Best HBO Documentaries

fred-rogers

Director: Dan Reed

Leaving Neverland, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, leaves audiences to confront two deeply unsettling personal accounts of sexual abuse by Michael Jackson. Wade Robson and James Safechuck, now adults, vulnerably recount the experiences that led up to and followed their experiences with the pop star, illuminating the carefully executed nature of the consistent abuse. The interviews are split between Robson and Safechuck, as well as their family members, painting a detailed picture of how they came to be groomed under a popular celebrity, and the silencing feeling of not being believed. Though Jackson crafted Neverland as a world of imagination and wonder, Leaving Neverland suspends that dream world and instead uncovers a nightmare.

Director: Chris Moukarbel

Drag began private and underground, in clubs where the “freaks and weirdos” could freely be themselves. Now, drag is performed at highly popularized events, and catapulted to public perception through RuPaul’s Drag Race. An illuminating documentary about the rise of drag culture in mainstream media, Wig centers on Wigstock, an outdoor drag fest that started in New York City in the late ‘80s and has since been revived. Aside from the glitter and glitz of drag performance, Wig delves into other aspects of the drag community, discussing the HIV epidemic, a shifting culture in New York after 9/11, and questions what’s next for drag culture now that it’s more mainstream. Drag icons of the past and present reminisce on the culture’s past and anticipate its future in this documentary.

Director: Susan Lacy

Younger audiences may know of Jane Fonda as an actress and political activist; Jane Fonda in Five Acts shows us how she got there. The AFI Life Achievement Award winner tells her story, her way, starting from the beginning. Fonda goes into intimate detail about her relationship with her father (actor Henry Fonda), and the ways that their relationship shaped her entire life. The actress also explains how her pivot into political activism at the peak of her stardom challenged her to remain authentic to important causes. Through the documentary, Fonda explains her need to always be in “perpetual change” as a means to silence insecurity and self-doubt.

Director: Francis Whately

In the last five years of David Bowie’s life, he released his first album in a decade, wrote songs for a Broadway play, and became the oldest recipient of the Brit Awards. Bowie is lauded as a triple threat, actor, singer and songwriter, and heralded as one of the original provocateurs of his era. David Bowie: The Last Five Years not only explores the final years of the singer-songwriter’s life, but takes a look back at how it all started. Those closest to Bowie are interviewed and share pieces of Bowie’s creative process and intention behind his art. The audience gets a look at the whirlwind final years of Bowie’s life in a spectacular and genuine tribute to the artist.

Director: Morgan Neville

Fred Rogers was a continuous advocate for children. Though he first intended to become a minister, Rogers saw television as an amazing tool to enrich childhood education through visual knowledge and displays of kindness. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? traces Rogers’ career, and highlights the impact that this special man had on kids and adults across the country. Rogers insisted that “love is at the root of everything,” and embarked on a career path that strived to prove just that. Rogers remains a cornerstone of educational television, who created a blueprint that is still followed in children’s shows today.

Director: Jenny Carchman

We often view dog ownership in a positive light, and while there are many beautiful aspects to it, there is an unspoken darkness to having a pet. One Nation Under Dog is split up into three segments, delving into the topics of fear, loss, and betrayal, as owners of beloved canines navigate the difficult sides of having a pet. This documentary chronicles touchy moments where dogs are villainized, abandoned, or sorely missed, and the emotion behind the tough decisions dog owners sometimes have to make.

Director: Liz Garbus

Who Killed Garrett Phillips? centers on the unsolved murder of 12-year-old child Garrett Phillips in 2011, and the ends to which the town of Potsdamn, New York will go to find the killer. Through the documentary, the audience learns of a broad range of corruption and controversy surrounding both the case and the police department at large, the biggest point of contention being that the police department’s only suspect is one of the only black men in the racially tense area. It is also noted that the police department may have purposely ignored evidence that pointed to other suspects who were never investigated. Messy details about the police chief and ignored evidence get more and more convoluted, begging the question: who killed Garrett Phillips?

Director: Jason Hehir

WWE legend André the Giant (born André René Roussimof) passed away nearly 27 years ago, after a long and fascinating career as a professional wrestler. In this biographical documentary, director Jason Hehir interviews Roussimof’s family members, professional associates and friends, in order to restore a colorful picture of the WWE legend. The story starts with the wrestler’s roots in France, and details his knowledge from a young age that he wanted to “be somebody.” André the Giant gives us a better look at the larger than life superstar, and explains why he’s still celebrated today.

Directors: Matthew O’Neill, Perri Peltz

Death is often glossed over or treated as a dark, unspeakable topic. In Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America, audiences are encouraged to look at death in a new light. New age burials and funeral services are christened as “celebrations of life,” and allow people to have agency over their own death, and sometimes even join their loved ones in non-traditional ceremonies. This documentary goes beyond urns and tombstones and highlights the new ways people are coping with the ending of life, and how these new methods are affecting the post-mortem industry as a whole.

Director: N/A

Narrated by none other than Serena Williams herself, Being Serena gives an intimate look at what it was like for the 14-time Grand Slam title winner to become pregnant in the middle of her career. The five-part documentary focuses on Williams’ ability to shift her priorities from athletic achievement to maternal instinct, and how that affected her own definition of success. During the course of the series, Williams displays a vulnerability not entirely common of professional athletes, with her anxieties and concerns on full display. Through her pregnancy, wedding, and return to the court, viewers watch the athlete overcome feats of mental and physical endurance that challenge her to balance personal life, fame, and now motherhood.