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Best Documentary Movies After A Breakup Based On A True Story

Every documentary film here was chosen with after a breakup in mind. These aren't algorithmically ranked, they were chosen because they actually work for this.

The best documentary movies after a breakup based on a true story. Includes Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Night and Fog, One Direction: This Is Us and more - c...

After a breakup, the wrong film makes everything worse. The right one doesn't fix anything - but it reminds you that other people have survived worse, and come out the other side.

The best documentaries don't just inform - they change how you see something you thought you already understood.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me movie poster
1
2022 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.

Night and Fog movie poster
2
1956 · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

One Direction: This Is Us movie poster
3
2013 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

"One Direction: This Is Us" is a captivating and intimate all-access look at life on the road for the global music phenomenon. Weaved with stunning live concert footage, this inspiring feature film tells the remarkable story of Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis' meteoric rise to fame, from their humble hometown beginnings and competing on the X-Factor, to conquering the world and performing at London's famed O2 Arena. Hear it from the boys themselves and see through their own eyes what it's really like to be One Direction.

Baraka movie poster
4
1992 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision-an odyssey through landscape and time-that attempts to capture the essence of life.

BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky movie poster
5
2020 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

Record-shattering Korean girl band BLACKPINK tell their story - and detail the hard fought journey of the dreams and trials behind their meteoric rise.

A great documentary doesn't tell you what to think. It shows you something true and gets out of the way.

Senna movie poster
6
2010 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

The remarkable story of Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained, is the subject of Senna, a documentary feature that spans the racing legend's years as an F1 driver, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later.

The Salt of the Earth movie poster
7
2014 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus... He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

Samsara movie poster
8
2011 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father movie poster
9
2008 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? movie poster
10
2018 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.

The best true story films don't over-dramatise. They trust that the truth is dramatic enough. These do.

After watching a great documentary, the world looks slightly different. That's not a small thing.

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