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We asked the BuzzFeed Community to archer america the wildest documentaries they've ever watched. Here are the shocking, unhinged, and must-see results.
🚨 A batch of the documentaries beneath impact existent transgression and murder, truthful immoderate of the topics whitethorn beryllium other disturbing. 🚨
1. The Perfect Neighbor (2025)
What it's about: Holyyyyyy crapppppp. Told astir wholly done constabulary bodycam footage, 911 calls, and interrogation videos, this documentary explores the genuinely chaotic feud betwixt 1 pistillate and her full Florida neighborhood. After changeless complaints and confrontations, the escalating struggle unluckily led to the 2023 shooting of a Black parent named Ajike Owens. This real-life fearfulness movie, which was nominated for Best Documentary astatine the 2026 Oscars, volition genuinely permission you speechless.
2. John Wayne Gacy: Devil successful Disguise (2021)
What it's about: John Wayne Gacy, besides known arsenic "the Killer Clown," was convicted of 33 counts of execution successful 1980. He sexually assaulted, tortured, and killed his victims — each of whom were teenage boys oregon young men — wrong a six-year play successful the '70s. This six-part documentary bid explores Gacy's treble life, including caller interviews with the radical who knew him champion and the ones who worked to convict him.
3. The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (2019)
What it's about: In 2007, 3-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished during a household abrogation astatine a edifice successful Portugal. Her parents were astatine a edifice with friends and had near Madeleine and her 2 siblings backmost successful the room, sleeping. They checked connected the children passim the night, and that's erstwhile they realized thing was wrong: Madeleine was gone. Over the adjacent fewer weeks, respective damning accusations were made, stories stopped matching up, and adjacent the caput of the investigative portion was nether investigation. Madeleine became the astir high-profile missing kid successful the full world, and this documentary bid volition amusement you why.
4. God Knows Where I Am (2016)
What it's about: This intriguing documentary is told from the position and ain words of Linda Bishop, a pistillate experiencing homelessness who journaled during the last months of her beingness portion surviving disconnected apples and rainwater successful an abandoned house. Her diary entries are engrossing and unusual but besides beauteous and funny, and they're juxtaposed with real-life interviews from household members and radical who worked connected her case. This documentary volition marque you question however you look astatine death, loneliness, homelessness, and intelligence illness.
5. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (2020)
What it's about: This six-part documentary bid explores the execution of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old lad who had been abused by his parents for months earlier being beaten truthful severely that helium died. The events were truthful disturbing that producers had an on-call therapist disposable for unit passim the two-year play erstwhile they were making this series.
What it's about: Open h2o is scary. It's adjacent scarier erstwhile you're trapped 100 meters (about 328 feet) beneath the surface, with nary vigor oregon light. That's precisely what happened to Chris Lemons successful 2012. He was moving connected a ship, doing repairs astatine the bottommost of the North Sea, erstwhile harsh upwind caused the vas to drift disconnected and interruption his breathing cable. This gripping documentary uses interviews and information footage from the vessel to retell the events of that day. It'll permission you gasping for air.
7. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
What it's about: This documentary follows the filmmaker arsenic helium attempts to interrogation Aileen Wuornos, who was dubbed the world's archetypal pistillate serial killer. Wuornos murdered 7 men betwixt the years 1989 and 1990 (Charlize Theron won an Oscar for portraying her successful the movie Monster). This documentary was adjacent utilized by the defence successful Wuornos's proceedings successful 2001.
8. Three Identical Strangers (2018)
What it's about: This real-life Sister, Sister occurrence volition instantly lukewarm your heart, but past it'll teardrop it to pieces. The documentary starts with Bobby Shafran, who, aft leaving for assemblage successful the 1980s, finds retired he's an identical twin. Then things get adjacent weirder. After their representation gets posted successful the paper, a 3rd feline comes forward, and they recognize they're really triplets. After questioning ~why~ they were divided up successful the archetypal place, their families observe that they were unknowingly portion of a government-sponsored study. I won't spoil thing other for you, but conscionable cognize that this movie volition marque you consciousness wholly uneasy.
9. Abducted successful Plain Sight (2017)
What it's about: In the 1970s, a 12-year-old miss from Idaho was kidnapped by her family's neighbour and champion friend...twice. There are truthful galore twists and turns successful this movie, including a emotion matter with the girl's parents and her kidnapper, so, yeah, conscionable ticker it.
10. Haunters: The Art of the Scare (2017)
What it's about: Haunted houses are thrilling. One 2nd they're making you laugh, and the adjacent they're giving you nightmares. Some radical marque it their life's ngo to instrumentality them adjacent further with "extreme fearfulness simulations." This amusive yet terrifying documentary gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the scariest haunted houses successful the world, arsenic good arsenic the radical who make them. It'll marque you consciousness a litttttttle uneasy, that's for sure.
11. There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane (2011)
What it's about: In 2009, Diane Schuler was driving 85 mph connected the road successful the incorrect absorption erstwhile she collided with different car. Eight radical were killed, including Schuler, her daughter, and 3 of her nieces. The aesculapian study revealed that Schuler was heavy intoxicated astatine the clip of the crash, but her hubby insisted that she would ne'er portion excessively. This documentary retells the events starring up to the 2009 clang and tries to uncover what truly happened.
12. Born to Kill? Richard Trenton Chase: The Vampire of Sacramento (2010)
What it's about: Richard Chase killed six radical wrong a azygous period successful the precocious 1970s. One of his victims was a large pistillate whom helium killed during a location break-in, and past helium had enactment with her corpse. When constabulary searched Chase's apartment, they recovered that "the walls, floor, ceiling, refrigerator, and each of Chase's eating and drinking utensils were soaked successful blood." This documentary retells those events and includes interviews with the radical who worked the case.
13. The Woman Who Wasn’t There (2012)
What it's about: Alicia Esteve Head was connected the 78th level of the World Trade Center during the attacks connected 9/11. She had gripping grounds astir surviving the onslaught and adjacent revealed that her fiancé died successful the different tower. Later on, she became the president of the World Trade Center Survivors' Network enactment group. But determination was 1 problem: Head wasn't really successful either of the buildings connected the time of the attacks. In fact, she wasn't adjacent successful the state — she was astatine schoolhouse successful Barcelona. So who was Alicia Esteve Head? I conjecture you'll person to ticker the documentary to find out.
What it's about: Will Allen loved making movies arsenic a child. When helium got older, helium joined Hollywood's Buddhafield cult and continued to grounds his beingness done location videos, adjacent becoming the cult's authoritative videographer. This documentary uses real-life footage and interviews that Allen really changeable during his 22 years successful Buddhafield, yet uncovering the downward spiral of the radical and an onslaught of paranoia.
What it's about: Brian Wells, a pizza transportation operator successful Pennsylvania, robbed a slope with a weaponry strapped astir his cervix successful 2003. He claimed helium was being forced to perpetrate the heist and if helium didn't travel through, the existent criminals would detonate the bomb. This existent transgression documentary bid follows the probe into the "pizza bomber" lawsuit and aims to fig retired whether Wells was so a unfortunate of the transgression oregon a conspirator.
16. Team Foxcatcher (2016)
What it's about: John du Pont was a multimillionaire who built a grooming installation for the US Olympic wrestling team. He became obsessed and paranoid with 1 wrestler successful particular: Dave Schultz. This chilling documentary uses interviews and never-before-seen footage to showcase the downfall of du Pont, who yet murdered Schultz. You mightiness retrieve this communicative from the 2014 transgression play Foxcatcher, successful which Steve Carell (as du Pont) and Mark Ruffalo (as Dave) some received Oscar nominations for portraying the 2 men.
17. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)
What it's about: Robert Durst, a New York existent property heir from a household worthy billions, was accused of murdering 3 people. This six-part documentary bid looks into the 1982 disappearance of his archetypal wife, Kathie McCormack, and the events that followed. Against his lawyer's wishes, Durst sat for hours of interviews with the filmmakers, a batch of which is included successful this miniseries, making everything each the much chilling. You'll privation to ticker this to spot however it each unfolded.
18. The Family I Had (2017)
What it's about: A 13-year-old lad and his 4-year-old sister were astatine location with a babysitter successful 2007 erstwhile the lad killed his small sister by strangling her and stabbing her 17 times. This documentary follows their parent arsenic she tries to portion unneurotic however everything unfolded and what the consequences for her lad — whom she inactive loves — should be.
19. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
What it's about: This documentary is simply a punch consecutive to the gut. It was primitively created to beryllium a emotion missive to Andrew Bagby, who was murdered successful 2011 by his ex-girlfriend Shirley Jane Turner. Soon after, Turner revealed she was large with Bagby's son. This cinematic scrapbook yet turned into a gripping existent transgression documentary that volition instrumentality with you for years. (This was by acold the documentary astir suggested by our readers, truthful you should decidedly cheque it out.)
20. The Cannibal That Walked Free (2007)
What it's about: Issei Sagawa changeable and killed a pistillate successful his apartment. He believed helium would beryllium capable to sorb her quality if helium ate her, truthful helium ate antithetic parts of her assemblage implicit a two-day period. He besides had enactment with her corpse and aboriginal tried to dispose of the leftovers successful a water successful France, wherever helium lived. He awaited proceedings for 2 years and was declared insane, and the charges against him were dropped. He was deported to Japan, wherever helium couldn't beryllium legally detained, and implicit clip helium became a mini celebrity. He remains escaped to this day. This abbreviated documentary follows alllll of those chaotic events.
What it's about: This disturbing documentary follows the communicative of Tilikum, an orca astatine SeaWorld who killed 3 people. The movie exposes the shocking information and contention down keeping animals successful captivity, and it takes a adjacent look astatine what happens to the orcas and their families erstwhile they're separated by these h2o parks.
22. BTK: A Killer Among Us (2019)
What it's about: For 31 years, Dennis Rader (aka the BTK Killer, meaning "blind, torture, kill") was capable to unrecorded a treble life. He murdered 10 radical successful concealed and for years sent elaborate letters to the constabulary and reporters astir the crimes. This documentary chronicles broad interviews with instrumentality enforcement, the victims' household members, reporters, and adjacent his daughter, Kerri Rawson.
What it's about: "Girl meets boy. Girl and lad autumn successful love. Boy is Mormon, miss is not. Boy is sent connected his ngo to London and doesn't archer girl. Aaaaand miss hires backstage researcher to find him, goes to London, kidnaps him extracurricular wherever he's staying, holds him hostage successful a location she's rented, and plays location with him. After helium escapes, there's a proceedings and each kinds of weird stuff. It whitethorn not beryllium a forensic-filled, gritty investigative documentary, but blistery damn."
24. Monster successful My Family: Happy Face Killer (2015)
What's it's about: Have you ever wondered what it's similar to beryllium the kid of a serial killer? This documentary follows Melissa Moore, girl of Keith Hunter Jesperson (otherwise known arsenic the Happy Face Killer), connected her way of self-discovery aft learning that her begetter was a murderer. In fact, this full communicative was truthful chaotic that it was virtually turned into a 2025 TV amusement called Happy Face, which starred Annaleigh Ashford arsenic Melissa and Dennis Quaid arsenic Keith.
25. Who Took Johnny (2014)
What it's about: Johnny Gosch was 12 years aged erstwhile helium disappeared without a hint successful Iowa successful 1982, presumably kidnapped portion connected his insubstantial route. His look was among the archetypal to beryllium featured connected a beverage carton. This documentary follows his mother's pursuit to observe what truly happened to her son. It's chilling.
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