This Week In Documentary: 'Bad Influence,' 'Can't Look Away,' & 'We Want The Funk!'
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - April 4-10, 2025
This week brings an interesting mix of new releases, including two documentaries concerned with our children’s mental and physical health and another promoting longer-lasting health in adults. We’re also celebrating the birthday of one of the most important living documentarians, the anniversary of an obscure but essential civil rights-focused road movie, and the life of an actor who left us too soon. Topping them all, though, is a reminder that we just posted one of our biggest pieces of the year.
Without further ado, below, you’ll find this week’s highlights, listings, and coming attractions, including our Pick(s) of the Week. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future.
Nonfics Picks Of The Week: The Best Documentaries of 2025 (So Far)
Can you believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the year? While we waited until the halfway point last year to start listing the best documentaries of 2024, I lost my patience and went ahead and listed the 10 best documentaries of 2025 (so far). Several of my favorites for the year haven’t come out yet, such as Middletown, and, surprisingly, only one of the films on the list was among my most anticipated documentaries of 2025. That goes to show that great docs can come out of nowhere. It also means some of these initial picks could be knocked out by December.
The list, which is behind a paywall, is also a streaming guide for those favorites that are already available to watch at home. Hopefully, you like them all as much as I do.
The best documentaries of 2025 (so far) can be found on Netflix, Hulu, Viaplay, Apple TV+, Max, Mubi, and VOD, or in theaters.
Other Documentary Highlights
Bad Influence: The Dark Side Of Kidfluencing (2025)
The three-part series Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Influencing continues the current trend of documentaries about exploited child stars on television and social media. It makes sense after last year’s success of Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which this series’ title seems modeled after. Of course, these new documentaries had to have been in the works already anyway. Earlier this year, Hulu premiered a docuseries about Ruby Franke (who is referenced in this new series), and this week sees the release of the similarly focused film Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media. Will any of these documentaries change the industry? Perhaps all of them together?
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing begins streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, April 9.
The Bus (1965)
Turning 60 years old this week, Haskell Wexler’s The Bus follows a group of activists on a three-day cross-country road trip from San Francisco to D.C. for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom demonstration in 1963. The cinema verité film offers a significant document of the civil rights era, consisting of conversations among its Black, white, and Asian-American passengers that still resonate today. The most interesting comments come from the bus driver, as he’s not among the group heading to the march. His view on affirmative action remains relevant 62 years later.
The Bus is streaming for free on Vimeo via the Center for Asian American Media.
Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media (2025)
The other documentary about kids and the internet is more of a legal documentary, tackling the issue with a specific focus on court cases. Based on Bloomberg News’s investigative reporting, Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media spotlights the work of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which has a few ongoing lawsuits against the companies behind Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. The film is therefore more concerned with how these social media apps facilitate drug deals and sextortion and algorithmically push pro-suicide posts to teens looking for solutions to their pain, rather than on the bigger picture of their general harm to children. It’s still a good film for parents, in particular, to watch for the awareness factor.
Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media opens in theaters and begins streaming on Jolt on Friday, April 4.
Fasting And The Longevity Revolution (2025)
I was not expecting this documentary to fit so well with Can’t Look Away, but both films make comparisons to the tobacco industry. That one does it with social media addiction, while this one does it with the food industry. Directed by one of Spike Lee’s longtime Oscar-nominated editors, Barry Alexander Brown, and narrated by Edward Norton, Fasting and the Longevity Revolution is a bit of a chore to get through, but so are many things that are good for you.
It’s a documentary that interestingly doesn’t even begin addressing the idea of fasting — or “fasting mimicking” — until the midway point, after a lot of set up about the state of the food industry (always great to see Marion Nestle as a talking head) and places around the world with high life expectancy. Ultimately, it is a lengthy ad selling a way of life, one that may work for brief immortality, but I’m not entirely convinced, given that one of its pioneers died in his seventies (albeit of unrelated causes). Let’s revisit the film’s participants in a few decades.
Fasting and the Longevity Revolution will be released on VOD on Monday, April 7.
Rob Epstein Documentaries
One of only a handful of directors to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature twice (he also earned a nomination in the short documentary category), Rob Epstein is surprisingly not a well-known name outside the nonfiction film community. As he turns 70 this week, I think he’s deserving of career achievement recognition and a marathon viewing of his work. He’s among the most significant documentarians focused on LGBTQ+ stories, often sharing distinction with his longtime collaborator Jeffrey Friedman. No wonder two of his films are on our list of the best documentaries about LGBTQ+ history, and another two are on our list of the best documentary portraits of LGBTQ+ culture.
Most of Epstein’s essential films are streaming on The Criterion Channel, including his debut, Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (also on Kanopy), his Oscar-winning breakout feature The Times of Harvey Milk (also on Max), The AIDS Show (also on Kanopy), the Oscar winner Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (also on Kanopy), Where Are We? Our Trip Through America (also on Kanopy), and the Holocaust doc Paragraph 175 (also on Kanopy). Others available include the Oscar-nominated short doc End Game (Netflix), the short doc The Battle of Amfar (Kanopy), State of Pride (YouTube Premium), Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music (Max), and The Celluloid Closet and Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, both available to buy or rent digitally from Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, and Fandango at Home.
Val (2021)
The world lost a wonderful actor last week when Val Kilmer died at the age of 65. Four years ago, he was the subject of a terrific biographical feature, Val, which partly focuses on his battle with throat cancer while also revealing a lot of personal disappointments in his career. It went on to rank high among the best documentaries of 2021 and won two Critics Choice Documentary Awards, including an honor recognizing the narration he wrote for the film. Now that Kilmer is gone, the doc plays even sadder, yet it’s also even more significant to his legacy. It was already a must-watch. Now it’s mandatory viewing in remembrance.
Val is streaming on Prime Video.
We Want The Funk! (2025)
The latest from Stanley Nelson (Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool) has him again directing alongside producer Nicole London, and it is another excellent history lesson spotlighting Black culture. We Want the Funk! is as perfectly informative and insightful as you could want from an exhaustive look at a music genre. And it’s as lively as you would need for a celebration of funk specifically. You won’t be able to stay seated, let alone still, while watching.
This is a great companion piece to one of the films on our list of the best documentaries of 2025 so far: Sly Lives!, especially since that doc’s director, Questlove, is one of the experts appearing throughout, most prevalently during the discussions of Sly and the Family Stone. As with Nelson’s Miles Davis film, it’s more than just a narrative of the past, and like Sly Lives!, there’s a lot of explanation and analysis of the music. It even gives time to a neuroscientist to explain what funk does to our brains.
We Want the Funk! premieres on PBS via Independent Lens on Tuesday, April 8. The film will be available on the PBS app and PBS YouTube on Wednesday, April 9.
Documentary Release Calendar 4/4/25 - 4/10/25
Friday, April 4, 2025
Animals, They’re Just Like Us! Episodes 5 & 6: “Lion Daycare” & “Shark Dentist” - The latest installments of this new nature docuseries about animals that don’t need to be anthropomorphized. (National Geographic WILD)
Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media (2025) - A feature documentary by two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew O’Neill (Redemption; China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province) and Perri Peltz about social media’s harm to young users. You can find our review of Can’t Look Away in the highlights section above. (Jolt and In Theaters)
First Word on Horror Episode 4: “Laird Barron” - The latest episode of this docuseries focuses on the titular author. (Etch Studio Substack)
Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza (2023) - A documentary about Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly, who was stranded in Norway for seven years after Gaza’s borders were closed. (OVID)
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints Season 1, Episode 5: “Francis of Assisi” - The latest episode of this docuseries exploring the lives and sacrifices of historical saints. (Fox Nation)
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) - A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)
Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny (2025) - A new docuseries about declassified government activities. (History)
XXX Medico (1940) - A short documentary presenting a system for doctors to operate over long distances. (TCM)
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Animals, They’re Just Like Us! Episodes 5 & 6: “Lion Daycare” & “Shark Dentist” - The latest installments of this new nature docuseries about animals that don’t need to be anthropomorphized. (Hulu and Disney+)
Canoeman's Holiday (1956) - A short documentary following a canoe trip on the St. Croix River between New Brunswick and Maine. (TCM)
The Cornelia Street Café in Exile (2025) - A feature documentary about the titular Greenwich Village venue. (In Theaters)
Her Shark Story (2024) - A feature documentary about a marine biologist trying to save the whale shark. (In Theaters)
New York Homicide Season 3, Episode 10: “Abducted in Williamsburg” - The latest episode of this true-crime docuseries about recent murder cases in New York City is about a serial killer in the titular hip Brooklyn neighborhood. (Oxygen)
Races to Remember (1956) - A short documentary in the Sportscope franchise highlighting significant horse races of the decade. (TCM)
The Visioneers with Zay Harding (2025) - A new “eco-adventure” docuseries showcasing scientists creating environmental solutions. (Paramount+)
Wildlife Rehab Episodes 3 & 4: “Pulling Their Weight” & “Emotional Rescue” - The latest two episodes of this docuseries about a wildlife rehabilitator in Saskatchewan and her team. (National Geographic WILD)
Sunday, April 6, 2025
The Americas Episode 9: “The West Coast” - The latest episode of this 10-part nature docuseries narrated by Tom Hanks continues to showcase the flora and fauna of North and South America. Read our review of The Americas. (NBC)
David Blaine: Do Not Attempt Episodes 5 & 6: “South Africa” & “Japan” - The final installments of this six-part docuseries starring the titular magician as he travels the world learning new skills from incredible performers and daredevil artists. Read our review of David Blaine: Do Not Attempt. (National Geographic)
Hollywood Hobbies (1939) - A short film following two tourists in Hollywood looking for celebrities. (TCM)
Stuff for Stuff (1949) - An animated short documentary on the history of international trade and global economics. (TCM)
United States of Scandal Season 2, Episode 5: “Anna Delvey” - The latest installment of this docuseries starring Jake Tapper about modern controversies focuses on the artist who scammed New York City’s elite. (CNN)
WWE Rivals Season 5, Episode 8: “Undertaker vs. Triple H” - The latest episode of this docuseries about pro wrestling rivalries. (A&E)
Monday, April 7, 2025
Celtics City Chapter VI: “Untenable Toll” - The sixth episode of this nine-part docuseries about the Boston Celtics focuses on the death of Len Bias plus the end of Larry Bird’s career. Read our review of Celtics City. (HBO and Max)
Confessions of Octomom Episode 5: “The Rocto-Bottom” - The latest installment of this six-part docuseries about Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets plus six other children. (Lifetime)
David Blaine: Do Not Attempt Episodes 5 & 6: “South Africa” & “Japan” - The final installments of this six-part docuseries starring the titular magician as he travels the world learning new skills from other incredible performers. (Hulu and Disney+)
Fasting and the Longevity Revolution (2025) - A feature documentary narrated by Edward Norton about fasting diets. (VOD)
Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up Season 2, Episode 5: “And the Father Is…” - The latest installment of this docuseries following Gypsy Rose Blanchard since her release from prison. (Lifetime)
Moments Without Proper Names (1987) - A medium-length documentary by Shaft director Gordon Parks about his life and career. (TCM)
Poet and Peasant Overture (1955) - A short documentary presenting a performance of the title composition by the MGM Symphony Orchestra. (TCM)
Poetry of Nature (1939) - A humorous Pete Smith short about the wildlife around the California redwoods. (TCM)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
The Class Episode 4: “Waiting Game” - The latest installment of this six-part docuseries that follows six high school seniors as they plan for college during and after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Read our review of The Class. (PBS)
The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (2025) - An eight-part docuseries following the Boston Red Sox for a year. (Netflix)
The Fruitless Tree (2016) - A medium-length documentary about infertility in Nigeria. (OVID)
H2O: The Intelligence of Water (2024) - A documentary about the power of water and its relationship with people. (VOD)
Love Yourself Today (2021) - A documentary about Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Port Protection Alaska Season 8, Episode 5: “The Dog Show” - The latest episode of this docuseries about life in the titular Alaskan village focuses on its canine community. (National Geographic)
Spy High (2025) - A four-part docuseries about a boy whose school was allegedly spying on him, leading to his arrest for dealing drugs. (Prime Video)
We Want the Funk! (2025) - A documentary by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London chronicling the history of funk music. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. You can find our review of We Want the Funk! in the highlights section above. (PBS)
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing (2025) - A three-part docuseries about child influencers. You can find our review of Bad Influence in the highlights section above. (Netflix)
Four Paths to Dignity: The Struggle of Guatemalan Midwives (2022) - A short documentary about Guatemalan midwives. (OVID)
La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus (2012) - A documentary about decommissioned U.S. school buses transported to Guatemala. (OVID)
MGM 40th Anniversary (1964) - A short documentary looking back on the first 40 years of the titular movie studio. (TCM)
Minted (2023) - A documentary about the rise and fall of NFTs. (Netflix)
Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound (2024) - A feature documentary about the titular band. (In Theaters)
Port Protection Alaska Season 8, Episode 5: “The Dog Show” - The latest episode of this docuseries about life in the titular Alaskan village focuses on its canine community. (Hulu and Disney+)
We Want the Funk! (2025) - A documentary by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London chronicling the history of funk music. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. (PBS App and PBS YouTube)
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Abortion Dream Team (2024) - A feature documentary about four friends and activists in Poland who help hundreds of women get abortions per day. (Viaplay)
Accused: Guilty or Innocent? Season 7, Episode 5: “Violent Gunman or Brain Trauma Victim” - The latest episode of this docuseries following individuals charged with crimes as told from their perspective. (A&E)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
4/14 - Count Me In - A feature documentary about legendary drummers. (VOD)
4/22 - Race for the Crown - A horse racing docuseries from the producers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive. (Netflix)
4/25 - Drop Dead City - A feature documentary about New York City’s 1975 fiscal crisis. (In Theaters)
4/27 - My Happy Place - A travel docuseries following celebrities on deeply personal journeys. Watch the new trailer for the series below. (CNN)
4/28 - Chef’s Table: Legends - The latest series in the Chef’s Table franchise looks back at iconic chefs such as Alice Waters and Thomas Keller. (Netflix)
4/29 - Free for All: The Public Library - A feature documentary about the importance of public libraries. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. (PBS)
4/30 - Turning Point: The Vietnam War - The latest series in the Turning Point franchise looks back at the Vietnam War. (Netflix)
5/15 - Deaf President Now! - A feature documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim and Nyle DiMarco about the push for a deaf person to be hired to be president of Gallaudet University, a school for the hearing-impaired. (In Theaters)