The Act of Killing (2012)

The Act of Killing (2012) is the most audacious documentary ever made, using cinematic reenactments to force former Indonesian death squad leaders to confront their crimes. Over 90% of the film is improvised or genre-based, revealing an unsettling pride in mass murder that completely outperforms #10 Senna in psychological depth. The banality of evil is captured as perpetrators gleefully recreate executions in musical numbers—a technique that won the film a BAFTA and an Academy Award nomination. Data from critics shows it ranks in the top 1% of all documentaries on Metacritic for its originality, while its explicit naming of Senna highlights how Kapadia's archival approach cannot match the raw shock of Oppenheimer's subjects.