Best movies — documentaire on Prime Video : our Top 20

2018 · Jimmy Chin

Alex Honnold embarks on a daring attempt to be the first climber to free-solo Yosemite’s sheer 3,000-foot El Capitan. Ascending without ropes or protective equipment, he pursues what many consider a pinnacle achievement in the history of rock climbing.

With Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmy Chin, Sanni McCandless, Mikey Schaefer, Cheyne Lempe and Mark Synnott

1978 · Martin Scorsese

Facing imminent execution for the killing of a young couple, a condemned man on death row seeks spiritual counsel from a local nun during the last days before his sentence is carried out.

With Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Eric Clapton and Neil Diamond

2014 · Juan Álvarez Neme

In a half-built theater, a neglected national ballet company lingers in obscurity until the arrival of Julio Bocca — a legendary dance figure whose presence ignites their discipline, ambition, and belief in a second chance. What was once an abandoned rehearsal space becomes a crucible of renewal, pushing each dancer to confront past failures and reach for a daring rebirth.

With Julio Bocca

2018 · Hawa Essuman

One night, at the exact same instant, every pupil in a single classroom disappears—except for one—leaving a tight‑knit town shaken as parents, authorities and neighbors race to unravel whether a person, a force, or something else entirely is to blame.

With Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor

2006 · Davis Guggenheim

This film traces Al Gore’s determined effort to thrust climate change into the global spotlight, blending archival footage, personal interviews and behind-the-scenes access to chronicle his speeches, advocacy and the international movement that grew from his campaign.

With Al Gore, Billy West, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush

2012 · Joshua Oppenheimer

Former leaders of Indonesian death squads stage reenactments of their mass killings, each shot in the stylistic language of a different film genre. As these choreographed scenes unfold, the boundary between lived violence and theatrical performance collapses, turning atrocity into spectacle. The film examines the enduring wounds of Indonesia’s 1965–66 anti-communist purge and probes the moral and psychological landscape of those who carried out the killings, raising unsettling questions about memory, complicity and the ways societies narrate and normalize violence.

With Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik, Yapto Soerjosoemarno, Safit Pardede and Jusuf Kalla

2011 · Tim Story

Step into the performance that captured the nation's attention as Kevin returns to Philadelphia—the very streets where his comedic path began—for an intimate, inside look at his rise to comedy stardom. Expect sharp storytelling, candid moments, and relentless laughs that keep the crowd roaring long after the final punchline.

With Kevin Hart and Na'im Lynn

2009 · Michael Moore

Michael Moore returns to the central question of his work, examining how unchecked corporate power corrodes the everyday lives of ordinary Americans—and, by extension, people around the world.

With Michael Moore, Elijah Cummings, Marcy Kaptur, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Thora Birch and Baron Hill

2011 · Ron Fricke

Captured on 70mm over nearly five years and filmed across twenty-five countries on five continents, Samsara presents a visual odyssey through consecrated sites, regions marked by catastrophe, vast industrial landscapes, and the planet’s most awe-inspiring natural scenes.

With Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika, Marcos Luna, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Olivier De Sagazan and Ladyboys of Cascade Bar

2003 · Kevin Macdonald

Based on real events, two climbers set out in 1985 to conquer the forbidding 6,344 m west face of Siula Grande in Peru's Cordillera Huayhuash; after an avalanche leaves one of them gravely injured, their descent becomes a harrowing struggle to survive, forcing impossible choices and pushing friendship and endurance to the brink.

With Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Ollie Ryall, Joe Simpson, Richard Hawking and Simon Yates

2004 · Morgan Spurlock

A filmmaker eats nothing but McDonald’s meals—three times a day—for thirty days and gives up exercise while a team of three doctors conducts regular medical exams and tracks his weight. Their continuous assessments document rapid declines in his health, culminating in a shocking demonstration of how a fast-food diet can contribute to obesity and related problems.

With Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs, Lisa Ganjhu, Stephen Siegel, Bridget Bennett, Eric Rowley and Mark Fenton

2022 · Brett Morgen

Featuring previously unseen archival footage, the film traces David Bowie's artistic evolution and the musical experiments that shaped his singular career.

With David Bowie, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, Russell Harty, Dick Cavett, Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder

2006 · Tony Kaye

Katia and Maurice Krafft, fearless French volcanologists, are drawn into a passionate and perilous romance intertwined with an obsession for the erupting mountains they study—an alluring devotion that leads them from awe-struck wonder to tragic consequences.

With Noam Chomsky, Flip Benham and Bill Baird

2016 · Keith Maitland

During the inauguration gala of a towering, hastily erected high-rise, a sudden, raging blaze erupts, imperiling the building’s structure and the lives of everyone trapped inside.

With Violett Beane, Chris Doubek, Blair Jackson, Louie Arnette, Josephine McAdam, Aldo Ordoñez and Seamus Bolivar-Ochoa

2022 · Sara Dosa

Daring French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft become entangled in a tragic triangle as their deep affection for each other is rivaled — and ultimately consumed — by an obsessive devotion to the fiery mountains they study.

With Miranda July, Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft, Alka Balbir, Guillaume Tremblay and Mezi Atwood

2012 · Lisanne Pajot

A raw, intimate portrait of game creators as they shape ideas into playable worlds and push them out into the market. More than a behind-the-scenes look at programming and production, it probes the emotional cost of creation—the compromises, anxieties and courage required to reveal yourself through your work.

With Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes

2005 · David LaChapelle

This documentary by David LaChapelle delves into Clowning and Krumping, two electrifying street dance forms rooted in Los Angeles' economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Through candid conversations with the crews and striking on-the-street footage, the film traces how these expressive movements developed as creative escapes and constructive alternatives to the drugs, guns, and gang violence surrounding them. Unvarnished and immediate, it chronicles a burgeoning American subculture and the young people reshaping their futures through dance.

With Christopher Toler, Tommy the Clown, Miss Prissy, Dragon, Ceasare Willis, La Niña and Larry Berry

1972 · Živko Nikolić

Against the fading echoes of its epic past, Zivko Nikolic paints a Montenegrin village in the wake of legend, exposing a stark present inhabited by the poor, the marginalized, and people with intellectual disabilities—lives neglected and left out of the grand heroic narratives.

2024 · David Tedeschi

In 1963 the Beatles exploded across Europe and, a year later, they swept through America. Their pioneering international tours reshaped youth culture worldwide and established the blueprint for contemporary mass entertainment. At the same time they were crafting and recording a succession of hugely successful singles and albums. But the extraordinary pressure of global fame—escalating into near-chaos by 1966—made continuing to tour impossible. Released from the demands of the road, they turned their energy to the studio, creating a string of albums that transformed the art of recorded music.

With Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison

1999 · Barry W. Blaustein

A neuroscientist pushes beyond conventional limits, combining extreme sensory isolation with traditional Native American shamanic botanicals to map the outer reaches of awareness. As he descends into successive altered states, distinctions between past and present, perception and fact begin to dissolve. He ultimately discovers that memory, chronology and even reality itself are not fixed givens but fluid constructions of the mind.

With Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Vince McMahon, Aurelian Smith Jr., Jesse Ventura, Noelle Foley and Barry W. Blaustein