10 Movies & Shows Like Bad Axe (2022)

Description: A deeply personal documentary that follows individuals over several years, capturing their struggles, dreams, and the systemic challenges they face, much like the intimate and longitudinal storytelling approach.

Fact: Originally intended to be a 30-minute short film, it expanded into a nearly three-hour epic. It was filmed over five years, following two inner-city Chicago teens pursuing basketball careers.

Description: A gripping investigative documentary that exposes systemic corruption and follows journalists uncovering shocking truths, paralleling the intense, real-time uncovering of institutional failures.

Fact: The filmmakers gained unprecedented access to government meetings during a national health crisis. It's the first Romanian documentary nominated for both Best International Feature and Best Documentary at the Oscars.

Description: A documentary that cleverly blends observational filmmaking with elements of a spy thriller, focusing on an elderly man's undercover mission in a nursing home, mirroring the exploration of human connections in unexpected places.

Fact: The 83-year-old protagonist had never acted before. The film started as a journalism project about elder care but evolved into a poignant character study.

Description: A poetic documentary that immerses viewers in a secretive subculture of elderly men and their dogs searching for rare truffles, echoing the intimate portrayal of a specific community and its traditions.

Fact: The filmmakers used special camera rigs to film from a dog's perspective. Some subjects refused to reveal their truffle-hunting locations even to the directors.

Description: A powerful documentary that examines a pivotal moment in history through firsthand accounts and newly uncovered footage, mirroring the intense focus on a specific, transformative event and its lasting impact.

Fact: Features never-before-heard audio from the 1971 prison uprising. The director tracked down and interviewed surviving prisoners and guards nearly 50 years later.

Description: A thought-provoking essay film that examines the relationship between technology, perception, and power, similar in its intellectual exploration of how systems shape our understanding of truth.

Fact: Includes footage from a 19th-century photographic rifle that took 12 images per second. The director spent years researching surveillance technology before making the film.

Description: A visually stunning observational documentary that explores class and ambition in contemporary China through a series of interconnected vignettes, similar in its mosaic approach to portraying societal structures.

Fact: Filmed at 52 locations across China without any interviews or narration. The director shot over 1,000 hours of footage before editing it down to 97 minutes.

Description: A groundbreaking documentary that blends surreal reenactments with raw interviews, exploring themes of guilt, memory, and the human capacity for violence, similar to the unflinching examination of difficult truths.

Fact: The film's subjects, former Indonesian death squad leaders, reenact their killings in various cinematic genres. It was initially banned in Indonesia but later screened privately for government officials.

Description: An innovative animated documentary that tells a deeply personal refugee story through a mix of animation and archival footage, similar in its unique approach to blending formats to tell a true story.

Fact: It's the first film ever nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary, and Best International Feature at the Oscars. The subject's identity was protected through animation for over a decade.

Description: A comprehensive music documentary that celebrates an influential but underappreciated artistic force, mirroring the deep dive into a specific cultural phenomenon and its impact.

Fact: Features interviews with over 80 collaborators and fans. The band Sparks participated but gave the director complete creative freedom.