Showmax Lists 11 of the Best Documentaries to Add to Your Watchlist

From tearjerker biopics to shock confessions from World War 2, these are the best documentaries to watch on Showmax.

Settle in for some gripping slice-of-life entertainment with Showmax. Whether you get your thrills from wildlife movies or true-crime series, we’ve lined up 11 unmissable documentaries that will shock, delight and inspire you. Add them to your Showmax watchlist today and see the world through a new lens.

1. The Sparks Brothers

If you love music documentaries, this one's for you! The debut documentary from cult director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), takes audiences on a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers and bandmates Ron and Russell Mael, and features commentary from celebrity fans like Flea, Beck, Jason Schwartzman, Neil Gaiman, and more. Watch it now.

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2. Final Account

Distilled from over 300 interviews, Final Account is an urgent portrait of the last remaining men and women from Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, who reckon – in very different ways – with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their own roles in one of the greatest human crimes in history. Watch it on Showmax.

3. The Crime of the Century

With the help of whistleblowers, leaked documents, exclusive interviews, sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, this searing exposé of big pharma reveals how drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of billions of dollars – and thousands of lives. Stream it now.

4. The Last Cruise

A terrifying origin story of the pandemic, The Last Cruise chronicles the first big outbreak of Covid-19 outside China: the Diamond Princess cruise liner.

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Through never-before-seen footage from passengers and crew, this 40-minute documentary will take you on board the ill-fated cruise ship where the uncontained outbreak saw passengers quarantined in their staterooms for weeks. Add it to your watchlist.

5. Black Art: In the Absence of Light

This documentary film explores the oft-neglected contributions of African American artists to both the art world and American culture at large, and speaks to contemporary luminaries like Jordan Casteel, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems and Kehinde Wiley, among others. Watch it now.

6. Adrienne

Waitress, starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion, won five international awards in 2007 – the year after its writer-director, Adrienne Shelly, was brutally murdered. This tear-jerker film is an intensely personal look at Shelly's life, death and career, featuring the likes of Russell, Fillion, and actor Paul Rudd. Watch Adrienne now, and don’t forget the tissues!

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7. Girls Can’t Surf

Girls Can’t Surf follows the 1980s journey of a band of renegade surfers who took on the male-dominated professional surfing world to achieve equality and change the sport forever. The film is a wild ride of clashing personalities, sexism, adventure and heartbreak as surfing's great women fight against the odds to make their dreams of competing a reality. Stream it on Showmax.

8. John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise

This terrifying series follows the chilling story of one of the world's most notorious serial killers, as told through the words of John Wayne Gacy himself, those who were forever changed by his unspeakable deeds, and those who believe that the full truth remains concealed to this day.

Almost fifty years since the crimes took place, new questions are emerging about what really happened, and who else may have played a part in the deaths of Gacy’s 33 victims. Stream all six episodes on Showmax.

9. A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

"I might have turned to the gun or the knife, but by then I had chosen the camera," says Gordon Parks in the trailer for this critically acclaimed HBO documentary, which explores the enduring legacy of the legendary photographer, whose work brought the Black community’s struggle for dignity and justice to middle America on the pages of LIFE magazine from 1948 to 1972. Watch it now.

10. By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem

The four-episode docuseries examines the story of Harlem, its music during the 1960s and its connections to today and features conversations with the likes of Emmy-nominated actor Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), music legends Herbie Hancock, Gladys Knight, Harry Belafonte and Nile Rodgers, activists Jamal Joseph, Al Sharpton and Denise Oliver-Velez, historians and residents of Harlem itself. Stream it on Showmax.

11. Shark with Steve Backshall

This three-part docuseries tracks British explorer and naturalist, Steve Backshall as he journeys to the remotest parts of our planet to meet the incredible variety of sharks upon which the health of our oceans depends, and the passionate people fighting to change attitudes and save these feared and misunderstood predators. Add it to your watchlist now!

Sign up to Showmax and start watching

Watch the best documentaries on Showmax from only R39 for a monthly mobile subscription (R99 for a standard Showmax subscription). All you need to do is:

1. Go to showmax.com
2. Sign up with your email address and create a password
3. Choose your monthly Showmax plan
4. That’s it, you’re all set to start watching!

Source: Briefly News