Best Observational Documentary Movies & TV Series

Looking for the best observational documentary movies and TV series? These 53 are the highest-rated on 3eyedraven, weighted by vote count so a handful of glowing reviews never beats a proven favourite.

Baraka 1992 ★ 8.2
The Salt of the Earth 2014 ★ 8.1
Seven Worlds, One Planet 2019 ★ 8.5
A Perfect Planet 2021 ★ 8.7
Koyaanisqatsi 1983 ★ 7.9
How the Universe Works 2010 ★ 8.3
Home 2009 ★ 7.8
Citizenfour 2014 ★ 7.7
9/11 2002 ★ 7.9
Unsolved Mysteries 1988 ★ 7.7
Sicko 2007 ★ 7.4
HyperNormalisation 2016 ★ 7.5
Mr. Nobody Against Putin 2025 ★ 7.4
Life in a Day 2011 ★ 7.2
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari 2022 ★ 7.2
The Crime of the Century 2021 ★ 7.7
Adolescents 2020 ★ 7.4
Planet Ocean 2012 ★ 7.5
Titicut Follies 1967 ★ 7.2
Explorer: The Last Tepui 2022 ★ 7.6
Global Metal 2008 ★ 7.3
History's Greatest Mysteries 2020 ★ 7.8
An Inconvenient Truth 2006 ★ 7.0
Mary's Land 2013 ★ 7.8