Best-Reviewed Documentaries 2016

Critics Consensus: Weiner uses sharp insight and untrammeled access to offer a portrait of a political and personal collapse that's as queasy as it is undeniably compelling.

Synopsis: Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) runs for mayor of New York in 2013, but a new sex scandal ruins his attempt at a political comeback.

Starring: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Dean Obeidallah, Philippe Reines

Directed By: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

Critics Consensus: Fresh and inventive yet immediately accessible, Cameraperson distills its subject's life and career into an experience that should prove immediately absorbing even for those unfamiliar with her work.

Synopsis: Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson exposes her many years behind the camera through a memoir made up of decades of footage shot all over the world.

Starring: Kirsten Johnson, Roger Phenix

Directed By: Kirsten Johnson

Critics Consensus: Tower probes into a painful chapter of American history with sensitivity and grace -- and revisits its events from a valuable new perspective.

Synopsis: On Aug. 1, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Violett Beane, Blair Jackson, Josephine McAdam, Reece Everett Ryan

Directed By: Keith Maitland

Critics Consensus: De Palma may not make believers out of the director's detractors, but they'll likely share longtime fans' fascination with his career's worth of entertaining stories.

Synopsis: Filmmaker Brian De Palma discusses his body of work, including "Sisters," "Obsession," "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," "Scarface," "The Untouchables," "Carlito's Way" and "Mission:... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brian De Palma

Directed By: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow

Critics Consensus: 13th strikes at the heart of America's tangled racial history, offering observations as incendiary as they are calmly controlled.

Synopsis: Filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Michelle Alexander, Bryan Stevenson, Van Jones, Newt Gingrich

Directed By: Ava DuVernay