[imagesource:hbo]

In this era of television streaming, there are new documentary films and series coming out constantly.

A lot of the doccies worth watching go by in a blur or get buried among the other similar-looking titles and promotions, which is why we’re taking a moment to check in with a few current lower-profile projects.

We’ve got something for the true crime junkies, along with an outrageously immoral fast fashion project that got outed, and a serious exploration of a cure that quickly became a cult.

You’re fascinated, right? Read on.

On Netflix now, What Jennifer Did is not just a feature-length film about a 2010 home invasion that killed a woman and left her husband in a coma. The doccie, told from the point of view of the police, gradually zeroes in on the couple’s daughter, who was home at the time.

You don’t need to be familiar with the Brandy Melville brand before watching Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion.

The film tells the story of how social media helped make a juggernaut out of a whole lot of nondescript tiny shirts and then delves into the gross in-store culture, ripe with racism and pro-nazi nonsense:

Then we have a docuseries about the wild world of Synanon, which began in California as a program to treat addiction, and pretty much influenced much of what became the “we will grab your badly behaved teenager from their bed, take them to some secluded location, allow them no contact with anybody, and turn them around” model.

The doccie considers whether and when Synanon turned into what you would call a cult – Was it the head-shaving? The mass weddings? The dictates about reproduction? Find out more by watching The Synanon Fix on HBO now:

These are only scratching the surface of what’s out there, but at least you know where to start.

[source:npr]