# The best true crime documentaries and docuseries

The real cases that kept millions awake, from Making a Murderer to The Jinx (SlashFilm, StudioBinder, Ranker).

- 470 votes · 12 items
- Jun 12, 2026 · Madison Gill
- https://even.best/en/l/1920/the-best-true-crime-documentaries-and-docuseries

## Top 12

1. **The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)** (51 · ▲55 ▼4) — HBO's series that ended with a stunning confession on a hot mic.
2. **The Keepers (2017)** (37 · ▲40 ▼3) — The 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik and a decades-long cover-up.
3. **Making a Murderer (2015)** (34 · ▲40 ▼6) — The case of Steven Avery, a Netflix phenomenon.
4. **The Staircase (2004)** (34 · ▲39 ▼5) — Novelist Michael Peterson accused of killing his wife.
5. **Paradise Lost trilogy (1996–2011)** (34 · ▲37 ▼3) — The West Memphis Three, followed for fifteen years.
6. **Evil Genius (2018)** (28 · ▲32 ▼4) — The «pizza bomber» bank robbery case.
7. **Dear Zachary (2008)** (24 · ▲32 ▼8) — Often called the most devastating true crime documentary.
8. **Wild Wild Country (2018)** (23 · ▲28 ▼5) — The Rajneeshpuram commune in Oregon.
9. **I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2020)** (22 · ▲27 ▼5) — Michelle McNamara's hunt for the Golden State Killer.
10. **Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)** (21 · ▲28 ▼7) — A family manipulated by a neighbour for years.
11. **The Thin Blue Line (1988)** (18 · ▲26 ▼8) — Errol Morris' film that helped free an innocent man.
12. **Tiger King (2020)** (16 · ▲22 ▼6) — Joe Exotic and the big cat world, the lockdown obsession.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.