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MOVIEPIQ · DOCUMENTARY · CURATED LIST

Best Documentary Movies With Kids That Will Mess With Your Mind

These documentary films were selected by the Moviepiq editorial team for watching with kids. Popularity and critic scores don't factor in here. Emotional fit does.

The best documentary movies with kids that will mess with your mind. Includes The Tinder Swindler, Zeitgeist: The Movie, Fyre and more - curated by Moviepiq.

The best films for kids don't feel like films for kids. They feel like films - ones that happen to be entirely suitable, and happen to be excellent.

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

The Tinder Swindler movie poster
1
2022 · ★★★½☆ 7.0/10

Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now, some victims plan for payback.

Zeitgeist: The Movie movie poster
2
2007 · ★★★½☆ 7.0/10

A documentary examining possible historical and modern conspiracies surrounding Christianity, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve bank.

Fyre movie poster
3
2019 · ★★★½☆ 6.9/10

He promised supermodels and yachts, but delivered tents and cheese sandwiches. How one man engineered a music festival disaster.

The Great Hack movie poster
4
2019 · ★★★½☆ 6.9/10

Data-arguably the world's most valuable asset-is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.

Catfish movie poster
5
2010 · ★★★½☆ 6.8/10

Nev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer, has no idea what he's in for when Abby, an eight-year-old girl from rural Michigan, contacts him on Facebook, seeking permission to paint one of his photographs. When he receives her remarkable painting, Nev begins a friendship and correspondence with Abby's family. But things really get interesting when he develops a cyber-romance with Abby's attractive older sister, Megan, a musician and model. Prompted by some startling revelations about Megan, Nev and his buddies embark on a road trip in search of the truth.

The documentaries that stay with you are the ones that refuse to simplify. They show you the mess of a real situation and trust you to sit with it.

Jackass Forever movie poster
6
2022 · ★★★½☆ 6.8/10

The Jackass crew, along with some newcomers, returns for one final round of hilarious, absurd, and dangerous stunts.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return movie poster
7
2022 · ★★★½☆ 6.8/10

This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.

American Animals movie poster
8
2018 · ★★★½☆ 6.7/10

Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.

Super Size Me movie poster
9
2004 · ★★★½☆ 6.7/10

Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.

Amanda Knox movie poster
10
2016 · ★★★½☆ 6.6/10

This gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange student in Italy.

Films that mess with your mind work best when they've earned your trust first. The disorientation only lands if you were fully in. These get you in.

A great documentary is one you find yourself thinking about weeks later. These qualify.

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