The most jaw-dropping documentaries of 2025: prepare to be shocked

2025 was one for documentaries that made me sit up, grab a coffee, and either gasp, cringe or shake my head at how wild reality can be.

Some had me laughing at the absurd, others left me seriously thinking about the world we live in. Here’s the lineup that I couldn’t stop talking about this year.

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

This one is a real eye-opener. Watching kids being groomed for clout while parents orchestrate every moment is unsettling, addictive, and deeply uncomfortable. You start wondering who’s really running the show: the kids, the parents or the algorithm.

Watching the pressure these children face, parents scripting their lives, and the mental health toll it takes is unsettling when you realise it’s real kids behind those Instagram smiles.

This doc is a must-watch because it’s a reality check: the curated, polished feeds you scroll past? There’s a cost, and it’s human.

Tiek Tok Boem

This Showmax original peeled back the filter on South Africa’s Afrikaans TikTok underworld, and hooboy, it did not hold back. Live streams full of chaos, insults, substance-use, and public freak-outs make you question the obsession with clout and clicks.

It’s messy, loud, and deeply uncomfortable, but it asks real questions about fame, culture, and social media validation. For anyone scrolling endlessly, this doc hits differently.

Beauty and the Bester

Netflix’s true-crime docuseries blew me away. Chronicling Thabo Bester, the “Facebook Rapist,” and his alleged accomplice/partner, it’s a story of manipulation, lies, prison escape, and legal battles that reads like a thriller but is all too real.

The court battles to stop it from airing only added fuel; watching it reminded me how charm, wealth and public image can hide danger. The series is raw, urgent, and impossible to ignore.

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise

Yes, it’s exactly as gross and chaotic as it sounds. A cruise ship loses power, toilets stop working, and 4,000 people are stuck in a floating nightmare. It’s absurd, hilarious, horrifying, and completely human.

The doc digs into the panic, the ridiculous decisions, and the moments that make you wonder how something meant to be a luxury holiday went so, so wrong. Watching it, I kept thinking: this is one for the books, but also never again on a cruise.

The Perfect Neighbor

This one is chilling in a completely different way. A neighbour dispute that spirals into tragedy, told through 911 calls and real footage, isn’t easy to watch, but it’s impossible to ignore.

It reminded me how fragile “normal life” really is and how quickly small tensions can explode. It’s gripping, sobering, and stays with you, the kind of documentary you can’t switch off halfway.

Sean Combs: The Reckoning

This is probably going to be the most talked about as it's one of the biggest moments in the entertainment industry, not just for this year but for life.

It shook me hard. Growing up loving his music, seeing the allegations, the power dynamics, and the control he allegedly had over people, it’s confronting. 

Glamour collides with dark secrets, and suddenly the music world feels less shiny and more … complicated. Watching it, you can’t help but question fame, power, and what we choose to idolise.

As we reflect on the documentaries that shaped 2025, it's clear that this year's offerings have not only entertained but also provoked critical conversations about our society.

From the unsettling realities of kidfluencing to the gripping narratives of true crime, these films have challenged us to confront uncomfortable truths and question the world around us.