Twenty documentaries use inventive techniques to portray shocking real events

The article ranks 20 documentaries praised for their ability to shock and move viewers, ahead of the UK release of Nathan Fielder’s film about Elizabeth Holmes. It argues that the strongest films use techniques such as animation, immersive filming and experimental sound to bring real events and unfamiliar lives vividly to the screen.

The supplied text describes only part of the ranking, including films about the 1966 University of Texas shooting, a Mexican woman who faked a pregnancy, homeless people living in New York subway tunnels, Enron’s collapse, a failed solo sailing race and US troops in Afghanistan. It also highlights films that portray urban deprivation, corporate fraud, war and human impact on the natural world; the article’s full list is not included in the text provided.