The best documentaries on Hulu right now

Rapper XXXTentacion was killed during a robbery at the age of 20. Despite his brief life, the rapper became widely known for hit songs such as Sad, a more depressing, inwards look at a hip-hop star. He also became equally known for a variety of horrendous acts such as when he was awaiting trial on felony charges of aggravated battery and home invasion at the time of his murder, he allegedly beat his pregnant girlfriend.

The documentary takes an unflinching look at XXXTentacion’s brief time in the spotlight, for better or worse. There is a redemptive arc in the movie, but it’s always balanced by the fact that the rapper did some terrible things during his life, and that will always be an inescapable part of a legacy still resonating in the hip-hop world.

At Oakland High School in Oakland, California, the senior class of 2020 was not just faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. They weren’t just faced with the George Floyd protests, either. They had to deal with all that, as well as the circumstances unique to their own situation in a city where crime is high, health care is non-existent, and the public school system isn’t always adequately prepared to usher students along their life journeys. Director Peter Nicks documents the heartbreak the students suffer through each day of their final year, from seeing a pandemic upend their worlds to some troubles they still would have gone through even if the world didn’t change in March 2020. While there is a certain sense of sadness seeing the things these students would never experience, it’s hard not to be left with a sense of hope about how hard teenagers are fighting to overcome the myriad of adversity they face every day.

The Villages, the world’s largest retirement community, appears to have something for everybody in its Florida oasis. Filmmaker Lance Oppenheim’s view of the community quickly shows that not everything is as it’s cracked up to be, though. The film shines a light on some of the stereotypes elderly people in America are often subjected to (from the wise old man to the zany grandma), while reminding us that, like people of any age, seniors also struggle with issues surrounding love and loss, accentuated by the reality that is mortality. While The Villages isn’t necessarily the ideal home for some of the residents Oppenheim highlights, it does allow many to evaluate their own dreams as they reach their metaphorical “back nine.” Oppenheim also creates a very stylistic world, rooted in both reality and eccentricity, which further layers the depiction of the retirement community in a way that should make the director one to watch in the future.

Imagine discovering you have a twin brother you never knew about. Now, imagine discovering you’re actually part of a set of triplets. That unbelievable discovery forms the basis for Three Identical Strangers, detailing how Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran came to discover each other by chance after growing up in separate adopted families. Their reunion led to a rise in fame and popularity, but it also brought questions about how they became separated in the first place, adding a sinister and sad element as each brother battles mental health problems. It’s the ultimate “nature vs. nurture” debate, played out in real life before our very own eyes.