What Documentary Shows and Movies to watch on Plex
Find what to watch on Plex including the latest releases. Filter by movies, TV shows, release years, genres and more.
No Safe Spaces
No Safe Spaces contends that identity politics and the suppression of free speech are spreading into every part of society and threatening to divide America.

- Metascore31
- 2019
The Bootlegger
THE BOOTLEGGER is the story of Henry "Kelly" Wagle, a hometown gangster turned folk hero in the town of Colchester, Illinois (population 1,493). It is a nonfiction feature film, based on the 1998 book by John E. Hallwas, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Although he died in 1929, Wagle remains controversial in Colchester, where alcohol is still illegal to sell. He is legendary for his good deeds and slick driving, but he is also notorious for his violent temper and dark secrets. To this day, Wagle is the central figure in not one but two unsolved murder cases. Visually rich and tightly paced with no narrator, no reenactments, and no period music (except one song), THE BOOTLEGGER is a one-of-a-kind historical crime thriller.

- 2016

- 2019
Cosmic Whistleblowers
Film maker Simon Sharman goes in search of answers to the biggest UFO mystery of the 20th century, as he tracks down the last living witnesses to the Roswell incident of 1947. The three year investigation leads Sharman to Washington D.C. where he connects the dots between the UFO subject and the White House, involving the Clinton's attempts at disclosure of classified documents dating back to the time of the cover up. Along the way the director also finds himself in the middle of an explosive controversy when the Roswell investigators are presented with old picture slides which are alleged to be photographic evidence of alien bodies removed from the Roswell crash site. As the story unfolds, its the ufo investigators themselves who become the focus of attention after they plan to present the new evidence to a global audience live from Mexico City, to prove once and for all that aliens crash landed in Roswell. With unprecedented access behind the scenes during what was the most ambitious and controversial public ufo event of recent years, Sharman shows us a world seldom seen by those not on the 'inside' in this unique and refreshing documentary on the Roswell crash and the secretive world of ufologists.

- 2015
The Booksellers
Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet essential role in preserving history. THE BOOKSELLERS takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.

- Metascore71
- 2019
The Gangster Files: Bonnie & Clyde, Al Capone, John Dillinger
This program covers the exciting histories of some of the most well-known gangsters in American history: Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone and John Dillinger.
- 2017
Obama: Building the Dream
After spending two tumultuous terms in office, through a period of geopolitical upheaval and economic crisis, it is easy to forget how the young president captivated the world simply by being ‘Obama’.

- 2020
Alien Contact: Outer Space
Many people think of Space as a quiet and desolate vacuum of emptiness, but new evidence reveals that space is rife with activity beyond our comprehension. Just as we sent Voyager and Pioneer probes beyond our solar system, Aliens have probes of their own that may have arrived as early as the 1600's. While Tesla was the first to successfully communicate with neighboring worlds using radio waves, we have received recent signals from intelligent sources. In 1989, Russian Space Probe Phobos 2 photographed a UFO on the surface of Mars just prior to losing contact. Scientists have determined that the craft was real and of a thin elliptical shape over 20 miles in length. We are not alone in outer space and while the Aliens may be initiating contact, they could also be here already.

- 2017
Step by Step to Auschwitz
This short documentary reveals the way how victims arrived at Auschwitz.

- 2019
The Wissahickon Creek
The breathtaking scenery of the Wissahickon Creek inspired Ben Franklin, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and generations of Philadelphians. Now it can be your own rich, meditative experience, or a soothing background for your daily activities.
- 2019
Weird the Life and Times of a Pocket God
Film about indie band The Pocket Gods. Charting their 20 years of failing to make it to the big time despite high profile champions, and World Records. It explores frontman Mark Lee's struggles with depression and recent suicide attempt.

- 2019
Australien Skies 3: Search for the Min Min

- 2019
Harlan Kentucky's Manzo Shepherd Story
On a late evening in April of 1942 three men hailed a taxi in Harlan Kentucky to take them to Virginia across Black Mountain. Secluded by the wilderness atop Kentucky's highest peak, the men killed the taxi driver. Later the killers were apprehended and had to stand trial for their crimes. This was just the beginning of the story. Based on the research of Tony Felosi.

- 2017
Grizzly Man
In this mesmerizing new film, acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell, who lived unarmed among grizzlies for 13 summers.

- Metascore87
- 2005
Brothers of the Black List
Brothers of the Black List tells the story behind the longest litigated civil rights case in American history. It all began in September 1992, when an elderly woman in Oneonta, New York reported that she had been attacked in an attempted rape by a young black male who cut his hand during the altercation. This led to a college administrator at nearby SUNY Oneonta giving the police a list of the names and residences of the 125 black men who attended the school. Police used this list to track down every black male in town, questioning them and demanding to see their hands.

- 2014
Walt Before Mickey
Based on the book "Walt Before Mickey" covers the early years of Walt Disney's career.

- 2015
Always in Season
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother's search for justice and reconciliation begins while the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.

- Metascore71
- 2019
Taxi to the Dark Side
Using the torture and death in 2002 of an innocent Afghan taxi driver as the touchstone, this film examines changes after 9/11 in U.S. policy toward suspects in the war on terror. Soldiers, their attorneys, one released detainee, U.S. Attorney John Yoo, news footage and photos tell a story of abuse at Bagram Air Base, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo Bay. From Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Gonzalez came unwritten orders to use any means necessary. The CIA and soldiers with little training used sleep deprivation, sexual assault, stress positions, waterboarding, dogs and other terror tactics to seek information from detainees. Many speakers lament the loss of American ideals in pursuit of security.

- Metascore82
- 2007
Duck and Cover
A grinning monkey sitting in a tree dangles a lit firecracker from a fishing pole just over the head of an unwary turtle. Realizing that an explosion is pending, the turtle ducks and takes cover inside his shell just in time to avoid immolation from the explosion. As the scene changes to a picnicking all-American family, a voice-over explains that in order to survive an atomic attack, one must duck and cover.

- 1952
Beautiful Losers
The greatest cultural accomplishments in history have never been the result of the brainstorms of marketing men, corporate focus groups, or any homogenized methods; they have always happened organically. More often than not, these manifestations have been the result of a few like-minded people coming together to create something new and original for no other purposethan a common love of doing it. In the 1990s, a loose-knit group of American artists and creators, many just out of their teens, began their careers in just such a way. Influenced by the popular underground youth subcultures of the day, such as skateboarding, graffiti, street fashion and independent music, artists like Shepard Fairey, Mark Gonzales, Spike Jonze, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Phil Frost, Chris Johanson, Harmony Korine, and Ed Templeton began to create art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Many had no formal training and almost no conception of the inner workings of the art world. They learned their crafts through practice, trial and error, and good old-fashioned innovation. Not since the Beat Generation have we seen a group of creative individuals with such a unified aesthetic sense and varied cultural facets. The world of art has been greatly affected by their accomplishments as have the worlds of fashion, music, literature, film, and, ironically, athletics. Over the years, the group has matured, and many have become more establishment-oriented; but no matter, their independent spirit has remained steadfast. The story of the Beautiful Losers will be a retrospective celebration of this spirit.

- Metascore59
- 2008
Ahead of Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber
A documentary on the remarkable life of Ruth Gruber. At 97 years old, Brooklyn-born Ruth still has that same sharp intellect and moxie that propelled her to become the world's youngest PhD at age 20. At age 24, she became a New York Herald Tribune reporter and photographer and the same year was the first journalist to enter the Soviet Arctic. A trusted member of the Roosevelt Administration during WWII, she was given a dangerous secret mission. A feminist before feminism, Ruth was never just an observer, she was a participant in the making of history. Ruth covered the turbulent Middle East throughout the 1940's, and the film combines verité footage of Ruth traveling back to Israel, with interviews and archival material.

- Metascore74
- 2009
Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story
Truth is stranger than fiction. Olympic gold medal hurdler Gail Devers almost lost her feet to a mysterious disease after being picked for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She failed to qualify for the finals as the disease (Graves Disease) left her feet swollen, cracked, and oozing blood. After two years, doctors were on the verge of amputating when it was discovered that radiation treatment was making it worse. Gail Devers eventually recovered and went on to win the one hundred meter in Barcelona. She might have won the one hundred meter hurdles if she hadn't tripped on the final hurdle. She also competed in and won the sprint at Atlanta.

- 1996
The Tillman Story
Pat Tillman never thought of himself as a hero. His choice to leave a multimillion-dollar football contract and join the military wasn't done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is unfathomable and thoroughly explored in Amir Bar-Lev's riveting and enraging documentary.

- Metascore86
- 2010
My Father's Glory
At the turn of the twentieth century, 11-year-old Marcel (Julien Ciamaca) accompanies his parents, Joseph (Philippe Caubère) and Augustine (Nathalie Roussel), on a life-changing holiday to the Provence countryside. During these magical summer months, he befriends a local boy, who shares with him the secrets of the rugged hills, while learning newfound respect for his gentle schoolmaster father.

- 1990