It is always a hard call when you are picking the best documentaries of 2023, or any year as a matter of fact. Documentary films are always so impeccably done that they suck you inside them in a way fiction can’t.
It makes you worried and scared as it also makes you happy and brimming with pride. There is something about documentaries that always feels like the cherry on the top of a movie cake.
2023 saw the birth and play of some incredible documentary films. Thus, this list was a hard one to create but, here are the top eight, in no particular order whatsoever, that just takes the prize home.
This film is all about human rights and how important it is to advocate for It. Revolving around the life of Pastor Seungeun Kim, the documentary gives us a detailed exposure to understanding how the revolutionary Kim rescued over 1,000 North Korean defectors since 2000.
A documentary that true crime fans will love, this one explores six deaths that track back to one very suspicious woman. Exploring the Koodathayi Cyanide killing case, Curry and Cyanide is new, exciting and will tickle all your detective bones.
American Symphony is all about creativity to bravely tell a story that needs to be heard. The film chronicles the year in the life of musician Jon Batiste, giving us a close look at this stunning career and the struggles his wife, Suleika Jaouad, faces with leukaemia that deeply impacts the singer.
This particular documentary regarding the singer is yet another proof in the long list that will show you how immensely talented he is. If you are into music and music production and everything related to it, this cannot be missed by you.
We have director Sara Nodjoumi delve into the mystery of the disappearance of more than 100 “treasonous” paintings by her father- Nickzad Nodjoumi, an Iranian legend. One would expect the best out of a HBO documentary film and, this one delivers with the right charm and suspense needed to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, thinking.