Film

The Ivory Game

A tense, globe-spanning documentary about activists and undercover investigators fighting the illegal ivory trade. It's less nature film than crime thriller—chasing money trails, infiltrating trafficking networks, watching real people risk everything. For anyone who wants documentary that grips like a heist movie, with stakes that matter.

TMDb rating3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like investigative documentaries that follow people working in the field, where the stakes feel immediate and the trail of evidence matters more than talking-head commentary.

Skip it if you want a gentle nature film or a tidy overview of conservation, since this one is handheld, urgent and often confronts the human cost of poaching head on.

What it asks of you: Roughly two hours of close attention, with long stretches on rough ground and tense moments that build slowly rather than arriving as neat set pieces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Act of Killing2012

A masterclass in documentary form: an Indonesian death-squad leader re-enacts his own killings on film, revealing horrifying truth through surreal performance. Unforgettable and morally complex.

But Intensely disturbing. The violence—even re-staged—is graphic and the moral weight is crushing. Not an easy watch.

The Act of Killing poster

Virunga2014

Rangers risking their lives to protect a gorilla sanctuary amid civil war and corporate greed. Tense, beautifully shot, with real danger crackling through every frame.

But Occasionally leans toward sentimentality about the animals, and the villainy can feel a bit black-and-white for some tastes.

Virunga poster

Blackfish2013

An orca at SeaWorld killed a trainer. This documentary methodically untangles the tragedy, revealing how captivity breaks intelligent creatures. Quietly devastating.

But The argument against marine parks is essentially settled by the end, so it becomes repetitive. Some feel it oversimplifies the SeaWorld institution.

Blackfish poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Ivory Game

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Grizzly Man2005

Both follow activists whose singular mission defines them. But where Ivory Game celebrates the crusade, Herzog interrogates whether such devotion blinds you to reality.

Werner Herzog's portrait of a man who lived among Alaskan bears until they killed him. A meditation on obsession, nature worship, and the folly of idealism. Haunting.

But Herzog's philosophical voiceover can feel heavy-handed, and the sympathy for the subject is contested—some feel it's too forgiving of dangerous delusion.

Grizzly Man poster
More like this (7)

My Octopus Teacher2020

A filmmaker develops a year-long relationship with a wild octopus off South Africa. Gorgeously shot, meditative, and genuinely moving. A different kind of animal doc.

But Very slow and introspective—there's no antagonist, just observation. If you want urgency and conflict, this won't scratch that itch.

My Octopus Teacher poster

The Cave2019

Thai cave rescue, 2018: when young footballers are trapped underground, a small team of divers attempts the impossible. Astonishing, unbearably tense real footage.

But Primarily archival footage and news clips rather than original reporting. You already know the ending, which dulls some narrative surprise.

The Cave poster

RiverBlue2017

An actor and an investigator trace toxic dyes and chemicals from fashion industry to dying rivers in India and Cambodia. Personal, rage-inducing, gorgeously shot.

But Sometimes preaches rather than explores. The solutions offered feel thin compared to the scale of the problem it documents.

RiverBlue poster

13th2016

Ava DuVernay's doc on mass incarceration, slavery's legacy, and the 13th Amendment. Essential American history delivered with stunning visual language.

But Dense with data and cross-cutting—demands your full attention, and the subject matter is relentlessly grim. No let-up in tone.

13th poster

Senna2010

A Formula One driver's rivalry, ambition, and tragedy told entirely through archival footage. Even if you don't care about racing, this is filmmaking as evidence.

But Requires patience with the technical details of 1980s motorsport. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes glacial.

Senna poster

Pumzi2009

A speculative sci-fi short about an African woman tending a rare plant in a post-drought world. Imaginative and visually stunning, unlike anything else on this list.

But It's only 15 minutes—feels more like a proof of concept than a full feature. The themes can feel underdeveloped.

Pumzi poster

The Lair of the White Worm1988

Both are deadly serious about their subject matter and both pit investigators against an underground criminal network. Ivory Game hunts poachers; this hunts a serpent goddess. The similarity is structural, the tone is antithetical—a wildcard because it proves the bones work in any register.

Ken Russell's delirious, barely coherent adaptation of a Bram Stoker novel. A weirdo cult in the English countryside, snakes, psychedelia, and Amanda Donohoe's extraordinary commitment to chaos.

But It barely makes sense. The dialogue is purple. It's schlock dressed as high art. If you want coherence or good taste, look elsewhere.

The Lair of the White Worm poster

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Recommended by

Blackfish, Racing Extinction, My Life as a Turkey, Chimpanzee, Virunga, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, Swamp People, Tales from the Organ Trade, The Dark Side of Chocolate, Dreamcatcher, Girl Model, State of Play: Trophy Kids, The Year Earth Changed, Planet Earth III, The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52, Wildland, RiverBlue, Africa: Earth's Wild Home, Inside the Mind of a Dog, Waterlife, Koko: A Talking Gorilla, The Serengeti Rules, The Legend of Pale Male, Sea of Shadows, Becoming Cousteau, The One Percent, The Reserve, Rats, The Last Place on Earth, Disgraced, Pandora's Promise