Roger Ebert Home
Collections

The Best Documentaries of 2021

The best non-fiction filmmaking of 2021.

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Nell Minow
17 Blocks
Matt Zoller Seitz
499
Carlos Aguilar
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
Matt Fagerholm
A Cop Movie
Glenn Kenny
A Crime on the Bayou
Steven Boone
Acasa, My Home
Tomris Laffly
Ailey
Monica Castillo
Algren
Peter Sobczynski
All Light, Everywhere
Matt Zoller Seitz
Allen v. Farrow
Nick Allen
Ascension
Carlos Aguilar
At the Ready
Monica Castillo
Attica
Odie Henderson
Beautiful Something Left Behind
Matt Zoller Seitz
Becoming Cousteau
Tomris Laffly
Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali
Sheila O'Malley
Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed
Nick Allen
Bring Your Own Brigade
Brian Tallerico
Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters
Sheila O'Malley

The best documentaries of 2021 emerged from all corners of the world, covering a wide range of subjects. Of course, filmmakers started really addressing the pandemic in 2021, but there were also smart bio-docs about major figures from world history and entertaining formal experiments. While a lot of the film world felt down in 2020 and 2021, the best documentaries continued to find new stories to tell. These are the best documentaries of 2021 with links in the reviews to watch them directly.