Best True Crime Docs
by leeannelapetite | created - 9 months ago | updated - 9 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
Director: Kurt Kuenne | Stars: Kurt Kuenne, Andrew Bagby, David Bagby, Kathleen Bagby
Votes: 40,726 | Gross: $0.02M
2. Girl in the Picture (2022)
TV-MA | 101 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
A young mother's mysterious death and her son's subsequent kidnapping blow open a decades-long mystery about the woman's true identity and the murderous federal fugitive at the center of it all.
Director: Skye Borgman | Stars: Karen Parsley, Charles Engles, Merle Bean, Ernest Bean
Votes: 21,669
3. The Family I Had (2017)
77 min | Documentary, Crime
In The Family I Had, a mother recalls how her brilliant teenage son came to shatter their idyllic family through one horribly violent and shocking act.
Directors: Katie Green, Carlye Rubin | Stars: Ella Bennett, Charity Lee, Kyla Bennett, Becca Baggenstoss
Votes: 1,315
4. Fyre (2019)
TV-MA | 97 min | Documentary, Crime, Music
An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival.
Director: Chris Smith | Stars: Billy McFarland, Jason Bell, Gabrielle Bluestone, Shiyuan Deng
Votes: 52,057
5. There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
This documentary explores the depth behind the case of a woman whose vehicle collision killed numerous people, including herself. Was she really the reckless drunk, or the perfect suburban mother?
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Jesse Temple, Brad Katinas, Diane Schuler, Jay Schuler
Votes: 6,405
6. Mommy Dead and Dearest (2017)
TV-MA | 82 min | Documentary, Crime
In this documentary, the murder of Deedee Blanchard by her daughter Gypsy Rose is explored, as well as the circumstances leading up to the event.
Director: Erin Lee Carr | Stars: Jessica Thomas, Jim Arnott, David Blanchard, Dee Dee Blanchard
Votes: 11,908
7. The Keepers (II) (2017)
TV-MA | 62 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
A seven-part docuseries about the unsolved murder of a nun and the horrific secrets and pain that linger nearly five decades after her death.
Stars: Gemma Hoskins, Abbie Schaub, Virginia Anzengruber, Jean Hargadon Wehner
Votes: 25,059
8. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose, Jackie Johnson
Votes: 25,965 | Gross: $1.21M
9. Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019)
TV-MA | 62 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
A group of online justice seekers track down a guy who posted a video of himself killing kittens.
Stars: Deanna Thompson, John Green, Claudette Hamlin, Anna Yourkin
Votes: 62,266
10. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Crime
Nick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
Directors: Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill | Stars: Aileen Wuornos, Nick Broomfield, Terry Humphreys-Slay, Leitha Prather
Votes: 6,954 | Gross: $0.10M
11. Surviving R. Kelly (2019–2023)
TV-MA | 306 min | Documentary, Crime, Music
A six-part series about the controversial R&B star R. Kelly which features several women making allegations of abuse by him.
Stars: Andrea Kelly, Tarana Burke, Touré, Candice Norcott
Votes: 5,738
12. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022)
TV-MA | 49 min | Documentary, Crime
Examines the rise of Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and his shocking criminal case.
Stars: Mike Watkiss, Elissa Wall, Rebecca Musser, Ruby Jessop
Votes: 16,098
13. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (2020)
TV-MA | 55 min | Documentary, Crime
Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger investigates the tragic death of an 8-year-old California boy who endured horrific abuse by his mother and her boyfriend, along with the fractured and complex systems that failed to protect him.
Stars: William Guirola, Wyatt Hinz, Alfredo Tavares, Adam Saunders
Votes: 13,574
14. Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist (2018)
TV-MA | 48 min | Documentary, Crime
The extraordinary story of the "pizza bomber heist" and the FBI's investigation into a bizarre collection of suspects.
Stars: Trey Borzillieri, Jerry Clark, Jason Wick, Lamont King
Votes: 31,020
15. Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022)
TV-MA | 61 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Never-before-heard audio from the interrogation of serial killer John Wayne Gacy threads through this chilling look at his 1970s murder spree.
Stars: Sam Amirante, Greg Bedoe, Rafael Tovar, Mike Albrecht
Votes: 12,900
16. The Seven Five (2014)
R | 104 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of 80s Brooklyn.
Director: Tiller Russell | Stars: Mike Dowd, Ken Eurell, Walter Yurkiw, Chickie
Votes: 6,276 | Gross: $0.01M
17. An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story (2013)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
'Our procedure has been always haunted by the ghost of the innocent man convicted. It is an unreal dream.' - Justice Learned Hand, 1923. The prospect of unjust imprisonment is a plight both... See full summary »
Directors: Al Reinert, John Dean, Nellie Gonzalez | Stars: Nellie Gonzalez, Michael Morton, John Raley
Votes: 353
18. The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (2023–2024)
TV-14 | 42 min | Documentary, Biography, Mystery
This docuseries offers extraordinary access and exclusive insight into a world-renowned mystery. Initially assumed to be a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan with a rare bone growth disorder she was actually a fully grown adult.
Stars: Dan Cody, Beth Karas, Michael Barnett, Caitlin McEachran
Votes: 3,836
19. Leaving Neverland (2019)
TV-MA | 240 min | Documentary
At the height of his stardom, the world's biggest pop star, Michael Jackson, began long-running relationships with two young boys, aged between seven and ten, along their families. They now allege that he sexually abused them.
Director: Dan Reed | Stars: Michael Jackson, Wade Robson, Joy Robson, Chantal Robson
Votes: 31,128
20. The Central Park Five (2012)
Not Rated | 119 min | Documentary, Crime, History
A documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Directors: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon | Stars: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Kharey Wise, Raymond Santana
Votes: 7,936 | Gross: $0.27M
21. Children Underground (2001)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary
A profile of homeless Romanian children who were born victims of the nation's reckless population growth policy during its communist era.
Director: Edet Belzberg | Stars: Cristina Ionescu, Mihai Alexandre Tudose, Violeta 'Macarena' Rosu, Ana Turturica
Votes: 2,452
22. Icarus (2017)
TV-MA | 120 min | Documentary, Sport
When Bryan sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller.
Director: Bryan Fogel | Stars: Bryan Fogel, Dave Zabriskie, Don Catlin, Grigory Rodchenkov
Votes: 54,719
23. Victim/Suspect (2023)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Crime
Young women tell the police they've been sexually assaulted, but instead of finding justice, they're charged with the crime of making a false report, arrested, and even imprisoned by the system they believed would protect them.
Director: Nancy Schwartzman | Stars: Lisa Avalos, Dyanie Bermeo, Rachel de Leon, Carlton Hershman
Votes: 2,048
24. West of Memphis (2012)
R | 147 min | Documentary, Crime
An examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.
Director: Amy Berg | Stars: Jason Baldwin, Damien Wayne Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Michael Baden
Votes: 10,956 | Gross: $0.31M
25. My Daughter's Killer (2022)
TV-MA | 83 min | Documentary, Crime
A father fights for decades to bring his daughter's killer to justice in France and Germany before taking extreme measures
Director: Antoine Tassin | Stars: Stephen Samson, Russell MacLeod, Emil Petrov, Marek Gajda
Votes: 1,952
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