When it comes to true crime, there's no comparison to HBO's approach when they started producing films. They were the first that dared to show everything. Everything was allowed on cable TV. But they also pushed to tell the stories that represented challenges in other studios. A great example of this is their groundbreaking series called America Undercover. This is where subjects like abortion, drug addiction, and crimes, were first shown on television as part of a reality the regular media didn't dare to touch.
Decades of content have evolved into a fine little list of true documentaries you can find on Max. Some of them can only be found on HBO's renovated streaming service. If you're a true crime buff and haven't seen some of these, then you don't know what you're missing.
15 4 Little Girls
The 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls directed by Spike Lee is a great piece of cinema. Using very valuable archive material, Lee told the story of the 1963 bombing by the KKK in Birmingham, Alabama, that ended the lives of four innocent African-American girls who were just attending church with their families. This one was nominated for an Academy Award in 1998.
14 Capturing the Friedmans
Also nominated for an Academy Award, Capturing the Friedmans opened the veil on American suburbia and unveiled the darkest secrets of a blue-collar family. Andrew Jarecki's powerful documentary told the story of a pedophile father whose wickedness went beyond what was visible at first glance. The director's eye had enough reach to reveal the dynamics of a family that was never the same after the allegations of sexual assault turned out to be true.
13 The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Jarecki wouldn't stop there. Years after his masterpiece, he would explore the Durst empire. First when he made a biographical thriller called All Good Things, which told the story of Robert Durst, the millionaire New Yorker, and the mysterious murders surrounding him. The mystery wasn't over, as Durst himself reached out to Jarecki to tell his story. The Jinx was an intimate look at the man that grew up in a twisted household. However, he always denied having committed any murders. What happens in the very last minutes of the miniseries is mindblowing, and something that will never be repeated in the history of TV.
12 Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
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Alex Gibney is the documentary wiz kid that will probably pop up more than once on the list. His Scientology film, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, is an outstanding piece of work based on Lawrence Wright's book. The documentary thoroughly told the story of the secretive association that is the church, and it exposed many issues related to the abuse Scientology's always been linked to. It was clearly not selected for the Academy Award nominations in 2016. Does anyone want to take a guess about why?
11 I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter
Erin Lee Carr is an impressive filmmaker that also appears a few times on the list. Her documentary miniseries I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter is a chronicle of the trial where Michelle Carter was accused of enticing Conrad Roy to kill himself. What's most important is how the documentary goes deep inside the case but never cares to issue an opinion on Carter's culpability. This is an emotionally-wrecking true crime piece.
10 Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Gibney is at it again, this time exposing a case of sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church in Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. Four deaf men decided to reveal what happened to them in the '60s and became the pioneers of protests against clerical sex abuse. This is one documentary feature you will never forget given the gravity of the case exposed. Familiar Hollywood figures provide voices to the victims.
9 Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop
Another Carr film, this time about a cop whose ultimate sin was to fantasize about something so horrific, he was convicted for it. Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop tells the story of Gilberto Valle, a NYPD officer who revealed the unimaginable in chat rooms, but also used a police database to get some details about the women he fantasized with. You can draw your own conclusions about Valle's culpability in a case of conviction due to possible acts and nothing that actually took place in real life.
8 Paradise Lost Trilogy
The trilogy of documentaries directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, Paradise Lost, is a harrowing journey through the details of a criminal case that should have never taken place. In the '90s, the bodies of three small boys were found in the woods in Arkansas. They were mutilated and showed signs of sexual assault. Instead of investigating the events and evidence, the police preferred to get a false confession from a teenager, who subsequently accused two others. They became the West Memphis Three, and the trilogy documents their conviction as well as the process through which they were released decades after. The third documentary also sheds light on the most probable suspect for the murders.
7 Murder on Middle Beach
Madison Hamburg didn't imagine his film would become this. Murder on Middle Beach started as a student film about Hamburg investigating the unsolved case of his mother's murder. One decade after, it became a four-part series about Madison going for something more intimate: everything points to an inside job carried out by Barbara Hamburg's family.
6 At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal
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Once again, Carr makes a presence. Larry Nassar and his trial are the focus of Carr's documentary feature. Her work is an impeccable observation of the case that revealed Nassar to be guilty of assaulting more than 200 athletes. Few documentary films that are mostly based on a trial are this well-written. At the Heart of Gold is a shocking, but ultimately hopeful look at the rotten core of sports associations that let monsters like Nassar do whatever they want.
5 Beware the Slenderman
In 2014, two 12-year-old girls stabbed a friend of theirs 19 times. Their reason was they were following the Slenderman's orders. Beware the Slenderman is the documentary feature that shares some of the details of the case while dissecting the Internet culture that made the case even more bizarre. As bewildered as we are after watching this one, we can't help but feel cases like this are much more relevant and possible than we think.
4 Boy Interrupted
A heartbreaking film about a death that felt inevitable since it began. Dana Perry's Boy Interrupted is a shocking document about Evan Perry, a boy who was diagnosed with depression at a very young age. As his parents begin to realize Evan is showing signs of suicidal thoughts, the documentary observes a family trying to make healthcare professionals accept the fact that it may be dangerous. This is an emotional experience that's hard to forget because of how inevitable Evan's death feels.
3 The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Gibney's The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is an extraordinary documentary film about the mysterious figure of Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes attempted to trick the world into thinking she held a device so powerful, it would change the world of medicine. This one is so shocking because it shows how close we were to falling under the spell of an ambitious monster of a woman.
2 Autopsy
HBO's Autopsy was part of the America Undercover series since it began its run. From its first episode, it documents cases where forensic pathologist Michael Baden has intervened somehow to analyze the evidence and give voices to the dead. When it comes to true crime pieces, there isn't a more important show. The raw footage, the narration by the great Marlene Sanders, and the feeling that you are watching something "forbidden," make this a great pick for your next true crime binge.
1 The Vow
HBO's documentary of the NXIVM cult trial revealed the truth about its leaders and their intentions. Keith Raniere is the main subject of all accusations, and what started as a personal rebellion by a very brave woman, turns into something huge as Raniere's followers turn into his detractors. The series raises the stakes when in Season 2, Nancy Salzman one of the former leaders, turns to the other side and reveals more details about an organization that worked as a sex cult and indulged in emotional and physical torture to everyone who dared to challenge Raniere.