The 10 Best Documentary Movies Ever Made, According To Rotten Tomatoes

While many dismiss documentaries as "boring" or only worth watching if they're about true-crime stories, folks who've delved deep into this strain of cinema know the exciting truth: documentaries are one of the most captivating and vital forms of cinematic storytelling out there. This medium of filmmaking is constantly producing outstanding works that change how cinema can operate, profoundly touching viewers with accounts of everyday life. In the world of documentarians, polished reality and strained dedication to conventional three-act narratives are eschewed in favor of rendering accounts of existence ripped straight from our own backyards. There are endless examples of quality documentaries out there that exemplify this truth.

If you're looking for a more eclectic collection from various eras of the 21st century that reflects the medium's boundless potential, just look at the ten best documentary movies ever made according to Rotten Tomatoes. The review aggregate site offers an easy way to discover outstanding documentaries, not to mention the reviews and examinations that really break down why these features are so special. Happily, the ten best-reviewed documentaries on the site cover a fascinatingly wide range of topics, including sports stories, sagas about musicians who aren't quite superstars, historical atrocities specific to America, and so much more. Want to disprove your friends who are convinced documentaries are tedious fodder only good for classroom teaching? Just show them this list of the ten best documentaries per Rotten Tomatoes.

Music documentaries about famous bands are a dime a dozen. However, 2009's "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" became an acclaimed masterpiece of the documentary genre by daring to focus on a gaggle of musicians who weren't household names. Instead, this project chronicled Anvil, a Canadian metal band that had some clout in the 80s but never reached super-stardom. The band still tours today, but those activities occur between their everyday jobs in transportation, construction, and other areas. Even with reality bearing down on their respective heads, Anvil is determined to keep on rocking. Their exploits in "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" result in a feature that's completely unsurprising solely in how acclaimed it was. Of course people would fall head over heels for a movie this engrossing.

While other music documentaries like "Becoming Led Zeppelin" are overly polished and feel like PR jobs, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is unflinching in depicting the messiest parts of this band's existence. Tour date snafus and intense disagreements between band members are just some of the problems reflected on-screen, which just exacerbates the film's emotionally engaging realism between the men. Plus, the combination of the sheer odds stacked against Anvil and the clear affection they have for one another lends an emotional backbone to "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" that's irresistible. Most folks walking into this film will have never heard of its titular band. Once the credits roll, you'll never forget them.

Much like how "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" breathed new life into the world of musician documentaries, Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's directorial effort, "Murderball," lends new, vivid life to the realm of sports cinema. Here, Rubin and Shapiro chronicle various wheelchair rugby players through immersive, dynamic camerawork that really makes the sports-heavy sequences come to life. A charmingly ramshackle filmmaking style that emphasizes how everything on-screen is so off-the-cuff further accentuated how "Murderball" really made moviegoers feel like they were right there watching these athletes' worlds unfold. These qualities were the crux of many positive "Murderball" reviews, which propelled the feature to be not just one of the most acclaimed documentaries ever but one of 2005's standout motion pictures.

Critics also praised "Murderball" for its intimate non-othering approach to chronicling disabled lives on screen; the camera's willingness to focus on various athletes ensures that "Murderball" reflects the reality that there isn't one way to "be" disabled. Meanwhile, critics also applauded the film for functioning simultaneously as a documentary and an emotionally stirring sports drama. Even many of the top sports movies ever released can't hold a candle to the cheer-worthy and profoundly cathartic moments populating "Murderball's" story. On top of everything else, focusing on rugby (a sport not often emphasized in American sports cinema) just further accentuated the movie's distinctiveness. There really is no shortage of outstanding qualities that ensure "Murderball" is a major win for fans of critically acclaimed documentaries.

Among the biggest Matt Damon movies of all time are spectacularly huge blockbusters like the "Bourne" franchise, "The Martian," and "Oppenheimer." However, let's not forget about the star's contributions to arthouse cinema, including narrating the 2010 documentary "Inside Job." Director Charles Ferguson's documentary provides viewers with a portrait of how America ended up in the 2008 financial crisis, chiefly by illustrating that the corruption leading up to this devastating event was no anomaly. Damon's voice guides viewers through decades of history, interviews with financial experts and everyday souls affected by The Great Recession, and so much more. Critics praised "Inside Job" to the heavens, particularly noting how such an informative feature about potentially monotonous subject matter didn't come off at all as a chore to watch.

This was attributed to tight pacing on the part of Ferguson, lively interview segments, and, especially, an undercurrent of justifiable rage at the status quo. "Inside Job" wasn't designed to just be an apolitical bystander to grotesque corruption. Ferguson and others interviewed in the film are clearly agog at what's become "normal" in American society. This enraged point of view informs a movie that had searing spirit coursing through its veins rather than the mechanical tone of someone listing off PowerPoint bullet points. It didn't hurt that Damon's voice provides a recognizable yet down-to-earth vessel to relay important financial information to the viewer. Chalk up "Inside Job" as another major artistic win for Damon.

Animated documentaries are a special breed of cinema. They combine two mediums of cinematic expression (animation and documentaries) often erroneously dismissed by many people as "lesser art" to create extraordinary works. In animated documentaries, very real testimony is combined with imagery that could often only exist in animation that perfectly captures authentic emotions. To witness the potential of animated documentaries, just look at the 2021 masterpiece "Flee." This Jonas Poher Rasmussen directorial effort follows Amin, who shares his story as an Afghan refugee who grew up as a gay man. It's an intimate window into the life of someone who's been forced to remain quiet for so much of his life.

The varying animation styles in "Flee" beautifully reflect the multitude of challenging emotions Amin has experienced while just trying to exist. This visual versatility puts the imagery in many bigger-budgeted narrative animated films to shame while also perfectly conveying the larger-than-life emotions Amin has navigated. These animated touches also allow "Flee" to depict cornerstones of immigrant experiences in ways they've never been realized on film before. Meanwhile, Amin's testimony is so vividly phrased and communicated that just listening to his words is utterly captivating.

"Flee's" most emotionally moving sequences are also ones audiences won't forget; chiefly, an anecdote about his brother late into the film. "Flee" garnered universal critical praise and multiple Oscar nominations following its theatrical run. And how could it not? It's a magnificent film that doubles as a stirring testament to the power of animated documentary filmmaking.

In 2018, critics gave Dan Fogelman's star-studded directorial effort "Life Itself" some of the worst reviews of the year. The feature's bizarre script and inexplicable elements, like the sight of Annette Bening getting hit by a bus and comically excessive time jumps in the film's final scene, were lambasted far and wide. It was a dreary critical reception, especially compared to the euphoric reviews that greeted another movie that shares the title "Life Itself."

This second film, shot by documentary legend Steve James (who had previously helmed the masterpiece "Hoop Dreams"), secured many high marks in 2014 thanks to its thoughtful recounting of the life of Roger Ebert. Arriving a little over a year after Ebert's passing, "Life Itself" placed Ebert's existence into the very medium he dedicated his life to.

Watching "Life Itself" may make viewers feel like George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life" as they watch how one life can touch so many people. The expansive scope of James' camera sees folks ranging from directors like Werner Herzog to other writers to personal friends in the beloved critic's life offer transfixing stories about Ebert. Critics hailed this in-depth approach as superbly reflecting how his legacy wasn't just tied to the reviews he penned. The film's ability to evoke such powerful emotions within viewers without lapsing into an overdose of schmaltz was also a fixture of many positive reviews. These attributes made "Life Itself" a fitting tribute to Ebert, not to mention a far cry from 2018's "Life Itself" reception.

Tired of modern music documentaries that recount the same stories about The Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and John Williams that you've heard so many times before? Allow "20 Feet from Stardom" to provide a respite from that norm with its more working-class perspective on the music industry. This Morgan Neville directorial effort explores the lives of backup singers; they may not be household names, but they've proven to be instrumental to making your favorite songs so glorious. Plus, they're not just defined by the famous singers they support — these artists have ambitions, lives, and complexities of their own. This stirring ode to an unsung (no pun intended) corner of the music industry won the hearts of critics everywhere in 2013. All that acclaim proved to be a vivid harbinger, as "20 Feet from Stardom" built enough critical momentum to win that year's Oscar for best documentary.

Many aspects of Neville's filmmaking garnered praise, but the way "Stardom" handles such a complex tone, one that delicately balances joy, struggles, and everything in between in its compact, 90-minute runtime, was especially raved about. Captivating anecdotes from backup singers like Darlene Love and Lisa Fischer also received universal acclaim. Specifically, critics were impressed by how Neville's camera just lets the focus rest on these fascinating individuals and their everyday lives rather than suffocating their perspectives with externalized visual flourishes. Sometimes, the simplest harmony lives in your head forever. Similarly, "20 Feet from Stardom's" streamlined aesthetic was a recipe for success.

One fascinating element of documentaries is that they often deploy archival material that was never meant to grace a movie theater screen. The home video footage in "Dick Johnson is Dead," for example, or the audio from a meeting with a South African genocide enactor in "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat," or the corporate-mandated anti-union meetings in titles like "American Factory" or "Union" — the list goes on and on. These features offer a window into footage and images that, either through malicious intent or just natural inclinations, were never thought of as material for paying moviegoers.

"Fire of Love" is director Sara Dosa's telling of the story of volcano-obsessed scientists Katia and Maurice Kraft through images and home video footage the couple took of themselves navigating natural lava-covered wonders. The visuals filling the screen in this film were never conceived as material for an Oscar-nominated documentary; how many movies depict an egg sizzling on volcanic ground? Rather, they were just ways to remember massive and dangerous natural phenomena the Krafts were fixated on.

Critics adored "Fire of Love" for its creative use of archival material, which offered staggeringly intimate glimpses of volcanic activity. The overwhelmingly positive reviews also commended Dosa for weaving an appropriately ominous tone as the documentary inevitably ends with the inescapable deaths of the Kraft couple. None of the material comprising "Fire of Love" was ever thought of as being usable in a documentary film. However, critics found that quality to be part of why it's such a visual triumph.

James Baldwin's writing was nothing short of revolutionary. Any television or radio interview with this incredible artist was bound to inspire quotes or perspectives that were nothing short of monumentally insightful. How on Earth, then, do you make a documentary examining Baldwin's life that lives up to his staggering reputation? In 2016, "I Am Not Your Negro," which draws upon Baldwin's uncompleted manuscript, "Remember This Hose," did just that thanks to the ingenuity of director Raoul Peck. The filmmaker's consistently impressive artistry in detailing Baldwin's legacy was hailed as nothing short of a triumph by critics. Leaning heavily on the writer's own words and vivid archival footage imbued this sweeping look at the man's life and worldview with real verve.

Rather than diluting Baldwin's transgressive nature for mainstream viewers, critics were impressed that Peck's form for "I Am Not Your Negro" was as unpredictable and boundary-pushing as the writer's own words. A cinematic ode that was equally unwilling to embrace the status quo as its subject, "I Am Not Your Negro" garnered acclaim for conceptually simple elements like which pieces of archival footage of Baldwin's on-air monologues were utilized. The movie isn't interested in sanding down Baldwin's edges to make him more palatable to audiences. As a result, Peck produced a film as groundbreaking as the man whose life it celebrates.

If any production exemplifies how documentaries shine a light on lives and events general society ignores, it would be Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's 2021 film, "Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)." The very definition of an underrated documentary you need to watch, "Summer of Soul" chronicles the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Now a historical footnote, footage of this event languished in obscurity for decades, but "Summer of Soul" gussies up this footage and presents it in the form of a movie that's nearly as toe-tapping as experiencing the event in person must have been. Questlove lends a loving ambiance to his handling of the various performances that comprised this glorious gathering of musicians. Simultaneously, he also makes sure to put into context the larger historical and activism-based importance of this event that helped close out the '60s.

This deft blending of seemingly paradoxical tones made "Summer of Soul" a winner with critics, who also praised Questlove for new interview segments where many singers from the Harlem Cultural Festival watch footage of themselves performing decades earlier. These deeply moving scenes, particularly one where The 5th Dimension members relive their glorious public performance, are truly a sight to behold and speak to the emotional power Questlove so effortlessly wrings out of his film. Hands down one of the best documentaries of 2021, "Summer of Soul" reaffirms the iconic nature of a forgotten musical event.

Before Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrayed Philippe Petit with an infamously over-the-top French accent in "The Walk," the real-life tightrope walker got the documentary treatment in "Man on Wire." The feature charted Petit's incredible feat of pulling off a high-wire walk across New York's Twin Towers in 1974. This stunt, which everybody thought was impossible, captivated the world in 1974 and, through this 2008 documentary, transfixed modern audiences as well. The rare motion picture to have an absolutely perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, "Man on Wire" was one of 2008's critical darlings. Critics and audiences alike were united in their praise of how director James Marsh managed to make Petit's recounting of past historical events feel like they were happening in real time. This was no rigid trudge through yesteryear but, rather, something vivid that appeared to be happening before our very eyes.

Petiti's lively nature as an interview subject, even decades after he first pulled off his unthinkable high-wire act, also received critical praise. Some documentary subjects merely sit down and stare straight at the camera while recalling the past. Petit, however, overflows with energy as exhibited by his grand hand gestures and physicality. These qualities ensured in-the-moment entertainment for viewers but also gave "Man on Wire" some real energy fitting for its subject matter. Most importantly, Marsh's captivating filmmaking allows viewers to appreciate the ordinary humanity behind seemingly impossible historical feats. Even the grandest stunts come from the minds of otherwise ordinary men like Philippe Petit.