1. The Silent World (Le Monde du silence)
Follow renowned explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau as he investigates aquatic habitats in various locations around the world. Featuring whales, sharks, and many other varieties of marine life, the film doesn't shy away from the brutality present in the natural world, but paints a fascinating picture of underwater exploration, as Cousteau and his associates strive to reach previously unseen ocean depths.
It has an average vote of 6.375 on TMDB.
2. How to Survive a Plague
A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
3. A Is for Acid
Dramatisation of the true story of the notorious 'acid bath murderer' John Haigh, who murdered women and disposed of their bodies in vats of acid in the 1940s. He was only caught when the gallstones of one of his victims failed to dissolve in the acid and were detected by the pathologist who examined the residue from the acid bath.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
4. Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn
The 30-year legacy of the murder of black teenager Yusuf Hawkins by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as his family and friends reflect on the tragedy and the subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
5. Monterey Pop
Featuring performances by popular artists of the 1960s, this concert film highlights the music of the 1967 California festival. Although not all musicians who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival are on film, some of the notable acts include the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Otis Redding, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix's post-performance antics -- lighting a guitar on fire, breaking it and tossing a part into the audience -- are captured.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
6. One Second (一秒钟)
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
It has an average vote of 7.483 on TMDB.
7. Heaven & Earth
Le Ly lives in a small Vietnamese village whose serenity is shattered when war breaks out. Caught between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese army, the village is all but destroyed. After being both brutalized and raped, Le Ly resolves to flee. She leaves for the city, surviving desperate situations, but surviving nonetheless. Eventually she meets a U.S. Marine named Steve Butler who treats her kindly and tells her he would like to be married -- maybe to her.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
8. The Official Story (La historia oficial)
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1983. In the last and turbulent days of the military dictatorship, Alicia, a high school history teacher, begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the dark origins of Gaby, her adopted daughter.
It has an average vote of 7.519 on TMDB.
9. Port of Shadows (Le quai des brumes)
Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean, an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, as acts of both revenge and kindness render him front-page news.
It has an average vote of 7.431 on TMDB.
10. Shoah (Shoah)
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
It has an average vote of 8.3 on TMDB.
11. The Thin Blue Line
Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.
It has an average vote of 7.688 on TMDB.
12. My Bloody Valentine
Twenty years after a Valentine's Day tragedy claimed the lives of five miners, Harry Warden returns for a vengeful massacre among teen sweethearts gearing up for another party.
It has an average vote of 6.465 on TMDB.
13. Those People
On Manhattan's gilded Upper East Side, a young gay painter is torn between an obsession with his infamous best friend and a promising new romance with an older foreign pianist.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
14. Belle de Jour (Belle de jour)
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
It has an average vote of 7.377 on TMDB.
15. Assassination Nation
After an anonymous hacker begins leaking the private data of thousands living in a small American town, the townspeople spiral into madness, with four high school seniors at the center of the maelstrom.
It has an average vote of 6.276 on TMDB.
16. Saltburn
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
17. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
It has an average vote of 7.466 on TMDB.
18. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves who seek to reclaim their mountain home from Smaug, the dragon.
It has an average vote of 7.352 on TMDB.
19. Joker
During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
It has an average vote of 8.161 on TMDB.
