We are seeing the rise of what critic Roxana Hadadi calls "diagnostic documentaries"—films that pathologize every behavior of a public figure. A clip of a director being rude to a grip in 1978 is now presented as the origin story of a serial abuser. Context is murdered in the editing room. The Ren Faire doc on HBO was brilliant because it showed the absurd, pathetic, and petty reality of tyrants; lesser docs just cut to a slow-motion shot of a shattered mirror.

For the film nerds. These zoom in on the how —sound design, stunt work, or lighting.