Being stuck inside for nearly a year has its downside. I miss going to the theatre. I miss live events. At the same time, it was a banner year for reading and streaming content. Below are some of the best books, films, documentaries, docuseries, and docudramas reviewed on EverythingNonfiction this past year.
Books
Evil at Lake Seminole – True crime
Bloodlines – Horse racing, money laundering, and drug cartels
American Prison – A detailed examination of the for profit prison system
The Chain – The industrialization of our food supply with a focus on pork
Mayflower – The story of the Mayflower and the pilgrims who first settled in America
Film
Hillbilly Elegy – An intimate look at the struggles of an Appalachian family
Bad Education – A nuanced look at how greed led well-intentioned people to make bad choices
Ford vs. Ferrari – The story of how Ford, known for its box-like family cars, decided to change its image by building a racecar to compete in the 24 hour Le Mans
Documentaries & Docuseries
Room 2806 – An uneducated immigrant brings down one of the most powerful men in the world.
Murder on Middle Beach – A son tries to solve his mother’s murder
Expedition Happiness – Exploring the world in a refurbished school bus
Trial 4 – A wrongful conviction story
The Last Dance – Michael Jordan’s run with the Chicago Bulls
The Way I See it – President Obama as seen by the Whitehouse official photographer
Immigration Nation – All sides of the immigration issue
I’ll be Gone in the Dark – How to make a serial killer
Outcry – The story of what happens when a teenager is falsely accused of the sexual abuse of a child
The Innocent Files – Stories of wrongful convictions
How to Fix a Drug Scandal – Questionable crime lab work, prosecutorial misconduct, sentencing disparity, and judicial incompetence.
Tiger King – The self-absorbed owner of an Exotic Animal Park and his grandiose dreams
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez – An investigation into the suspicious circumstances of the death of an eight-year-old boy
The Pharmacist – The search for a murderer and the beginnings of the opioid epidemic
Docudrama and miniseries
Selena – Selena’s rise to fame
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Organizers of a Vietnam war protest are put on trial