Top 100 Documentary Movies of 2022
- 1
The Great Buster - A Celebration
October 5, 2018THE GREAT BUSTER celebrates the life and career of one of America's most influential and celebrated filmmakers and comedians, Buster Keaton, whose singular styl...
- 2
Westside vs the World
May 7, 2019Westside Barbell is essentially what would happen if the Hell's Angels traded in their Harley Davidsons for squat racks and chalk. It is a collection of some of...
- 3
Deep Blues
October 13, 2021In 1990, commissioned by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, veteran music film director Robert Mugge and renowned music scholar Robert Palmer ventured deep into the he...
- 4
Show Me the Father
September 10, 2021An inspiring, emotional journey, the first documentary from the creators of War Room features amazing, true stories.
- 5
The Alpinist
November 2, 2021As the sport of climbing turns from a niche pursuit to mainstream media event, Marc-André Leclerc climbs alone, far from the limelight. On remote alpine faces,...
- 6
Studio 54
October 5, 2018For 33 months, from 1977 to 1980, the nightclub Studio 54 was the place to be seen in Manhattan. A haven of hedonism, tolerance, glitz and glamor, Studio was ve...
- 7
Operation Odessa
February 20, 2019True crime thriller about a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy and a Cuban spy who teamed up to sell a nuclear submarine to a Colombian drug cartel. This gangster...
- 8
The Kybalion
January 11, 2022In 1908, an occult manuscript would mystify those interested in metaphysics and the unseen world. The Kybalion, penned by a mysterious author known as Three Ini...
- 9
Only the Dead
December 31, 2021When the invasion of Iraq ended no one knew what was to come. In the midst of the celebrations, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the most vicious of Al Qaeda leaders, laid...
- 10
Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind: Contact Has Begun
April 7, 2020As UFO’s suddenly grace the covers of the NY Times and Washington Post in the age of “fake news” and #conspiracy memes, how can we make sense of these rev...
- 11
Bowling for Columbine
October 11, 2002Bowling for Columbine is an alternately humourous and horrifying film about the United States. It is a film about the state of the Union, about the violent soul...
- 12
Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness
January 7, 2022What is consciousness? Is it in all living beings? Why are we predisposed for mystical experience? And what happens when we die? With haunting cinematography, A...
- 13
Secret Space UFOs: Rise of the TR3B
December 14, 2021The legendary TR3B is said to be the very first Alien Reproduction Vehicle that the military built secretly for space exploration. History of triangular UFO sig...
- 14
Fantastic Fungi
October 11, 2019When so many are struggling for connection, inspiration and hope, Fantastic Fungi brings us together as interconnected creators of our world. Fantastic Fungi...
- 15
Walk With Me
August 11, 2017With unprecedented access, ‘Walk With Me’ takes us deep inside the world-famous monastery of Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, and captures the life of a...
- 16
Restrepo
June 27, 2010Winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for documentary, RESTREPO chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Ko...
- 17
The Price of Everything
October 19, 2018Exploring the labyrinth of the contemporary art world, The Price of Everything examines the role of art and artistic passion in today’s money-driven, consumer...
- 18
The Gospel According to André
May 25, 2018André Leon Tally has been a fixture in the world of fashion for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of gre...
- 19
Catfish (2010)
September 17, 2010In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel’s brother, Nev. They had no idea that...
- 20
Overdosed
May 31, 2021The troubling turmoil of the deadly American opioid crisis unfolds in the small rural town of Petersburg, West Virginia, the state hardest hit by this epidemic....
- 21
Hitler: A Career
July 8, 1977“Hitler: A Career” is Joachim Fest's controversial German documentary film about the inevitability of Hitler and Fascism within Germany. Narrated by Stephen...
- 22
Resurgence
July 30, 2021To be called the Fittest on Earth, one would have to be capable of conquering a number of both physical and mental challenges. In the year of 2020, those challe...
- 23
The September Issue
September 4, 2009An intimate, funny and surprising behind-the-scenes look at VOGUE'S legendary editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her team of larger-than- life editors, the 2009 S...
- 24
Soros
November 20, 2020Billionaire activist George Soros is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. He is maligned by ideologues on both the left and the ri...
- 25
Michelangelo Revealed
May 13, 2009Following the investigations of art historian, Antonio Forcellino, this documentary sheds new light upon the shadows of Michelangelo's dark past and his volatil...
- 26
It Might Get Loud
August 14, 2009Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of ele...
- 27
MLK/FBI
January 15, 2021Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered today as an American hero: a bridge-builder, a shrewd political tactician, and a moral leader. Yet throughout his histo...
- 28
Korengal
September 9, 2014Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war. Korengal expl...
- 29
Michael Jackson's This Is It
October 28, 2009Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT is a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts at London’s...
- 30
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
July 16, 2021It's not where you go. It's what you leave behind…Chef, writer, adventurer, provocateur: Anthony Bourdain lived his life unabashedly. Roadrunner: A Film About...
- 31
Senna
August 12, 2011The story of the monumental life and tragic death of legendary Brazilian motor-racing Champion, Ayrton Senna. Spanning the decade from his arrival in Formula On...
- 32
Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (Classic Album)
July 10, 2020The remarkable story of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ is told here by its leading players including Meat Loaf himself, composer Jim Steinman, producer Todd Rundgren, an...
- 33
The Girl Who Wore Freedom
June 1, 2021Discover the untold stories of D-Day from the men, women and children who lived through German occupation and Allied liberation of Normandy, France.
- 34
Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room
January 17, 2006Writer/director Alex Gibney examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Based on the book by Fortune...
- 35
The Game Changers
September 16, 2019Executive produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan, The Game Changers follows James Wilks — elite Special Forces trainer and winner of...
- 36
Beyond Impossible
January 11, 2022Beyond Impossible exposes the corruption of the fake meat industry and how it ties in with the sinister plans of a global elite. Health expert Vinnie Tortorich ...
- 37
One Direction: This Is Us
August 30, 2013Follows the UK boy band One Direction for a year as they embark on a world tour.
- 38
Conor McGregor: Notorious
November 14, 2017Conor McGregor is the biggest star in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. Filmed over the course of 4 years, Notorious is the exclusive, all access account of Co...
- 39
The Biggest Little Farm
May 10, 2019The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harv...
- 40
Finding Kendrick Johnson
July 30, 2021On January 11th, 2013, Kendrick Johnson was found dead in his high school gymnasium rolled up in a gym mat. 'FINDING KENDRICK JOHNSON' is the feature documenta...
- 41
Charli XCX: Alone Together
January 28, 2022Seeking solace in music during the COVID-19 pandemic, global pop star Charli XCX asks her fans to help her make an album while quarantined at home. Charli embar...
- 42
The Lost Leonardo
August 13, 2021The Lost Leonardo tells the inside story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million, claimed to be a long-lost masterpiece...
- 43
Flee
December 3, 2021Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin opens up about his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan. He looks back over his life as he ...
- 44
A Cops and Robbers Story
January 14, 2022In the 1980s, Corey Pegues was embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death gang confrontation, ...
- 45
The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest On Earth
April 3, 2018In 2017 the fittest athletes on Earth took on the unknown and unknowable during four of the most intense days of competition in CrossFit Games history. “The R...
- 46
Dark Matter
December 24, 2019World-renowned snowboarders Travis Rice and Elias Elhardt team up with legendary director Curt Morgan for a celebration of space and time filmed in the deep bac...
- 47
Grizzly Man
August 12, 2005In this mesmerizing new film, acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy T...
- 48
Banking on Bitcoin
January 6, 2017Bitcoin is the most disruptive invention since the internet, and now an ideological battle is underway between fringe utopists and mainstream capitalism. Bitcoi...
- 49
The Wall - Climb for Gold
January 18, 2022A uniquely emotional documentary feature film that will touch the heart of audiences around the world. Four female climbers face the sporting challenge of a lif...
- 50
Warren Miller's Face of Winter
March 2, 2021If winter puts a smile on your face, it’s something you had in common with the late, great Warren Miller. The warm, witty, mildly eccentric godfather of the s...
- 51
Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story
June 30, 2020Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story chronicles the life and times of the legendary filmmaker who, through his annual ski films and national tours which began in th...
- 52
Blackfish
July 19, 2013Killer whales are beloved, majestic, friendly giants, yet infamous for their capacity to kill viciously. Blackfish unravels the complexities of this dichotomy, ...
- 53
The Summit
October 4, 2013In August, 2008, 18 mountain climbers reached the top of K2. 48 hours later, 11 people were dead. While memorials paid tribute to those killed, there were also ...
- 54
2018: The Ultimate Test
December 7, 2021Just before the 2018 CrossFit Games, a new direction was handed down from the leadership team, instigating an overhaul of the sport. Big changes were on the hor...
- 55
The Jesus Music
October 1, 2021With stirring songs of faith, love, and hope, the Jesus Music movement rose from America’s 1960s counterculture to become a worldwide phenomenon. This fascina...
- 56
Meru
August 14, 2015Rising 21,000 feet above the sacred Ganges River, the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru is the ultimate test in the high-stakes world of big-wall climbing. The "anti-...
- 57
The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley
March 18, 2019Riveting look at the now-defunct company Theranos and its enigmatic founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose ambition to revolutionize blood testing through biot...
- 58
Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers
December 4, 2018Narrated by Oscar Nominee MICKEY ROURKE - Former Government physicist Bob Lazar made headlines world-wide in 1989 when he came forward with his account of rever...
- 59
March of the Penguins
January 21, 2005In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long j...
- 60
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
November 20, 2007The award-winning documentary about the fascinating and harrowing making of Apocalypse Now, one of the most celebrated films in American cinema.
- 61
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
November 12, 2021Join The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on an intimate journey through his legendary career as he reminisces with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend, Jason Fine...
- 62
The Aristocrats
September 2, 2005This documentary about the world's funniest dirty joke features over 100 stand-up and performing comedians discussing and telling the joke. Since the joke, whic...
- 63
Hell or High Seas
October 12, 2021Hell or High Seas is a real-life, modern-day odyssey: one man's attempt to sail Cape Horn, raise awareness about veterans' suicide, and calm the storms within.
- 64
Heal
December 5, 2017Director Kelly Noonan Gores' documentary takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover that our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have a huge i...
- 65
Where to Invade Next
February 12, 2016Just in time for election season, America's favorite political provocateur, Michael Moore, is back with his new film, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT. Honored by festivals...
- 66
Stoke the Fire
October 26, 2021Throughout Stoke the Fire, the viewer will be taken from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, all the way to Alaska, and many places between. Along this journey, the viewer i...
- 67
Water Lilies of Monet: The Magic of Water and Light
February 7, 2020A journey through the masterpieces and obsessions of the Genius of the Impressionism. From Giverny, Musée D’Orsay, Orangerie and Marmottan. Water Lilies of M...
- 68
The Truffle Hunters
March 5, 2021Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle—which to date has ...
- 69
The Prado Museum: A Collection of Wonders
April 15, 2019The first cinematic journey through the rooms, stories and emotions of one of the most visited museums in the world. Its wealth of over 8000 art treasures is a ...
- 70
Borrowed Future
October 21, 2021There’s a massive student loan crisis in America. Millions have found themselves buried beneath a mountain of debt. Entire generations are trapped. Borrowed F...
- 71
The Last Waltz (1978)
April 26, 1978On Thanksgiving Day, 1976, The Band gave its farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco. On hand to help say goodbye to this influential rock group were so...
- 72
Ken Burns: The Central Park Five
November 23, 2012In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. The Central Park...
- 73
The Art of Flight
September 8, 2011A new breed of action sports film comes to life as Red Bull Media House, in association with Brain Farm Digital Cinema, present “The Art of FLIGHT”, a Curt ...
- 74
Dear Rodeo: The Cody Johnson Story
September 3, 2021Dear Rodeo recounts country music singer Cody Johnson's real-life journey from the dusty rodeo arenas of rural Texas to some of the biggest musical stages in Am...
- 75
The Dawn Wall
September 19, 2018In January, 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their effort to climb the Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible...
- 76
American Experience: The Gilded Age
February 6, 2018The Gilded Age presents a compelling and complex story of one of the most convulsive and transformative eras in American history.
- 77
2040
June 5, 2020Award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the soluti...
- 78
SILVERBACK: The Trent Williams Story
December 14, 2021Trent Williams is one of the most athletic and successful offensive linemen in NFL history. The eight-time first-ballot Pro Bowler can go from clearing 5-foot-h...
- 79
Free Solo
September 28, 2018A stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of free solo climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream:scaling the face of the world’s ...
- 80
Dying Laughing
February 24, 2017Dying Laughing is a candid look inside the complicated and fascinating lives of some of the world’s greatest stand-up comedians. A beautiful, funny and unique...
- 81
Salt in My Soul
January 21, 2022Based on Mallory Smith’s posthumously published memoir of the same name, Salt In My Soul offers a rare look inside the mind of a young woman trying to live fu...
- 82
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
November 19, 2021Experience the extraordinary life of author Kurt Vonnegut, through the 25-year friendship with the filmmaker who set out to document it.
- 83
The Phenomenon
October 6, 2020Director James Fox’s explosive documentary is being hailed as the most credible and revealing film ever made about the long-standing global cover-up and myste...
- 84
Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words
January 31, 2020Although Clarence Thomas remains a controversial figure, few know him beyond his contentious confirmation battle. But beyond the headlines, Thomas’ life is a ...
- 85
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
November 17, 2016In 1962 four young men - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - came together to form the 20th century musical phenomenon known as 'The ...
- 86
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same
October 26, 1976This unique rock concert film experience captures the essence of Led Zeppelin, one of the most exciting and durable rock bands of all time. Filmed during the gr...
- 87
Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show
October 30, 2014“Showrunners” is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligne...
- 88
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
March 9, 2012JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is the story of 85-year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro,...
- 89
Hermitage: The Power of Art
October 21, 2019The film treats The Hermitage as a living being. It tells the story of the daily life of the museum today continuously leaving the ‘here and now’ to retrace...
- 90
Paris is Burning
June 9, 1990Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New Y...
- 91
Loose Change 9/11
September 22, 2009Elf september 2001. Een gebeurtenis en een dag die velen nooit zullen vergeten. Voor een groeiend aantal mensen is dit echter niet een gebeurtenis die tijdens h...
- 92
Shine a Light
July 29, 2008Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the world's greatest rock n' roll band, The Rolling Stones, unite to bring audiences the year's most extraor...
- 93
Try Harder!
December 3, 2021Seniors at one of the best public high schools in the country face the pressure of applying to elite colleges.
- 94
The Dissident
December 18, 2020From Academy Award-Winning director Bryan Fogel (ICARUS), The Dissident is a critically acclaimed edge-of-your-seat, adrenaline-filled thriller that plays out a...
- 95
K2: Siren of the Himalayas
November 4, 2014Four world-class alpinists including National Geographic's Explorer of the Year Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner team up in a dangerous foray of high altitude mountaineer...
- 96
Inside Job
October 8, 2010Academy Award® Winner for Best Documentary Feature "INSIDE JOB" from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker, Charles Ferguson (No End In Sight), comes Inside Job, t...
- 97
The Seven Five
May 7, 2015Meet the dirtiest cop in New York City history. In the 1980s, Michael Dowd patrolled the mean streets of one of the toughest precincts in Brooklyn. He also head...
- 98
Putin: The New Empire
February 28, 2017Unravelling the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, that is Russia. Since Russia was brought to its knees in the 1990s by crippling debt and the gri...
moviesrankings.com rankings of the top 100 best documentary movies of 2022 and all time. Lists of documentary films and award winners to help you figure out what to watch now.