The 40 most popular 2010s documentary movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.
Profession, domestique
Profession, domestique
2013 · 18m
The over-exploitation of immigrant workers has long since ceased to be the exclusive preserve of Western countries. Many people will have heard of the harsh, sometimes slave-like working conditions endured by thousands of young women from Asia in certain Gulf monarchies. In recent years, the phenomenon has become so "professional" that veritable schools, both private and public, are training young Filipinas in domestic work who are ready to emigrate to Saudi Arabia or Hong Kong to find work there. Every year, more than 150,000 of them leave their country with a state diploma, ready to work overseas.


Free Solo
2018 · 1h 40m · US
Follow Alex Honnold as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite's 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall. With no ropes or safety gear, this would arguably be the greatest feat in rock climbing history.


Human
2015 · 3h 11m · FR
A collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human. Through these stories full of love and happiness, as well as hatred and violence, it brings us face to face with the Other, making us reflect on our lives. From stories of everyday experiences to accounts of the most unbelievable lives, these poignant encounters share a rare sincerity and underline who we are – our darker side, but also what is most noble in us, and what is universal. Our Earth is shown at its most sublime through never-before-seen aerial images accompanied by soaring music, resulting in an ode to the beauty of the world, providing a moment to draw breath and for introspection. This film is a politically engaged work which allows us to embrace the human condition and to reflect on the meaning of our existence.


Kumaré
2012 · 1h 26m · US
A documentary about a man who impersonates a wise Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. At the height of his popularity, the Guru Kumaré must reveal his true identity to his disciples and unveil his greatest teaching of all.


X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time
2015 · 1h 34m · US
The evolution of adult cinema through the most influential films in history, a journey that begins in the 1970s and ends nowadays. An in-depth analysis of the success of the most prestigious erotic films, their impact on industry and society, and their influence on cinema and contemporary culture.


XXXXXXX
2016 · 13m
A tarot card reading as a starting point. A disruptive relationship as a point. Translation of the cards' symbols to a joint. Of the domestic exploration for finding my voice.


Rocco
2016 · 1h 45m · FR
Rocco Siffredi is to pornography what Mike Tyson is to boxing or Mick Jagger is to rock’n’roll: a living legend. His mother wanted him to be a priest; with her blessing he became a hardcore performer, devoting his life to one God only: Desire. Rocco Siffredi reveals all, even if it sometimes means busting his own myth: his true story, beginnings, career, wife and children… and the ultimate revelation that will change his life forever.


Après Demain
2018 · FR
Two years after the phenomenal success of the documentary Demain, Cyril Dion looks back at the projects the film inspired. He is accompanied by Laure Noualhat, a renowned investigator and sceptic of the ability of micro-initiatives to have any real impact in the face of climate change. Their humorous confrontation pushes them to their limits: what works, what fails? What if all this forces us to invent a new narrative for humanity?
Socialism
Socialism
2014 · 1h 8m · FI
Socialism, the 20th century's greatest dream and source of some of its darkest nightmares. Divided into eighteen chapters which all begin with quotes from left-wing thinkers and writers, Socialism embarks on a chronological journey through 20th century film and social history, starting with images from Louis Lumière's Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895), followed among others by Chaplin's comedy Work (1915), Roberto Rosselini's Rome, Open City (1945) and Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964).


Aliyah DaDa
2015 · 1h 55m · RO
A documentary about the Jewish people in Romania and their several migrations towards Israel, across history and changing political frames - everything presented in a self-proclaimed dadaist style.


Être vivant
2013 · FR
A male voice describes, with ruthless precision, the physical and mental journey of a man who has just become homeless.


Personal Growth
2019 · 24m · IE
"Personal Growth" is a Super-8 film work, an enigmatic, fragmented piece that could have been filmed at any point in the past sixty years. It conveys the haunting charge of a privately made home movie of great significance to its creators but unsettlingly mysterious to viewers. Its grainy, black and white texture vividly renders the elemental coastal seascapes where it was filmed. Langan & Le Cain appear as a couple who inhabit this wild terrain as if it were a domestic arena.


The Act of Killing
2012 · 2h 39m · DK
After befriending documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various American film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.


Everybody’s Everything
2019 · 1h 56m · US
The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.


Wasted Talent
2018 · 1h 6m · US
No overview available
Reimagining Rodan
Reimagining Rodan
2019 · 5m
A look at the newest version of one of Godzilla's greatest rivals.


Chicago Boys
2015 · 1h 25m · CL
The economists behind the implementation of the most extreme capitalist system in the world observe with surprise the discontent of its countrymen. For the first time, they tell the story of how they became Milton Friedman's students in Chicago in the 1950s and what were they willing to do to pursue their extreme economic ideas, aided by Pinochet's dictatorship in the 70s. Unseen images and testimonies that allow us to understand the historic process that transformed the Chilean people and Chile in the country that it is today, an image of success and discontent.


The Referee
2010 · 29m · SE
Swedish soccer referee Martin Hansson had a successful journey towards his big dream in life, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Then one dark night in Paris on November 18th, 2009, all hell broke loose.


Evil Beneath
2019 · 52m · US
An Original Documentary that takes you in and under the Oldest City in America, St. Augustine, Florida with a Team of Residents, Ghost Hunters and Historians. Investigations include the Oldest Lighthouse in America, a Curiosity Shop on the oldest Street in the USA, more.
Remembrance
Remembrance
2013 · 1h 9m · FI
Peter von Bagh takes us on a trip to his homeland and Oulu, a small Finnish town, tracing the turbulent changes it has undergone in the 20th century. A life of the filmmaker, a history of his home and a history of cinema intersect in this magical film that works like a time machine. (text: International FIlm Festival Rotterdam


McQueen
2018 · 1h 51m · UK
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.


Unknown Brood
2016 · 1h 25m · NL
“When I do my suicide for you, I hope you’ll miss me too,” Herman Brood sang in “Rock ‘n’ Roll Junkie” – just one of many announcements of his own death Brood worked into his songs. It’s a subject Brood, who jumped off the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton 15 years ago, often sang about. In Unknown Brood, a whole range of people look back on the rock and roller’s turbulent life, including fellow musicians, his manager, a former girlfriend, photographer Anton Corbijn, Brood’s wife and their daughter. Video footage shot by Brood himself and never seen before is intercut with a rich collection of archive material, including a humorous clip of Brood barking the Dutch national anthem. His sister Beppie Brood stresses her brother’s split personality: on the one hand the shy, vulnerable man wary of other people, and on the other the one who played Herman Brood – an extravagant, hedonistic junkie and rock and roll star.


The Nine
2016 · 1h 38m · US
There is nothing left of the American dream on the Nine--a solemn destination, a resting place for those who have relinquished the dream. Modesto is a city that lies in California's Central Valley, a region devastated during America's Great Depression. Modesto's notorious South Ninth Street ("the Nine") is a no man's land where the rules of polite society do not apply. The people living along the Nine form a ravaged micro community whose Darwinian existence is a day to day hustle, and survival is by any means necessary.


Wilson
2017 · 1h 44m · UY
With unpublished archival footage and the testimony of Jorge Batlle, José Mujica, Luis Alberto Lacalle, Danilo Astori and Pepe Guerra among others, the film delves into Wilson's world to search for his ultimate truth, his secrets and his convictions.


Bath of Life
2019 · 1h 7m · MX
Immersive documentary which takes us n an intimate journey to the inner life of public baths through the voices of three characters: Felipe, the main clerk since 1984; Juana, a street sweeper in Mexico City's downtown; and Jose, a frequent client of more than forty years. Bath of Life becomes a confessionary for those who gather around the same place: the sauna.


A Second Chance
2018 · 18m · TH
E-po, a widowed 85-year-old grandma, lives a humdrum existence in her tiny Phuket home. Every now and then, her caretaker Fong receives a phone call from Bangkok: a reminder to check on E-po's gambling problem.


Bring the Soul: The Movie
2019 · 1h 45m · KR
A glimpse into K-pop group BTS’ world away from the stage, featuring intimate group discussions alongside spectacular concert performances from their world tour.


Wall Writers
2016 · 1h 17m
Wall Writers promises unprecedented access to the early years of American graffiti. Interviews with TAKI 183 and CORNBREAD, along with other legendary artists, illuminated a time when a new form of wall writing emerged from dilapidated city neighborhoods.


Miracle 3
2013 · 51m · US
Alabama's Mykal Riley hits a desperate 3-pointer to send a 2008 SEC men's basketball tournament quarterfinal game into overtime. Had he missed it, thousands of fans departing the Georgia Dome would have been exposed to a major tornado that swept through downtown Atlanta. Instead, Riley's "Miracle Three" prevented a major tragedy, united rivals, revealed heroes, and allowed one underdog (Georgia) to claim the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid.


Cássia
2015 · 2h · BR
Cássia Eller Rejane. Cássia Eller. Cássia. A powerful restless force on stage, shined herself out of it. One of the greats of Brazilian music, Cássia Eller marked the 1990s and shocked the country with her early death in 2001. A film about the singer, the mother, the woman who exposed her personal life and broke barriers, leaving a beautiful social and artistic legacy.


MILWAUKEE 53206
2016 · 55m · US
MILWAUKEE 53206 chronicles the lives of those living in the ZIP code that incarcerates the highest percentage of black men in America, up to 62%. Through the intimate stories of three 53206 residents, we witness the high toll that mass incarceration takes on individuals and families that make up the community. The film examines Milwaukee’s ZIP code 53206 to illuminate the story of people from across the United States who live with the daily affects of mass incarceration.


Mon maître d'école
2016 · 1h 22m · FR
A St Saint-just-et-Vacquières, Jean-Michel Burel, schoolmaster of a class at several levels, begins his last school year before retirement. The teacher teaches tolerance and wisdom in the same way as spelling and mathematics. It conducts its programme with determination. It endeavours to support students to give them confidence and raise them above. Through the eyes of a former student, now Director, emerges a timeless school where rigour is combined with good humour, a school where freedom begins with respect for others. A school that belongs to the universal field of childhood.


Samsara
2011 · 1h 42m · BR
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.


Mitra
2018 · 1h 23m · BE
Winter 2012 - Committed against her will in a psychiatric hospital in Tehran, Iranian psychoanalyst Mitra Kadivar begins a correspondence by email with Jacques-Alain Miller, founder of the World Association of Psychoanalysis. Summer 2017 - An artistic team creates an opera inspired by these exchanges while absorbing the reality of the Montperrin psychiatric hospital in Aix-en-Provence.


In Exile: A Family Movie
2017 · 2h 4m · MX
The life stories of Juan Francisco's grandparents and parents, who arrived in Mexico in 1939 as refugees at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). A family saga, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.


Bombay Beach
2011 · 1h 20m · US
Bombay Beach is one of the poorest communities in southern California located on the shores of the Salton Sea, a man-made sea stranded in the middle of the Colorado desert that was once a beautiful vacation destination for the privileged and is now a pool of dead fish. Film director Alma Har'el tells the story of three protagonists. Together these portraits form a triptych of manhood in its various ages and guises...


The Painting
2019 · 1h 47m · ES
For three and a half centuries, from the same day that Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) applied his last brushstroke to the canvas, the enigma of “Las meninas, o La familia de Felipe IV” (1656) has not been deciphered. The secret story of a painting unveiled as if it was the resolution of a perfect crime.


Lauluja utopiasta
2017 · 57m · FI
The story of Agit Prop, communist band established in 1970.


Caisă
2018 · 1h 24m · RO
After being betrayed by the one he forged into a boxing World Champion, Dobre, a veteran boxing coach, devotes himself to train his new pupil Caisă.


The Ceremony
2015 · 1h 15m · DK
In an extravagant house in Paris, people gather for sexual ceremonies in luxurious environments. The 83-year-old author, Catherine Robbe-Grillet is the brains and heart behind the erotic role playing. She is the dominatrix who controls what goes on and her partner, who is 31 years her junior, has promised to submit to her smallest command. Lina Mannheimer portrays a puzzling, intellectual and deeply fascinating woman who, accompanied by her husband Alain Robbe-Grillet, has dedicated herself to investigating sex both in life and in literature. The sadomasochistic ceremonies are presented with an intense presence and cinematic focus in this beautiful and thought-provoking debut film about desire, power and silk scarves.
The 2010s belonged to the franchise: shared universes, legacy sequels, and a superhero cycle at peak cultural saturation. It was simultaneously a strong decade for independent film, as streaming money found the margins.
Documentary covers everything from observational vérité to essay film and true crime. The form's best work argues rather than merely records, and the last two decades of streaming demand have made it a commercial genre as much as an artistic one.