Documentaries are a way for us to get a closer, deeper, and sometimes unfiltered look into something that the mass media doesn’t disclose much detail about. Brought to us by daring and curious directors from around the world, we’re allowed to witness the truths behind what was fed to the audience by those in authority.
While Hulu is mainly known for its vast collection of TV shows and movies, continue with this article to find out some of the best documentaries to watch on Hulu, which offer us a different perspective and narrative, aside from the one mass media tell us.
Suppose you’re wondering whether or not you’ll be able to watch these on Hulu considering the geo-limitations imposed on the platform, then fret not. We recommend you download a reliable VPN to solve your problem. It will take you past those restrictions and enable a smooth streaming experience.
So let’s get started and take a closer look at some of the untold truths.
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Director: Lana Wilson
Year: 2023
IMDb: 7.5/10
The lives of actresses and supermodels behind the curtain have been a mystery to most of us. But in the modern day, that is not the case. In this documentary, we dive into the life behind the curtain of the famed Brook Shields. Her life as a child star, how she was subjected to exploitation during her teenage years, and how she was brought under the limelight against her will. Watch this movie to know the cost at which fame comes.
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Leave No Trace
Director: Irene Taylor, Peabody
Year: 2022
IMDb: 6.8/10
The Boy Scouts, which had once been a source of adventure and thrill for young American boys, are now brought under the lens for a closer look at the crime of sexual abuse while going on beneath the surface. Years later, with the help of some brave survivors and archival footage, Emmy-award journalist Irene Taylor tells us the stories of these young boys subjected to the mercilessness of their predators. Genuinely is a truly heart-wrenching narrative.
Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl
Director: Zackary Drucker
Year: 2023
IMDb: 4.3/10
An overload of luxury, lavish parties, and limitless wealth. That is what we know the It Girls of the early 2000s for. Through the lens of Drucker, we take a closer look at the lives of Manhattan elites such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Olivia Palermo. We follow their rise to fame and how their lives were always documented and often torn apart by the famous paparazzi Perez Hilton. This documentary will give you a dose of nostalgia if you grew up watching these party girls on the screen.
The Rescue
Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
Year: 2021
IMDb: 8.4/10
Twelve boys and their coach are stuck in a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. And the eyes of the world are glued on them, and the rescue operation is being carried out for them. With help from highly advanced paraphernalia, the rescuers perform one of the world’s most significant and most complex rescue operations ever witnessed.
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Aaron Carter: The Little Prince of Pop
Director: Brendan Cusack
Year: 2023
IMDb: 6.6/10
Aaron Carter gained fame at the naive age of 9 and became a hit sensation in the next few years with his hit releases like ‘I Want Candy.’ But by the age of 20, Carter had a hard time coping with family problems, his mental illness, and his drug addiction; the latter finally took his life at 34. This documentary reveals what the media industry does to defenseless juveniles like Aaron Carter.
Fire of Love
Director: Sara Dosa
Year: 2022
IMDb: 7.6/10
Katia and Maurice Krafft are two scientists in love with not only each other but the wonders of our planmainlyspecially volcanoes. On one such expedition, the couple loses their lives to a volcanic explosion. But thanks to their daring explorations, we today have a better understanding of how nature works and how humans can get along with it.
The Donut King
Director: Alice Gu
Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.2/10
Ted Ngoy was a Cambodian refugee when he came to the US. Following his compassion and the need to help his fellow refugees, Ngoy built a donut empire by feeding those in need and everyone who cared to buy a donut from him. The Donut King is a story of hope, love, and struggles one goes through. And the strength we all possess. If you’re a lover of documentaries, then you better go and watch it now on Hulu.
The Last Tourist
Director: Tyson Sadler
Year: 2021
IMDb: 7.1/10
Tourism has taken the world by storm. While we can see the good side of tourism through our social media platform, the downside doesn’t come to the surface enough. Modern-day tourism is ruining Mother Nature. Moreover, through this documentary, we find out how tourism has shaped commoners’ lives in secluded spots around the world and how a surge of tourists in their villages and towns has been disadvantageous for them.
Minding The Gap
Director: Bing Liu
Year: 2018
IMDb: 8.0/10
To escape the unstable state of their families in their homeland of the Rust Belt, three young men with intense and close bonds between them decide to leave home. But leaving the safe havens of their homes, they face the responsibilities of living independently. Certain truths about themselves put the decade-long friendship of the trio to the test as they contend with adult responsibilities.
Blackfish
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Year: 2013
IMDb: 8.1/10
This documentary narrates the miserable tale of Tilikum, a killer whale kept in captivity due to the number of humans this creature has killed. It also brings to light the problematic issues running within the sea-park industry. Through this, we learn how man needs to interact with nature and its creations. And minimal knowledge we have of these intellectual beasts.
Man on Wire
Director: James Marsh
Year: 2008
IMDb: 7.7/10
If you’re afraid of heights, hold onto your heart before watching this. We follow the daring Philippe Petit as he performs a hazardous high-wire act by walking the tightrope between the World Trade Center’s twin buildings in New York City in 1974. Though legal, some have called it “the artistic crime of the century.”
Torn
Director: Max Lowe
Year: 2021
IMDb: 7.4/10
Alex Lowe was labeled as one of the greatest mountaineers of his generation, and the man stood up to his name. During one ill-omened journey with his cameraman David Bridges, the duo is buried beneath an avalanche and succumbs to deare. At that time, Lowe’s son Max was barely 11 years old. And now, he wants to return to where the two are buried to retrieve their bgenuinely. A truly moving story.
The Act of Killing
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Year: 2012
IMDb: 8.2/10
This documentary, based in Indonesia, talks about the mass murders at the hands of the government of those accused of being communists. And about those who celebrate the villains who committed this crime.
Apollo 11
Director: Todd Douglas Miller
Year: 2019
IMDb: 9.1/10
Watch Commander Neil Armstrong with pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins as they prepare for their trip to the moon. Witness the preparatory stages of this historical event through archival footage and audio, io which has never been seen or heard before. If you’re a space fanatic, we recommend watching this documentary on Hulu to experience this event through Miller’s lens.
Retrograde
Director: Matthew Heineman
Year: 2022
IMDb: 7.4/10
During the last nine months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan led by the Americans, this documentary captures the perspectives of one of the last U.S. Special Forces units assigned there, an Afghan general and his army fighting to the end to defend their homeland and that of the civilians who are trying to escape the country now that it is under the threat of being taken over by the Taliban.
Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie
Director: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
Year: 2018
IMDb: 6.7/10
Barbie has been a sensation among young girls for decades. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. But if we take a closer look at the seemingly innocent doll, is it really what a young girl should look up to? This documentary talks about the disproportionate measure of Barbie’s physical build and its adverse effect on generations of young girls who want to look like her and are willing to risk their health for that.
Three Identical Strangers
Director: Tim Wardle
Year: 2018
IMDb: 7.6/10
Back in New York in 1980, a set of triplets was born and then adopted by three different families. Af nineteen, fortunately, the three are reunited by a chance meeting. Soon, they have become internet celebrities, and the world is mesmerized by their story. But is this all? This documentary uncovers the secrets that can change the lives of these three identical strangers.
Aftershock
Director: Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
Year: 2022
IMDb: 6.8/10
This documentary highlights the problems with US maternal healthcare. After the deaths of two mothers due to childbirth complications and medical incompetence and carelessness, their partners begin, with the help of activists, medical workers, and physicians in the field of maternity, a campaign to bring to light the issues within the US healthcare system which costs people the lives of their loved ones.
Some Kind of Heaven
Starring: Dennis Dean, Lynn Henry, Anne Kincer
Director: Lance Oppenheim
Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.2/10
Enter The Villages, a most significants retirement home for the old. Behind the charming facade of palm trees, the residents are searching for solace and peace from the tumultuous lives they’ve retired from. We follow four residents who are in the quest for their happiness but have been unsuccessful so far. This deserves to be labeled as one of the best documentaries available on Hulu.
Untouchable
Director: Ursula Macfarlane
Year: 2019
IMDb: 6.7/10
The internet has probably already told you about the allegations of sexual abuse against Harvey Weinstein. Dig deeper into the women’s lives affected by his vile actions and how he has shaped the industry. Former friends, witnesses, and victims come together to contribute to this narrative about the once highly acclaimed filmmaker.
Tim’s Vermeer
Director: Teller
Year: 2013
IMDb: 7.8/10
Johannes Vermeer is a celebrated artist worldwide because of his almost unparalleled masterpieces. In this documentary, we follow the inventor Tim Jenison as he puts the work of Vermeer under the lens to inspect how the painter used to achieve that hyper-realistic look in his paintings.
Dead Asleep
Director: Skye Borgman
Year: 2021
IMDb: 5.8/10
Randy Herman Jr. is convicted of murdering his childhood best friend and roommate, Brooke Preston. However, the accused states that he committed the crimes while sleepwalking and isn’t aware of the moments when he executed the crime. Dead Asleep dives into the human mind and uncovers some mind-bending truths about ourselves.
Kid 90
Director: Soleil Moon Frye
Year: 2021
IMDb: 6.8/10
Soleil Moon Frye, a child artist during the 90s, was in the habit of carrying a video recorder everywhere she went. This documentary is an assemblage of those shots where wa looks at the lives of her fellow stars. A nostalgic trip before the boom of the internet and social media and how these child stars dealt with their fame back then.
MLK/FBI
Director: Sam Pollard
Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.0/10
An enemy of the state is what he was treated like for most of his political career by the US government and law enforcement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is known today as a hero by the people and hailed for his actions that spoke to the nation and not against them. The newly declassified files lend us a better view of the harassment the government officials subjected to him.
Spaceship Earth
Director: Sam Pollard
Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.0/10
A space experiment to replicate the living conditions of our planet and assess whether or not it will be successful. Eight visionary people signed up for the experiment, which will last two years. Hence, they quarantine themselves into the Biosphere 2. But soon, the group faces challenges within themselves as disputes erupt and even cult-like behavior.
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That’s all, folks!
Looking back at this list of 25 documentaries to watch on Hulu, we think there’s enough variety for everyone to pick one that would suit their taste. Just download a reputable VPN when confronting geo-limitations that restrict your entry to the platform’s website or app.
Have fun!