10 Best Documentaries On HBO Max, Ranked (#1 Is Life-Changing)

HBO Max is becoming the go-to home for documentary fanatics. From true crime to political history and current affairs, the streaming service has something for everyone when it comes to docs. HBO Max’s catalog of award-winning titles will make audiences chew on tough topics, and its best documentaries are ones that will sit with you for years to come.

Below, we have broken down the 10 best documentaries that you can currently stream on HBO Max. Each pick is worth a watch, so get your queue ready and clear your calendar for the most important marathon of the year:

10

Diego Maradona

HBO Max

If you’re a sports buff, there is no better documentary for you to binge on HBO Max than Diego Maradona. The 2019 documentary is a unique archival look at one of Argentina’s greatest athletes. Using never-before-seen footage, director Asif Kapadia pieces together an immersive story of Maradona’s career peak. Packed with adrenaline, the sports doc unpacks two very different sides of the Argentine athlete as his reserved personal life butts up against the feisty public persona Maradona made to face fame head-on. Set against the backdrop of the athlete’s best years in the game, Diego Maradona recounts the life of a champion even when they’re faced with self-destruction.

9

Class Action Park

HBO Max

There is only one word to describe Class Action Park, and that is chaotic. The HBO Max documentary was released in 2020 and tells the history of Action Park, a very infamous amusement park that once operated in New Jersey. Complete with epic lore and some truly unbelievable anecdotes, Class Action Park is a study in bad business and even worse decision-making. Known for its outrageous attractions and nonexistent safety standards, Action Park is shown as some sort of teenage paradise in the documentary, but there is a shadow hanging over its folly. From life-changing injuries to untimely deaths, Class Action Park asks audiences to think about the cost of fun and what they’re willing to pay for a cheap thrill with friends.

8

For All Mankind

HBO Max

If NASA’s recent mission with Artemis II, there has never been a better time for you to check out For All Mankind. The documentary was first released in 1989, and it gives an archival peek at the legendary Apollo missions that first brought mankind to the Moon. Filled with seamless footage from on the ground and in space, the movie paints a surreal picture of what NASA’s greatest mission hopes to accomplish. The documentary is a hopeful take on space exploration that hammers home all the human effort that goes into a mission beyond the stars. And in the year 2026, For All Mankind feels more important than ever given Earth’s latest travels into space.

7

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes

HBO Max

Released in 2020, HBO Max released one of the year’s most intriguing documentaries that many missed given the COVID pandemic. Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes is a decidedly unique documentary that explores sports, media, and the intersection of fame with friendship. Heralded as one of the decade’s best sports documentaries, Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes provides a rare peek into Muhammad Ali’s life through his friendship with Dick Cavett, a well-known talk show host. The pair’s unlikely friendship paved the way for prime-time television’s first exploration of tough topics such as race, religion, and war. Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes is an unexpected joy to watch, and it gives important insight into late-night television as we know it today.

6

I Am Evidence

HBO Max

The body remembers, and when it becomes evidence of a crime, there is no forgetting the trauma when you’re the victim. I Am Evidence unravels this travesty with care as the critically acclaimed film explores America’s rape crisis. With thousands of untested rape kits stored across the US, the movie asks why one of the most heinous crimes imaginable is facing a backlog, and it does so with blunt care.

I Am Evidence follows four women who’ve been impacted by rape as they seek to fix America’s failing justice system. The documentary not only empowers the women it puts center stage, but it advocates for real change in the face of staggering injustice. Shaming the criminal system’s apathetic view of rape, I Am Evidence gives a brutal view into how devastating crime can be for communities, let alone an individual. It is a sobering watch that anyone — man, woman, or anyone in between — will never forget.

5

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

HBO Max

Over the decades, movies went from being cheap entertainment to an art form capable of inspiring a nation. Hollywood’s greatest movies embody this uplifting spirit, and no film proves that truth quite like Superman. In 1978, Christopher Reeve brought Superman to life in theaters, and his heartfelt portrayal of the DC Comics legend quickly inspired a generation. On HBO Max, the actor’s life is broken down in Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, and the documentary will make you see your favorite superhero in a whole new light.

Intimate and impactful, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story gives audiences a never-before-seen look into the actor’s legacy. His family and friends come together in this gorgeous documentary to share Reeve’s highs (and his lows). Not only does the movie dig deep into Reeve’s nuanced take on Superman, but following his spinal cord injury, the film unpacks the actor’s devotion to humanitarian work. From start to finish, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is a poignant tribute to one of pop culture’s most talented actors, and it cannot be recommended enough.

4

Harlan County, USA

In 1976, one of the greatest U.S. documentaries of all time was quietly released, and it is somehow more relevant today than it was 50+ years ago. Directed by Barbara Kopple, the workers’ rights advocate, released the movie Harlan County, USA for one reason, and it was to shed light on society’s poorest folks. The director and her team went into the trenches to cover the 13-month ‘Brookside Strike’, a battle in Appalachia that took place between 180 coal miners and the Duke Power Company. Raw and rugged, Harlan County, USA invites audiences on a brave journey against greed that everyone can relate to.

Not only did the movie pose significant risks to Kopple given the strike’s violent nature, but in spite of these hurdles, it is a damn good movie. The documentary takes care to humanize the coal miners, showing their intellect and political awareness despite the stereotypes facing them at every turn. The group’s struggle to save themselves when cornered by a huge company like the Duke Power Company turns the miners into ultimate underdogs, and that framing is what makes Harlan County, USA more relevant today than ever before.

3

Everything Is Copy

If you love art, Everything Is Copy should be on your must-watch list. The top-rated documentary is more than a biography; don’t let its synopsis fool you. Dedicated to legendary writer Nora Ephron, Everything Is Copy not only details the life of an incredibly influential Hollywood writer, but it questions the line that exists between personal life and public personas.

Released in 2015, Everything Is Copy feels deeply personal, and that is in part thanks to Jacob Bernstein. The writer-director is Ephron’s son, and his connection to her gives the documentary a unique perspective. Lined with Hollywood stars and directors, the documentary unpacks Ephron’s experiential writing that birthed hit movies such as When Harry Met Sally. As the documentary goes on, audiences are asked to check their own approach to art in the same way Ephron questioned herself, a feat that frames the biography’s scope into something much broader.

2

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

It has been more than 80 years since the United States crossed an unforgivable line. The nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima remains a controversial topic to this day, and it is carefully dissected in HBO Max’s White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Filmed in 2007, Steven Okazaki’s acclaimed documentary investigates the human toll of the event, and to say the movie is hard to watch puts things lightly.

White Light/Black Rain recounts the story of 14 Japanese survivors who witnessed the bombing firsthand. Paired with testimony from four Americans who were involved with the missions, the commentary gives unprecedented access to the nuclear conflict. While Okazaki does touch on politics briefly in the film, the documentary is a humanistic take on war and the fallout that came from America’s darkest decision. It is gut-wrenching in the best way, and its interviews will make you think for hours on end.

1

The Crime of the Century

HBO Max

Released in 2021, The Crime of the Century might as well call itself The Documentary of the Century. The two-part documentary gives viewers an unflinching view of the opioid crisis that has gripped America for more than a decade. Whether you have personal experience with the drug epidemic or not, this movie will fundamentally change the way you see not only addiction but the corrupt powers that caused it.

Directed by Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning visionary does not hold back anything in this damning film. It is investigative, it is indicting, and it is inspirational. The Crime of the Century details how the opioid crisis was quietly manufactured for profit before it spun out of hand, impacting the most vulnerable of U.S. citizens without care. Framed with historical context and political partisanship, The Crime of the Century is a provoking documentary that will make you rethink all you know about drugs.