Highest-Rated Movies about 'True Crime'

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008), Revelations: Paradise Lost 2 (2000), Citizen X (1995), Raw Deal: A Question of Consent (2001), Beware the Slenderman (2016), The Night Stalker (2016), Audrie & Daisy (2016), West of Memphis (2012) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best True Crime movies.

#1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Storyline: In 2001, 28-year-old Dr. Andrew Bagby is found dead in a park in Pennsylvania. He had been shot by his ex-girlfriend, who then fled to Canada, where she was able to walk free on bail, pregnant with Andrew's child. Andrew's enraged parents campaign to gain custody of the child and convict their son's killer. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne pairs this story with home movies and interviews with those who knew Andrew, hoping to give his best friend's son an opportunity to discover who his dad was.

Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, biography, family, murder, justice, tragedy ...

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#4. Raw Deal: A Question of Consent (2001)

Storyline: Filmmaker Billy Corben looks at the circumstances leading up to an alleged rape at a college fraternity house. Actual footage shot the night of the party is shown, the same footage that was used to persuade the police not to press charges in the case.

Plot Keywords: documentary, true story, legal, controversy, sexual assault, florida, justice system ...

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#8. West of Memphis (2012)

Storyline: West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.—Production

Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, legal drama, wrongful conviction, murder, justice, courtroom ...

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#10. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)

Storyline: In the late 1980's, the Friedmans - father and respected computer and music teacher Arnold Friedman, mother and housewife Elaine Friedman, and their three grown sons, David Friedman, Seth Friedman and Jesse Friedman - of Great Neck, Long Island, are seemingly your typical middle class American family. They all admit that the marriage was by no means close to being harmonious - Arnold and Elaine eventually got divorced - but the sons talk of their father, while also not being always there for them, as being a good man. This façade of respectability masks the fact that Arnold was buying and distributing child pornography. Following a sting operation to confirm this fact, the authorities began to investigate Arnold for sexual abuse of the minor-aged male students of his computer classes, which he held in the basement of the family home. Based on interviews with the students, not only was Arnold charged with and ultimately convicted of multiple counts of sodomy and sexual abuse of these boys but so was eighteen year old Jesse, who was mentioned by many as the aggressor of the two in the acts. Arnold admitted that he is a pedophile, but that he did not abuse the boys in his class as charged and convicted. The trial process brought out the dysfunction that previously existed within the family. But the issue of Arnold and Jesse's guilt of these acts is hotly debated among the family, among the authorities, among the media and among the students of the computer classes.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, family drama, legal drama, psychological, controversial, interviews ...

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#11. 10 Rillington Place (1971)

Storyline: London, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle-aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, lives in the ground-floor flat at 10 Rillington Place. His demeanor masks the fact of being a serial killer. His modus operandi is to act as a person with a medical background, lure unsuspecting women to his apartment on the pretense of curing them of some ailment, knock them unconscious with carbon monoxide gas, gain his sexual release through contact with the unconscious body, then strangle the victim dead before disposing of the body somewhere in the house or outside area. His next intended target is Beryl Evans, a young woman who has just moved into the top flat in the house. Beryl's husband, Tim Evans, is an illiterate man who likes to put on airs. Already with an infant daughter named Geraldine, the Evanses learn they are going to have another baby, which they cannot afford to have, nor can they afford to abort the pregnancy. This problem, on top of the constant issue of lack of money in all aspects of their lives, places a strain on the marriage, of which all their neighbors are aware through the constant fighting they overhear. Christie will offer to perform the abortion for free. The difference with this intended murder is that Tim will be aware that his wife will have died, but Christie plans either to goad Tim into keeping silent since the abortion would have been illegal, an act to which Tim would have provided his consent, or pin the murder on Tim who would have motive. Will this change in modus operandi affect Christie's ability to kill Beryl, or kill her without detection?—Huggo

Plot Keywords: crime, thriller, drama, based on true story, murder, serial killer, british film ...

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#12. The People vs. Jean Harris (1981)

Storyline: French secret agent Joss Baumont is sent to one of the African countries to kill their president Njala. However, at the last moment the political situation changes and the French secret service turns him in to the African authorities, and he is sentenced to a long-term imprisonment. After the daring escape he returns to France and deliberately informs his former chiefs of his presence promising them to kill Njala who has just arrived to the country with the official visit.—Yuri German <blsidt1@imf.org>

Plot Keywords: based on a true story, courtroom drama, biography, crime, murder case, female protagonist, psychological analysis ...

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#13. Bad Education (2004)

Storyline: In the early 60s, two boys - Ignacio and Enrique - discover love, movies and fear in a Christian school. Father Manolo, the school principal and Literature teacher, both witnesses and takes part in these discoveries. The three characters come against one another twice again, in the late 70s and in 1980. These meetings are set to change the life and death of some of them.

Plot Keywords: drama, crime, based on a true story, education, school, corruption, power ...

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#14. An American Crime (2007)

Storyline: Based on a true story that shocked the nation in 1965, the film recounts one of the most shocking crimes ever committed against a single victim. Sylvia and Jennie Fae Likens, the two daughters of traveling carnival workers are left for an extended stay at the Indianapolis home of single mother Gertrude Baniszewski and her six children. Times are tough, and Gertrude's financial needs cause her to make this arrangement before realizing how the burden will push her unstable nature to a breaking point. What transpires in the next three months is both riveting and horrific.

Plot Keywords: crime, drama, true story, abuse, domestic violence, psychological thriller, courtroom ...

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#15. No Stone Unturned (2017)

Storyline: Alex Gibney reopens the mysterious unsolved case revolving the 1994 Loughinisland massacre. On 18 June, in the small village of Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, six men were brutally murdered and a few others were wounded in a pub while watching the World Cup soccer match. Despite a long investigation by the police and many confusing leads, no perpetrators of the attack were ever found.—Rodrigo Amaro

Plot Keywords: documentary, investigation, true crime, journalism, justice, victims, historical event ...

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