concept of social enterprise.

Various notable personalities are interviewed in this film, to give the viewers a better understanding of what happens when businesses truly consider the welfare of the people and the planet.

32. Poor Kids of America

Poverty is on the rise in the United States. Many families are affected, the children more so.

This award-winning documentary shows the negative effects of a flagging economy, widespread unemployment, and poverty through the perspective of the most vulnerable members of society: the children.

33. New Money

In this documentary, former stock broker and hedge fund manager Dr. Steve Sjuggerud reveals a great money-making opportunity in a very unlikely place in the world: China.

The documentary reveals how people’s perception of China and what is actually happening there right now are completely different. In the film, Dr. Sjuggerud shows a China that is far more sophisticated than most business districts in the US.

34. Modern Day Miracles

This documentary follows 3 children with correctable disabilities who were treated by CURE International medical team in the countries of Niger, Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.

The documentary features the work of non-profit and Christian organization CURE. It is inspirational in the sense that we get to see people investing their time and effort to reach out and help others who are in need of healing and hope.

35. The Science of Acupuncture

Produced by BBC, this documentary features the traditional Chinese treatment of acupuncture.

There are many who are skeptical about this alternative treatment. The documentary explores how acupuncture is used to cure a host of ailments. Moreover, in the film, acupuncture is used on a patient in lieu of general anesthetic during open-heart surgery.

Scariest & Disturbing YouTube Documentaries

WARNING : Again, some of the films featured in this section can be extremely disturbing.

36. Child of Rage

In this CBS documentary, we see the far-reaching and destructive impact of sexual abuse. The film is based on the life of Beth Thomas who, as a young child suffered from sexual abuse. She was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder as a result of what she had experienced.

One bone-chilling scene shows her calmly telling the interviewer that she’d like to kill her new adoptive family.

37. The Great Plague (Black Death Documentary)

This documentary paints a grim and disturbing portrait about the Great Plague as it happened in London in 1665.

Through reenactments and a riveting narration, this film brings to live the terror lived by the residents of Cock and Alley parish as they fought for survival against a pandemic that eventually claimed more than 100,000 lives in their parish.

38. Beware the Slenderman

This documentary is about the 2014 attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl by two of her best friends. When the two suspects were apprehended and interrogated, they insisted that the death of best friend had to happen in order to appease the Slenderman.

The Slenderman was a character developed for an online Photoshop contest in 2009. Its gained popularity as a character in online horror stories, creepy art features, in forums, and social media.

The film shows just how unclear the line is between reality and fiction for children. And this is often exacerbated by other factors (e.g., neurological, social, etc.).

Final Thoughts on the Best Documentaries on YouTube

Are you ready to binge-watch these films soon?

Self-education can be enhanced by watching quality documentaries. As your knowledge about topics that interest you increases, so does your potential for personal success.

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30 Of The Best YouTube Documentaries You Can Watch Now!

last updated on July 1, 2022

What do you do when you have come close to smashing through the entire library of documentaries on Netflix? Head over to YouTube of course!

Just like Netflix, YouTube is great at providing content that sends you down that content rabbit hole. So here are 30 of the best YouTube documentaries that you can watch for free in 2022!

30 Of The Best FREE YouTube Documentaries You Can Watch Now!

1. the king of kong: a fistful of quarters.

This story follows Steve Wiebe in his journey to take the high score record for the 1981 arcade game  Donkey Kong . It is a fascinating story of competitive arcade games and humanity.

It was directed by Seth Gordon, and premiered at Sundance Music Festival

2. Inside North Korea

This story takes us into one of the most talked about nations in the news today. The hermit nation with a violent capability remains dark to the outside. It is dangerous to film anything unauthorized in North Korea, so this documentary definitely belongs on my list of the top 30 best YouTube documentaries.

3. Free To Play

Free To Play is an American documentary produced by video game company Valve. It was created in 2014 and is based on the video game Dota 2. The film was initially intended for a gaming audience, but it soon grabbed the attention of those outside the virtual world. The plot follows  three players as they go to Germany to compete in a tournament.

The plot is especially unique because it focuses on how the game has affected their real lives. The documentary has a runtime of around 75 minutes and stars Benedict Lim, Danil Ishutin, and Clinton Loomis.

This is definitely one of the best YouTube documentaries out there because of it’s modern appeal.

  4. Food Fight: How Corporations Ruined Food

This documentary examines subsidies and profit motives and their effect on our food choices.

Food Fight reveals how our food has changed for the worst, particularly in the 20th century, at the hands of big corporations. The documentary also describes the counter-movement that soon emerged  in California during the 60s and 70s to protest these issues and the corporate monopoly.

5. Morgan Freeman: Inside the Whitehouse

Who wouldn’t love hearing Morgan Freeman talking about anything?

Morgan Freeman: Inside the Whitehouse was produced by National Geographic in 1996 in collaboration with the White House. Its goal was to show the White House, a place with a notoriously negative reputation, in a different light. The documentary even features stories and photographs that have never been mentioned before. From patriots to history buffs, the film has it all! If you’re interested in historic documentaries, you should definitely head over to YouTube to watch this documentary now!

6. Filming Wildlife: Behind the Scenes

Meet the photographers and people involved in capturing those stunning wildlife views. A 10 year study of Polar Bears, diving into caves to find bats, or a trek across wildest Africa, these behind the scenes insights are both thrilling and informative.

7. The Great Jungle War

This is about a World War I battle in Colonial Africa which few people know about.

8. This Is Paris: The Real Story of Paris Hilton

This documentary was released in mid September 2020 and quickly was a favorite from her loyal supporters and new fans. Whether you like her or don’t like her, her story is so much more disturbing and interesting than you think. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d highly recommend! Definitely one of the best YouTube documentaries of 2020.

9. Life In A Day

This documentary is a true masterpiece. It basically recounts one day in time but tells it from a new media perspective. It includes hundreds of different types of stories and people.

The documentary instantly became famous at its first screening in 2011. People from all around the world sent in videos of all different events, all of which was combined to create a ninety-minute work of art. The purpose of the documentary was to serve as a time capsule and help future generations understand what life was like before them. Life In A Day is worth watching simply for its candidness!

10. Wisconsin Death Trip 1999

This doc tells a strange and sad story about mental illness, abuse, and extreme violence. Based on the book about these events, you’ll come away with a new appreciation for the anguished among us. Or you’ll be totally creeped out.

Wisconsin Death Trip 1999 is an American black and white documentary directed by James Marsh. The incredible drama, lasting one hour and sixteen minutes, is based on the book written by Michael Lesy in 1973. Its first screening took place in Denmark in March 2000. The documentary is narrated by Ian Holm and combines photos taken by Charles Van Schaick of incidents from Wisconsin in the 19th century. If you want to expand your horizons and learn something new, this documentary will surely enlighten you.

11. The Curious Life And Death Of Lizzie Borden

This is a truly disturbing story. Lizzie took an axe  gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty one. What really happened? Can we ever know the complete story? This documentary answers some questions and raises others.

12. Shale Cowboys: Fracking Under Trump

A good look into fracking and what it does to the environment and economy.

Although this documentary only lasts for forty-seven minutes, it conveys a truly important message. Due to recent controversies surrounding a fairly new process known as fracking, disapproval spiked even more under the Trump administration. Watch this documentary if you want to learn about something truly significant and worth your time!

13. Mediums: We See Dead People

This doc takes you on a journey through the eyes of mediums and how the perceive death.

14. Haunted House: An Original Documentary

This haunting paranormal documentary follows three people investigating an abandoned house overnight.

15. The Bible’s Buried Secrets

Walk in the same land as the Prophets and Kings did, gaze upon sites of momentous battles and powerful civilizations. One extremely important aspect is the origins of monotheism, a basic tenet of three of the world’s major religions practiced by nearly 3/4s of the population of the modern world.

16. The Raid: Area 51 

This is a story about the September 2019 events that lead to mass skepticism about Area 51. Millions of people signed up to see what’s really going on.

What exactly is the mystery behind this location? Are there aliens? Are their UFO’s or even more sinister things that the government is keeping from us? You’ll have to find out…

17. Sex In the Civil War

This is part of the History Channel series History Undercover and uncovers many facts about things we ordinary people would never waste a passing thought on.

18. The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off

This documentary brings us an interesting story that is bit odd and scary, medically speaking, but very moving.

19. Australia, The Great White Shark

This documentary follows a series of dives by explorers searching for the awesome predator shark as it hunts for its favorite food, sea lions. Along the way, we are dazzled by a stunning variety of underwater scenes.

20.   The Essex Boys: The Whole Truth

If you are into crime and mystery documentaries, this deeply disturbing story will be perfect for you. This doc takes you through 3 puzzling murders.

21. The Golden Age of Pirates

Many pirates were ruthless criminals that preyed on ships in port and even sometimes on the ports themselves. That’s why so many islands had cannon armed forts with the guns pointing out to sea. This documentary is a great walk through history and tells you about the fascinating origins of pirates.

22. Inner City Sailing

This is a story of a teacher training 10 inner city youths all about sailing and entered them in a competition.

23. The History of Toys and Games

This documentary identifies the need for toys for people of various ages from various ages of human history. Marbles, models, dolls, darts… Some toys from thousands of years ago would entertain kids today.

24. My Mother the Monster

This is truly a disturbing story that takes you through many mysterious hoops. Be careful, it’s a super intense film!

25. Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film

This is the story of Ansel Adams. We travel to Hernandez, Yosemite, the Sierra Nevadas, and in studio to examine a perfectionist in action. Adams perfected the Zone System, a method of previsualizing and controlling the entire photographic process which is still followed in this digital age by artist photographers today.

This documentary explains a little bit of his complicated and fascinating life of Prince. Eccentric, talented, and troubled, the musical genius often is often revered as a musical pioneer.

27. U.S. Navy Seal vs Somali Pirates

The state of affairs on the seas surrounding certain areas is troubling. Extreme violence and brutality is the norm for these ocean going criminals and they are met with the full force of modern military. A sobering look at a serious modern day problem.

28. Putin’s Revenge Part 1

PBS Frontline brings us a 2017 documentary series about Vladimir Putin that details inside information about this enigmatic ruler of one of the most powerful nations on Earth.

Putin’s Revenge Part 2 continues the series.

29. The Real Jigsaw Murderer

Jigsaw is one of the most recognizable and scary figures in modern horror media. This twisted tale takes you through real life accounts of this Saw-esque murderer.

30. Shark Attacks of 1916

Whenever I think of the Jersey Shore, my mind’s thoughts automatically gravitate towards concerns of SHARK ATTACKS! In 1916 in the area of Matawan and Beach Haven, New Jersey a series of events occurred which inspired Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster movie, Jaws.

Two weeks, four deaths, and the beginning of America’s fear of sharks.

YouTube has provided us with what seems like BILLIONS of hours of content. And the best part is that it is (mostly) free. You can learn so much on the platform, but there are also stories that give you pure entertainment. You can always choose to go with Netflix or Hulu   but YouTube is super easy and fast.

If you are mainly into crime/murder/mystery documentaries, (which I think we all are), I recommend checking out the YouTube channel Real Crime .

Hopefully this list has provided with a couple good options so you can enjoy one of the best YouTube documentaries! If there are any other documentaries that you think belong in this list, leave a comment below!

If you are thinking about creating your own YouTube videos, you can check out some of our helpful resources below.

• Best Ring Lights For Your Videos
• How to Monetize Your YouTube Videos 
• How To Get More Subscribers
• Best Video Editing Software For YouTubers
• Best Photo Editing Software 

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June 29, 2018 at 3:15 am

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The 14 Best Documentaries on Max Right Now

Check out our top documentary picks

The truth can be scary sometimes. And whether you believe they’re real or fake, the truth is still out there somewhere. Max has been garnering quite the attention for its handpicked selection of films and shows. But their list of compelling documentaries is not to be missed! From the equal pay struggles of a women’s soccer team to the groundbreaking artists these films and shows below will show you just how diverse the documentary genre is. Check out these documentary shows and movies on Max.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the best movies on Max or the best documentaries on Hulu , Disney+ , Prime Video , and Netflix .

Disclaimer: These titles are available on US Max.

Editor's note: This article was updated May 2024 to include Call Me County: Beyonce & Nashville’s Renaissance.

'Call Me Country: Beyonce & Nashville’s Renaissance' (2024)

Imdb: 5.9/10, call me country: beyonce & nashville’s renaissance.

On March 29, 2024, Beyoncé dropped the genre-blending album Cowboy Carter . The CNN documentary Call Me Country: Beyoncé and Nashville’s Renaissance is an examination of the impact that that album has had on country music, especially in bringing greater recognition to Black country music artists. However, it’s not just another PR exercise for a recognized superstar. In fact, Beyoncé isn’t even actually involved with the project. The 42-minute documentary takes a wider view of the country music industry and its historic lack of diversity. While the genre has largely been dominated by straight white men, this has been changing in more recent times thanks to artists like Beyoncé and Lil Nas X , which is what the documentary seeks to highlight. Call Me Country also looks at Black artists in Nashville, the country music capital, who have been working to bring about this change years before such heavy-hitters entered the game. It’s a short, insightful glance at an ongoing transformation that has both revived a genre and opened the doors for greater change.

Watch on Max

'LFG' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 53% | imdb: 5.6/10.

LFG follows members of the United States women's national soccer team as they file a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation for pay discrimination. The documentary stars notable soccer players like Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Jessica McDonald as they sue the federation three months before the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner sets a trial in Los Angeles to address the players' claim of discriminatory work. However, Klausner did not acknowledge the unequal pay portion of the lawsuit.

The film also features clips depicting the team's athletic performances, including highlights from their 2019 World Cup victory, which broke numerous records. These clips, which highlight the pinnacle of their success, contrast with the players' struggle to receive equal pay, and they show viewers the harsh reality of these athletes as they attempt to fulfill the physical demands of their jobs with a courageous and unwavering spirit. LFG is a powerful and cinematic documentary that delves into the difficult work that the team puts in both on and off the field.

'BS High' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 87% | imdb: 7.2/10.

BS High is aptly named as it follows the investigation of an Ohio high school football team that garnered attention after it was discovered that their high school didn’t exist. The scandal surrounds the charismatic and controversial former head coach Roy Johnson , who used his charm and questionable intentions to create a fake team composed of aspiring young athletes from Columbus that would compete against the elite private high schools around the state, getting exposure to crowds and media coverage they never could have dreamt of at their underfunded public schools. Unfortunately, Johnson’s lies and scamming would ultimately lead to these young Black teens being scrutinized in harmful ways while exposing the financial imbalances of the Ohio sports system.

'Being Mary Tyler Moore' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 77% | imdb: 7.5/10, being mary tyler moore.

Step into the life of the revolutionary performer who redefined the way that women were seen on television — both in front of and behind the camera. Being Mary Tyler Moore is a thorough examination of Moore’s life, from her early work on The Dick Van Dyke Show to her personal struggles with health and hardships. The documentary features archival interviews and footage that give insight into the way she was perceived by the media, plus testimonials and stories from her closest friends and colleagues like Treva Silverman ( The Mary Tyler Moore Show ), James L. Brooks ( The Simpsons ), and Edward Asner ( Up ). – Tauri Miller

'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 95% | imdb: 7.5/10, all the beauty and the bloodshed.

Masterful director Laura Poitras dives into the fascinating life of activism, as well as the successful photography career of legend Nan Goldin , in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed . With an emphasis on the intersection of art and politics, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed rawly reveals Goldin’s passionate involvement in exposing the crimes of the Sackler family and their horrific opioid epidemic. Showcasing the iconic artist, along with unencumbered interviews with David Velasco and Megan Kapler , Poitras’ brilliant documentary is a deeply moving revelation . – Yael Tygiel

'Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present' (2012)

Rotten tomatoes: 96% | imdb: 7.8/10, marina abramovic: the artist is present.

Since 1973, conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović has been creating works meant to be striking for anyone who bears witness, and this documentary follows her as she prepares a retrospective installation of her artwork that will push her to her limits. For 78 days, Abramović displays her work at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as sits motionless in a chair every hour the museum is open, inviting anyone who wants to come to sit across from her to do so. The director captures her every move as she mentally and physically prepares to become an immersive experience for six days a week, seven and a half hours a day. Though the installation is over, the raw emotion that goes into creativity is perfectly captured in this in-depth look into the impact of Abramović’s career. – Tauri Miller

'Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 91% | imdb: 7.7/10.

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

When news of Anthony Bourdain’s death was announced in 2018, the culinary scene was never the same. Years after his passing, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain aims to explore the life and career of Bourdain as a chef, author, and travel documentarian. Bourdain is a celebrated figure not just amongst fellow renowned chefs but also amongst the general public. He became prominent thanks to his book Kitchen Confidential , an unfiltered take on the demanding restaurant industry. But fame arrived in his favor thanks to his travel show Parts Unknown , offering audiences a greater awareness of people living in developing countries, war zones, and disaster areas through one universal item: food.

Bourdain is remembered as a hard-working individual whose career is not without its highs and lows. However, his frequent travel for work often brought issues to his personal life, which he has never addressed. Everything is about to unravel in Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.

'Tina' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 92% | imdb: 7.9/10.

The life of a mega superstar can be a tumultuous one. Tina is a film demonstrating the highs and lows of Tina Turner’s musical career. Primarily adapted from Turner’s memoir ‘Happiness Becomes You,’ the documentary is a raw retelling of Tuner’s life events, from her childhood abandonment, living in poverty, rise to stardom, and the abusive relationship she had to endure in secret. Audiences will look into her struggles as she falls and rises again in the demanding music industry and how she returned as a solo artist and have a peaceful life with her loving partner, Erwin Bach.

Tina is about resilience. With all the good happening in the singer’s journey, many bad moments still take over a massive portion of her life. However, Turner has proven that she can survive whatever tragedy may occur despite the violent past she has to endure after all these years and how she became a strong figure in both her personal and professional life.

'Class Action Park' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 80% | imdb: 7.0/10, class action park.

What if you discovered that your local amusement park is a death trap? Class Action Park investigates the infamous American amusement park Action Park, situated in Vernon Township, New Jersey. Famous for its attraction areas, the Alpine Center, Motorworld, and Waterworld, the park modernized the idea of American water parks. Action Park attracted fellow thrill-seekers looking for some much-needed adrenaline. Still, there is another reason why the amusement park gained notoriety: it’s filled with a chock-full of safety hazards.

With nicknames like “Accident Park,” “Friction Park,” and “Traction Park,” Class Action Park unravels the park’s poor safety records, which resulted in the deaths of at least six visitors. From intoxicated guests, under-aged staff, and dangerously-designed rides, you’ll be surprised at how rides with names like Cannonball Loop, Alpine Slides, and Tarzan Swings managed to endanger many lives. In addition, the documentary features former Action Park employees and the brainchild of the area: Eugene Mulvihill, a penny stockbroker who envisioned Action Park as a park with “no rules.”

'The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley' (2019)

Rotten tomatoes: 78% | imdb: 7.2/10, the inventor: out for blood in silicon valley.

If you enjoyed Hulu's The Dropout , this documentary is for you. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley follows the life of American former biotechnology entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes and her now-defunct company Theranos. Once named the youngest self-made female billionaire, with a cover in Forbes magazine, her so-called success collapsed due to her massive frauds. Listed in Fortune's "The World's 19 Most Disappointing Leaders", the film digs into Holmes' inner workings and how she was able to pull off one of the most significant criminal frauds in the healthcare industry.

Holmes pioneered the idea of a miniature blood testing method that only requires small volumes of blood, such as a prick from a finger. As revolutionary as it sounds, medical experts doubt the actual mechanics of such technology. Determined to make her company work, Holmes and her partner Sunny Balwani believed that any criticism was just a plan from her competitors to bring her down and instead ramped up Theranos' marketing. But no matter how much Holmes convinces the media regarding her company's success, allegations against her company continue, eventually bringing Theranos and Holmes down to the ground.

'Fake Famous' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 73% | imdb: 6.6/10, fake famous.

What does it take to become popular? Fake Famous transforms the lives of three non-famous individuals into social media influencers - through a social experiment. The participants include an aspiring actress, a fashion designer, and an ordinary real estate assistant who are all curious about living an influencer lifestyle.

But in this case, fame literally comes with a cost. Participants must “fake” their fame by purchasing followers and faking their luxurious lifestyle. In a world where social media has successfully altered our perception of people, Fake Famous is a fresh reminder of how Instagram culture can be incredibly out of touch with the real world.

'Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 90% | imdb: 8.0/10, tony hawk: until the wheels fall off.

Tony Hawk is unrivaled in the world of skateboarding. No one else even comes close. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off provides viewers with an intimate look into the life of Tony Hawk, a professional skateboarder, and how he balances the demands of his extraordinary career with those of his personal life. Skateboarding has been a part of Hawk's life since he was only 12 years old. From there on, he has amassed a number of accomplishments, including winning awards and shattering records. However, the documentary delves much further beyond his career.

Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off is an in-depth documentary that focuses on Hawk's passion for skateboarding as well as the life lessons he has gained from participating in the sport. Audiences get a first-hand look at how much passion, discipline, and determination are required to pull off a particular trick successfully. It is a film that goes beyond Hawk's life; it is a celebration of the skateboarding culture in general, and it features interviews with other prominent figures in the world of skateboarding, footage that has never been seen before, and unfiltered access to the skater.

'The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 93% | imdb: 8.1/10, the bee gees: how can you mend a broken heart.

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart revolves around the three members and brothers of the legendary family band The Bee Gees. The film explores how Maurice, Robin, and Barry Gibb formed The Bee Gees. Mainly featuring Barry Gibb, with archival interviews from the late Robin and Maurice Gibb, the documentary features commentary from a variety of other musicians, including Noel Gallagher, Mark Ronson, Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton, and Chris Martin.

The Bee Gees took the world by storm in the ‘60s and ‘70s with hits like “Stayin’ Alive” and “How Deep Is Your Love.” Through The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart , the documentary details the band's ascent to fame, their brief separation, and their subsequent reunion in the music industry. The film, in contrast to gossipy tell-all documentaries, places a strong emphasis on the creative processes that the group engages in when writing and recording their music. This highlights the Bee Gees' heartfelt songwriting abilities, which are frequently overshadowed by their glittering performances.

'On the Record' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 80% | imdb: 7.2/10, on the record.

On The Record is a documentary released when the #MeToo movement became prominent, investigating the allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by men in power. The film explores claims of harassment against the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, Russell Simmons. The film includes interviews with the 20 women who have accused him of abuse, featuring names like Sherri Hines, Alexia Norton, and Sil Lai Abrams.

A huge portion of the documentary focuses on the story of former Def Jam Recordings executive Drew Dixon, the first woman to publicly reveal allegations of assault against Simmons, claiming that he raped Dixon in her apartment. After she left the company to continue her career at Arista Records, she claims that her job was sabotaged by music executive L.A. Reid when he refused his sexual advances. What makes On The Record chilling is that it criticizes the lack of black women’s voices in the #MeToo campaign, reminding viewers that there is still so much work that needs to be done to pursue justice.

Who is Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness in Trump's hush money cover-up trial?

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The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.

• Sam Taylor-Johnson
• Matt Greenhalgh
• Marisa Abela
• Eddie Marsan
• Jack O'Connell
• 75 User reviews
• 80 Critic reviews
• 49 Metascore

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• Perfume Paul
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• Trivia Marisa Abela had done most of the singing in this film herself. She trained extensively to mimic Amy Winehouse 's vocals.

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• Runtime 2 hours 2 minutes

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