Louis Theroux has become a household name throughout his career for creating some of the most exciting, educational and downright hilarious documentaries of all time. His combination of sincerity and sheer awkwardness mixed with the wild topics that he covers make for very fun content.
Theroux has followed some incredibly interesting storylines throughout his career from his Weird Weekend series to looking into some more serious topics. Theroux always manages to get his audience to engage in whatever subject he is covering, regardless of how serious or wild the topic is.
The documentaries are always thought-provoking and can range from being almost comedic to incredibly emotional, with everything in between. Within this list, we will reveal the ten Louis Theroux documentaries that you must see at some point.
The Most Hated Family In America
We will kickstart the list with one of Louis Theroux’s most well-known documentaries, which is a look at the most hated family in America. The family in question is one at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church group, who often demonstrate on the streets against homosexuality.
They aren’t ones to mince their words and they have no problems telling Louis exactly how they feel about every question he asks. The original documentary was so popular that Louis has since followed it up, meaning fans can enjoy watching the group grow and how their opinions alter or don’t.
Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends-Wrestling
Next on the list is a documentary from Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends series, which saw him go away to experience different situations each time. One of the best of the bunch is when he experiences the world of professional wrestling, taking a look at the former company, World Championship Wrestling.
Louis gives a detailed behind the scenes look at the crazy world of wrestling, which is fascinating. But the biggest highlight of this episode is when he goes to do a tryout. Louis is pushed to his absolute limits by Sarge, to the point where he throws up as Sarge pushes him way past his comfort zone.
Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends-Porn
Another of Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends that is certainly a must-watch is his look at the porn industry. It is such a taboo subject that it is interesting to see the topic be focused on in such a major way, with Louis not holding anything back here.
Looking into the lives of several porn stars, Louis learns about issues such as “wood problems” and disease worries. It covers the subject very well and while it certainly brings some of Louis best awkward moments for the laughs, it does bring up many interesting matters about the subject that often don’t get considered.
Louis And The Brothel
Following on from the porn category, Louis Theroux has also covered brothels in a lengthy documentary that really does provide some hilarious moments for the viewer. The moment he gets a massage within the brothel itself is one of the funniest moments from any of his documentaries.
However, even though this is one of the funnier documentaries that he has done, it is also a very interesting one. He gives a brilliant insight into this world, which is one that most people don’t know about which is what makes this a very fun watch.
Louis Theroux’s Weird Christmas
This documentary is another hilarious one from Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekend’s series, which wraps up the first season perfectly. Within this episode, Louis looks to celebrate Christmas by bringing in all of his main guests from the previous episodes together as one.
The episode sees some hilarious moments take place as each individual who joins Louis has completely different opinions and they don’t always go together. Louis takes them to visit several other places, including a hilarious moment where someone pretends to be taken over by an alien, talking to them all as they struggle to hold back the laughter.
Louis Theroux Extreme Love: Dementia
On the flip side to some of Louis Theroux’s funnier documentaries, he also tackles some really emotional and heavy topics during his time. One of those examples is when he looks into dementia, visiting people who suffer from it and their family members, as well as doctors and nurses who work within this field.
It’s an incredibly heartbreaking and sad documentary, seeing just how brutal this particular illness can be. However, it’s also a fantastic example of showing how well Louis can deal with more serious topics, aside from his wilder ones.
Louis And The Nazis
Covering a subject as sensitive as the Nazis is never an easy thing to do, but it is something that Louis Theroux does extremely well within this documentary. Here he meets white supremacist Tom Metzger, who is the founder of the White Arya Resistance. The group was rumored to be involved in the murder of a 28-year-old Ethiopian student.
He also goes to see a family that are homeschooled by their mother, who lets them draw Swastikas freely. It is interesting to see him in a situation as serious as this, tackling the difficult issues. He handles the entire documentary expertly, allowing them to have their time to really express their feelings about why they do what they do.
Louis Theroux Miami Mega Jail: Part 1/2
This is technically a two-for-one situation, however, Louis Theroux’s Miami Mega Jail series really are tremendous. Spending time behind bars in Miami’s famous prison, Louis takes a detailed look at the positives and negatives of the system in place.
Focusing on both the guards and the prisoners, he gives a balanced look at the entire situation. It really is an interesting documentary that provides fantastic detail from start to finish, and the fact that there are two parts to this helps to add the necessary detail to the subject matter.
My Scientology Movie
The world of Scientology is certainly a controversial one, but it one that people are incredibly interested in because it is shrouded in mystery. This is why Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie is so incredibly interesting. Louis does a brilliant job of delving into this world within the movie, trying to get all the information needed.
It gives a better insight into this world than any other documentary has done before. With Louis butting heads with members of the religion, with some major arguments taking place as he tries to get as close as possible, he really does push the boundaries and in the best way possible.
When Louis Met Jimmy
This is arguably Louis Theroux’s most well-known documentaries, and sadly not for the best of reasons. Because of Jimmy Savile’s behaviour and the revelations that came to air after his death, many people have gone back to watch this documentary to point out many of the issues.
This was a documentary that actually troubled Louis Theroux when Savile’s horrendous crimes came to light. So much so that Louis actually did another documentary on the subject matter, proving just how dedicated he is as a journalist to make sure that he covered the truth in as much detail as possible.
