Another Top 10 Controversial Documentary Films

This documentary sensation follows Nev, a young photographer who—after developing feelings for a girl he meets online—travels to her home in rural Michigan to learn that her idyllic family is all the invention of a suppressed middle-aged woman living with her husband and children. The film had a major impact on popular culture for showing how easily people can craft false identities using social media, and was even transformed into an MTV reality series. However, Nev and his filmmaker brother received criticism from viewers who believed the story was a little fishy, and documentarian Morgan Spurlock went so far as to call it “the best fake documentary” he had ever witnessed.

While it’s considered one of the highest-grossing documentaries in the U.S., the positive reception of “2016: Obama’s America” pretty much ends there. Based on a book by right-wing author Dinesh D’Souza, the movie claims that the President harbors anti-American sentiments inherited from his father, leading him to try and diminish the U.S.’s influence over the rest of the world. Inspired by the marketing of “Fahrenheit 9/11” during the Bush administration, D’Souza released the film at a time when he believed he could deter those who were considering voting to reelect Obama. His ploy didn’t work, however, and the majority of audiences and critics recognized the film for what it really was: an attempt at character assassination.

This bone-chilling HBO documentary centers on Richard Kuklinski, a prolific mafia hitman who was nicknamed “The Iceman” for his trademark of freezing his victims’ corpses to hide their time of death. The filmmakers were granted unprecedented access to the maximum-security prison where Kuklinski was serving two life sentences. The murderer, who was depicted by Michael Shannon in the 2012 film “The Iceman,” speaks candidly about his violent history and estimates that he’s killed over 100 people, admitting that he’s never been bothered by it.

Released only four years after the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found shot dead, this documentary rode a wave of controversy because it investigated theories that implied Courtney Love may have murdered her husband. The film was pulled by the festival as Love refused to give director Nick Broomfield the rights to use Nirvana’s music in the work, and because the Hole musician threatened to sue the Sundance Film Festival for defamation of character. Broomfield was forced to use Nirvana-esque bands and was so impacted by Love’s refusal to take part in the documentary that it evolved into a criticism of her censorship of free speech.

Frequently cited as one of the most important documentaries ever made, Errol Morris wanted to avoid the label altogether and market his film as a whodunit. Using innovative reenactment and interview techniques, the film investigates the case of Randall Dale Adams, a man sentenced to death for murdering a police officer. However “The Thin Blue Line” suggests that five of the witnesses committed perjury, and law enforcement officials took notice by reopening the case and declaring Adams innocent just a year after the film was released. Although Adams was grateful for getting to go free, he went on to sue Morris for the rights to his own story and settled with the filmmaker out of court.

It should come as no surprise that this HBO doc went under fire for attempting to cover one of the most secretive organizations in the United States: the Church of Scientology. In “Going Clear,” director Alex Gibney speaks with eight ex-Scientologists—including filmmaker Paul Haggis—to bring to light the manipulative tactics used by figures like founder L. Ron Hubbard and current Church leader David Miscavige, as well as celebrity Scientology scandals like the alleged wiretapping attempt on Nicole Kidman when she was with Tom Cruise. The film faced a mix of festival praise and viewer backlash, including a Twitter account dedicated to disparaging the documentary, and some networks have refused to license it for fear of being attacked by the Church.

This Academy Award-winning documentary captures the top-secret political disclosure between filmmaker Laura Poitras and whistleblower Edward Snowden. Set predominantly in a Chinese hotel room in the moments after the former CIA employee unveiled the NSA spying scandal to the world, the film chronicles Snowden’s simultaneous transformation into heroic a household name and an enemy of the U.S. government in real-time. But he wasn’t the only one to became an enemy: Poitras was forced to move to Germany to finish editing the film after border detainment and threats that the FBI would seize her laptop, and the producers were sued by oil executive Horace Edwards “on behalf of the American people,” although the case was later dropped.

Morgan Spurlock became a world renown documentarians after this experiment in extreme eating. Spurlock spent a month consuming only food that could be purchased from the McDonald’s menu, exposing the link between the fast food chain and health effects including obesity and heart disease. It was an eye-opening study of a mega-corporation that actually wanted its customers to eat poorly in order to gain profit, but Spurlock still got some flack for being the bearer of bad news. Critics noted that he singled out McDonald’s, overate, and didn’t exercise to exaggerate his results. Still, there’s no saying the film wasn’t the catalyst in getting apple slices added to the menu.

The Kids on Fire School of Ministry summer camp was the subject of this documentary that zeros-in on three highly indoctrinated evangelical Christian children. Although the directors claimed they were merely trying to produce an unbiased movie about the campers and their beliefs, scenes of the children attending aggressive sermons were denounced by faith-based groups who believed the camp was cast in a negative light. Whether it was the filmmakers’ agenda or not, the same year “Jesus Camp” was released, head pastor Becky Fischer announced the camp’s closure over fears that the movie’s viewers would vandalize the property. That’s not to mention anti-gay pastor Ted Haggard, who was later involved in a scandal involving sex with other men.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
“Titicut Follies” (1967)
“Lake of Fire” (2006)

This documentary is made up of home video footage of the Friedmans, a seemingly perfect family whose story takes a dark turn when child pornography is discovered. Arnold and Jesse Friedman, a father and son who taught computer classes to local children, both eventually plead guilty to sexual abuse, but something doesn’t quite add up. “Capturing the Friedmans” received a great deal of acclaim for its ability to portray what Roger Ebert deemed “the elusiveness of facts,” yet filmmaker Andrew Jarecki faced accusations of playing it safe by never taking a stance, which allowed him to take on heavy subject matter without facing the consequences it had for the film’s subjects.