# Documentaries that hold up as cinema

> Not the news-magazine kind. Documentaries that work as films — paced, composed, willing to use silence. Wiseman, Herzog, Marker, Varda, Lanzmann, Morris, Kossakovsky, the Sensory Ethnography Lab. Underrated as a form by mainstream cinephile lists.

Source: <https://nextmovie4u.com/canon/documentary-essentials/>

## 30 films in this list

- **[Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/selena-gomez-my-mind-me-2022/)** (2022) — ★ 8.5 · 590 votes · atmospheric
- **[Night and Fog](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/night-and-fog-1956/)** (1956) — ★ 8.3 · 557 votes · foreign-gem, cult, atmospheric
- **[Baraka](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/baraka-1992/)** (1992) — ★ 8.2 · 685 votes · cult, atmospheric
- **[One Direction: This Is Us](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/one-direction-this-is-us-2013/)** (2013) — ★ 8.2 · 1,065 votes · atmospheric
- **[BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/blackpink-light-up-the-sky-2020/)** (2020) — ★ 8.2 · 519 votes · foreign-gem, atmospheric
- **[Senna](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/senna-2010/)** (2010) — ★ 8.1 · 1,187 votes · atmospheric
- **[The Salt of the Earth](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/the-salt-of-the-earth-2014/)** (2014) — ★ 8.1 · 678 votes · weird, foreign-gem, atmospheric
- **[Samsara](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/samsara-2011/)** (2011) — ★ 8.1 · 684 votes · atmospheric
- **[Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/dear-zachary-a-letter-to-a-son-about-his-father-2008/)** (2008) — ★ 8.0 · 578 votes · devastating, cult, atmospheric
- **[Won't You Be My Neighbor?](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/won-t-you-be-my-neighbor-2018/)** (2018) — ★ 8.0 · 588 votes · atmospheric
- **[The Cove](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/the-cove-2009/)** (2009) — ★ 7.9 · 674 votes · devastating, cult, atmospheric
- **[Apollo 11](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/apollo-11-2019/)** (2019) — ★ 7.9 · 700 votes · atmospheric, devastating
- **[Koyaanisqatsi](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/koyaanisqatsi-1983/)** (1983) — ★ 7.9 · 767 votes · cult, atmospheric
- **[My Octopus Teacher](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/my-octopus-teacher-2020/)** (2020) — ★ 7.9 · 1,027 votes · atmospheric
- **[13th](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/13th-2016/)** (2016) — ★ 7.9 · 789 votes · atmospheric
- **[Man with a Movie Camera](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/man-with-a-movie-camera-1929/)** (1929) — ★ 7.8 · 799 votes · foreign-gem, cult, atmospheric
- **[Friends: The Reunion](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/friends-the-reunion-2021/)** (2021) — ★ 7.8 · 1,321 votes · atmospheric
- **[Blackfish](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/blackfish-2013/)** (2013) — ★ 7.8 · 1,184 votes · devastating, atmospheric
- **[They Shall Not Grow Old](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/they-shall-not-grow-old-2018/)** (2018) — ★ 7.8 · 663 votes · devastating, atmospheric
- **[I Am Not Your Negro](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/i-am-not-your-negro-2017/)** (2017) — ★ 7.7 · 512 votes · atmospheric
- **[Jiro Dreams of Sushi](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/jiro-dreams-of-sushi-2011/)** (2011) — ★ 7.7 · 766 votes · atmospheric
- **[Inside Job](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/inside-job-2010/)** (2010) — ★ 7.7 · 1,031 votes · atmospheric
- **[Waltz with Bashir](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/waltz-with-bashir-2008/)** (2008) — ★ 7.7 · 1,044 votes · fever-dream, foreign-gem, devastating
- **[Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret-2014/)** (2014) — ★ 7.6 · 514 votes · atmospheric
- **[Cobain: Montage of Heck](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/cobain-montage-of-heck-2015/)** (2015) — ★ 7.6 · 748 votes · slow-burn, atmospheric, devastating
- **[Amy](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/amy-2015/)** (2015) — ★ 7.6 · 1,313 votes · atmospheric
- **[Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/going-clear-scientology-and-the-prison-of-belief-2015/)** (2015) — ★ 7.6 · 867 votes · atmospheric
- **[Grizzly Man](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/grizzly-man-2005/)** (2005) — ★ 7.5 · 950 votes · devastating, cult, atmospheric
- **[Bowling for Columbine](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/bowling-for-columbine-2002/)** (2002) — ★ 7.5 · 1,682 votes · cult, atmospheric, devastating
- **[The Social Dilemma](https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/the-social-dilemma-2020/)** (2020) — ★ 7.5 · 1,775 votes · dread, atmospheric, devastating

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Catalogue: <https://nextmovie4u.com/> — see also <https://nextmovie4u.com/llms.txt> for the full sitemap of LLM-relevant pages.