Louis Theroux’s documentaries are iconic – and, with Inside the Manosphere dropping on Netflix, we’ve ranked the 10 best films he’s ever made.
Last year, Theroux released The Settlers, a BBC documentary about Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
It was a provocative, acclaimed film. Now, Theroux has teamed up with Netflix for the first time for Inside the Manosphere, taking aim at the online community of ultra-masculine, misogynistic influencers.
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So, from the first Weird Weekends episode to his latest effort, we’ve ranked Theroux’s best docs.
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere
- Year: 2026
- Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Netflix
What it’s about: Louis Theroux delves into the manosphere: the ultra-masculine, controversial network of male influencers who propagate misogynistic ideas about women, life hacks, and “how to be proper guys”.
Why to watch: Infection, or revolution? By the end of Inside the Manosphere, it’s hard not to feel despaired by Andrew Tate and co.’s ‘red-pilled’ rhetoric and its ultra-online, gleefully hateful subjects. It’s an especially chilling entry in Theroux’s canon (particularly with the knowledge of how enormously popular these people are). But, despite their best efforts, they never get the better of him – they think it’s a sparring match, but they’re hitting a wall.
Weird Weekends: Looking for Love
- Year: 2000
- Runtime: 47 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: In the third series of Weird Weekends, Louis Theroux travels to Bangkok to learn more about Western men seeking out Thai brides, and questions if it’s love they’re truly looking for.
Why to watch: Theroux’s everyman, muted charm and near-unimpeachable composure are all part of his appeal. Yet, Looking for Love is amusingly rare in that Theroux clearly can’t believe some of the things he sees and hears. That’s not to say it’s only funny: there’s a deep undercurrent of sadness and ickiness. “Premium cringe,” as one viewer described it.
America’s Most Dangerous Pets
- Year: 2011
- Runtime: 1 hour
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Louis Theroux travels to the US to meet the sometimes eccentric owners of wild animals, like primates, big cats, and bears – including Joe Exotic.
Why to watch: The novelty of this entry is obvious: it’s pre-Tiger King! What’s most striking, in hindsight, is how ironed out all of Exotic’s eccentricities are – which makes some of his comments even more troubling. Still, there’s a genuine rapport with Theroux and Exotic, and compared to some of the documentarian’s sadder, heavier docs, this one is incredibly rewatchable.
Twilight of the Pornstars
- Year: 2012
- Runtime: 1 hour
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Fifteen years after his first documentary on the porn industry, Louis Theroux returns to Los Angeles to speak to those trying (and struggling) to survive the online porn boom.
Why to watch: Theroux’s Weird Weekends episode about porn is a must-watch. But it was fundamentally, emotionally different – fun and quirky – while Twilight of the Pornstars is darkly illuminating: a glimpse at a taboo reckoning, with Theroux sharpening his edge in some teeth-clenching questioning.
Altered States: Choosing Death
- Year: 2018
- Runtime: 1 hour 3 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: In the wake of California adopting assisted dying legislation, Louis Theroux meets people weighing up the decision to end their lives.
Why to watch: This is, undoubtedly, one of Louis Theroux’s most emotional documentaries; after all, mortality is arguably the most fearsome and universal subject of them all. This is Theroux at his very best: sensitive, inquisitive, and compassionate, even when faced with death itself.
When Louis Met Jimmy / Savile
- Year: 2000 / 2016
- Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Over 25 years ago, Louis Theroux spent two weeks with Jimmy Savile. Fifteen years later, in the wake of the disgraced TV personality’s many crimes, Theroux revisits the original doc and reflects on his time with him.
Why to watch: There’s an argument to be made that Jimmy Savile is the most infamous British celebrity of the past 50 years. Of course, that reputation came after Theroux’s first film with him, and it makes both docs even more chilling and grimly compelling. If anything, it was brave for Theroux to revisit it, and his guilt and discomfort is clear.
Yes, it’s two documentaries, so we’re cheating a bit – but they’re inseparable.
Louis Theroux: The Settlers
- Year: 2025
- Runtime: 1 hour
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Louis Theroux embeds himself in the occupied West Bank, meeting both Israeli nationalist settlers (including the movement’s Zionist ‘godmother’) and Palestinians.
Why to watch: The escalation of the Israel-Gaza conflict led to The Settlers (a better, necessary follow-up to Theroux’s Ultra Zionists doc), and its essentiality (much like No Other Land) is obvious. The heated contentiousness of its subject matter aside, it’s also an evolution of Theroux’s journalistic tact: forthright and even more fearless.
Miami Mega-Jail
- Year: 2011
- Runtime: 2 hours
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: In this two-part special, Louis Theroux spends time in Miami County Jail, one of America’s largest and most violent institutions, a holding pen for almost 6,000 unconvicted inmates.
Why to watch: Three years after his San Quentin doc, Theroux made Miami Mega-Jail: the ultimate prison documentary. It’s a true peek at life inside; less narrative-driven than some of his Weird Weekends films. The access Theroux gets is extraordinary – and the results are sobering.
Louis and the Nazis
- Year: 2003
- Runtime: 1 hour
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Louis Theroux travels to California in the early 2000s to meet modern-day Nazis – including the “most dangerous racist in America”, Tom Metzger.
Why to watch: Absurd, awful, and a total must-see, Louis and the Nazis is eye-opening and, occasionally, nail-biting. It boasts the best on-screen moment of Theroux’s career: his refusal to tell a neo-Nazi whether or not he’s Jewish, and the interviewee’s spiralling, drunken paranoia.
The Most Hated Family in America
- Year: 2007
- Runtime: 1 hour
- Where to stream in the UK: BBC iPlayer
What it’s about: Louis Theroux travels to Kansas to meet the Phelps family, the notorious founders of the hate-spewing Westboro Baptist Church.
Why to watch: It’d be fair to call The Most Hated Family in America a seminal documentary. Not only is it the best doc of Theroux’s career – jaw-dropping, upsetting, and thrillingly preposterous all at once – but it’s the purest, most convincing showcase of his talents, and try as others might, nobody has quite illustrated the farce of hate in the same way.
Read more: The best Netflix series to watch this month
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere is available to stream on Netflix now.
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