Okay, yes, I normally focus on travel related content, but this piece was first written during the travel industry’s standstill during the pandemic. Below I highlight a few documentaries that I binge watched through through the pandemic, some of the documentaries had me questioning the bizarre nature of their circumstance, others have beefed up my “to visit” list for when I am back regularly travelling… and given this is a travel blog, I will start with a travel documentary.
Dark Tourist: See, this documentary is Tourism related. Presented by David Farrier, a Kiwi with similar mannerisms to Louis Theroux. David takes an in-depth look at Dark tourism and travels the world exploring Benin’s voodoo religion, the infamous McKamley Manor and the Suicide Forest in Japan (amongst many other attractions)
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
The Fyre documentary looks at a group of young ‘entrepreneurs’ attempt to create a luxurious music festival on Pablo Escobar’s former Caribbean island. From the highs of getting Kylie Jenner to share about the festival on Instagram, to the lows of having hundreds of people show up who had paid $12,000 for a VIP luxury tent and none being available. Blink-182 and other scheduled artists eventually pulled out. Watching this dumpster fyre unfold is particularly satisfying.
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
This documentary particularly appealed to me, because I remember the worldwide manhunt for Luka Magnotta circa 2012, and found his eventual capture very amusing. The premise revolves around a notorious cat abuser online who eventually graduates to killing a person and posting their body parts around Canada. The persons identity was verified by a group on Facebook dedicated to revealing what sadistic person could do this to a defenceless animal, and then they realise he’s capable of doing it to people too.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Whilst on the topic of cats, I thought it only natural to graduate to this one, the ‘tiger king’. Luka Magnotta was a batshit crazy, gay man obsessed with himself and seeking to be famous, so is Joe Exotic. You’ll begin watching this documentary and think “hmm, this is absolutely bonkers” and then the next episode takes it up a gear. There are layers to how demented this is. A truly mind boggling watch.
Devil Next Door
Devil Next Door focuses on the bizarre case of John Demjanjuk who seemed like an average grandfather living life in mid-west America. And then he was extradited to Israel to face war crime charges. You sway side to side wondering if he was innocent as the case progresses. They allege he was ‘Ivan the Terrible’ an infamous guard at Treblinka who tortured people whilst operating the gas chambers.
Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak
Given how this was initially written during the pandemic, it’s only apt to shoehorn something relevant to COVID-19 in. Pandemic focuses on the people on the frontlines fighting against pandemics, but also goes in depth to past outbreaks (Ebola) and anomaly’s not helping in the fight against Pandemics, such as anti-vaxxers.
Seaspiracy
I really think Netflix missed the chance to call this documentary Conspirasea. Following on the theme of marine life, Seaspiracy shows the damage humans are doing to sea life. From initially looking at how whaling is affecting Carbon Dioxide levels, to shining a light on corruption within safe fishing initiatives, and exposing criminal elements of industrialised shipping, some of which even engage in modern slavery – Seaspiracy will have you questioning the morality of seafood – and highlights our oceans importance to our fragile ecosystem.
Blackfish
Blackfish was perhaps the first big Netflix documentary to really catch the nations attention, and pull on our heartstrings, Blackfish details the conditions animals in SeaWorld have to live in, and questions the ethics of these sea creatures living in captivity. It also looks in-depth at the Orca, Tilikum who has been responsible for 3 human deaths. Talk about putting the killer into killer whale.
The Tinder Swindler
This harrowing documentary highlights the case of 2 women who matched with Simon Leviev on Tinder, who was pretending to be the heir of the Leviev diamond dynasty and worth billions. He flattered women with the high life of private jets and luxury travel given the illusion of wealth, whilst showing photoshop images of himself with his “father”. Over time he gives the illusion of enemies coming after him and asks for a loan to keep his lavish lifestyle up, and this spirals leaving victims with hundreds of thousands of debt. A really intriguing watch.
Abducted in Plain Sight
Abducted in Plain Sight is the tale of a young girl who is getting groomed and abused by a family friend. Her family lived in a Mormon commune and befriended Robert Berchtold who soon manipulated the young girl into having a relationship with him, whilst he was having an affair with both her parents. It’s a crazy watch as you question how and why they acted so powerlessly to prevent this man from abusing their daughter, and kidnapping her not just once, but twice… yeah.
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown
The late Anthony Bourdain was such a genuine person, and a curious soul seemingly up for anything and Parts Unknown is his Magnum Opus. Since this is a travel blog, I thought after starting with a travel show I’d end with a travel show too. Parts Unknown sees Bourdain mingle with the unlikeliest of people, eat peculiar foods, drink local beers and gradually amass a tattoo collection. If he started attending random football matches, we’d be kindred souls.
If there are any documentaries I’ve missed, feel free to drop them in the comments below!
