Documentaries About The World We Live In

Below is a handful of documentaries I think are very helpful in informing people about the state of the world and how it works, especially Britain. It doesn't mean I agree with them without question, nor that these are the only views I consider, but they are things that are often absent, or downplayed, by popular media outlets whose owners, and advertisers, invariably have an interest in maintaining a blinkered public perception of 'reality'.

The Spider's Web: Britain's secret world of finance

Following the decline of the British Empire, the UK reinvented its global power through an opaque financial network rooted in offshore tax havens and obscure jurisdictions steeped in secrecy. Michael Oswald traces how British elites, banks, and Crown‑linked territories built a vast system enabling capital flight, tax avoidance, and corporate anonymity. Using this hidden power, they shaped modern global finance from behind the scenes. Archival footage, expert interviews, and investigative reporting reveal how this hidden architecture influences governments, drains public revenues, and concentrates wealth, arguing that Britain’s most enduring empire may be the one operating quietly from the world’s financial shadows.

The War You Don't See: How media and government manipulate populations using propaganda

John Pilger explores how modern conflicts are shaped, sold, and sustained through the machinery of media and government propaganda. By exposing the relationship between journalists, political leaders, and military institutions, he shows how selective reporting, embedded journalism, and strategic messaging obscure the human cost of war and manufacture public consent. Through dicussions with reporters, whistleblowers, and officials, the film reveals the ways information is managed and manipulated; what the public is shown, and not shown, plays a decisive role in constructing opinion, enabling wars to be fought in their name.

Taking Liberties: How Blair's New Labour eroded civil liberty in Britain

Chris Atkins investigates how Blair instigated a series of UK government policies that steadily eroded long‑standing civil liberties, all done under the banner of security and public protection. The documentary covers expanded surveillance powers, restrictions on protest, increased detention without trial, and new policing tactics. Everyday rights once taken for granted are demonstrated to have become vulnerable to political redefinition. Mixing investigative journalism with sharp, often satirical storytelling, the documentary highlights real cases of ordinary citizens caught in these shifting legal boundaries and argues that democratic freedoms can be quietly dismantled long before the public realizes what has been lost.

9/11 Trillions: Follow the money

James Corbett examines the financial questions and irregularities that were inexplicably overlooked in the aftermath of the 2001 September 11th attacks. Using documents, news reports, and official statements, the film explores issues such as missing Pentagon funds, highly unusual stock trades, and the financial interests of various institutions linked to the events of that period. There is less focus on the attacks themselves and more upon those who benefited from them. By tracing monetary flows and unveiling conflicts of interest, the documentary presents a critical, highly skeptical perspective on how money and power may have shaped the narratives surrounding 9/11.

Loose Change: The final cut

A wide‑ranging compilation of arguments and claims that challenge the official account of the September 11 attacks, 2001. This edition reworks and expands earlier versions with updated interviews, archival footage, and re‑examined public records, aiming to highlight perceived inconsistencies in timelines, structural failures, military responses, and government explanations. Rather than offering a single alternative narrative, the documentary stitches together a series of speculative questions and interpretations, inviting viewers to reconsider how the events were reported and documented while acknowledging its own role as a piece of advocacy filmmaking.

The China Hustle

Uncovering how a wave of Chinese companies, brought onto U.S. stock exchanges through reverse mergers, misled investors with fabricated financials and inflated valuations. There were billions in losses when the schemes unraveled. The documentary follows short‑sellers, analysts, and whistleblowers who piece together evidence of systemic fraud enabled by lax regulation, conflicted financial institutions, and global market incentives. Through interviews and case studies, the film reveals how ordinary investors became collateral damage in a cross‑border loophole, and argues that the mechanisms designed to safeguard markets often fail when profits override transparency.

Enron: The smartest guys in the room

'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room' traces the dramatic rise and collapse of Enron, revealing how a culture of unchecked ambition, accounting manipulation, and executive deception turned one of America’s most celebrated companies into a symbol of corporate fraud. Drawing on insider interviews, court records, and the book that inspired the film, the documentary shows how traders, auditors, and top leadership collectively engineered schemes that hid debt, inflated profits, and exploited energy markets. The film exposes the human and economic fallout of Enron’s implosion, illustrating how systemic greed can corrode both institutions, and the lives of those who trust them.

Inside Job: The story of the fraud behind the 2008 financial collapse

An investigation into the roots of the 2008 global financial crisis, revealing how decades of deregulation, conflicts of interest, and high‑risk financial engineering created a system primed for collapse. Charles Ferguson follows the trail through Wall Street banks, credit‑rating agencies, academic institutions, and government bodies, showing how interconnected incentives encouraged reckless behavior while shielding key players from accountability. Through interviews with economists, policymakers, and industry insiders, the film exposes a culture where profit trumped responsibility, arguing that the crisis was not an accident but the predictable outcome of a corrupt financial system that is entrenched in politics, too.

The Corporation: Why corporations are inherently psychopathic entities

A documentary that examines the modern corporation as a dominant global institution, questioning its legal status, motivations, and social impact through the framework of Joel Bakan’s book of the same name. Using interviews, case studies, and investigative sequences, the documentary argues that when corporations are treated as legal “persons” whose primary duty is maximizing profit, their behaviour often mirrors the traits of a psychopathic personality—indifferent to harm, manipulative, and driven by self‑interest. The film explores environmental damage, labor abuses, marketing tactics, and political influence to show how corporate power shapes public life, ultimately challenging viewers to reconsider whether current systems of accountability are sufficient for the scale of their influence. A sequel is also available because the problem has got worse, not better.

Shadow World: The filth of the international arms trade

The global arms trade is a vast, opaque system. Governments, defense contractors, brokers, and political elites use it to profit from perpetual conflict. Drawing on journalist Andrew Feinstein’s research, the film traces how corruption, secret deals, and strategic alliances shape weapons sales that span continents and regimes, often bypassing democratic oversight and ethical safeguards. Through interviews, archival evidence, and case studies, the documentary highlights how the pursuit of profit and geopolitical influence can fuel instability and human suffering, presenting the arms trade not as a peripheral industry, but as a central force in modern international politics.

HyperNormalisation: The hell of a fake world

An ontological critique that weaves together politics, media, technology, and culture, to demonstrate how governments and corporations have constructed simplified, manageable versions of reality to maintain control in an increasingly complex world. Adam Curtis traces how crises in the Middle East, the rise of financial power, and the growth of digital networks, encouraged leaders and institutions to retreat into comforting narratives, while the public became immersed in distraction and spectacle. Through Curtis’s signature collage of archival footage, commentary, and parallel storylines, the film suggests that our contemporary sense of confusion and unreality stems from these engineered systems of illusion. And that they are so pervasive the public have acquiesced to the theatre that obfuscates any understanding of how power truly works.

Waco: A new revelation

Revisiting the 1993 standoff between the Branch Davidians and U.S. federal agencies, highlighting how official accounts of the siege and final assault left key questions unanswered. Drawing on interviews, survivor testimony, expert analysis, and previously unseen materials, the film argues that critical evidence was overlooked or misrepresented by authorities. Rather than retelling the entire event, the documentary concentrates on challenging the established narrative and urging a re‑examination of government accountability, law‑enforcement conduct, and the tragic outcome that left dozens dead. Was Waco an engineered tragedy that could have been avoided?

No limits: The thalidomide saga

Recounting the decades‑long struggle of families affected by thalidomide. A drug marketed as a safe remedy for morning sickness in the late 1950s and early 1960s actually caused severe birth defects across the world, triggering one of the best known medical‑pharmaceutical scandals in modern history. The documentary follows survivors, campaigners, and investigative journalists as they expose corporate negligence, regulatory failures, and the protracted fight for recognition, compensation, and justice. Through personal testimony and historical evidence, the film highlights both the lasting human consequences of the tragedy and the resilience of those who refused to let the story fade into silence.

I Am Fishead: How psychopathy rots society from the head down

An exploration into toxic leadership and psychopathic traits within corporations, governments, and other powerful institutions. These damaging traits shape modern society, rotting it from the top down. Blending expert interviews, psychological research, and cultural commentary, the film examines how individuals with diminished empathy and a drive for dominance can rise to positions of authority, influencing organizational behavior and public life. It also looks at how ordinary people respond to such environments, questioning whether social apathy and disengagement enable harmful systems to persist. Through its investigation, the documentary encourages viewers to consider how healthier, more compassionate leadership might counteract these destructive dynamics.

The London Laundromat: Britain, London, and the corrupt economy

How did the UK capital became a key destination for laundering vast sums of illicit money from around the world, particularly from former Soviet states? Through Financial Times reporting, the film traces how shell companies, luxury property purchases, and weak oversight allowed corrupt officials, criminals, and oligarchs to conceal their wealth in plain sight. Combining on‑the‑ground journalism with financial analysis, the documentary shows how London’s status as a global financial hub has been exploited, highlighting the broader political and economic consequences of dirty money flowing freely through respected institutions.

Don't Buy A Bomb: The arms trade in corrupt Britain

'Don’t Buy a Bomb' examines the human and political consequences of the global arms trade through the lens of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), highlighting how everyday financial institutions can be tied to weapons manufacturers and military conflicts. The documentary follows activists, researchers, and affected communities as they expose the links between banks, investment funds, and the production of bombs, drones, and other weapons used in war zones. By blending investigative insight with personal stories, the film encourages viewers to reconsider where their money goes and argues for greater transparency, ethical investment, and public pressure to challenge industries that profit from violence.

Inequality For All: The ball's been rolling downhill for some time now

Economist Robert Reich explains the forces driving the widening gap between rich and poor in the United States. The film illustrates how policy decisions, globalization, and shifting labour dynamics have reshaped the economy over preceding decades. Using clear visuals, personal stories, and accessible analysis, the film shows how stagnant wages, weakened worker power, and concentrated wealth affect not only individual lives, but the stability of the entire economic system. Through Reich’s commentary and classroom discussions, the documentary argues that rising inequality is neither inevitable nor sustainable, urging viewers to consider reforms that would create a fairer, more resilient society.

Inside the Iraq War: Deception, power, & legacy

Revisiting the propaganda campaign that led to the 2003 invasion and its long‑lasting fallout. Through interviews with insiders, analysts, soldiers, and civilians, the documentary examines the contested claims used to justify the war, the realities of the occupation, and the far‑reaching consequences for Iraq, the region, and Western foreign policy. By blending archival evidence with contemporary reflection, the film explores how narratives of fear and certainty were constructed to pursue a predetermined agenda. Sound familiar?

WikiLeaks' Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord

An exposee of the inhumane 'methods' of war used by the US military in their illegal conquest of Iraq. Real-time footage of the murder of journalists and small children. Obedience is weakness.

CitizenFour: The emergence of the illegal surveillance state

Documenting the tense, unprecedented days in 2013 when Edward Snowden revealed vast U.S. and allied government surveillance programs. Filmmaker Laura Poitras captures the unfolding story from inside a Hong Kong hotel room, showing Snowden’s careful reasoning, rising anxiety, and determination as he hands over evidence of secret mass‑data collection targeting millions of ordinary people. Blending real‑time disclosure with global reactions, the film offers an intimate portrait of a whistleblower confronting the consequences of his choices while exposing the scale and implications of modern state surveillance. The panopticon is now complete.