PCMag UK The Best HBO Documentaries Baltimore Rising Jason Cohen 9 Nov 2019, 1 p.m. We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. The streaming wars are in full swing, but as all these new platforms fight it out to provide a steady stream of premium content, let's not forget the network that started it all. Long before on-demand was standard, HBO was the only place to find prestige television, and it's still going strong today. But it's not just Game of Thrones and Succession. HBO has also produced a steady stream of high-quality documentaries. If you're looking for an educational binge-watch this weekend, fire up HBO and add these documentaries to your queue. Baltimore Rising Baltimore Rising details the protests after the 2017 death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore PD, the prosecution of the officers involved, and the effort to change police procedures. Director and actor Sonja Sohn shines a light on systemic issues between police and black communities through interviews with protesters, community leaders, and police. Beware the Slenderman In 2014, middle schoolers Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed their friend 19 times in order to appease a fictional internet character known as Slenderman, prompting concern about how online culture affects children. The 2016 documentary Beware the Slenderman, from director Irene Taylor Brodsky, covers the incident and resulting court case, mixing interviews with family members with footage from YouTube and video games. The Case Against 8 Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition in 2008 that banned same-sex marriage in the state of California. The 2014 documentary The Case Against 8 follows the legal battle to have Prop 8 overturned. Directors Ben Cotner and Ryan White follow the plaintiffs and attorneys with behind-the-scenes footage during the landmark Perry v. Schwarzenegger court case. The Crash Reel Kevin Pearce was one of the best professional snowboarders in the world until a brain injury in 2009 ended his career prematurely. In The Crash Reel, which debuted at the 2013 X Games, director Lucy Walker chronicles Pearce's rise to fame, the life-changing crash, and his comeback story. The Final Year The Final Year documents the last year of Barack Obama's presidency. Director Greg Barker primarily focuses on Obama's foreign policy team of Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Ambassador Samantha Power, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, who work to secure their boss' foreign policy legacy. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief In 2013, Lawrence Wright interviewed current and former Scientologists, who detailed misconduct in the church, for his book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. He also explored the church's relationship with celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta and alleged misdeeds by current leadership. In 2015, Alex Gibney turned the book into a documentary film that used archival footage, reenactments, and interviews to criticize Scientology. The adaptation proved to be a major success for HBO, much to the chagrin of the Church of Scientology. I Love You, Now Die How responsible are we for what we say in the digital age? It's a question that Erin Lee Carr explores in I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter. The 2019 documentary follows the infamous "texting suicide case" from 2015, where Michelle Carter was accused of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy's suicide via text. It sounds like an open and shut case of a horrible person doing horrible things, but this two-part docu-series offers a nuanced look at Carter and Roy, their backgrounds, and what led up to his death. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley In 2015, Elizabeth Holmes' company Theranos was valued at $9 billion, but it all came crashing down a year later when it was discovered that the blood-testing device her company had invented didn't actually work. In the 2019 documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Director Alex Gibney tries to get a sense of who Holmes is as a person and how she and co-conspirator Sunny Balwani fooled everyone via interviews with journalists, professors, former employees, and whistleblowers. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst Real estate heir Robert Durst has had an unusual life. He was connected to three different murders between 1982 and 2001, but remained free through 2015. In The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, director Andrew Jarecki interviews Durst, who has long maintained his innocence. Few people agree, though, and Durst was later arrested for one of the murders. This particular docuseries has a truly eye-opening ending, though that has since been called into question. Leaving Neverland In 2005, pop star Michael Jackson was charged with molesting a young boy, but the jury found him not guilty in part due to the testimony of choreographer Wade Robson, who said Jackson never abused him. Years later, Robson reversed course and said Jackson did molest him over several years. James Safechuck said Jackson did the same to him, and the testimony of the two men is the focus of Dan Reed's HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland.It's tough to watch; Robson and Safechuck go into great detail. But it paints a damning picture of Jackson's alleged conduct around young children at the peak of his career, as well as the negligent behavior of the parents who allowed their very young children to sleep in Jackson's bedroom while they were placed in a nearby guest house.Jackson's estate (the star died in 2009) says Robson and Safechuck are lying and have sued HBO over the documentary. Mommy Dead and Dearest Gypsy Rose Blanchard was a very sick child—at least that's what her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, told everyone. But it seems Gypsy was not sick at all, and her mother might have been intentionally making her ill for attention—and lying about her daughter's age. Dee Dee wound up dead, and Mommy Dead and Dearest focuses on what happened. Paradise Lost In 1993, three teenage boys were accused of murdering three young children in an alleged satanic ritual. Paradise Lost documents the case, follows the trial, and explores whether or not the accused were actually guilty. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky interview Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin, their attorneys and family, the police, and the family of the victims. The film eventually spawned two sequels with Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in 2000 and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory in 2011. All three films are streaming on HBO. There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane On July 26, 2009, 36-year-old mother Diane Schuler drove nearly two miles in the wrong direction on the Taconic State Parkway before she crashed, killing herself and seven other people, including her son, daughter, and three nieces. Schuler was found to be legally intoxicated and had marijuana in her system, which shocked friends and family.In 2011's There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane, director Liz Garbus attempts to piece together the events that led up to the accident, with interviews from witnesses, friends, family, investigators, and first responders. 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets In 2012, 17-year-old Jordan Davis sat with friends in a car in a Florida gas station parking lot, listening to loud music. Michael Dunn, parked nearby, asked the boys to turn the music down. They declined, so Dunn retrieved a gun and fired 10 shots into the vehicle, killing Davis.The 2015 documentary, Marc Silver's 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, focuses on the shooting and the trial, as well as subsequent media coverage and political protests. Though not covered in this documentary, Jordan's mother, Lucy McBath, ran for Congress on gun control in 2018; she defeated a GOP incumbent and now represents Illinois' sixth district. Won't You Be My Neighbor? Fred Rogers left behind quite the legacy thanks to his work on the hit kids show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1968-2001. The 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? from director Morgan Neville looks back on the life of the famous host. With appearances by his family and numerous celebrities, the film served as a celebration of Mister Rogers' life, and was released just in time for his 90th birthday. The Best Original Documentaries on Netflix Made your way through this list? Netflix also has true-life stories that will shock, inspire, and inform. These are some of our favorites.

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