The Best Documentary Movies of 2018

Ranker Film
Updated March 16, 2020 672 votes 169 voters

The best documentary movies this year exemplified what the genre does best. They highlighted a unique aspect of culture or human experience through a nuanced lens. If you're in need of suggestions for some informative and often surprising films, browse this list of 2018 documentary movies. 

These 2018 documentary films explore a wide array of topics. In Seeing Allred, women's rights attorney Gloria Allred tackles the allegations lobbied against Donald Trump and Bill Cosby. Minding the Gap chronicles the decade long friendship between three young men who bond over a love of skateboarding in a small Illinois town. Other good 2018 docs include Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Andre the Giant, and Three Identical Strangers.

Vote up the best new documentaries of 2018, and feel free to add your favorite documentary films released this year missing from the list.

Want to watch more documentaries? Check out this list of 2020 documentary movies.

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  • Won't You Be My Neighbor?
    1

    Won't You Be My Neighbor?

    Fred Rogers
    39 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Morgan Neville
    Filmmaker Morgan Neville examines the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of the popular children's TV show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."
  • André the Giant
    2

    André the Giant

    André René Roussimoff, Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan
    44 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Jason Hehir
    André the Giant is a 2018 TV documentary film directed by Jason Hehir. The explores life of French professional wrestler and actor André René Roussimoff, better known as André the Giant, featuring ...more
  • Three Identical Strangers
    3

    Three Identical Strangers

    Robert Shafran, David Kellman, Lawrence Wright
    28 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Tim Wardle
    Identical triplets become separated at birth and adopted by three different families. Years later, their amazing reunion becomes a global sensation but also unearths an unimaginable secret that has ...more
  • They Shall Not Grow Old
    4

    They Shall Not Grow Old

    Peter Jackson
    10 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Peter Jackson
    Using state-of-the-art technology and materials from the BBC and Imperial War Museum, filmmaker Peter Jackson allows the story of World War I to be told by the men who were there. Life on the front ...more
  • The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
    5

    The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling

    Michael Cera, James L. Brooks, Jim Carrey
    26 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Judd Apatow
    The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Judd Apatow. Featuring Michael Cera reading various excerpts from personal diaries, the film looks at the life and ...more
  • Free Solo
    6

    Free Solo

    Alex Honnold
    14 votes
    • Released: 2018
    • Directed by: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
    Alex Honnold completes the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan's 3,000-foot vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park.