If you're sick of watching all the same Christmas films you did last year, someone’s gone and made a list of mind-blowing docs that are guaranteed to ‘break your brain’ if that’s the kind of thing you’re in to.
Having her own list of suggestions ready to go, social media manager at Letterboxd, Flynn Slicker, wrote on X: “Drop the best documentary that you’ve seen. One that blew your mind and you couldn’t stop thinking about for weeks. I want something that will break my brain.”
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Over on the social film platform, Slicker has created a list of more than 90 documentaries she recommends to others.
And the content really is pretty varied. In the mix, there’s a couple of music films like Amy which covers the life of London-born singer Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back from back in 1967 and Moonage Daydream which explores David Bowie’s creative and musical journey.
But then there’s really quite dark stuff.
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The Act of Killing from 2012 is at the top of Slicker’s list and exposes ‘the horrifying mass executions of accused communists in Indonesia and those who are celebrated in their country for perpetrating the crime’.
Then there’s the infamous Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer which landed on Netflix back in 2019 and has become quite the cult watch.
That’s of course the doc about the group of online justice seekers who aim to track down a guy who posted a clip of him killing kittens.
Another famous watch, there’s the 2017 Abducted in Plain Sight about the 1974 abduction of 12-year-old Jan Broberg.
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Or, turning the genre over to animals, there’s the legendary 2013 documentary film Blackfish which heavily features Tilikum, the orca held at SeaWorld.
The full list is as follows:
The Act of Killing
The Dissident
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What Remains
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Free Solo
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Three Identical Strangers
Africa Addio
Welfare
Man on Wire
Burden of Dreams
The Thin Blue Line
Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War
Navalny
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
The Fog of War
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Hoop Dreams
Grey Gardens
Moonage Daydream
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
The Queen of Versailles
A Certain Kind of Death
Blackfish
Tim's Vermeer
Icarus
Rich Hill
The Century of the Self
The Ashram Children: I Am No Body, I Have No Body
The Rescue
Baraka
Touching the Void
Koyaanisqatsi
Meru
Into Great Silence
Harlan County U.S.A.
Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey
Citizenfour
Into the Abyss
Winnebago Man
63 Up
My Eye Is Reflecting
In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Exit Through the Gift Shop
They Shall Not Grow Old
Sans Soleil
Fire of Love
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Original Cast Album: Company
Senna
Amy
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths
American Nightmare
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary
Abducted in Plain Sight
King Corn
N.Y.H.C.
Jodorowsky's Dune
Mermaids: The Body Found
The History of Tetris World Records
The Last Waltz
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
My Brother Jordan
Massacre of the Mormons
The Imposter
No Other Land
Separated
Everybody Street
Grand Prix: The Killer Years
The House I Live In
13th
The Hidden Life of Trees
Evil Genius
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
Phoenix Rising
Life of Crime: 1984-2020
The Art of the Steal
The Gleaners and I
Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back
HyperNormalisation
The Seven Five
9/11: One Day in America
Stevie
For Sama
The Vietnam War
My Octopus Teacher
The Pharmacist
A Trip to Infinity
The Same River Twice
Salesman
Wild Wild Country
Titicut Follies
Leviathan
Topics: Documentaries, Film, Netflix, True Crime
Jess Battison