The true crime becomes more and more attractive to viewers. With so much being made by Netflix, HBO, and other platforms, it can be hard to know where to start, so we’ve rounded up some of the best recent true crime documentaries to get you hooked.

  • Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street

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If there’s one thing Netflix excels at, it’s making crime documentaries with larger-than-life personalities: think Tiger King or The Most Hated Man on the Internet. Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street is one of the latest in this particular genre of crime documentaries and tells the story of Bernie Madoff, mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Split into four episodes, it begins with Madoff’s arrest, before taking you back to his past and how revealing it was how he rose to power as chairman of the Nasdaq stock market. With interviews with Madoff employees and those who knew him, he paints a picture of a truly evil man who manipulated anyone and everyone who not only worked with him but tried to expose him.

  • Burden of Proof

HBO’s Burden of Proof investigates the events leading up to and following the disappearance of Jennifer Pandos. It follows Jennifer’s brother who, after getting very few answers from his parents, takes matters into his own hands.

Working with documentary team Cynthia Hill and Christine Delp, who both worked on the A Chef’s Life series, the documentary investigates Stephen’s seven-year disappearance and the theories surrounding her disappearance.

  • MH370: The Plane That Disappeared

One of the most extensive and expensive investigations in history, the disappearance of MH370: almost 10 years after the incident, no one really knows how the plane disappeared and where it ended up. You almost certainly have an idea of ​​the story, but if not, MH370: The Plane That Disappeared tells the most important parts.

In 2014, an international flight operated by Malaysia Airlines suddenly stopped communicating over the South China Sea and never reached its destination in Beijing. The plane disappeared from radar screens and all 239 people on board were presumed dead.

To this day, it has never been found, leaving only theories about what happened: Was it damage? Was it hijacked? Was he hit? Or did something else happen? Researchers are only speculating, and the documentary takes a look at the most plausible theories that have been proposed. It’s riveting, and it’s on HBO.

  • Take Care of Maya

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Seventeen-year-old Maya Kowalski and members of her family appear in this documentary to recount their experiences when Maya was hospitalized for a mysterious illness that struck her when she was nine. Her parents had no idea what exactly was wrong with their daughter, but they knew she needed serious medical attention after she complained of severe pain in her body. But after being admitted to hospital, Dr Sally Smith, a doctor who worked with child patients, began to suspect that Maya’s mother, Beata, had lied about her condition and was using it to gain sympathy.

Maya was taken into custody and a legal battle ensued, but Beata took her own life in 2017, leaving Maya and her family devastated. Was Dr. Smith’s argument legitimate? Did she abuse her powers as a doctor? The documentary examines these questions and more, on Netflix.

  • Waco: American Apocalypse

Waco: American Apocalypse tells the story of the siege of Waco, Texas in 1993. The headquarters of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect led by David Koresh, was invaded in the spring of that year by the authorities. This resulted in 86 deaths, and became a turning point in some Americans’ perception of their government.

This documentary explains how and why the siege took place, the efforts made by the FBI to try to end it peacefully, and the dramatic end on June 19th. It also includes a wealth of archival material from the legal agencies involved as well as interviews with people associated with the sect, which give an insight into the appeal of the enigmatic Koresh. You can watch it on Netflix.

  • The Secrets of Hillsong

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Hillsong, a megachurch founded in Australia, has become one of the largest Christian organizations on the planet, but it is not without its share of controversy. FX’s four-parter The Secrets of Hillsong focuses on some of the criticism the church has faced and the disasters that have plagued it in recent years.

The main interviewee is Carl Lentz, a former New York church pastor who was fired during a cheating scandal in 2020. He explains in detail how Hillsong’s main appeal was its contemporary feel and approach to sermons, with pastors dressed in jeans and casual shirts, even a record label. He also became a spiritual advisor and friend to celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner, and became a huge success: but, as he reveals, there were much darker accusations and issues with the church than a simple cheating scandal, which are revealed on Hulu.

  • Navalny

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The documentary Nalvany – a co-production of HBO and CNN – focuses on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the circumstances before and after his poisoning in 2020. An outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny became the face of a movement for an alternative Russia and his activism drew the ire of the Kremlin. He was poisoned with Novichok before finally recovering, and the documentary focuses not only on him, but also on the investigative trails that investigators undertook to uncover the perpetrators.

It includes excerpts and interviews not only with Navalny himself, his wife Yulia, and investigative journalists Maria Pevtsich and Christo Grosev, as they put forward the case that Putin ordered the poisoning. It premiered in January 2022 and became more prophetic, with the invasion of Ukraine and turmoil in Russia. It also won Best Documentary at the Oscars and BAFTAs.