After the release of The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris, filmmakers and spectators were unnerved to see Best True Crime Documentaries that shed light on the darker side of humans. Since 1988 the craving for the crime genre grew more. It is still there and has not yet disappeared.
Here is a list of some of the Best True Crime Documentaries that are streaming on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and other OTT’s that you can watch.
10 Best True Crime Documentaries you can Stream Right Now
1. I LOVE YOU, NOW DIE (2019)
What it is: As Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy’s long-distance text relationship grows Conrad becomes murky. Michelle had an understanding that made her motivate her boyfriend towards taking away his life by which she thought she could help him.
Why you should watch it: The gravest question posed by this movie is during the trial at Massachusetts that whether it is logical to make someone accountable for taking away life via texts or not. You should watch it to witness the darkness of human characters in this movie which is stunningly terrifying.
Critics Consensus: This movie is a metaphysical mystery with an inverse whodunit, but you do not know why it is done or who is actually liable.
Director: Erin Lee Carr
Main cast: Jesse Barron, Emilie Bazelon
IMDb rating: 7.5
RT score: 97%
Genre: Documentary, Crime, Drama
Where to watch: HBO
2. FRANK SERPICO (2017)
What it is: This is a film on a man who was an honest officer ensuring that justice is given to the correct person even if it risks his life. He had helped to bring out many corrupt cops while in service. The 1973 film Al Pacino was also inspired by his life.
Why you should watch it: The study of the psyche of this New Yorker police officer of the late 1960s and the beginning of the early 70s, Frank Serpico is something startling to watch.
Critics Consensus: It is a fantastic documentary that is finely etched.
Director: Antonio D’Ambrosio
Main cast: Frank Serpico, Stanislao Pugliese, Janet Panetta, John O’Connor
IMDb rating: 6.7
RT score: 75%
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Where to watch: Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Prime
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3. DEAD MAN’S LINE (2017)
What it is: A strange chain of incidents happens in this movie. Tony Kiritsis, in July 1997 called the police and told them he was holding Richard Hall as a hostage at gunpoint. Though he never had the typical intention of crime, he had just set his gun with a dead man’s switch that would trigger if the police shot him. But as he took Richard out on the streets, the police had to interfere and this led to many dramatic events. Kiritsis had planned this vendetta against the Hall family for personal vengeance.
Why you should watch it: The most astonishing event for which you should watch it is what follows up, after the arrest of the portrait of a man who thinks that he does the wrong for the right things.
Critics Consensus: This movie commemorates a shift for Jim Jarmusch who takes up challenging substances and commands it skillfully.
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Main cast: Tom Cochrun, J. Michael Grable, Greg Dobbs, David Coffman
IMDb rating: 7.3
RT score: 71%
Genre: Documentary
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
4. OUT OF THIN AIR (2017)
What it is: This movie is about the 1974 incident in Iceland where all of a sudden two men disappeared. A police inspection had sent six men to prison as they confessed about murder. After decades some new evidence came up which doubted the statement of those held in a prison that whether they murdered anyone or not.
Why you should watch it: It is a spine chilling documentary that you should watch for the mystery that unfolds.
Critics Consensus: It is a well-executed movie that appeals stylistically but has a jumbled up narrative that complicates as well as engrosses.
Director: Dylan Howitt
Main cast: Smari Gunn, Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson, Ottó Gunnarsson, Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson.
IMDb rating: 6.3
RT score: N/A
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Where to watch: Netflix.
5. LONG SHOT
What it is: This is a short film more than a feature that deals with the inspection of Juan Catalan who is found too innocent of committing murder as he was playing baseball.
Why you should watch it: You can watch it for the interesting and notable incident of the attorney’s approach at the trial and his movement about proving that is the biggest twist that you will see.
Critics Consensus: It is a classic documentary that tells more than showing.
Director: Jacob LaMendola
Main cast: Tasha Boggs, Juan Catalan, Melissa Catalan.
IMDb rating: 7.4
RT score: N/A
Genre: Documentary
Where to watch: Netflix
6. KILLING FOR LOVE (2016)
What it is: The film revolves around the suspicion that had fallen on Elizabeth and her boyfriend Jens Söring as Elizabeth’s mother and father, Derek and Nancy Haysom are found dead at their house in Virginia in 1985.
Why you should watch it: You need to see the mystery that unfolds – whether Jens is truly a co-conspirator or simply a pawn in Elizabeth’s game.
Critics Consensus: It is a grasping murder mystery blended with a psychological cliff-hanger and a court drama; an exploration of true events to be precise.
Director: Marcus Vetter, Karin Steinberger (co-director)
Main cast: Imogen Poots, Daniel Brühl
IMDb rating: 7.1
RT score: 100%
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Where to watch: Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Prime
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7. AMANDA KNOX (2016)
What it is: Amanda Knox became popular in the headlines during 2007 while in college as her roommate Meredith Kercher died. Both shared an apartment in Italy together.
Why you should watch it: You should watch this movie to find out whether Amanda was a cold-blooded psychopath or an innocent student and roommate who got trapped in the judiciary.
Critics Consensus: Though it is a journey through the infamous trial that became a popular headline it is not just a summary of events rather a chilling review of self-delusion, avarice, and sensationalism.
Director: Rod Blackhurst, Brian McGinn.
Main cast: Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher, Raffaele Sollecito, Giuliano Mignini
IMDb rating: 6.9
RT score: 82%
Genre: Documentary, Crime
Where to watch: Netflix
8. DREAM/KILLER (2015)
What it is: This is a film that tests the core of the American Judicial system into question. Bill Ferguson in 2005, witnessed his son Ryan’s 40 years imprisonment sentence for murder. Ferguson speculated that Ryan is innocent and attempts to prove that. This unfolds various events that you can watch on Netflix.
Why you should watch it: You must watch it to see how a father takes up the tribunal after his son is falsely accused.
Critics Consensus: It is a significant and alarming probe into the American judicial system.
Director: Andrew Jenks
Main cast: Kevin Crane, Chuck Erickson, Bill Ferguson, Leslie Ferguson, Ryan Ferguson.
IMDb rating: 7.4
RT score: N/A
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Where to watch: Netflix, Vudu, Amazon Prime
9. SOAKED IN BLEACH (2015)
What it is: Soaked in bleach delves down into Kurt Cobain’s life to find out whether there was anything more in Cobain’s life than that is reported.
Why you should watch it: Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994 which is dramatized as a rock star catastrophe. You can watch this movie to find out what transpires.
Critics Consensus: It is an outstanding documentary that uncovers the suspicious events that were enveloping Kurt Cobain’s death.
Director: Benjamin Statler
Main cast: Tyler Bryan, Daniel Roebuck, Sarah Scott, August Emerson.
IMDb rating: 7.4
RT score: 30%
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Where to watch: Netflix
10. WITHOUT CHARITY (2013)
What it is: This movie is based on the incident that took place in 2000. The cops in Indiana discovered that a trio of construction workers was murdered at a costly home. As the cops delve into the case they find out a woman named Charity Payne, who may have helped the robbers to commit murder my breaking in.
Why you should watch it: You must watch this movie to experience a spine chilling nail-biter delving into Charity Payne’s triple murder.
Critics Consensus: An interesting documentary that studies both the perspective of the victims and Charity.
Director: Paul G. Lyzun
Main cast: Charity Payne, Phillip Stroud, Mischell Browning, Scott Duerring.
IMDb rating: 6.5
RT score: 100%
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Crime
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
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After browsing the list of some of the most vital crime documentaries, why wait? Open your desired OTT and play them to get captivated by the story they have to tell.