This Week In Documentary
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - May 29-June 4, 2026
I’ve been on holiday for the last few days, celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary. In fact, I’ll still be off when this newsletter goes out. The magic of scheduling tools! I mention this because I wasn’t able to watch all of this week’s new releases in time. Also, in case I’ve missed anything that popped up on the documentary release schedule late, you know the reason why.
Below are this week’s documentary highlights, followed by daily listings for all known releases and broadcasts, along with a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including the latest from Questlove!). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, plus full access to special posts like our best-of lists, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: Time And Water (2026)
With its title and elegiac tone, Sara Dosa’s latest, Time and Water, sounds like a great follow-up to her Oscar-nominated 2022 feature, Fire of Love (one of my favorites of that year). The new documentary might have even more in common with her 2019 film, The Seer and the Unseen. It’s a return to Iceland that again deals with environmental threats and even revisits the country’s myths of elves. Time and Water is a surprisingly personal film, however, not for Dosa but for her subject, the writer Andri Snær Magnason.
He narrates the documentary, in which he laments the loss of his grandparents and Iceland’s glaciers, the latter to global warming. As I wrote in my review of Time and Water, I unfortunately “don’t find Magnason, his family, or his concerns all that interesting, and I didn’t enjoy listening to him talk about any of it.” Yet, it’s not a bad film at all. I conclude that “if at another time I find him and his climate change woes more compelling, I am certain I’ll like Time and Water more.” Also, I love the film’s score by Dan Deacon.
Time and Water will be released in theaters on Friday, May 29, 2026.
Other Documentary Highlights
Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult (2026)
Chris Smith continues to prove himself as one of the busiest documentary filmmakers working today. His latest is a three-part docuseries about a cult-like spiritual group from the 1980s that primarily recruited good-looking people. I’ve only watched one episode of Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, but so far, I don’t see how this group was any different than the general superficial culture of the U.S. in the 1980s, and the series hasn’t really set up what was so bad about it yet. I confess, it hasn’t drawn me in.
Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Monday, June 1, 2026.
Gary Hustwit Documentaries
This week’s filmmaker in focus comes courtesy of a new Criterion Channel curation. The streamer is adding four Gary Hustwit documentaries to its library ahead of its mid-month premiere of the director’s latest, Eno. We’ll get to that one in a couple of weeks. For now, you can join Hustwit in his appreciation for design by watching Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized, and Rams. The first three make up The Design Trilogy, focusing on typography, products, and urban spaces, respectively.
The fourth film is about industrial designer Dieter Rams, and since it’s probably the least seen, here’s an excerpt from our review:
“Elegantly made, and lovingly shot, this is the first documentary to focus on Rams, who has made a point of shunning his own celebrity. We trail Rams as he migrates from his Japanese-inspired garden to lectures, to exhibition openings, with interjections from the likes of designer Naoto Fukasawa and Rams’ collaborator Dietrich Lubs. Beautifully scored by Brian Eno, the film is primarily concerned with Rams’ iconic work at Braun and Vitsœ, where he revolutionized consumer product design by implementing an approach that placed functionality on a pedestal over the cheap and the chic. It’s gesamtkunstwerk for the modular minimalist’s soul; an attitude to art that is philosophy and vice versa.”
Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized, and Rams all begin streaming on The Criterion Channel on Monday, June 1, 2026.
LGBTQ+ Documentaries
This week ushers in June, which is Pride Month. We always take this time (non-exclusively) to recommend the best documentaries about LGBTQ+ history and the best documentary portraits of LGBTQ+ culture. Certain streamers may also use the opportunity to highlight their LGBTQ+ offerings.
The Criterion Channel is one of them, as they’re reminding us that they carry such classic features as Portrait of Jason, Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, The Times of Harvey Milk, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, and Paris is Burning. But they’re also adding two essentials from Daniel Peddle focused on trans men of color: The Aggressives and its sequel, Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later.
They also want subscribers to know that they have many LGBTQ+ shorts available to watch, including a handful of documentaries. These include Rob Epstein’s Greetings from Washington, D.C., Mirha-Soleil Ross’s Gender Troublemakers, Cheryl Dunye’s Greetings from Africa, Twiggy Pucci Garçon’s MnM, and Matt Wolf’s Bayard & Me, I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard, and Another Hayride.
Rafa (2026)
It’s been 13 years since Zach Heinzerling released his Oscar-nominated debut, Cutie and the Boxer, and he hasn’t made anything so memorable since. Instead, he continues to helm projects with big topics and even bigger subjects, and he does so with such polish that there’s no denying he deserved the Academy’s recognition out of the gate. Rafa is his latest, a four-part series about tennis icon Rafael Nadal. It’s so conventional that I felt like I’d seen it before, as it follows Nadal’s career with intimate new footage concentrated on his return to the sport in 2024 after his hip injury, plus additional focus on his decision to retire. It’s another athlete profile that’s strictly for the fans, yet it’s also another that exhibits adept verite filmmaking.
Rafa premieres on Netflix on Friday, May 29, 2026.
Storm Front In Mayo: The Story Of The D-Day Forecast (2019)
This week’s Doc Option is inspired by the war movie Pressure, which opens on May 29, 2026. Based on a stage play, the drama depicts the planning of the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. I could recommend plenty of D-Day documentaries, from Stuart Legg’s Zero Hour and the Oscar-winning feature The True Glory to the more recent miniseries D-Day: The Unheard Tapes. But Pressure is specifically about the weather concerns for the operation, and so is the medium-length film Storm Front in Mayo: The Story of the D-Day Forecast.
As far as I can tell, this is the only historical documentary of its kind to feature archival footage of meteorologist James Stagg (portrayed by Andrew Scott in Pressure) and focus on how weather science played a part in the Normandy invasion. Storm Front in Mayo also devotes a lot of its runtime to the distinction of Dwight Eisenhower (portrayed by Brendan Fraser in Pressure). What the drama doesn’t seem to have that the documentary does is recognition of Maureen Sweeney, an Irish postmistress who made the first weather observation warning related to the D-Day plans. She also appears in the film at age 96 to share her side of the story. Give it a watch for her.
Storm Front in Mayo: The Story of the D-Day Forecast is available to stream for free on JustWatch via Plex.
Awards Highlights
News & Documentary Emmy Winners
Winners of this year’s News & Documentary Emmys were announced last week, with Prime Minister taking the awards for Best Documentary and Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. Other big winners, some of them among our favorites of 2025, include Mstyslav Chernov’s 2000 Meters to Andriivka (available to stream via PBS), which was honored for Outstanding Direction, Cover-Up (available on Netflix), honored for Outstanding Editing, and National Geographic’s Underdogs (Disney+ and Hulu), honored for both Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Sound.
Another double winner was Secrets of the Penguins, which took the awards for Outstanding Nature Documentary and Outstanding Cinematography, the latter for its first episode, “Hearts of the Emperors.” National Geographic had a big presence at this year’s awards and also won with Lost in the Jungle, for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Turning Point: The Vietnam War won for Outstanding Research, HBO’s Critical Incident: A Death at the Border won for Outstanding Investigative Documentary, and the independent Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media won for Outstanding Business and Economy Documentary.
Documentary Release Calendar 5/29/26 - 6/4/26
Friday, May 29, 2026
Brazil ’70: The Third Star (2026) - A five-part docudrama series about the 1970 Brazilian football team and their performance in the World Cup. (Netflix)
Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (2026) - An installment of Great Performances narrated by Joel Grey about Jewish composers and lyricists. (PBS)
Deadliest Catch Season 22, Episode 4: “Hunger Game” - The latest installment of a series that follows Alaskan crab fishermen. (Discovery Channel)
Rafa (2026) - A four-part docuseries about tennis star Rafael Nadal. See our highlights section for more info. (Netflix)
Time and Water - A documentary feature directed by Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) about Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason and his mission to preserve the memory of his nation’s glaciers. See our Pick of the Week section for more info and a link to our review. (In Theaters)
With Hasan in Gaza (2025) - A documentary feature directed by Kamal Aljafari that revisits footage he shot in 2001 about his search for a man he met in prison years earlier. (In Theaters)
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose Episode 1 - The first installment of a five-part docuseries on what it means to be American. (CNN)
MGM Parade Show #6 (1955) - The sixth installment of a documentary series devoted to promoting MGM’s films. This short spotlights the movies Anna Christie and Quentin Durward. (TCM)
Tucci in Italy Season 2, Episode 6: “Veneto” - The latest episode of a docuseries starring Stanley Tucci as he explores Italy through its cuisine. (National Geographic)
Sunday, May 31, 2026
The Food That Built America Season 7, Episode 7: “Chocolate in a Glass” - The latest installment of a docuseries about popular American foods. This episode looks at dangerous rides and activities. (History)
Hazardous History with Henry Winkler Season 2, Episode 7: “Thrills & Spills” - The latest installment of a docuseries about dangerous toys and household items that used to be common. This episode involves dangerous parts of homes. (History)
Jimi Hendrix (1973) - A documentary about the titular rock icon. (TCM)
The Killer Among Us Episode 3: “Death in the Dorms” - The latest installment of a docuseries hosted by Alan Cumming about murders in close-knit communities. This episode involves the murder of a student at a school for the deaf. (Oxygen True Crime)
Monterey Pop (1968) - A concert film by D.A. Pennebaker starring Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who, Mamas and the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, and more as they perform at the titular music festival. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Monday, June 1, 2026
The Aggressives (2005) - A documentary feature about trans men of color in New York City. (The Criterion Channel)
Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later (2023) - Sequel to the 2005 documentary The Aggressives about trans men. (The Criterion Channel)
Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult (2026) - A three-part docuseries directed by Chris Smith (Tiger King) about the spiritual group Eternal Values. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (HBO and HBO Max)
Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders Season 2, Episode 1: “Waiting for the Darkness” - The return of a true-crime docuseries involving social media and influencers. (Investigation Discovery)
Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light (2024) - A documentary directed by Oscar winner Paul Wagner (The Stone Carvers) and narrated by Hugh Dancy about the titular painter. The film also stars Claire Danes as the voice of O’Keeffe. (VOD)
Helvetica (2007) - A documentary feature by Gary Hustwit about the titular typeface. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)
History’s Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren Episode 1 - The first part of a docuseries about the machines that shaped our world. (History)
If I Could Stay (2024) - A documentary about two mothers trying ot keep their families together and avoid deportation. (PBS)
In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers Episode 3 - The third installment of a six-part spinoff of the docuseries In the Eye of the Storm that follows weather spotters and storm chasers as they record tornadoes. (Discovery Channel)
Kedi (2016) - A documentary feature that follows stray cats around Istanbul. Read our review of Kedi. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)
Lethally Blonde Season 2, Episode 1 - The return of a true-crime docuseries involving people pursuing beauty and fame. (Investigation Discovery)
Objectified (2009) - A documentary feature by Gary Hustwit about product design. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)
Rams (2015) - A documentary feature by Gary Hustwit about industrial designer Dieter Rams. Read our review of Rams. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)
Urbanized (2009) - A documentary feature by Gary Hustwit about urban design. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
The Proof Is Out There: Unexplained Edition Season 2, Episode 1: “Demons & Angels” - The return of a docuseries about strange phenomena captured on camera. (History)
Running for the Mountains (2024) - A documentary feature about politics in West Virginia. (OVID)
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch Season 7, Episode 3: “Setting Boundaries” - The latest installment of a docuseries about UFO phenomena at the Skinwalker Ranch. (History)
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025) - A documentary feature about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (VOD)
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
The Face Doctors Season 2, Episode 4: “I Just Want a New Nose” - The latest installment of a nonfiction series about facial reconstruction specialists and their patients. (TLC)
Michael Jackson: The Verdict (2026) - A three-part docuseries about the criminal trial of Michael Jackson. (Netflix)
Grey Gardens (1975) - A documentary feature by the Maysles brothers (and Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer) on a mother and daughter (Big Edie and Little Edie Beales) living in a decrepit Hamptons mansion. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
On the Case with Paula Zahn Season 29, Episode 7: “Two Fires, One Match” - The latest installment of a true-crime documentary series starring journalist Paula Zahn. (Investigation Discovery)
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Aida’s Secrets (2016) - A Holocaust documentary about reunited brothers who had been separated as babies during World War II. (OVID)
On the Roam Season 2, Episode 4 - The latest installment of a nonfiction series that follows actor Jason Momoa as he meets extraordinary people around the country. (HBO Max)
Welcome to Wrexham Season 5, Episode 5: “Holiday Spirit” - The latest installment of a docuseries about a Welsh soccer team co-owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. (FXX)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
6/5 - Groundswell - A Cannes-winning documentary sequel narrated by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson about humanity’s relationship to land. The film is the third part of a trilogy that also includes Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. (Prime Video)
6/5 - Louis Malle: Le Révolté (2025) - A medium-length documentary about the titular filmmaker. (In Theaters)
6/7 - Best of the World with Antoni Porowski - A travel docuseries starring Antoni Porowski. Watch the new trailer for the series below. (National Geographic)
6/7 - This Land - A six-part docuseries that explores the history of America through six defining frontiers. (CNN)
6/7 - Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World - A documentary directed by Questlove about the titular band. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (HBO and HBO Max)
6/11 - Surviving Earth - An eight-part docuseries about extinct creatures. (NBC)
6/16 - Becoming Katharine Graham - A documentary feature about the titular Washington Post publisher. (PBS)
6/16 - Eno - A feature documentary directed by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica) about the music artist Brian Eno. (The Criterion Channel)
6/17 - Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul - A documentary about the titular singer-songwriter and musician. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
6/27 - Possibilities - A documentary about the legacy of Helen Keller. (VOD)
7/3 - Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World - A documentary feature about the titular poet and queer icon. (In Theaters)
8/21 - The Dynasty: UConn Huskies - A three-part docuseries directed by Matthew Hamachek (The Dynasty: New England Patriots) about the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team. (Apple TV)