Since the 2000s, true crime documentaries slowly began picking up in popularity. At this point, they are must-watch events when a new one comes out. With how many utterly groundbreaking documentaries there have been, it’s not all that hard to see why. There’s something innately fascinating about looking at real-life events.
That’s double when it’s looking at cases where people have unjustly been convicted or murdered. Some of the documentaries have been so good that they spawned feature-length movies or miniseries based on the crimes.
10 The Paradise Lost Trilogy Covered The Trials Of The West Memphis Three Who Were Convicted Of Committing Satanic Sacrifices
Paradise Lost is a rare documentary with so much content that it couldn’t be contained into a single movie, spawning out two other movies that helped form the trilogy. The films detailed the cases of the West Memphis three. They were three teenagers accused of the murder and sexual mutilation of three prepubescent boys.
It’s believed that the crimes were committed as a form of a satanic ritual. The details of the crimes were rather horrific, as was how the case was handled by authorities.
9 Devil’s Knot Grabbed A Few Big-Named Actors & Did An Admirable Job With The Material
Devil’s Knot is a film based on the West Memphis Three that starred Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon in the leading roles as a police detective and one of the boy’s mothers. The movie does a good job of sticking to the facts and not veering off too much from that.
It takes a liberty or two, but only to keep the narrative more tightly wound. Its only drawback is that much of the information had been gone over thanks to the well-received documentaries and felt a little rehashed.
8 OJ: Made In America Was The Pinnacle Of ESPN’s 30 For 30 Series
ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series has always been one of the best things about the sports titan. They deep dive on events that changed sports in ways few others do, and the OJ: Made In America was the greatest of those. Normally, the events get done in a single part, but OJ: Made In America spanned five episodes, creating an entire mini-series on the man who polarized the world.
Despite all that had already come out about the case, the documentary manages to get viewers to look at it all through a new lens, creating a compelling 7 and a half hours of content.
7 The People Vs O.J. Simpson Was A Great Fx Original With A Reminder Of How Good An Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Is
As far as miniseries go, The People v. O.J. Simpson is one of the greatest in existence. Much like ESPN’s 30 for 30, it managed to present the information of the case in a new way, giving a bevy of characters room to development.
With so many characters, it allowed viewers to get numerous viewpoints on the case. That said, the anchor of the entire show was easily Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson. He was a revelation and reminded people what an outstanding actor he is.
6 The Jinx Spawned From Robert Durst Contacting The Director Of The Movie Inspired By His Story & Was The First Time He’d Ever Spoke To A Journalist
In a strange turn of events, The Jinx, a six-part series based on real estate heir Robert Durst came to be due to the fictionalized movie based on his story. Durst contacted Andrew Jarecki after watching the movie and expressed his admiration for the film, even offering to be interviewed.
What followed was a hard-hitting series that focused on the case and the sit-down interviews the two had together. Most chilling is the fact that Durst seemingly confesses while in the bathroom, forgetting the microphone is still on.
5 All The Good Things Is One Of The Rare Fictionalized Movies That Helped Spawn The Documentary
As detailed, All the Good Things helped spawn the documentary rather than vice versa. The film wasn’t even a direct retelling of the crimes but was deeply inspired by them.
Gosling plays a character much like Durst, an heir to a real estate empire who had a strained relationship with his wife and was soon suspected of a series of murders, including the eventual disappearance of his wife. By the end of the film, the character was never brought to justice.
4 The Iceman Tapes: Conversations Of A Killer Is A Rare Documentary That Doesn’t Try To Humanize The Killer At All
There is a high amount of true crime documentaries that try to humanize the killers in them and in some cases, that’s more than deserved as they didn’t belong in prison in the first place. However, it’s done with even hardened criminals as well.
Thankfully, Iceman Tapes doesn’t do any of that, showing Richard Kuklinski for the awful man that he is. There’s no attempt to make viewers feel bad for him, but rather make them feel discomfort over the lack of feeling the contract killer has.
3 Michael Shannon Had Perhaps His Best Performance In The Iceman
While others on this list have been more big-budget movies, The Iceman is more of an indie production, despite having a cast with Chris Evans, Winona Ryder, and Michael Shannon. Shannon, in particular, helps carry the film with his riveting performance as Richard Kuklinski.
He captured the chilling lack of empathy towards his victims that the real Kuklinski had. By the end of the film, he admits that the only thing he’s sorry about is putting his family at risk due to his work.
2 The Jeffrey Dahmer Files Is A Documentary That Implements Fictonalized Re-enactments Of Key Moments In Dahmer’s Life
Keeping a documentary compelling for the duration of its runtime can be far harder than people want to admit. This is especially true of a serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer, who has had his story told numerous times.
It’s why the Jeffrey Dahmer Files was smart to sprinkle in re-enactments by Andrew Swant. It gives the whole documentary an entirely different feel, helping spice up the breaks between interviews with various people regarding the case.
1 My Friend Dahmer Delves Into Jeffrey’s Childhood Right Up Until His First Murder
Any journey into Jeffrey Dahmer’s life tends to focus on his time as a serial killer, only going into his time beforehand briefly. My Friend Dahmer decides to focus the entire film on that portion of his life, leading right up to the moment where he commits his first murder.
What the film does well is staying both accurate to reality and not trying to paint Dahmer as some misunderstood kid. It doesn’t shy away from showing how deranged he was, even as a teenager.
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