For as long as the documentary has been a tried and true style of filmmaking and sharing of powerful real-life stories in a cinematic experience, mockumentaries have acted as the fictional branching path for the documentary premise. The simple premise and execution of treating a fictional story as if it’s real, even including parodies of real-life figures and events, has made for numerous iconic comedies over the years.
With the massive increase in media consumption, social media, and digital technologies as a whole, the 2010s were the perfect era for mockumentaries of all styles to shine through in glorious fashion. Whether they were large Hollywood productions with massive stars, or simple low-budget ventures with massive ambitions, the decade was filled with countless hilarious and satirical mockumentaries.
10’Computer Chess' (2013)
Director: Andrew Bujalski
Computer Chessfollows the events leading up to and surrounding the American Computer Chess Convention, where enthusiasts gather to pit their computer chess programs against one another. With the tournament’s grand prize of $7500, programmers from across the country have gathered with their contributions to the exciting world of computers playing chess. However, as the event continues to run, a number of issues begin to arise that threaten to put an end to the entire event.
Computer Chesshas a distinct dryness and dialogue-based humor, leavingthe majority of its best moments coming from simple back and forth between its hilariously awkward characters. It’s a style of humor that won’t appeal to everyone, but works exceptionally well under the right circumstances, especially with the number of great twists and turns throughout the story. The film also only continues to be more relevant, considering its messaging and themes surrounding the rise and impact of artificial intelligence.
Computer Chess
Watch on Prime Video
9’Carnage: Swallowing the Past' (2017)
Director: Simon Amstell
Carnage: Swallowing the Pasttakes the form of a BBC documentary from the far-off year of 2067, where all of humanity has adapted and evolved to be fully vegan. The documentary presented looks to go over the history of eating meat as a way to deal with the guilt that the older generations have for their more carnivorous pasts, looking to forgive them for their actions. On top of providing a satirical perspective on our past, the film also provides a fictional telling of the future, and how humanity decided to go fully vegan in the first place.
While the concept ofCarnage: Swallowing the Pastmay make it seem like the film is just another piece of media meant to guilt non-vegans for eating meat, its approach is actually highly nuanced and intelligent. Even with its core message and ideology at its center,there’s enough genuine humor and hilarious moments throughout to make it a great comedic timeeven for those who have no interest in going vegan or vegetarian. The film’s presentation as a BBC documentary also makes it highly effective as a mockumentary, very closely paralleling real-life documentaries.
8’I’m Still Here' (2010)
Director: Casey Affleck
I’m Still Hereprovides a portrayal of the difficult and drama-filled year in the life ofJoaquin Phoenix, who decided at the top of his career in 2008 to retire from acting and become a hip-hop musician. The film focuses on his crossroads and difficulties while at the crossroads of his creative reinvention, attaining a great deal of support as well as vitriol and backlash for his decision and approach to career shifting.
Even those who don’t remember the fabricated chaos and intrigue surrounding Joaquin Phoenix in the late 2000s can appreciate the levels of commitment present by Phoenix inI’m Still Here. The film expertly brought its fictional narrative and plot into the real world and adjusted itself based on how society and the media reacted. While the film does still feature a lot of unexpected laughs and introspective moments, the experience as a whole is that much more fascinating thanks toPhoenix’s massive increase in star power in the decade to follow.
I’m Still Here
I’m Still Here is an adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 book of the same name. The film is set in Brazil during the 1970s and follows Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist portrayed by Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro, as she searches for her missing husband, Rubens Paiva, a congressman who disappeared during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship.
Watch on Hulu
7'15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot' (2019)
Director: Zach Lamplugh
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfootsees clickbait journalist Brian Emond traveling into the Appalachian foothills to cover a Bigfoot convention and interview a world-famous Bigfoot hunter. Joined by his cameraman, the trio travel off into the woods in able to get a firsthand look at the Bigfoot hunting experience, where they learn that there’s much more to their story than previously thought.
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfootevolves with the modern stylings and trends in documentarian content and tells its story in the style of a Vice documentary found on YouTube. This unique approach to narration, editing, and story structure makes the film highly individualized when compared to other mockumentaries of the era, andthe film feels ahead of the curve in terms of what the future of mockumentaries should be. This is all on top of the high number of hilarious moments throughout the film, with each member of the trio all doing wonders working off of one another.
Watch on Tubi
6’Tour de Pharmacy' (2017)
Director: Jake Szymanski
Tour de Pharmacyis a parody sports documentary that follows the events of the 1982 Tour de France, specifically going into detail about the massive prevalence of doping and cheating from all contestants. As they look back on the event 35 years later, they mix the live footage covering the event with modern-day interviews with both top contestants in the race and notable celebrities likeMike Tyson,J.J. Abrams, and most hilarious of all,Lance Armstrong.
Covering a completely absurd and highly fictional sports event with the conviction and sincerity of a real event leads to a number of hilarious absurd moments throughoutTour de Pharmacy. The film is absolutely filled with great comedic moments, with an all-star comedic cast ofAndy Samberg,John Cena,Jeff Goldblum, and many more bringing their absolute A-game. With itsextremely short runtimeof only 41 minutes,it’s one of the easiest comedies to simply put on and have a blast watching.
Tour de Pharmacy
Watch on Max
5’Operation Avalanche' (2016)
Director: Matt Johnson
Operation Avalanchefollows the story of four undercover CIA agents in 1967 who are sent to NASA while posing as a documentary film crew in order to secretly discover a mole from within. In their investigation, however, they uncovered a number of secrets involving NASA’s abilities about the upcoming moon landing and put a start to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.
What starts as a hilarious look at how a bunch of unassuming amateurs found their way into crafting and creating the literal faking of the moon landing soon transforms into a powerful drama about the impact of paranoia and conspiracy.The film is perfectly able to balance its comedic aspects as well as its thriller aspects, and efficiently transitions from one tone to the other seamlessly without losing track of the other.Operation Avalanchemakes perfect use of its premise as a sort of hidden, never-meant-to-be-seen documentary to create an expertly crafted story.
Operation Avalanche
Watch on Vudu
4'7 Days in Hell' (2015)
Following a very similar style to that ofJake Szymanski’s other work inTour de Pharmacy,7 Days in Hellrecounts the events surrounding the massive rivalry between two completely different all-star tennis players. Aaron Williams and Charles Poole, played by Andy Samberg andKit Haringtonrespectively, soon get the opportunity to battle it out on the court during the 1999 Wimbledon Championships, in a match that lasted seven days.
7 Days in Hellfeatures a lot of the same positives and aspects that madeTour de Pharmacyso great but isable to achieve a slightly more concise and powerful narrative with its focus on only two major athletes. While Samberg has always had excellent comedic chops across his career, Harington makes for asurprisingly great comedic actor, playing a hilarious, socially awkward character who melds perfectly with Samberg’s high energy and chaos.
7 days in hell
3’The Dirties' (2013)
The Dirtiesfollows the story of best friends Matt and Owen, who are making a student film for a class where they get revenge on their school bullies by blasting them away like they were action movie villains. However, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur when Matt begins to realize that their movie would be that much more impactful and powerful if they actually killed their bullies in real life.
It’s difficult to make such a realistic and dark premise have an effective comedic angle,yetThe Dirtiesis able to achieve a great number of dark comedic moments leading up to the inevitable terror at the end. The film is as funny as it is heartbreakingly realistic and terrifying, as it provides a disturbing look into the instances and buildup to a heinous act, but is expertly able to tackle this mature topic through a comedic lens. The approach that the film takes as a student film gone wrong only further adds to the realism present, but also adds to the authenticity of the comedic moments.
The Dirties
Watch on Amazon Prime
2’Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' (2016)
Directors: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppingfollows the story of pop star sensation Conner4real (played by Andy Samberg) as his career goes into a major tailspin when his new album fails to sell records. He attempts just about anything in order to get his career back on track, but faced with losing just about everything and everyone close to him, he soon realizes that the answer lies in his past, with his first rap group, The Style Boyz.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppingbrings all the great hilarious talents of The Lonely Island and brings them to the big screen with a massively increased scale for chaos and musical comedy. The mockumentary angle that the film takes also parallels the trends of other massive pop stars in the 2010s receiving their own documentary films, on top of the massive star power they held in everyday life. The film is easily one ofthe most underrated comedy movies of the 2010s,but will continue to live on in the eyes of fans as a true cult classic of the genre.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
1’What We Do in the Shadows' (2014)
Directors: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement
What We Do in the Shadowsfollows a close look into the day-to-day life of a group of vampire housemates as they attempt to cope and adapt to the complexities of modern life. After a new vampire, Nick, joins their crew, they have to teach him the perks and positives that come with living as a blood-sucking vampire in the contemporary world.
What We Do in the Shadowsis a masterfully dark mockumentary that effectively combines a day-in-the-life documentary with mythical creatures to create one of themost iconic mockumentaries of all time. While the premise has only continued to receive love with the massively successful tv series,the movie that started it all still features all the great and horrific moments that make the show so great. Back-and-forth dialogue has always been a strength of directorTaika Waititi, and combined with the supernatural underworld of vampires in a day-to-day setting, his directing and writing style is at its strongest.
What We Do in the Shadows
In What We Do in the Shadows, vampire housemates navigate the challenges of modern life while mentoring a newly turned hipster on the advantages of vampirism. The film explores their coexistence within the human world, balancing supernatural elements with humorous insights into the undead lifestyle.
