This Week In Documentary: 'Jaws @ 50'
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - July 4-July 10, 2025
This week, we celebrate the 249th birthday of America, and maybe we won’t make it to the 250th. At least there should be some hard-hitting documentaries made about this time in history, released too late to matter. Am I being too pessimistic? Sorry. I should be looking forward to the future reality series where we root for alligators to eat poor detained migrants in a concentration camp so cartoonish it’s beyond tragic. Don’t worry, I’ll still share a gif of Little Edie waving an American flag this holiday.
Below are this week’s documentary highlights, including reviews of new nonfiction films and series. They are followed by daily listings for all notable releases and a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans. 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 Mid-Year
In case you missed it last week, I updated my list of the best documentaries of 2025 now that we’ve passed the mid-year point. It’s the latest piece primarily for paid subscribers, whom I depend on to keep this site going, so I appreciate you considering an upgrade. The new list extends the previous first-quarter edition by five titles, though there are six documentaries in this one that weren’t in the earlier version. Yes, that means a film that had been on the list was knocked off. It’ll happen to more of them by the final, end-of-year edition.
Obviously, for my financial well-being, I’m not going to reveal the newly added titles here. The image above is from a series that held the number-one spot until now. I will mention that the platforms where you can find the top five documentaries are rather surprising. Two of the titles are Mubi streaming exclusives. That service is growing! Another two are on Max, which is interesting since two of the top five of 2024 (and three of the top six, if we go further) were/are also Max exclusives. Good for HBO.
The others added to the 2025 list are in theaters or on VOD but hopefully will be more widely available on some streaming service soon (never mind that last year’s number two, the Oscar-winning No Other Land, remains unavailable online in the U.S.).
Other Documentary Highlights
The Act Of Killing (2012)
The New York Times recently published a list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century. Only a few documentaries made the cut, and of course, they’re all in the bottom 20. The lowest-ranking doc, at number 98, is Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man. The next one, ranked 88th, is Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners & I. The top-ranking doc, at number 82, is Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing (which also involved Herzog). Normally, I wouldn’t highlight a film for making another publication’s best-of list, but the Times encouraged readers to share their own top 10 movies of this century so far, and I saw a lot of people also including The Act of Killing as their sole documentary selection.
I think The Act of Killing is overrated, but maybe I’m in the wrong. While it topped the inaugural Nonfics year-end poll in 2013, it didn’t make my ballot (though I gave an honorable mention to the director’s cut). I think it’s very good, but I have issues with it. My interview with Oppenheimer didn’t help with those issues, either. I prefer his follow-up, The Look of Silence, which doesn’t focus as much on the terrible people who took part in the mass killings in Indonesia in the 1960s, nor does it spotlight them reenacting their crimes like this film does.
It’s been more than a decade since I watched The Act of Killing, and I wonder if I would appreciate it more today, especially as we’re living in a time when too many criminal leaders are not only winning seats of power but are similarly boastful about the horrible things they have done and said. I think The Act of Killing will be the focus of my next Documentary Classics post to examine this possibility further. Fittingly for the Times list, my previous reevaluation was focused on The Gleaners & I.
The Act of Killing is currently available to stream on Peacock and Kanopy.
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025)
The only new release I saw for this week is part of National Geographic’s Sharkfest programming, which shouldn’t be confused with Discovery’s Shark Week happening later this month. National Geographic’s series includes Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory, Investigation Shark Attack, Super Shark Highway, Sharks of the North, Shark Quest: Hunt for the Apex Predator, and Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. I’m a fan of the movie Jaws more than I’m interested in sharks in general, so that was my priority here.
If you’re also a fan of the movie, you’ll want to watch Jaws @ 50, and you won’t be disappointed, even though a lot of it is old news. You likely have already seen The Shark is Still Working, which details the movie’s troubled production (read more about that on our list of documentaries about the struggles of filmmaking). Steven Spielberg may share more about his PTSD in Jaws @ 50, though. You may have also seen The Making of Jaws, which was the first documentary directed by Jaws @ 50 helmer Laurent Bouzereau. I also recommend watching Playing with Sharks, which focuses on shark conservationist Valerie Taylor, who shot some of the real great white footage for Jaws.
People & Places (1953-1960; 2024-2025)
Alongside the more well-known and more successful True-Life Adventures series of short films, People & Places was a Disney brand of educational documentaries released in theaters through the 1950s, often attached to the studio’s features. Some of them were nominated for Academy Awards. A few of them won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. The second of those three films, Men Against the Arctic, is probably the best and least dated of them all, as it focuses on icebreaker ships and doesn’t stereotype people and places as much as the rest.
One of the other Oscar winners, Ama Girls, is kind of like a Japanese predecessor to last year’s The Last of the Sea Women since it follows female free divers in a traditional role of hunting for seafood. It can be a little sexist, as can be expected from a 1958 release. The first People & Places short, The Alaskan Eskimo, was its first Oscar winner, and like many subsequent releases, including Siam and Samoa, both of which were nominated, it can veer toward the side of racial ignorance or insensitivity as it attempts to relate foreign concepts to an American audience while also exoticizing unfamiliar cultures. The narrator loves to describe tools and customs as “primitive.”
People & Places was Disney’s travelogue franchise, akin to and maybe seen as a competitor of James A. Fitzpatrick’s long-running Traveltalks series, but it wasn’t as focused. Men Against the Arctic is not exactly a travel documentary. And the sixth installment, Disneyland, U.S.A., was just a self-promotional ad for the studio’s new amusement park. Most, though, took audiences to as varied locales as Scotland, Switzerland, Portugal, Morocco, and even Antarctica. They’re worth watching as curious relics, but they’re only available on YouTube with poor-quality bootlegs. They should be added to Disney+ now that the streamer is rebooting the series.
About that rebooted version of People & Places, Disney hasn’t offered me screeners of the four new shorts debuting this week, so I can’t say whether they’re worth watching. However, the series also already includes last year’s Oscar-nominated documentary short Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, which doesn’t seem to fit the original branding of the series. Directed by Sean Wang, the film is about his two elderly grandmothers, who now live together. Those are people, all right, but there’s nothing special about the place. It also wasn’t my favorite nominee in its bunch. Sophie and the Baron is about a friendship as well, so it seems this incarnation of People & Places is very different.
The new People & Places shorts begin streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday, July 9.
Rolling Thunder Revue (2019)
My recommendation for Fourth of July viewing this year is not something related to the nation’s founding or otherwise patriotic toward America. Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue is instead a look back at a time when the U.S. was perhaps its most divided before the current era. The hybrid film, much of which is not based on truth, covers Bob Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, which is 50 years old this fall and lasted almost to the country’s bicentennial celebration. The film offers a portrayal of the spirit of America ahead of that special Fourth of July, and it’s worth seeing how much more innocent the divisiveness was back then compared to now.
Here’s an excerpt from our review of Rolling Thunder Revue:
“Rolling Thunder Revue is a documentary concert film as much as Jaws is just a movie about a man and a shark. When you take it for what it really is — a sendup of truth that immolates its own interior narrative scene after scene — then it’s an immediately rewarding experience helped along by some of the best-restored concert footage that exists of Dylan. Really, the concert footage cannot be understated; it is completely transcendent.
“But what Scorsese has done is create a time capsule that bridges the then of Dylan with the now of reality, when truth is more important than ever, and challenges us to believe that, if we just roll with it, maybe Dylan will eventually find his way to the truth. Or not, who cares? He sure doesn’t. Take what may be believable, go with it, and tap your feet to the familiar sounds of a harmonica and a gravelly voice.”
Rolling Thunder Revue is available to stream on Netflix.
Documentary Release Calendar 7/4/25 - 7/10/25
Friday, July 4, 2025
Can You Imagine? (1936) - A short documentary presenting curious and unbelievable stories, including those of a boy wrestling with his pet lion and a tree growing out of a courthouse roof. (TCM)
Esports World Cup: Level Up Episode 5: “Finish Line” - The final installment of a docuseries by R.J. Cutler on last year’s inaugural Esports World Cup. (Prime Video)
Ode to Victory (1943) - A World War II propaganda film compiling scenes of America’s history. (TCM)
Planet Weird Episode 4: “Side Kicks” - The latest installment of this new nature docuseries about the world’s strangest species. (National Geographic WILD)
Traffic with the Devil (1946) - A short documentary in the Theater of Life series about traffic problems and accidents in Los Angeles. (TCM)
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 1: “California Great Whites” - The first installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (National Geographic)
Planet Weird Episode 4: “Side Kicks” - The latest installment of this new nature docuseries about the world’s strangest species. (Hulu)
Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2025) - A documentary special about great white sharks. (National Geographic)
Super Shark Highway (2025) - A docuseries following shark scientists in Australia. (National Geographic)
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #1 (1930) - This installment of the Robert L. Ripley documentary franchise focuses on the Tuareg people of the Sahara Desert, the Tree of Abraham, and more. (TCM)
Going, Going, Gone: The Magic of the Home Run (2025) - A documentary starring comedian Roy Wood Jr. about home run hitters. (The Roku Channel)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 1: “California Great Whites” - The first installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 2: “Tigers in Hawaii” - The second installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (National Geographic)
MGM Parade Show #28 (1956) - This installment of the Hollywood-focused docuseries showcases the MGM films Captains Courageous and Forbidden Planet. (TCM)
Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under Season 5, Episode 9: “Little Penguin Rescue” - The latest installment of this nature docuseries filmed at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo involves penguins. (National Geographic WILD)
Servant of the People: The Story of the Constitution of the United States (1937) - A short documentary about the creation of the U.S. Constitution. (TCM)
Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2025) - A documentary special about great white sharks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Stuff for Stuff (1949) - A short documentary on the history of economics and international trade since the dawn of man. (TCM)
Monday, July 7, 2025
Christmas at Sea (2025) - A series following Hallmark fans and stars on a Christmas-themed cruise. (Hallmark)
Igualada: Refusing to Know Your Place (2024) - A documentary about activist Francia Márquez, who became Colombia’s first Afro-Colombian vice president. Presented as an installment of POV. (PBS)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 2: “Tigers in Hawaii” - The second installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 3: “Bitten in the Bahamas” - The third installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (National Geographic)
Jim Thorpe: Lit by Lightning (2025) - A documentary about the titular Native American Olympian. (History)
MGM Parade Show #28 (1956) - This installment of the Hollywood-focused docuseries showcases the MGM films Captains Courageous and Forbidden Planet. (TCM)
Survival Mode Season 1, Episode 1 - The first installment of this new docuseries focuses on Fort Myers residents during Hurricane Ian. (NBC)
The Wonderful World of Tupperware (1965) - A short industrial film about Tupperware. (TCM)
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Cruise of the Zaca (1952) - A short documentary following Errol Flynn on his schooner with a group of oceanic scientists. (TCM)
Garbo (2005) - A feature documentary about the iconic Hollywood actress Greta Garbo. (TCM)
Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story (2025) - A documentary about the titular band. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 3: “Bitten in the Bahamas” - The third installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 4: “Gulf Trouble” - The fourth installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (National Geographic)
Little Jack Little & Orchestra (1936) - A short music film showcasing the titular band leader as he performs with his orchestra on a ship. (TCM)
Man on Wire (2008) - An Oscar-winning documentary about Philippe Petit, who walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Quarterback Season 2 - The return of this docuseries showcasing NFL quarterbacks. (Netflix)
Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty Episode 1: “Rise” - The first installment of this docuseries about the rivalry of Renaissance artists Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. (PBS)
Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd (2025) - A documentary about the titular Canadian punk band. (Prime Video)
A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story (2022) - A biographical documentary about the titular Oscar-nominated actress. (DVD)
Trainwreck: The Real Project X (2025) - The latest installment in the Trainwreck series is about a house party that goes viral. (Netflix)
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind (2025) - A new docuseries about celebrities deciding to reverse their plastic surgery. (E!)
Expedition Unknown Season 15, Episode 4: “Shipwreck Triangle of Greece” - The latest installment of this docuseries following an archaeologist looking for lost artifacts. (Discovery)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 4: “Gulf Trouble” - The fourth installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 5: “Florida’s Bite Capital” - The fifth installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (National Geographic)
People and Places (2025) - A docuseries reboot of the classic Disney film franchise that showcases uplifting and inspirational stories from around the world. (Disney+)
Thursday, July 10, 2025
American Gangster: Trap Queens Season 4 - The return of this docuseries about America’s most notorious women criminals. (BET+)
Chasing the West (2025) - A new docuseries about city folk adjusting to rural life in the Southwest. (HGTV)
Investigation Shark Attack Episode 5: “Florida’s Bite Capital” - The fifth installment of this docuseries about scientists studying shark attacks. (Hulu and Disney+)
Jaws at 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025) - A feature-length documentary about the legacy of the movie Jaws. (National Geographic)
Lie Detector: Truth or Deception (2025) - A new docuseries about suspected but not charged individuals taking lie detectors to prove their innocence. The first installment focuses on Gary Coleman’s death and the alleged involvement of his ex-wife. (A&E)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
7/14 - Apocalypse in the Tropics - A documentary by Petra Costa (The Edge of Democracy) about former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and how the evangelical movement paved the way for his election. Find the film on our list of the most anticipated documentaries of 2025. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Netflix)
7/18 - Heightened Scrutiny - A documentary following civil rights lawyer Chase Strangio in his fights against anti-trans laws. Read our review of Heightened Scrutiny. (In Theaters)
7/21 - The Ride Ahead - A documentary about a young disabled man with a rare genetic disorder attempting to plan for adulthood. (PBS)
7/25 - Monk in Pieces - A documentary about composer and performer Meredith Monk. (In Theaters)
7/30 - BTS Army: Forever We Are Young - A documentary about BTS fans. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
8/1 - Architecton - A documentary by Viktor Kosakovskiy (Gunda) about stone and concrete as foundations of our habitat. (In Theaters)
8/14 - The Grateful Dead Movie - A re-release of the classic 1977 concert film with bonus footage. (In IMAX Theaters)
9/5 - Riefenstahl - A documentary about the legacy of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, best known for directing Triumph of the Will. (In Theaters)