Top 20 Best Documentaries on Amazon Prime 2022

Are you looking for the best documentaries on Amazon Prime? But can’t find any? Well, you have come to the right place.

In this article, we are going to discuss the best Amazon Prime documentaries you can watch online and offline. So, without wasting much time, let’s dive in. 

1. Can You Find Documentaries on Amazon Prime Video?

As Amazon Prime Video competes with Netflix to offer an attractive slew of offerings for its viewers, there is a growing collection of documentaries. 

There is something captivating about watching a true story play out. The best documentaries on Amazon don’t have neatly tied-up endings.

They appear like a more accurate representation of what this world is capable of, evil and food, abandoning and nurturing. Often documentaries give you a way to dive deep into a story that has not been explored before.

By watching the best documentaries on Amazon Prime Video, you can also get the answers to the long-existing questions. 

2. Does Amazon Produce Its Original Documentaries?

Yes, Amazon has produced a long list of documentary series that you can stream on Amazon Prime video anytime you want.

Starting from sports documentaries to drug documentaries, you will find it all. 

3. Top 20 Best Documentaries on Amazon Prime Video Now

Documentary shows and movies are becoming more popular with time. If you are up for some captivating documentary titles, keep reading.

Here are the 20 best documentaries on Amazon Prime. 

• 1) All In: The Fight for Democracy

This is one of the Amazon Prime documentaries that are not only insightful and fascinating but also infuriating. It is a chronicle about voting rights in the U.S.A. This film stars Abrams who advocates for voting rights.

The film does cover Georgia’s gubernatorial race but it doesn’t linger on the controversial outcomes. Rather, All In utilizes the visualizations and interviews for explaining how these voting rights have worked in the US through the history of the country.

It also goes on to show how some lawmakers and legislatures were successful in suppressing minority voting rights, especially in the South.

• 2) A Most Beautiful Thing

A Most Beautiful Thing is a sports documentary. It is the first-ever African American high-school rowing squad. However, the actual sports take a little backseat here.

This is because the documentary primarily focuses on the flawed system and adversity these young men from Chicago’s West Side are compelled to fight.

It is a documentary that has been adapted from Arshay Cooper’s memoir. He was the original captain of the team.

The film explores the formation of the team in the 90s and sheds light on the effect the team had on its members when they reunited in 2019. 

• 3) The Witness

Kitty Genovese had been murdered in 1964 in Kew Gardens, Queen. About 38 people had seen her scream but didn’t take any action.

This is one of the best documentaries on Amazon Prime and the story is going to haunt you for a long time. The documentary is a reminder of the action.

The Witness primarily focuses on the younger brother of Kitty, Bill Genovese who acted as the executive producer. He was only 16 when Kitty had been murdered.

He goes through headlines, police records, and trial manuscripts to understand what had really happened several years ago. It is a powerful story about life, death, and family. 

• 4) The Milky Way

In case you are looking for a female, empowering documentary that’s going to leave its mark then this is it.

The documentary explores how women are actually treated as mothers when their bodies adapt and change and how they take care of other human beings.

It shows how the rights of women have been protected in the time of breastfeeding in America. You will be surprised to know that America is one of the only 4 governments without a government-mandated paid maternity off.

But you will get to know more about it from the film by Jon Fitzgerald. 

• 5) Out of Mind, Out of Sight

This is another one of the best documentaries on Prime. It will give you an insightful look at the changing expression and second changes in extreme situations.

This is a story about four residents of Brockville Mental Health Centre. It is a place for people who have committed violent crimes.

John Kastner asks 4 patients, 2 male, and 2 female, to talk about the process of their prospective return to the society that is scared of them.

To create the documentary, 46 patients along with 75 staff members had been interviewed. 

• 6) Sharkwater Extinction

Rob Stewart, the documentary filmmaker made it his aim to spread the word about the dangers that sharks are facing across the world.

Stewart passed away in a diving accident while he was creating Sharkwater Extinction, his final film.

Irrespective of the tragedy, the documentary explores large-scale shark hunting, the disgusting fin trade which has caused the shark population to be decimated.

Apart from shark conservation, the film also features some amazingly shot underwater scenes. So, you get a closer look at the creatures that he was trying to protect. 

• 7) One Child Nation

You might be aware of the one-child policy of China that ran from 1979-2025. However, this documentary by Jialing Zhang and Nanfu Wang digs deeper into the wide-reaching effects of the policy.

It shows how the people of the nation felt that they didn't have any choice but to surrender to the cruelty of the government in favor of the policy which had been drafted to avoid overpopulation.

A few might argue that this was a necessary evil, but the documentary shows how much evil actually took place, starting from massive infanticide to compelled sterilization to family separation.

It shows how the government deprived women of having control over their own bodies. 

• 8) Jasper Mall

It feels like the nostalgia of the 80s and just at the center is a shopping mall.

This is a pensive documentary, Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason exposes the reality of the receding mall industry in America just by emphasizing the once-thriving mall in Alabama’s Jasper.

It used to be a hub of a community but is now a dying mall. With the transforming economic tides, the mall might be completely gone. 

• 9) That Sugar Film

It is one of the best Amazon Prime documentaries in America. It is definitely going to hit the nerve with the fascination of society on how sugar can have an impact on your body.

Damon Gameau, the star, and the director decide to take high sugar. Even so, it is taken as healthy food for 30 days.

However, his point is not to prove how bad soda or candies are but instead to identify the unhealthy amount of sugar present in unexpected places. So, the film can be an eye-opener. 

• 10) The Brain that Changes Itself

The documentary is based on the bestselling book by the researcher and psychologist Dr. Norman Doidge. It examines the brain’s adaptability.

Rather than accepting that our brain ceases to evolve at some point, the film goes on to explain why it is not true and how changes might take place.

A large emphasis is put on how the brain changes to overcome the physical and mental disability caused by things that have damaged the brain. It shows that accepting a problem might not always be necessary. 

• 11) Unseen

This is a true-crime documentary and this is what makes the film so good. Rather than creating a larger-than-life character, Unseen primarily emphasizes the victims.

11 decomposing bodies of women had been found in 2009. The neighborhood could get a smell for quite some time. However, nothing had been done.

As a matter of fact, the horrific action of Sowell was known and reported several times without anything being done.

The documentary analyzes the story of the dead women and the ones who managed to escape. It shows things that are usually brushed under the carpet. 

• 12) Sunshine Hotel

If you would like to know about New York’s history, Sunshine Hotel is going to bring you to the inside of the Bowery flophouses.

Michael Dominic, the director, had first come to know about the location when he was a waiter in the area and this is what makes the film more curious.

In this film, you will see the subjects speaking for themselves. It presents how the people had arrived at Bowery. This is an emotional tale of drugs, struggle, and loneliness. 

• 13) Rewind

Rewind isn’t a happy documentary. It uses the footage of a camcorder to showcase detailed sexual abuse. It is quite unflinching as it digs deeper into the personal trauma of the family.

The film can be a little disturbing to watch. Apart from the cruelty of predatory adults, the top takeaway from the movie is the strength and courage of the filmmaker.

He doesn’t shy away from the darkness that he had to face when he was a child. However, you have to keep in mind that Rewind is not one of the Amazon Prime documentaries that everyone can watch. 

• 14) Chasing Happiness

Some years back, the Jonas Brothers had been traveling the world. They were loved by people all over. However, the only issue was they were not happy.

Thus, the band broke. It is a documentary exploring the Jonas Brothers and the reason behind the band breaking up.

However, it shows how eventually they healed their relationship. Thus, they again came together as a band. This is an amazing documentary for all to watch.

The Jonas Brothers are honest and raw as they talk about what it feels like to grow up in the public eye. 

• 15) Life Off Grid

This is another one of the best documentaries on Amazon Prime. Jonathan Taggart, the director, and Phillip Vannini, the producer spend 3 hours visiting 200 people around Canada who chose life off the grid.

It means that this person creates their own electricity and interviews subjects about what caused them to choose such a life.

It also shows the practices they have integrated. What’s great about the film is it shows living off the grid as a way of life instead of sensationalizing it. 

• 16) Hale County This Morning, This Evening

It is a type of movie that demands to be seen and yet is a type of movie that people do not like to watch as it avoids the narrative.

The documentary gives a kaleidoscopic view of the lives of the black. RaMell Ross wanted to make this film experiential and simply by hanging out with people Ross photographs and films the individuals.

This will give you a better understanding of black life. Usually, these lives are framed in association with white life, as villains or supporting players.

But Hale County doesn’t have any interest in that. This documentary primarily captures life’s richness. 

• 17) Stop Making Sense

You will find many rock and concert documentaries. However, have you seen one of the best concert films? Stop Making Sense by Jonathan Demme is a documentary of four nights of the new wave band Talking Heads.

The show might not really make sense as the band members come and go and switch the instruments but the performance of David Byrne is wild and frenetic but it is highly innovative. You are going to dance in your seat as you watch it. 

• 18) Time

This documentary is about an incredible love story and also the indictment of the correction system of America.

Bradley uses a home video from the subject, in black and white, to construct the story of a woman who fights for 20 years for her husband’s release from prison.

She and her husband had been associated with a bank robbery. However, Fox’s sentence had been relatively brief and that of her husband had been 60 years.

Fox Rich had raised her children all by herself and begun a successful career. She started speaking out about the racial injustice in the penal policy of America.

• 19) What Haunts Us

What Haunts Us follows a woman’s effort? Paige Goldberg Tolmach started to question why a staggering number of classmates from Porter-Gaud School from Charleston class of 1979 have their lives after they graduated.

However, what she unveils is rather unsettling. This documentary transforms into an indictment of communities perpetuating and failing to denounce abuses for a long time.

During the investigation, the subject is handled carefully. It is a film that is going to haunt you for a long time. 

• 20) Sour Grapes

The world of auctions of rare wine turned upside down when it was unveiled that Kurniawan, a collector, had been combining less expensive wine for recreating the flavor or profiles of the most prized wines from certain regions.

This caused him to be the first person to be imprisoned for wine fraud. Sour Grape is going to lead you through the story of how Kurniawan pulled off this scam and the shame it brought to the wine world during the fallout of his trial. 

4. Download Amazon Prime Documentaries Using Prime Video App on Mobile Device

Are you traveling to someplace where there is no internet? Don’t worry! You can download the Amazon Prime documentaries on your device to watch offline.

It is only possible if you have the Prime Video app installed on your mobile device. Here are the steps you have to follow to download a documentary on your mobile device. 

• Open the Prime Video app on your mobile device. 
• Search for the documentary you would like to download. Thereafter, tap on it to open the video’s detail page. 
• If the documentary is available for download, you will find an arrow pointing downward alongside the name. 
• Tap on the downward arrow to download the documentary. 
• When the download is complete, go to the ‘Download’ section to watch the documentary. 

5. Download Amazon Documentaries with an Amazon Downloader to Watch Offline Anywhere

If you want, you can download the best documentaries from Amazon Prime on your PC to watch on your PC using a third-party Amazon Prime video downloader, like the one offered by the famous StreamFab video downloader.

It lets you watch your preferred movie or series whenever you want without worrying about the internet connection. 

The best thing about this downloader is that you can keep the downloaded Prime videos as long as you wish as they shall never expire, and you can transfer the downloaded MP4 videos to all the devices you have.

If you would like to download a documentary on PC, you can follow the steps given below. 

• Download this Amazon downloader and install it on your PC. 
• Select Amazon Prime Video and log in.

• Browse the documentary you would like to download. 
• When you choose one, you will find a ‘Play’ button. 
• As the video starts playing, a pop-up window will crop up and you will find the option ‘Download Now’. Click on it to begin downloading the documentary.

• Now, you can watch the documentary anytime you want.

 

Final Thoughts

You don’t always have to watch fiction. No matter if you have a sudden hankering to get to know about the world around you or would simply like the pace, Amazon Prime Video will give you access to a wide range of incredible documentaries. So, start watching the best documentaries on Amazon Prime.

In terms of offline viewing on the go or in certain circumstances when you might not be able to stream online due to the lack of Wi-Fi connection or weak cellular network, the Prime video downloader software from StreamFab is your best companion to download Amazon documentaries to watch offline without any limitations.