The New Year In Documentary: Most Anticipated Of 2026

Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - January-December 2026

To begin our third year on Substack, Nonfics is looking ahead to the next 12 months and previewing our most anticipated documentaries of 2026. Last year, we named 25 films we were looking forward to, and most of them lived up to our expectations. Only six made our list of the best documentaries of 2025, but 12 of them were nominated at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. Nine of the titles never actually wound up being released in the U.S., with three of them not even premiering anywhere last year.

How many of this year’s most anticipated documentaries will be among the very best of 2026, come December? How many, if any, will be huge disappointments? Will they all make it to release at least? Which films are we not even aware of, or considering, or adequately estimating, that will wind up on our list of favorites at the end of the year? We’ll start to see some answers soon, as most of these debut soon, at Sundance or elsewhere. Here are 26 documentaries coming in 2026 that we can’t wait to watch:

26. Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard And Soft - The Tour (Live In 3D)

When U2 3D was released back in 2008, I thought it was the future, setting the stage for a new standard for concert films (I recognized it on my list of the best documentaries of the 2000s). While a few others followed, 3D concert films were not even a trend, let alone a game-changing advancement in cinema. But 3D movies in general failed to catch on as the norm, thanks to only James Cameron (plus Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, and Ang Lee, to a lesser extent) doing right by the format. Now, Cameron is finally applying his skills with 3D to a concert film. He co-directed Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour (Live in 3D) with its star, Billie Eilish, and if it’s at least as technically fascinating as U2 3D and even half as good as R.J. Cutler’s Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, I’ll be satisfied.

Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour (Live in 3D) will be released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on March 20, 2026. Watch the trailer here.

25. The History Of Concrete

The eponymous star of How to With John Wilson makes his feature directorial debut with this meta-sounding documentary. The History of Concrete seems to be a film about making a film about concrete, which would be funnier if we didn’t just get a legitimately interesting documentary about concrete (Victor Kossakovsky’s Architecton) last year. I hope it displays a better understanding of its mark than 2025’s biggest disappointment, the overrated true-crime deconstruction Zodiac Killer Project.

The History of Concrete premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2026.

24. The Brittney Griner Story

Alex Stapleton, who made the unexpectedly entertaining sports documentary Reggie a few years ago, now turns her lens toward a basketball player with The Brittney Griner Story. This film also concentrates on a popular issue at the moment: Russian oppression. Brittney Griner was arrested and sentenced to prison in Moscow on drug charges, and she wound up being part of a politically motivated exchange. It’s a fascinatingly frustrating story that will hopefully be told properly in Stapleton’s hands with production oversight from ESPN Films.

The Brittney Griner Story premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2026. The documentary is likely to be released later this year via ESPN.

23. The Disciple

Joanna Natasegara has produced two Oscar-nominated documentary features (Virunga and The Edge of Democracy) and two Oscar-nominated documentary shorts (The White Helmets and Nai Nai & Wài Pó), winning for one of the latter. The Disciple is her solo feature directorial debut and tells the story of Dutch-Moroccan rapper/producer Cilvaringz and his association with the Wu-Tang Clan, for whom he oversaw the making of the controversially rare album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

The Disciple premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2026.

22. The Home Of The Brave

Science Fair and Sally director Cristina Costantini makes her solo short debut with The Home of the Brave, which is also known as La Tierra del Valor. The 23-minute documentary deals with the ICE raids in Los Angeles last summer and “one small act of bravery” that “gives a community hope.”

The Home of the Brave premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2026.

21. American Doctor

Kirstine Barfod earned an Oscar nomination for producing Feras Fayyad’s The Cave, which followed women doctors in wartorn Syria. She’s also one of the producers of the similarly focused American Doctor, which follows three doctors of different religious backgrounds working in wartorn Gaza. Perhaps this one will find repeat recognition at next year’s Academy Awards. The film also marks the feature directorial debut of Emmy-winning producer Poh Si Teng (Patrice: The Movie).

American Doctor premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026.