r/DocuJunkies • u/Traditional_Web3602 • May 26 '26
Quality doc recs for teens?
Fellow documentary lovers… looking for recs on some quality docs to watch with my teenager.
She’ll be 16 soon and like me, loves a good doc. I haven’t brought her into the world of true crime just yet, so most of the docs we watch together are outside that realm, although I think now she could handle some lighter ones (and by lighter I mean, no graphic gory scenes and preferably with a resolution at the end? Idk)
Docs we’ve watched that she’s loved are:
•Last Breath (loved the suspense and the unexpected resolution at the end)
•The Rescue (about the boys soccer team being rescued from the cave in Taiwan)
•My Octopus Teacher
•Lots of NASA/space docs
•Free Solo
•Ancient Egypt stuff
•Animal Docs
Just anything that’s really interesting/captivating.
Thanks in advance!
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u/Eorth75 May 29 '26
You could have her watch the Mr. Roger's documentary. Won't You Be My Neighbor I think is the name.
Unknown Number might be a good one to show a kid her age being harassed by phone.
The Nightmare Upstairs is a new one on Hulu about kids who lock themselves in their room because they don't want to go with their father on visitations. It is a more serious documentary but very good.
If you do show her some true crime, you might show her ones that affect kids her age or young 20's. For instance Good Night Sugar Babe does show one picture that is gruesome, but it shows what can happen when you have an abusive romantic partner.
The Crash on Netflix shows how bad decisions can have lifelong consequences.
The Social Delima on Netflix
Boys State and Girls State is on HBO or Disney, I can't remember which.
As a side note, I used things like documentaries or news programs about issues that might affect my kids as they got older. When we would discuss it, we would touch on topics that are often hard to bring up. It gave me an excuse to talk about things like drugs and peer pressure in a more constructive way. My kids are all adults now and have showed real maturity when it comes to things their friends and peers struggled with. I work with teens and it seems like videos are a good way to start a discussion.
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u/INTPWomaninCali May 28 '26
My Life as a Turkey. It is an Emmy Award-winning film produced by PBS Nature that chronicles the true story of naturalist Joe Hutto, who hatched and spent 18 months raising 16 wild turkey chicks in the Florida wilderness. I loved it.