Though narrative film can transport us to imagined worlds, the best documentaries turn the camera back on our own. From personal profiles to true-crime investigations and examinations of contemporary political life, HBO has long distinguished itself by the strength of its documentary programming. Here are some of the best documentaries on HBO Max.
What are the best documentaries on HBO Max?
HBO has an expansive catalog and a steady output of new releases each year, thanks to dedicating a portion of its budget to its documentary division. We can expect the streaming giant to release more documentary titles each year, which alone makes the subscription price worth it.
Though we’ve listed our favorite titles below, we also wanted to give a few honorable mentions to The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert Durst (2022), American Utopia (2020), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022), Country Doctor (2025), Crazy, Not Insane (2020), Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024), and Amazing Grace (2018).
Harlan County, U.S.A (1976)
Appalachia is a vast and often misunderstood region, made up of 423 counties across 13 states, stretching from southern New York down to Mississippi. Harlan County, U.S.A. takes us deep into southeastern Kentucky during the Brookside miners’ strike against Duke Power Company, after the company refused the labor contract when the miners unionized.
Director Barbara Kopple lived in Harlan and captured the strike as miners and their families fought for safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and livable wages during the brutal 13-month strike in 1973-1874. Despite early resistance on the picket lines, with many assuming Kopple was just a New York “hippie” voyeur to what was happening, she gradually earned the trust of the strikers. The documentary chronicles the strike as it unfolded in real time, moving from picket lines to kitchen tables to moments of confrontation that often turned violent.
Awarded Best Documentary Feature at the 48th Academy Awards, Harlan County, U.S.A. is easily one of the most powerful works of American documentary filmmaking, though it often flies under the radar these days. If you haven’t seen it, fortunately, you can check it out on HBO Max.
Hoop Dreams (1994)
For something a little more lighthearted, Hoop Dreams is a fantastic 1994 documentary directed by Steve James that follows Arthur Agee and William Gates, two African American teenagers with big dreams. The film takes us back to 1987, when Agee and Gates are recruited by a scout to attend St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois. Each travels roughly 90 minutes each way to a predominantly white school in the Chicago suburbs, known for its elite basketball program. Alongside the two teens, the film follows their families through heartbreak and triumph as Agee and Gates come to the brink of fame. Even years later, Hoop Dreams remains one of the greatest sports documentaries.
The film is inspiring, heartbreaking, and deeply honest. It received the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered. Beyond being a great sports documentary, Hoop Dreams is also a compelling examination of race, education, and class in America.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
Based on Lawrence Wright’s investigative book, Going Clear examines the Church of Scientology as both a belief system and an organization. Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney primarily relies on testimony from former members, who explain how they became involved with the church and what ultimately led them to leave. The film also draws on historical records and contextual analysis of American religious culture to explore the church’s methods of control.
Going Clear provides viewers with a history of the church and how it grew into a powerful authority. Where did this religion come from, and how did it attract big names like John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and Elisabeth Moss? Beyond examining the church’s structural workings, Gibney opens the film as a very personal confessional, giving former members space to share their stories in their own voices.
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
There are moments in time when you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. The death of Robin Williams was one of those moments for this writer, seated in a restaurant in New York City, celebrating a friend’s birthday. On hearing that news, the mood of the evening shifted. We did our best to stay cheerful, but there was a shared sense that we had lost one of our most cherished figures. The world suddenly felt a little dimmer without his radiance.
Though fairly straightforward as profile documentaries go, tracing his life from early years to his tragic death in 2014, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind is a moving portrait that works best when told in Williams’s own voice. Directed by Marina Zenovich, who has built a strong reputation for documentary profiles, the film’s most striking moments come from lesser-known interviews that reveal the private side of Williams, far from the spotlight. If there’s any lingering wish for this film, it’s that we might have been given even more time to explore the tension between his public brilliance and private self.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2020)
If you’re a true crime fan, this investigative documentary follows Michelle McNamara’s quest to track down the Golden State Killer. While the Golden State Killer, a moniker McNamara herself coined, remained elusive for decades after sexually assaulting more than 50 people and murdering ten, it was the work of true crime fan forums and McNamara’s own unrelenting obsession with solving the case that ultimately led to the identification of Joseph James DeAngelo. Alongside the search for the killer, however, the series offers an intimate portrait of McNamara, who passed away in 2016. In some ways, the documentary is also a beautiful tribute to this filmmaker’s work and an eulogy to her extraordinary life as a mother, investigator, author.
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (2023)
This documentary offers a striking look at a cult that operates on a very different level than what we typically associate with cults. Following the 2016 election, documentary filmmaker Hannah Olson was interested in the rise of conspiratorial thinking. She was introduced to the Love Has Won movement and the group’s leader, Amy Carlson. In particular, Olson was interested in Carlon’s journey from fast food chain store manager to the leader of a religious organization, which soon earned the nomination by scholars and survivors of a “cult.”
Aside from the subject matter already being intriguing, the film’s approach makes it especially compelling. Rather than relying solely on testimony from former members, it includes interviews with people who remain deeply committed to the group’s beliefs. As a result, the documentary places their worldview and psychology directly on display.
The Commandant’s Shadow (2024)
Another pick on our list that is equally devastating and essential, The Commandant’s Shadow turns its gaze towards the aftermath of atrocity and how children bear the weight of the sins of the fathers. Directed by Daniela Völker, the film follows Hans-Jürgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, as he confronts the legacy of his father’s crimes, as well as wrestling with his own memory of his childhood.
The film begins as a reckoning, using archival materials, present-day reflection, and firsthand testimony to look inside the family that inspired the 2023 film Zone of Interest. Ultimately, the documentary expands into something far more profound when Höss, who uneasily describes his childhood life at Auschwitz as “idyllic”, meets Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the last surviving member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz.
Critical Incident: Death at the Border (2025)
One of HBO’s most recent documentary releases, Critical Incident: Death at the Border, takes viewers inside the investigation of a fatal encounter at the U.S.–Mexico border. The film recounts the death of 42-year-old Anastasio Hernández Rojas, an undocumented immigrant who was handcuffed, beaten, and repeatedly tasered during a deportation dispute. Hernández-Rojas died shortly thereafter in custody.
While the U.S. government paid Hernández’s family a $1 million settlement, it declined to file criminal charges, even after the coroner ruled the death a homicide. Through archival footage, interviews with witnesses, officials, and family members, and a careful reconstruction of events, the documentary interrogates the institutional practices that shape contemporary border policy.
Thoughts & Prayers (2025)
Thoughts & Prayers takes us inside schools during active shooter training, where children learn how to disarm a shooter, teachers play video simulations, and industry representatives pitch life-saving products — from inflatable body armor and bullet-resistant desks and backpacks to a robot dog that alerts when an intruder enters — all items that are part of a multi-billion dollar industry that started in response to the rise in mass shootings.
This polarizing documentary that captures the landscape of gun violence in America gets a conversation going, though the overall response is mixed. The documentary has received outstanding reviews, but audience response suggests that it doesn’t go far enough in its commentary. To that we’d say: fair enough. The film certainly doesn’t cast judgment in black and white, but it doesn’t have to. It’s so plainly evident, even in its detachment. Whatever the opinion of how well executed the documentary is, it’s still easily one of the best documentaries on the subject.
The Alabama Solution (2025)
Another entry on our list that is as essential as it is harrowing, The Alabama Solution offers a sobering look at a humanitarian crisis within the United States’ industrial prison complex. In 2019, documentary filmmakers visited an Alabama prison to film a revival meeting, but off-camera, whispers of disturbing conditions sparked a six-year investigation into what was really happening behind the walls of one of the nation’s most dangerous facilities. Using a mix of official footage and material captured on contraband cellphones, the filmmakers uncover the reality inside. The narrative unfolds in real time, turning its lens on shocking brutality, systemic corruption, and the men within who are fighting for survival and resistance.
How we picked the best documentaries on HBO Max
There’s no shortage of fantastic documentaries on HBO Max; these are the ones that are must-watches or incredibly relevant today. We also considered the films’ critical reception and audience reception in our picks.
