GETTY/BRIDGET BURNS
The year isn’t even over and already the best documentaries of 2018 have shown a pattern: A whole slew of them feature strong, complicated women in ways we’ve never seen them before. From Jane Fonda to Whitney Houston, Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Gloria Allred, Gilda Radner to Joan Jett, these films emphasize the experiences of real women, showing the good, the bad, and the not-always-pretty sides of their incredible lives.
Of course, that’s not all we’ve had documentary-wise this year. Elsewhere, there was a haunting portrait of Alexander McQueen’s life and legacy, a life-affirming look at the career of Mr. Rogers, plus the kind of suspenseful, strange, and downright surreal stories that can only come from real-life.
Here are 12 of the best documentaries of 2018 and where you can track them down. Seriously: Watch these immediately.
GETTY IMAGES/PETER STILL
How is Joan Jett so freakin’ cool? It’s honestly not fair, she’s been an utter badass for decades, and this documentary just puts a fine point on it. Bad Reputation enlists Jett and her famous friends—Iggy Pop, Billie Joe Armstrong, Kathleen Hanna, among others—to tell the story of how Joan Jett blazed a trail for women in rock music, from her days as a little punk in 1970s LA to her days with the Runaways all the way to now. She’s the ultimate rock icon and this is the tribute she deserves.
How to See It: September 28 in theaters and on-demand via Amazon and iTunes.