10 Crime Documentaries You Need To Watch Now!

Love watching crime documentaries? Want to gasp with horror as the twists and turns unfold?

Then you’ll love these thrilling, spine-tingling, crime documentaries that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

You need to watch these RIGHT NOW...

**Spoiler alert in place**

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

The saga that is Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal will leave you questioning everything!

The 2019 documentary film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes and the rise and fall of her former company, Theranos, the one-time multi-billion dollar healthcare company. In 2004, Holmes dropped out of Stanford to start a company that was going to revolutionise healthcare and in 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion…

2 years later, Theranos was cited as a “massive fraud” and its value was less than zero - all because Elizabeth Holmes managed to procure millions for a blood testing machine called “Edisons” that didn’t even exist.

In this documentary, you can expect the examination of how this could have happened and who was responsible, whilst it explores the psychology of deception. It’s a dramatic real-life heist film that will leave you speechless…

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness

The viral Netflix crime documentary that made the whole world go crazy at the start of the pandemic.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a mini-series about the life of zookeeper and convicted felon, Joe Exotic, the eccentric owner of the G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma and his bitter years-long feud with Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida.

The series explores the deeply interconnected community of big cat conservationists and collectors in America with Joe and Carole being the primary subjects.

Viewers get a rare insight into Exotic’s manic personal life throughout the documentary, from his unofficial three-way homosexual wedding, his run for the 2016 election for President of the United States and hiring a hitman to murder Baskin, which eventually comes to light as the series progresses - resulting in his 22 year federal prison sentance for murder-for-hire and violations of the Lacey Act and Endangered Specifies act.

It followed major popularity, ranking as one of Netflix’s most successful releases, partly due to its release in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic which inspired several memes online.

So if you haven’t watched it… where have you been!?

World’s Most Wanted

One for your ‘must-watch’ list which will keep you gripped throughout!

This five-episode crime documentary follows the lives of five notorious criminals from around the world and their alleged crimes; Samantha Lewthwaite for her association with the 7/7 London terrorist bombings, Matteo Messina Denaro for his heavy involvement in a terroist campaign against Sicily and being linked to at least 50 murders.

The other three being Felician Kabuga, the oldest criminal to appear in the series who participated in the Rwandan genocide, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the Mexican drug lord and Semion Mogilevich for being the current boss of the Russian mafia having been accused for a manner of crimes including contract murders, extortion, drugs and weaponing traffic.

The documentary details the heinous crimes they commited and why they’ve been so hard to capture. It’s the creme de la creme of crime documentaries featuring the worse of the worst!

4 Little Girls

4 Little Girls is a 1997 American historical film about the September 15th 1963 murder of four African-American girls known as Addie May Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Rosamond Robertson in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, where they attended Sunday School.

The crime remains a fighting reminder of the racist horrors committed in the American deep south at the time, but director Spike Lee does a splendid job in commemorating the lives of the 4 Little Girls through the memories of parents, siblings and friends.

The documentary is a hard hitting one, but ultimately is a reminder to us all that a lot more must be done in order to eliminate this form of violence forever.

Diana: The Night She Died

The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales was one of the most (and still is to this day) shocking events in recent history.

Diana: The Night She Died is a 2003 documentary film which gives a compelling look into the mystery of that fateful night, where Diana, Princess of Wales tragically died in the early hours of 31st August 1997 in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.

Many conspiracy theories filled the headlines at the time, but this documentary goes back to basics by asking the many simple questions about that night that were never asked and explores the events leading up to the tragic accident.

If you’re a fan of Royal history, or Diana in general, this is one for you.

The Trials of Oscar Pistorius

In the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, famous Paralympian Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend, model and paralegal, Reeva Steenkamp, dead. But the question is why?

This documentary lays out the life of the sports star, from childhood, to the loss of his mother and every single personal and professional achievement which leads up to him killing his girlfriend.

Critics have commented that the documentary does fail the courageous and intelligent Reeva Steenkamp, who ultimately lost her life - but the documentary takes a thorough investigation into why it happened.

American Murder: The Family Next Door

A heart-wrenching true crime documentary with true friendship at the heart of it.

American Murder: The Family Next Door tells the true story of the 2018 Watts family murders, which took place in Frederick, Colorado.The documentary uses archival footage including social media posts, law enforcement recordings, text messages and home video footage to depict the events that occurred.

The murder was done by none other than Christopher Lee Watts, husband of Shanann Watts, who was pregnant at the time with their 3rd child and father of four year old Bella and three year old Celeste; something he later on admitted to doing whilst being interviewed by police which he later pleaded guilty for.

It was Shanann Watts friend, Nickole Atkinson, who first sounded the alarm about her disappearance, that started the unraveling of truths no one was prepared for.

This story has sparked endless Google searches into the story beyond the devastating series and what made Chris do such a thing.

Canada’s Lost Girls

A chilling documentary of a crisis that is still ongoing...

Stacey Dooley delves into a hidden secret crime ring in this investigastion into the disappearance and murder of indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered since 1980 who have recieved no justice.

Also known as MMIW, this crime is a human-rights crisis that disproportionately affects indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States.

The documentary see’s Dooley travel to British Columbia and Alberta to delve deeper into why this is happening and asks what is being done to stop it as there’s still so many holes in the investigation that haven’t been solved.

It will grip you as well as fuel your fight towards true equality and human rights for all women.

Conman: The Life and Crimes of Mark Acklom

The story of a masterful liar and cunning sociopath that thrived as a thieving conman for over 30 years...

Conman: The Life and Crimes of Mark Acklom is a crime documentary following the story of the UK’s most cunning fraudster who posed as an MI6 agent and went on to trick his ex-girlfriend out of almost £300,000. It examines the tools of his deception and the shattered lives of the victims he left in his wake.

It’s not a typical, passive recap of a true crime story but it’s a compelling and thrilling journey that will keep you guessing right up to it’s surprising conclusion.

Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer

We all know the story of Ted Bundy from the controversial depiction of him by Zac Efron in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly EVul and Vile, but this documentary enlists the extra hand from a few people…

The documentary features interviews and retellings from Bundy’s survivors, victims’ family members, his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall and her daughter, Molly, who all help to explore his grotesque crimes.

It’s skin-crawling and downright chilling listening to the women’s memories of the good times they had with Bundy and tells the story of him and his horrendous crime from a female perspective, uncovering the disturbing way his psychological hatred of women collided with the feminust movement and culture wars of the 1970’s.

It takes a refreshing twist, so worth watching if you want to capture the whole story…