A excellent mockumentary will pretend to be a genuine documentary, nearly urging viewers to assume the content is all true. Mockumentaries are frequently confused with “found footage” films, which are typically shot in first-person perspective. The main distinction between the two types of films is that mockumentaries have processed all of the raw footage into a documentary-style film, whereas “found-footage” films just present the raw footage “as is.” This essay will examine some of the best mockumentaries made in the last 25 years.
1. Wrinkles The Clown (2019)
Director- Michael Beach Nicolas
Wrinkles the Clown is based on an unknown man who dresses himself as a terrifying clown and sells himself to parents in order to scare their disobedient kids. If that sentence isn’t scary enough, take one look at this person and you’ll realise what nightmares are made of. While Wrinkles the Clown has a real viral video that went popular on YouTube in 2015, the film’s status as a mockumentary has been hotly contest. It provides the sense of being a real documentary because of the mix of real interviews and television footage, but some elements, such as the elderly man portraying Wrinkles’ mask, appear to be contrived.
2. Best In Show (2000)
Director- Christopher Guest
The Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show attracts the owners and handlers of five show dogs. They are interviewed by a film team as they prepare for the journey, arrive at the Taft Hotel in Philadelphia, and compete. The Flecks arrive from Florida, and she continues stumbling into old lovers. The two-time defending best in show, a poodle, is owned by a speechless old man in a wheelchair and his buxom trophy wife who may have a thing for the dog’s handler. A young man from North Carolina dreams of becoming a ventriloquist. In front of their Weimaraner, high-strung DINKs squabble loudly. The featured owners are completed by two outré homosexual males from Tribeca. The dog show brings out the best in people.
3. Death To 2020 (TV Special 2020)
Director(s)- Al Campbell, Alice Mathias
The creators of Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, have created a mockumentary titled Death to 2020. It couldn’t have arrived at a better moment than the end of December, right in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, delivering much-needed amusement after an eventful year. Although the mockumentary is based on true events that occurred in the year 2020, it is the interviews that allow people to blow off steam and laugh about them. In this hilarious retrospective, take a look back at the craziness of the year 2020.
4. What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Director(s)- Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Follow the lives of Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav, three flatmates who are merely trying to make ends meet and conquer life’s challenges, such as being immortal vampires who must feed on human blood. Beyond sunlight disasters, hitting the main artery, and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection, the vampires are finding that modern society has them struggling with the mundane, such as paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.
5. The Dark Side Of The Moon (2002)
Director- William Karel
The moon landing footage from Apollo 11 was allegedly fabricated by Stanley Kubrick for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, according to a popular conspiracy theory. This exact hypothesis has been the subject of numerous true documentaries. That’s why people took Dark Side of the Moon seriously. Kubrick’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, as well as real-life astronauts David Scott, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and his then-wife, Lois, are among the many notable guest appearances. Karel also includes interviews with characters whose names recall Kubrick and Hitchcock films, such as “Jack Torrance” as a Hollywood producer, in addition to these “as themselves” appearances.
6. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Director- Larry Charles
Borat Sagdiyev, the flamboyant TV personality of Kazakhstan’s undeveloped sovereign state, is commissioned to film an in-depth travelogue documenting his wide-eyed examination of American life and culture. Borat can’t get enough of America, accompanied by his rotund producer Azamat Bagatov, until the late-night discovery of C. J. Parker, the statuesque lifeguard from the popular TV series Baywatch (1989), flips his world upside down. Now, as a love-struck Borat feels obliged to follow his heart, he goes on a once-in-a-lifetime road journey to sunny California to meet the woman who permanently changed his life.
7. I’m Still Here (2010)
Director- Casey Affleck
Actor Joaquin Phoenix tells folks he’s resigning to pursue a career in rap music while rehearsing for a charity event in 2008, with Casey Affleck’s camera watching. We follow the actor as he writes, rehearses, and performs in front of an audience throughout the next year. Sean Combs is enlisted to produce the album, which he intends to do. We witness the actor at home, where he drinks, smokes, and bawls at his two-man entourage. He also talks philosophy with Affleck and offers his thoughts on celebrity.
8. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
Director- Jason Woliner
Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakh reporter, has been summoned to Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev’s office for a life-or-death mission fourteen years after his culture shock in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for the Benefit of the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006). Borat must now return to President Donald Trump’s America to present an amazing gift to Vice President Mike Pence in order to restore himself and the glorious nation of Kazakhstan’s reputation. Tutar, Borat’s fifteen-year-old daughter, enters the picture instead, prompting a change of plans. While the now-famous Borat delves deep into American politics, the father and daughter learn about feminism, racism, and an insidious, lethal virus known as COVID-19.
