50 True Crime Documentaries You Really Shouldn’t Miss

Subtitled When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, this eye-opening docuseries chronicles the decade a serial killer went unchecked by an indifferent and biased police force, as well as the aftermath. Paying particular attention to the lives of the victims, each episode paints a portrait of a man who is dearly missed, while exploring his murder without exploitation.

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Another must-listen comes from the hosts of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan and Asad Butt. She's a Pakistani American immigrant, activist, and lover of all things true-crime; he's a media entrepreneur, an adviser, and a Muslim navigating a post-9/11 America; and together, they've launched a true-crime podcast with a specific purpose: shining the spotlight on hate crimes.

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Got 40 minutes to spare? Queue up this short doc that weaves the L.A. Dodgers, a man on trial for murder, and an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm into one thrilling yarn. We don't want to give too much away—going in blind is recommended with this one—but in 2003, a teen named Martha Puebla was killed in Los Angeles, Catalan was arrested for her murder, and his alibi? A home run.

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"If you could call a number and say you’re sorry, and no one would know, what would you apologize for?" That's the premise of The Apology Line, a WTAF? hotline open to New Yorkers in the '80s and '90s, run by a man known as Mr. Apology. Now, those confessions, which involve adultery, theft, and even murder, are the driving intrigue behind this Wondery podcast hosted by Mr. Apology's wife, Marissa Bridge. And just like the social experiment it explores, this audio show gets dark.

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Any vintage crime obsessees out there? Meet the daddy of wrongful-conviction documentaries. The time is November 1976. The place is Dallas, Texas. In a total miscarriage of justice, Randall Adams suffered for 12 years following the murder of a police officer during a routine stop. A groundbreaking fact-finding feat, Errol Morris's 1988 deep-dive was instrumental in getting Adams exonerated.

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The police kill about 1,100 people a year. The highest number to ever face convictions, however, is only 11. That's a sobering statistic dropped in Stanley Nelson and Valerie Scoon's new Hulu film. Exploring the two systems of justice at work in this nation, the directors offer an in-depth look at why the relationship between Black people and the police is like a time bomb ready to explode.

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Dopesick, Painkiller, American Pain: The opioid epidemic has spread to the small screen in both documentary and Hollywood reenactment form. But the best chronicling of how Purdue made billions off getting people with chronic pain addicted to opiates comes from Alex Gibney, the filmmaker behind The Inventor and Going Clear. Watch this one before finishing the others.

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In the wake of the Camp Pendleton story, we feel it's necessary to revisit Kirby Dick's engrossing 2012 documentary about another disgusting obstacle women in the military face: rape. Telling the stories of several women who were sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers, the film goes further by exposing an epidemic that's been covered up for decades by higher-ranking officials.

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For 10 seasons, the Duggar family, a massive brood of far-right Baptists, raked in the ratings for TLC with their reality series about Jim Bob and Michelle raising their 19 children "and counting" in Arkansas. Come to find out later, the people on camera were not at all shiny, and most definitely not happy. A web of deception, religion, and abuse, this four-parter is full of so many scandals … we’re still counting.

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USA Gymnastics, the massive governing body for the sport, was brought to its knees in 2016, when the IndyStar, a humble newspaper operating out of a small newsroom, broke the story about athletes being molested by Olympic doctor Larry Nassar and the organization turning a blind eye. Unfolding via the story’s heroic reporters, Athlete A gives these survivors, once silenced and abused, their power back.

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Giving voices, names, and stories to Black girls and women who have either gone missing or been murdered, the Black Girl Gone podcast wants to “humanize these victims.” Challenging bias and the media’s fascination with missing white women, host and executive producer Amara Cofer hopes to cut through the syndrome and shine a light on underreported cases involving women of color.

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Docs have a way of unfurling into fascinating tales lightyears beyond their genesis. Dear Zachary, an infuriating and astonishing watch from Kurt Kuenne, more than fits that mold. In what begins as a celebration of life and a way for a little boy named Zachary to get to know the father he’ll never meet, Andrew Bagby, the film takes a devastating detour into deceit, murder, and baffling Canadian law.

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Back in 2011, a Dallas doctor named Christopher Duntsch promised his patients he could fix them. Instead, he maimed most of them, and in two cases, killed them. Podcast host and reporter Laura Beil ventures into twisted mind of this real-life villain, interviewing the surgeon’s former colleagues and patients still suffering from his gross medical malpractice. At once a white-coat thriller and examination of a failed system, Dr. Death is just what the doctor ordered.

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A pyramid scheme infested with actors as bad as the fast-fashion they were hawking, LuLaRoe was the billion-dollar clothing company behind all those patterned leggings that plagued your social media feeds back in the early 2010s. LulaRich is the four-part docuseries that goes behind those busted seams, exposing the founders, DeAnne and Mark Stidham; their lies; and how they misled thousands of women.

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Sports documentarian Ezra Edelman takes on 1995’s Trial of the Century, extending beyond the tabloid fodder that captivated the nation and shedding new light on the making and un-making of Orenthal James Simpson. An ambitious and unflinching feat tackling themes of race, culture, fame, and a nation divided, ESPN’s five-parter holds nothing back, even giving the mic to the jurors behind the verdict.

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ReMastered is a riveting Netflix docuseries that examines high-profile events that shook the music industry. And though every installment is worth your time, it’s The Two Killings of Sam Cooke we’d like to highlight. A robust 72-minute film brimming with archival footage and interviews with music legends, Kelly Duane de la Vega’s film dives into the life and murder of the tenacious civil rights activist and soul icon of the ’60s whose voiced was silenced when he was shot to death in 1964.

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Alex Lewis, an Englishman whose memory was wiped after a motorcycle crash when he was 18, wants to know who he is, where he came from, what his childhood was like. His twin brother, Marcus, holds the key. But in an effort to protect his brother, Marcus keeps the secrets locked away. Until now. In a gripping film that finally gives the two closure, Marcus peels back the layers of memory and delusion, laying bare a very real, very raw truth that will rock you to the core.

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More true crime from Evil Genius executive producers Jay and Mark Duplass, Wild Wild Country is a journey into the notorious Rajneeshpuram cult that left India in the ’80s and set up their utopia in a tiny town in Oregon. A wild ride that includes just about every way to break the law, from attempted murder and biological warfare, the series unloads six glorious hours of bonkers U.S. history.

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