The War Game (1965)
Nuclear War Mockumentary
Peter Watkins stark, brutal mockumentary about a nuclear strike on England, this was banned from the BBC and still makes for harsh viewing today
Mockumentaries
A mockumentary is a work of fiction that poses as being a Documentary. To this end, it will often employ many of the techniques of the documentary such as talking heads interviews; the use of a narrator; footage that is mocked up to resemble newsreels or from other camera sources; or else is Found Footage. Unlike Found Footage works, mockumentaries adhere much more to the documentary format.
Mockumentaries include investigations into and discussions of fictional monsters, superheroes, zombies, UFOs, alien invasions and visitations, alternate histories, cryptozoological creatures, serial killers and others.
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004)
Alternate History/The South Wins
Devastatingly brilliant mockumentary that depicts an alternate history where the American South won the Civil War and slavery remains legal to this day
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2021)
Stop-Motion Animation/Talking Shell
This is the most charming animated (in this case stop-motion animated) film in years, a mockumentary about the life of a tiny talking shell that inhabits a human home. My best film of 2021
Zelig (1983)
Human Chameleon Mockumentary
Cleverly made Woody Allen mockumentary in which he plays a human chameleon who has managed to appear in the margins of historical events
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Vampire Comedy/Mockumentary
Hands down, this is the best vampire comedy ever made. An incredibly witty effort that contrasts the cliches of the genre with the mundane business of a group of vampires flatting together in New Zealand. A film that comes with sly deadpan gags packed into the corner of every frame
Punishment Park (1971)
Dystopian Future Survival Run
From Peter Watkins, a remarkably stark and brutal film set in a near-future USA where political prisoners are allowed to run for freedom through the desert while hunted by law enforcement officials
Privilege (1967)
Near-Future Political Manipulation of a Pop Singer
Peter Watkins is the most underrated director of the 1960s – his films are fiercely anti-establishment attacks that come with an extraordinary incendiary charge. This mockumentary depiction of a near future where the government uses a rock star to manipulate the public rings even more true today
No Men Beyond This Point (2015)
Alternate History/Woman-Dominated World
Film that depicts an alternate world where women have gained the upper-hand and men are a disappearing minority. This proved an unexpected delight, a mockumentary that comes in perfect and side-splitting deadpan, not to mention explores its premise with absolutely logical regard
The Nines (2007)
Reality Bender
Fascinating directorial debut from screenwriter John August that tells three stories about Ryan Reynolds who gradually makes mind-boggling discoveries about the nature of reality
My Winnipeg (2007)
Surreal Documentary
Guy Maddin was hired by the Documentary Channel to make a documentary about his hometown Winnipeg and turns it into a surreal confabulation of fact and tall tale
The History of Time Travel (2014)
Time Travel Mockumentary
An ingenious mockumentary about the development of a time travel machine. This takes place as a ‘documentary’ discussing the invention but the cleverness is in seeing how small details keep changing in the background
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Slasher Parody/Mockumentary
What starts out as a seeming mockumentary about a serial killer turns into an hilarious deconstruction of the tropes and cliches of the slasher film. Imagine a film like Man Bites Dog crossbred with Scream
Death of a President (2006)
The Assassination of George W. Bush Mockumentary
Mockumentary that caused outrage at the time in depicting the assassination of then-sitting US President George W. Bush. This does not hold back in some damning political punches
Ghosts With Shit Jobs (2012)
Slice-of-Life Portraits From a Post-Cyberpunk Future
Fascinating film interviewing people about the jobs they are forced to take in an economically collapsed future. Despite a minuscule budget, this has the grip of strong, intelligent SF
The Great Martian War: 1913-1917 (2013)
War of the Worlds Mockumentary Retelling
A very clever mockumentary retelling of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds that ingeniously blends existing WWI war footage with CGI to show soldiers fighting off invading Martian tripods
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Serial Killer Found Footage Film
Another Found Footage film, a mix of interviews and video footage supposedly recorded by a serial killer. Despite some initial amateurishness, the film soon gets a disturbing grip on you in depicting the astonishing cruelty and fiendishness of the killer
Comic Book: The Movie (2004)
Comic-Book Fandom Mockumentary
An hilarious mockumentary directed by Mark Hamill set at the San Diego Comic Con, this spoofs various aspects of comic-book fandom and includes assorted celebrities sending themselves up
District 9 (2009)
Alien Refugee Camp
Neill Blomkamp’s first film starts well as a strong, highly politicised work about human-alien prejudice. However, Blomkamp loses steam about halfway through where it feel as though he didn’t know where to take the story
Something in the Dirt (2022)
Mysterious Unexplained Phenomena
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have become must-watch directors in the last decade. This film, which was shot in their apartment during Covid lockdown, becomes the ultimate conspiracy theory rabbit hole
Harold’s Going Stiff (2011)
Zombie Comedy
Amid the plethora of zombie parodies and gonzo title mash-ups, this British comedy is appealing. Rather than grim battles for survival, this is down-to-earth in its humour and quite affecting by the end
The Last Broadcast (1998)
Found Footage/Mysterious Backwoods Deaths
One of the very first Found Footage films, predating The Blair Witch Project, although this is less people running around the woods with cameras than an investigative mockumentary
American Hero (2015)
Real World Superhero
Tired of the bombast of Marvel/DC Comics superheroics overunning screens? This is a superhero film for you – one welcomely brought down to Earth set in working class neighbouhoods and with a focus on real-life problems. The results are surprising and refreshing
London Road (2015)
True-Life Serial Killer Musical
Film based on the true-life Suffolk Strangler. The filmmakers have uniquely interviewed the residents of the community affected and composed these into a musical, not to mention a quasi-mockumentary
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Loch Ness Monster Mockumentary
A witty parody of the Found Footage form where the attempts by Werner Herzog to make a documentary about the Loch Ness monster are constantly upset by the director’s insistence on sensation and faked monster appearances
Computer Chess (2013)
1970s Computer Chess Tournament/Artificial Intelligence
Quirky film shot as though a mockumentary from the 1970s about a conference where programmers compete against computer chess programs that starts to get into some puzzlingly weird SF territory
Big Man Japan (2007)
Giant Japanese Superhero Mockumentary
A bizarre Japanese about a documentary crew who make a film about a man who becomes a giant-sized superhero to fight off giant rubber monsters
Surf’s Up (2007)
Animation/Surfing Penguins
This came out several months after Happy Feet and has a similar plot involving surfing penguins. Though the lesser film and far more predictable, it is likeable
Superbob (2015)
British Superhero Comedy
An amusing superhero spoof from the UK, a mockumentary following the everyday Bob, who is rather of a twit, as he goes on a date and his frustrations dealing with the bureaucracy required to go into action
Horror in the High Desert (2021)
Found Footage/Backwoods Mystery
A modest Found Footage film that builds up an effective mystery about the disappearance of a hiker in the Nevada backwoods. Three sequels followed.
The Wild Blue Yonder (2005)
Alien Visitors/Space Journey Mockumentary
Eccentric Werner Herzog film where he tries to convince us that footage from a space shuttle mission and taken under the polar ice cap is documentary footage of a trip to explore an alien planet
First on the Moon (2005)
Soviet Moon Landing Mockumentary
A Russian mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a Soviet expedition to The Moon in 1938. This conducts an exceptional mimicry of the style of the Soviet propaganda film
All Superheroes Must Die 2: The Last Superhero (2016)
Superhero Mockumentary
Sequel to one of the few original (ie. non comic-book) superhero films of the 2010s. this takes the interesting route of telling it as a investigative tv report into someone killing off all the superheroes
Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (1976)
Bigfoot Mockumentary
With the sensation of the Gimlin-Patterson film that supposedly depicted a Bigfoot, the 1970s gave us a spate of Bigfoot films. This was the most high-profile, a mockumentary about an expedition that sets out to find Sasquatch
Poison (1991)
Anthology/Mad Scientist Homage
Todd Haynes’ first film, three stories, two of which are fantastic … Being Haynes’ first film, this is less polished than his later work but circles through familiar themes of social outsiders, gay identity and recreations of previous cinematic styles, including one segment that is a mocked-up 1940s mad scientist film
The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
Alien Anthopolgist Studies Human Mating Behaviour
There is an appealingly satiric concept here – a parody of a nature documentary looking at human mating rituals from an alien perspective where everything is constantly being misinterpreted in terms of an animal behaviour – but what emerges is mostly a one-gag film
The Beyond (2017)
Mysterious Portal Appears in Earth Orbit
A highly ambitious film about a mysterious alien portal that appears in Earth orbit and the attempts to explore what is on the other side
The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)
Bigfoot Film/"True Story"
One of the numerous Bigfoot films of the 1970s. This takes a quasi-documentary approach that never makes for a particularly interesting film and where the Bigfoot of the show gets to do very little
Hans Crippleton: Talk to the Hans (2014)
Deformed Hillbilly Monster Hunter Comedy
A painfully unfunny endurance test created by star Kevon Ward centred around the deformed, imbecilic hillbilly he played at Halloween shows. The film is little more than people playing morons in silly voices