“I Like Me’s” sincere portrait of the late John Candy will be an illuminating and nostalgic experience for anyone familiar with the classic 80s funnyman, but there are a few more quality options for those looking for good documentaries in 2025. Here are three more I found while preparing my UFCA ballot earlier this year:
2000 Meters to Andriivka (R)
Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka” will go hand in hand with 2023’s “20 Days in Mariupol” as gripping portraits of the war in Ukraine, and arguing which is “better” feels beside the point. Like “20 Days,” “2000 Meters” drops viewers in the middle of the conflict, this time alongside a critical offensive to retake the titular besieged city via a narrow strip of what used to be a forest. “2000 Meters” is vivid and real, almost uncomfortably real as it reports on the futures of the various soldiers we meet along the way. The film’s most memorable scene might be the one that takes place as a group of soldiers try to negotiate a pair of trapped Russians out of hiding, but the entire film is a pretty unforgettable portrait of a conflict that has lasted several years, and from what we see here, doesn’t seem interested in leaving anything livable behind.
Every Little Thing (PG)
If war documentaries aren’t your taste, or if you just need a boost after watching one, Sally Aitken’s “Every Little Thing” is a charming portrait of a woman who has made it her life’s mission to look out for hummingbirds. The story focuses on Terry Masear, a woman in Hollywood who dedicated her already colorful and unique life to rehabbing hummingbirds in the Hollywood Hills. We see her interact with various people who bring her birds that were injured or otherwise located on their properties, and peer into the meticulous and elaborate process of getting them ready to return to the wild. It’s interesting to learn about the various challenges involved, but the clear highlight of the film is the abundance of close-up flight footage and other video of the subjects. If you don’t already have a bird feeder set up at your house, “Every Little Thing” should inspire you to get out to your local greenhouse right away.
Secret Mall Apartment (R)
If you enjoyed “Roofman,” “Secret Mall Apartment” is a documentary of a similar situation that supports the old adage that reality is often stranger than fiction. Jeremy Workman’s film takes us back twenty years to tell the story of a group of eccentric artists that figures out how to hide a functioning apartment in the catacombs of a downtown mall in Providence, Rhode Island. Led by an artist named Michael Townsend, the group first stakes out the property as a kind of protest against the kind of commercial development that built the mall and sacrificed a popular artist haven in the area called Thunder Road. The effort eventually stretches into a multi-year project, and “Secret Mall Apartment” also fills in its running time exploring the more above-the-board art projects that include thoughtful responses to tragedies like the OKC bombing and 9/11. It’s an interesting story and a compelling portrait of Townsend, even if the group’s odd reckoning of moral stances might prevent audiences from finding them fully sympathetic.