Documentaries and narrative features are often very distinct from each other. A documentary is supposed to tell a real story, and a narrative feature is supposed to tell a fictional one. But it’s not really so simple. Many narrative features are based on true stories, and others even use the documentary style to portray a fictional plot. Movies like District 9 or The Blair Witch Project are examples of this. On the other hand, just because a movie is a documentary, this doesn’t mean it can’t be compelling, experimental, and entertaining. In fact, documentaries can tell stories that are so unbelievable that if they were presented as fiction, audiences would think it too far-fetched — like Three Identical Strangers.
It’s easy to gravitate toward narrative features, as they get the most attention, but this leaves a whole genre unexplored. Some of the best documentaries confidently sweep you along on a journey with them, sometimes breaking convention as they go. It's these that immerse you in their world, transporting you elsewhere just like a narrative feature might. Here are 12 documentaries like those that will make you feel like you’re watching a narrative feature film.
12 Shirkers (2018)
Shirkers is directed by its subject, Sandi Tan, a novelist living in California. As a teenager growing up in Singapore, she took part in a filmmaking class run by an American, Georges Cardona. Sandi, her friends Sophie and Jasmine, and Georges made Singapore's first road movie. After they wrapped filming, Georges disappeared with their film. 20 years later, the film is discovered in New Orleans, and Sandi sets out on a journey to document and rediscover the story of this film. The mystery that unfolds is captivating from start to finish. It's beautifully shot and constructed, piecing together 16mm film, digital shots, scans of diaries and letters, and more.
11 Fire of Love (2022)
Katia and Maurice Krafft are the subjects of this explosive documentary. The married couple were both scientists who documented and studied volcanoes. Fire of Love is made up purely of archival footage, with no present-day interviews inserted, as is often the case in documentaries. Katia and Maurice's footage, however, is so fascinating that being interrupted by interviews would take away from the experience rather than add to it. Filmmaker Miranda July, writer and director of Kajillionaire, provides the voiceover that ties together the footage we are presented with. For such a unique and interesting couple, it only makes sense that the documentary about them also breaks convention.
10 Paris is Burning (1999)
Paris is Burning documents the drag scene of New York City in the 1980s. The movie captures its subjects with warmth and interest, giving us one of the most authentic depictions of the world of ballroom that we have. If you're a fan of drag, then you should consider Paris is Burning essential viewing as it's an important document of the culture's history. Its spotlight on Black and Latinx performers is especially crucial as these are the people whose contributions are so often silenced, despite being pioneering presences in these spaces.
9 Faces Places (2017)
One of the last movies made by innovative director Agnès Varda, Faces Places is a charming and reflective documentary. Varda, alongside co-director and co-star JR, travel around rural France with a mission to celebrate individuals, communities, and their homes. They visit each town equipped with the necessary tools to create huge murals depicting the people they are choosing to celebrate. The documentary is a joy to watch. Varda's screen presence is charismatic and the friendship that develops between her and JR is natural and fun. Its pace may be meandering, but it's never slow or dull, just a wonderful journey to take part in.
8 Minding the Gap (2018)
In an examination of modern masculinity, director Bing Liu compiles 12 years' worth of footage of his skateboarding friends. Liu and his friends inch toward adulthood and slowly reveal details about their unstable upbringings. With these revelations comes a deep sense of intimacy that is added to by the existing friendship between these boys. Also present is the inescapable impact of trauma and violence on this generation's, and those of the future's well-being. The documentary maintains an excellent balance between care for its subjects and dedication to truth. All the while the experience of watching Minding the Gap feels much like a narrative feature from the likes of Richard Linklater.
7 Cameraperson (2016)
Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson created a visual memoir with Cameraperson. She uses footage from her past 25 years of work as a documentary cinematographer to put together a visual depiction of her life. It's no ordinary visual diary or memoir as Johnson herself is not the focus of this footage. There is also no voiceover or interviews included, the audience is simply guided by the tides of the clips. Despite the fact that there is no obvious or formal "plot" here, the movie doesn't appear disjointed or confusing. Once you settle into the flow of the scenes, it somehow begins to make sense. It's experimental and abstract but puts forward a powerful depiction of this filmmaker, even if she remains behind the camera.
6 Free Solo (2018)
In this extreme sporting documentary, the subject Alex Honnold attempts to be the first person to climb El Capitan, a sheer rock face, with no ropes. Free Solo is directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, friends of Honnold's. This connection adds a deeper level of peril to the events occurring, as we see the climb through their eyes. Not only is the attempted feat being documented stunning, but so are the incredible visuals accompanying it. El Capitan is located in Yosemite Valley and the movie portrays it beautifully, there is a sense of love and awe cultivated for the park in the gaze of the camera. The vastness of the landscape and the tension built around the climb would not be out of place in a narrative feature, though this is a prime example of a story that is perhaps too unbelievable to be adapted for that medium.
5 Grey Gardens (1975)
Grey Gardens is an incredibly quirky documentation of the lives of Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, and her mother, also named Edith Bouvier Beale. The two women are cousins of Jackie Kennedy who retreated from high society. This documentary depicts their lives, living conditions, and idiosyncrasies. With a mansion that's falling apart and filled with cats and raccoons, the ghost of the glamour they once possessed is present throughout the film. It's both touching and bonkers, making for truly entertaining viewing. Getting the chance to listen to these two one-of-a-kind women recount tales from their pasts is a unique gift, both to the audience and to the Ediths.
4 The Beaches of Agnès (2008)
As with many of the documentaries listed, The Beaches of Agnès is concerned with memory. Another documentary from Agnès Varda, this one focusing on her own life. She pieces together her memories through pictures, clips of her films and home movies, reenactments, and narration. Varda's dry sense of humor shines as she explores her rich past. As one of the pioneers of the French new wave, she has an intriguing life and an even more interesting perspective on it. The Beaches of Agnès is a fascinating depiction of the way she experiences her memories that prompts further introspection long after it's over.
3 Portrait of Jason (1967)
Portrait of Jason does exactly what the title promises. In an interview lasting for the length of an evening, Jason Holliday provides an account of his experiences and thoughts. Holliday is the only person on screen, but his wonderful and entertaining performance demands your attention and leaves no room for boredom. Throughout the interview, Holliday is provided with alcohol and becomes visibly intoxicated. This, combined with the fact that the filmmakers, Shirley Clarke and Carl Lee, are white are important ethical factors to take into account while viewing the movie. However, Portrait of Jason still provides a valuable view into the life of a Black gay man in the 60s in his own words, and remains an essential document of its era.
2 Kedi (2016)
This documentary takes a unique look at the city of Istanbul, Turkey by showing it through the eyes of its stray cats. Istanbul is famous for the number of cats on its streets, and director Ceyda Torun uses this to great effect. Kedi follows a few cats with distinct personalities as they go about their days in the city. There is Sari the hustler, Bengü the lover, Psikopat the psycho, Deniz the social butterfly, Aslan Parçasi the hunter, Duman the gentleman, and Gamsiz the player. The filmmakers mounted a camera on a toy car so that they could film from the eye level of the cats they were documenting. The result is an enchanting depiction of a city through the eyes of inhabitants that we've never seen through before.
1 Sisters with Transistors (2020)
Sisters with Transistors does the work to fill in missing pieces of the history of electronic music. The film gives women pioneers of the genre a moment in the spotlight after being ignored for so many years. Their forward-thinking approach becomes crystal clear with the benefit of hindsight, now that we know how potent electronic music is in our current cultural landscape. Watching the enthusiasm and expertise with which these women speak about their passions is inspiring, especially with a movie that treats the subject with the necessary respect. The only thing lacking is that the portion of the movie's run-time dedicated to Wendy Carlos, a trans woman, is not nearly as much as she deserves. Trans women have always been, and continue to be, powerhouses in the electronic music scene, and Sisters with Transistors missed an opportunity to highlight this.