What’s up doc?: This year’s documentaries we’re most excited to see

Documentaries have a way of cutting through the noise. They land with the weight of real events and real people, often leaving audiences more shaken than any scripted drama could manage. The 2018 slate proved the format still had plenty of bite left, from civil rights reckonings to personal portraits of public figures.

Over in the UK we’re still obsessed with Louis Theroux (My Scientology Movie), but the untameable Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) continues to cause a stir with his political provocations, and, recently, Asif Kapadia has made a name for himself with his two stunning docs, Senna and Amy. We’d also enthusiastically recommend two meditative films on race, I Am Not Your Negro and 13th, which definitely cemented the documentary format as making a recent resurgence in popularity. In fact, they’ve become so trendy, a foreign documentary has done the unheard thing and produced a sequel. The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence are an insane double bill, but watching them back-to-back is not for the faint-hearted.

The films previewed that year delivered on their promise, racking up festival prizes, Oscar nods, and lasting distribution deals that kept them in circulation long after their initial runs.

King in the Wilderness

First up, here’s a doc you can watch right now if you’re itching in your seat for more chronicling of racial injustices and the civil rights movement. If David Oyelowo’s Selma was the definitive fictional portrayal of influential rights activist, Martin Luther King, King in the Wilderness could set out to become the definitive doc. Tracing King’s final years, the film sets to highlight previously ignored achievements in his last three years before his assassination. It premiered at Sundance in January 2018 before landing on HBO in April, where it earned an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary.

I Am Evidence

I Am Evidence feels like the first of an inevitable stream of documentaries covering the pattern of sexual assault in the wake of last year’s fierce onslaught of allegations. This particular case looks at rape kits that remain untested and forgotten in police storage facilities, their value as evidence in sexual assault cases completely neglected. It should be seething, articulate and relevant and will hopefully inspire other filmmakers to tackle similar subjects. Keep ‘em coming. The film collected audience awards at Provincetown and Traverse City, then earned two Emmy nominations and a Peabody Award in 2019.

XY Chelsea

It’s about time we took a critical look at the way trans men and women are treated in the US military. XY Chelsea focuses on Chelsea Manning, a trans woman sentenced to 35 years in an all-male prison for leaking secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The film eventually premiered at Tribeca in 2019 and aired on Showtime that June, covering her transition from prisoner to free woman after the Obama commutation.

RBG

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the closest thing the justice system has to a pop culture icon on the level of gangstas and superheroes, but her legacy still remains a mystery for some, despite being at the forefront for the rights of women in America. RBG aims to change this by launching her success further into the public eye and solidifying her as the legendary judge she truly is. It premiered at Sundance in January 2018, opened wide in May, and picked up Oscar nominations for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song plus a National Board of Review citation.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Sadly, it’s a little rare that a documentary comes along that, rather than staring you down with an uncomfortable truth or historic tragedy, just wants to make you smile. Surely, there’s no better subject for this endeavor than Mr Rogers, the nicest man on television. The host of Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred Rogers was the face of kids TV for over thirty years, and essentially invented the idea of educational shows for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Won’t You Be My Neighbor hopes to rekindle some of that same magic by charting his life and legacy. It opened wide in June 2018 and grossed more than $22 million at the domestic box office.

Generation Wealth

One for fans of last year’s Faces Places. Like artist JR, Generation Wealth follows another photographer’s foray from the still image into motion pictures. Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles) has travelled the world with her camera, capturing a range of diverse locations and subjects, yet her work has never been able to avoid the vulgarity of wealth culture. Her new film points an accusing lens at capitalism and greed to explain how a doomed society has cultivated a culture of wealthy narcissists. It premiered at Sundance in January 2018 and reached audiences through Amazon Studios in July.

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

Definitely a weepy, and follows in the footsteps of I Am Heath Ledger as films that chronicle the lives of talented performers taken from the world too soon. Come Inside My Mind will let you do exactly that, as the film features intimate footage with Williams that has never been seen before. It premiered at Sundance before its HBO debut in July 2018.

Hal

Films about films are still all the rage, and nowhere is this more obvious than the documentary format, which has seen a recent slew of documentaries about the lives and works of filmmakers. David Lynch: The Art Life and De Palma have cast an eye over some more populist directors, but Hal gives some much needed attention to the underrated Hal Ashby. Known primarily for Harold and Maude, Ashby’s further work has largely been ignored within the scope of the American New Wave of the 1960s. The film premiered at Sundance in 2018 under the direction of Amy Scott.

On Her Shoulders

An inspiring story of Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who survived sexual slavery at the hands of ISIS. Although she became a strident voice for an oppressed people, the film tackles the problems that arise when an ordinary woman is forced into the international stage to attempt to represent an entire nation. It won the US Documentary Directing Award at Sundance 2018, and Murad later shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work.

Crime + Punishment

Dramatized films about the exposing of government and industry secrets have proven incredibly popular, with both Spotlight and The Post earning considerable attention at the Oscars. Now it’s time for the documentary filmmakers to have their chance to dig deep and expose some dirt. Crime + Punishment recently caused a stir at Sundance, with a detailed expose on the corruption of the New York Police Department. It received the Special Jury Award for Social Impact at the festival.

Minding the Gap

Skateboarding hasn’t really received its due diligence in the documentary world, other than some wicked tight demo reels from Tony Hawk (Lords of Dogtown) and the like. Bing Liu’s doc follows a group of skateboarders through their hometown of Rockford, Illinois, featuring insane tricks and terrifying stunts, but also touches on the developing friendships and the by-product of toxic masculinity. It picked up the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at Sundance 2018, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, and later aired on Hulu and PBS.

Fahrenheit 11/9

Michael Moore’s new film is the most tentative entry in this list, as it’s not certain that the sequel to the highest grossing documentary of all time, Fahrenheit 9/11, is a dead cert for a 2018 release date. The Weinstein Company is insisting Moore repays the funding they provided before the company was fractured by the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, so the director is currently involved in an ongoing legal battle to regain control of the film. Let’s hope it ends in Moore’s favor, as we’re itching to see his scathing takes on the Donald Trump presidency. The film premiered at TIFF in September 2018, opened wide the same month, grossed $6.7 million, and later became available free on YouTube.

Documentary Impact on Social Issues

Several of the 2018 titles moved past awareness and into measurable influence. I Am Evidence spotlighted untested rape kits and earned Emmy recognition for its reporting, while Crime + Punishment exposed NYPD quota practices and collected a Sundance Social Impact award. The films gave concrete shape to systemic failures that had long stayed out of public view.

2018 Oscar Documentary Recognition

Academy attention validated several selections from the original slate. RBG earned nominations for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song, while Minding the Gap also landed a Best Documentary Feature nod. The nods confirmed that the year’s preview slate carried weight beyond festival circuits.

Legacy of Featured Subjects

Some subjects gained new layers of relevance after release. RBG was reissued after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 2020 passing as a tribute, and Nadia Murad received the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, extending the reach of On Her Shoulders beyond its initial run.

Streaming and Accessibility Evolution

Distribution patterns shifted for many titles once festivals and theaters cleared. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and Minding the Gap found homes on Hulu and PBS, while Fahrenheit 11/9 later streamed free on YouTube. The moves kept the films in circulation years after their original release windows.

The 2018 slate showed how documentaries could move from festival premieres to sustained cultural presence. Their subjects continued to resonate through awards, streaming platforms, and real-world developments that followed the credits.