What Documentary Shows and Movies to watch on Plex
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Child 44
Based on the first of a trilogy by Tom Rob Smith and set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union. The plot is about an idealistic pro-Stalin security officer who decides to investigate a series of child murders in a country where supposedly this sort of crime doesn't exist. The state would not hear of the existence of a child murderer let alone a serial killer. He gets demoted and exiled but decides, with just the help of his wife, to continue pursuing the case.

- Metascore41
- 2015
The Good Lie
Four Sudanese children orphaned after their village is massacred in the Second Sudanese Civil War make an arduous, dangerous trek through the plains, enduring hardship, death, and sacrifice all the way until they reach safety in a refugee camp in Kenya. Years later, these youths are among 3600 selected for resettlement in America, only to have the one girl among them sent to Boston, while the three boys must make a new life in Kansas City. Together, these young men must adjust to an alien culture as the emotional baggage of their past haunts them. However, these newcomers and their new friends, like employment counselor Carrie Davis, strive to understand one another in this new home as they make peace with their histories in a challenge that will change all their lives.

- Metascore65
- 2014

- Metascore72
- 2009
Dunkirk
May/June 1940. Four hundred thousand British and French soldiers are holed up in the French port town of Dunkirk. The only way out is via sea, and the Germans have air superiority, bombing the British soldiers and ships without much opposition. The situation looks dire and, in desperation, Britain sends civilian boats in addition to its hard-pressed Navy to try to evacuate the beleaguered forces. This is that story, seen through the eyes of a soldier amongst those trapped forces, two Royal Air Force fighter pilots, and a group of civilians on their boat, part of the evacuation fleet.

- Metascore94
- 2017
Dahmer
Before his arrest and conviction for serial murders, chocolate factory worker Jeffrey Dahmer hunts Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for young attractive males to turn into unconscious (eventually dead) human sex toys, current acts which often prompt memories of earlier killings and of dealings with his suspicious but unaware father.

- Metascore63
- 2002
Ordinary Angels
Based on a remarkable true story, ORDINARY ANGELS centers on Sharon Stevens (Hilary Swank), a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky who discovers a renewed sense of purpose when she meets Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a widower working hard to make ends meet for his two daughters. With his youngest daughter waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon sets her mind to helping the family and will move mountains to do it. What unfolds is the inspiring tale of faith, everyday miracles, and ordinary angels.

- Metascore57
- 2024
Savannah
SAVANNAH is the true story of Ward Allen, a romantic and bombastic character who rejects his plantation heritage for the freedom of life on a river. Ward navigates the change of early 20th century America on the wrong side of the law and society, his loyal friend, a freed slave named Christmas Moultrie, at his side. Master of Shakespeare, and the shotgun that provides Savannah's markets with fowl, Ward fights for his rights as a hunter. His charisma and eloquent rhetoric win the heart of a society woman who defies her father to marry him. An elderly Moultrie tells the story of life on the river with his friend to a little boy, who passes the legendary Ward Allen down to the next generation.

- Metascore25
- 2013
Crazy
Inspired by the life of Hank Garland, CRAZY is the story of a legendary guitar player who emerged from Nashville in the 1950's.

- 2008
Winchester
Inspired by true events. On an isolated stretch of land fifty miles outside of San Francisco sits the most haunted house in the world. Built by Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) heiress to the Winchester fortune, it is a house that knows no end. Constructed in an incessant twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week mania for decades, it stands seven stories tall and contains hundreds of rooms. To an outsider it looks like a monstrous monument to a disturbed woman's madness. But Sarah is not building for herself, for her niece Marion (Sarah Snook), nor for the brilliant Dr. Eric Price (Jason Clarke), who she has summoned to the house. She is building a prison, an asylum for hundreds of vengeful ghosts, and the most terrifying amongst them have a score to settle with the Winchesters.

- Metascore28
- 2018
Beyond the Blackboard
Inspirational teacher Stacey Bess (Emily VanCamp) provides a suitable classroom for homeless students.

- 2011
A Bridge Too Far
The true story of Operation Market Garden, the Allies attempt, in September 1944, to hasten the end of World War II by driving through Belgium and Holland into Germany. The idea was for U.S. airborne divisions to take the towns of Eindhoven and Nijmegen and a British airborne division, reinforced by a Polish airborne brigade, to take the town of Arnhem. They would be reinforced, in due course and in turn, by the British XXX Corps, land-based and driving up from the British lines in the south. The key to the operation was the bridges, as if the Germans held or blew them, the paratroopers could not be relieved. Faulty intelligence, Allied high command hubris, and stubborn German resistance would ensure that Arnhem was a bridge too far.

- Metascore63
- 1977
Front of the Class
After being challenged by Tourette's syndrome from a very young age, Brad Cohen defies all odds to become a gifted teacher. As Cohen grows up, he must face friends and classmates who don't realize that he sometimes cannot control his outbursts and a father who seems unwilling to accept his son's condition.

- 2008
Till the Clouds Roll By
On the success of his latest and most elaborate Broadway musical "Show Boat", Composer Jerome Kern (Robert Walker) reminisces to his chauffeur about his life that led to this point. He talks about: his long time friendship with arranger James I. Hessler (Van Heflin), who, in large part, helped him hone his craft, and who wanted to get out of arranging, to focus on composing serious music; how he overcame the mentality of the time of Broadway producers of featuring the English music halls revues; how he met an English country lass named Eva Leale (Dorothy Patrick), who would become Mrs. Kern; his near death experience in almost boarding the ill-fated Lusitania sailing, the liner which was ultimately torpedoed and sank on that sailing; his longtime friendship with Hessler's daughter, Sally Hessler (Lucille Bremer), whose want, as an adult, to be a Broadway performer led to a certain estrangement; and the specific events that led to the creation of "Show Boat" with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (Paul Langton). With the advent of talking pictures, Kern's music, existing songs, as well as new songs, written expressly for, would hit a broader audience through Hollywood movies.

- 1946
The Edge of Love
Two feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant, charismatic poet who loves them both. The passion and pathos of legendary poet Dylan Thomas is told through the lives of two extraordinary women. Vera Phillips and Dylan were teenage loves; fast forward ten years and the two reconnect in London. She's working as a singer whilst he's churning out scripts for government propaganda films and living off the last in a long line of infatuated women. The two former lovers feel the thunderbolt once more, but Thomas is now married to the adventurous Caitlin. Despite their love-rival status, the women form a surprising friendship. Caitlin indulges in her own infidelities, and recognises a similar adventurous spirit in her husband. But she knows his connection with Vera is something different, not to mention dangerous. Romantic turmoil continues in Vera's life. She marries her devoted admirer William Killick, but she can't deny the chemistry between herself and Dylan, nor does she want to - even if this means betraying Caitlin. When William is posted abroad, and a pregnant Vera returns to Wales with her married friends, the battle between her heart and head becomes more intense. William returns a changed man, but neither is Vera the carefree cabaret girl he married. Neighbourhood gossip fuels her husband's jealousy towards his rival. Enraged, William stages a violent attack on Dylan - an attack that forces Vera to choose between the men in her life and the friend that she loves. Desire and guilt are complicated by love and friendship in this real-life tale set in beautiful London and the majestic Welsh countryside.

- Metascore39
- 2008
Kevin Hart: What Now?
Comedian Kevin Hart performs in front of a crowd of 53,000 people at Philadelphia's outdoor venue, Lincoln Financial Field.

- Metascore60
- 2016
Backstabbing for Beginners
Based on a true story, this gripping and timely thriller follows an idealistic UN employee (Theo James) as he investigates the grisly murder of his predecessor and uncovers a vast global conspiracy that may even involve his own boss (Oscar® winner Ben Kingsley).

- Metascore48
- 2018
They Shall Not Grow Old
Employing state-of-the-art technology to transform audio and moving image archive footage more than a century old, Peter Jackson brings to life the people who can best tell the story of World War I: the men who were there. Driven by a personal interest in the conflict, Jackson sets out to explore the day-to-day experience of its combatants.

- Metascore91
- 2018
The Iron Claw
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

- Metascore73
- 2023
Happy Valley
The town of State College, Pennsylvania the home of Penn State University, has long been known as Happy Valley, and its iconic figure for more than 40 years was Joe Paterno, the head coach of the school's storied football team. His program was lauded not only for its success on the field but also its students' achievements in the classroom, and Paterno took on mythic national stature as "Saint Joe." But in November 2011, everything came crashing down: longtime Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex-abuse, setting off a firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect the children of Happy Valley. Was Sandusky's abuse an "open secret" in the town? Did Coach Paterno and the Penn State administration value their football program more than the lives of Sandusky's victims? Filmed over the course of the year after Sandusky's arrest as key players in the scandal agreed to share their stories, "Happy Valley" deconstructs the story we think we know to uncover a much more complicated and tragic tale.

- Metascore76
- 2014
Tina Turner: Simply the Best
The odds were against her. Child of sharecroppers in Boonesville, Tennessee. Abandoned by both parents after their divorce. Victim of domestic violence by her co-star and husband. Yet, Anna Mae Bullock would find her true self as Tina Turner and one day emerge as "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll". Humble beginnings as a housekeeper and nurse's aide were left behind in 1957 when she teamed up with R and B King of Rhythms band singer, Ike Turner. The duo found fame with hits like "Proud Mary" during the sixties and early seventies. Divorce was precipitated by Ike's adultery, drug use and violence at home. Learn how Tina prevailed then reached solo super-stardom with songs like "What's Love Got To Do With It" and "Private Dancer". A high energy style and gravelly voice became her trademark. Twelve Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award resulted. Her 1986 autobiography, "I, Tina", was later turned into a movie. Almost eighty years young, Tina Turner has lived in Switzerland since 1994. No surprise that she has survived a stroke, cancer and kidney transplant. Her second husband was the donor.

- 2021
I'm Not There
Six incarnations of Bob Dylan: an actor, a folk singer, an electrified troubadour, Rimbaud, Billy the Kid, and Woody Guthrie. Put Dylan's music behind their adventures, soliloquies, interviews, marriage, and infidelity. Recreate 1960s documentaries in black and white. Put each at a crossroads, the artist becoming someone else. Jack, the son of Ramblin' Jack Elliott, finds Jesus; handsome Robbie falls in love then abandons Claire. Woody, a lad escaped from foster care, hobos the U.S. singing; Billy awakes in a valley threatened by a six-lane highway; Rimbaud talks. Jude, booed at Newport when he goes electric, fences with reporters, pundits, and fans. He won't be classified.

- Metascore73
- 2007
Ip Man
An occupying Japanese general challenges Chinese men to duels to prove the superiority of the Japanese, but Ip Man refuses to fight -- at first.

- Metascore59
- 2008
Judy
Thirty years after starring in The Wizard of Oz (1939), beloved actress and singer Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London, England to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), her soon-to-be fifth husband.

- Metascore66
- 2019
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tom Hanks portrays Fred Rogers in a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between him and journalist Lloyd Vogel. After a jaded magazine writer (Matthew Rhys) is assigned to do a profile of Fred, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America's most beloved neighbor.

- Metascore80
- 2019