Enter the .

So, turn off the scripted drama for a night. Turn on Hearts of Darkness , or Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films , or This Is Gwar .

The impact was immediate and seismic. Ads were pulled from reruns of the shows. Former child stars like Drake Bell (who participated) saw their careers recontextualized. The documentary forced a national conversation about the lack of labor protections for minors in the entertainment industry.

There is a visceral thrill in watching a director scream "Cut!" after a perfect take, only to realize that the lead actor is crying because their marriage just fell apart five minutes ago. The demystifies the magic. It shows us that the final product—the movie we love—was often a miracle born of chaos, sleep deprivation, and compromise.

We spend our lives envying the rich and famous. We see the red carpet gowns and the exotic vacations. The documentary provides the antidote to that envy: suffering.

Furthermore, we will likely see a wave of documentaries about the COVID-19 era of production—how sets adapted, how intimacy coordinators became standard, and how the "Zoom movie" was born.