Film

The River and the Wall

Name: The River and the Wall
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2019
Cast: Ben Masters, Jay Kleberg, Filipe DeAndrade, Heather Mackey, Austin Alvarado

Western

Five friends canoe and trek 1,200 miles along the US-Mexico border to document how a wall would affect the landscape and wildlife. It's a genuinely curious film that lets you think for yourself, mixing environmental activism with good-natured adventure. For anyone who wants to see the borderlands as they actually are, not as they're argued about.

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My Octopus Teacher2020

A filmmaker in a creative rut forms an unlikely relationship with an octopus over a year of underwater visits. It's meditative, visually gorgeous, and about curiosity as a way of knowing the world. Pure wonder.

But If you need narrative momentum or dramatic stakes, you'll find the slow, observational pace frustrating. Some find it precious.

The Last Breath2014

A seventy-year-old freediver attempts a record dive off the coast. Intimate portrait of human will, aging, and pursuing something beautiful. Gorgeously shot and genuinely moving.

But The pacing is deliberate and meditative. It's not a thriller—it's about presence, so if you prefer faster momentum, this will feel slow.

Chasing Ice2012

A photographer documents Greenland's glaciers over years as they collapse. Visually stunning and genuinely urgent without being preachy. Shows climate change as something you can actually see.

But It's essentially a visual argument for environmentalism. If you're hostile to that premise, the film won't change your mind.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The River and the Wall

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Public Trust2020

Both investigate America's relationship with undeveloped land and the conflicts between conservation, indigenous presence, and infrastructure. Both ask what we owe the wild places.

A documentary about America's public lands—how they're managed, who benefits, who gets excluded. It's visual and exploratory like *The River and the Wall*, but the frame is about land access and democracy rather than one specific border.

But It gets into policy and land-use politics. If you want pure nature footage, you'll find the bureaucratic stuff tedious.

An Inconvenient Truth2006

Al Gore presents climate science with clear data and striking imagery. It's not subtle, but it's the film that shaped how millions understand global warming.

But It's explicitly an advocacy film, not an investigation. Gore's lecturing can feel didactic. The specific predictions have been debated since release.

Blackfish2013

An investigation into SeaWorld's treatment of orcas that builds into something genuinely unsettling. It makes you question what you're complicit in by watching.

But The film has a clear angle and doesn't balance opposing views extensively. Some sequences are designed to manipulate emotion rather than inform.

The Cove2009

An activist team documents dolphin hunting in Japan with hidden cameras. Tense, surprising, and it genuinely changed policy. Thrilling documentary technique.

But It's advocacy cinema, not neutral reporting. The editing shapes your moral response deliberately. Some find it manipulative.

Senna2010

Asif Kapadia constructs the life of Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna entirely from archival footage and sound. It's a masterclass in visual storytelling and really gripping.

But If you don't care about Formula 1, you might not connect. The subject's obsession can read as off-putting rather than admirable.

Citizenfour2014

Laura Poitras follows Edward Snowden during his first weeks revealing NSA surveillance. Taut, real-time, and genuinely tense. A film about dissent and what it costs.

But It's unambiguously sympathetic to Snowden. If you view him as a traitor, the film won't persuade you. The tone is serious and sometimes slow.

The Farthest2018

Both are journeys of documentation and discovery—one terrestrial and political, one cosmic and philosophical—but both ask what it means to witness and record the world around us with care.

A chronicle of the Voyager space missions and the golden record sent into deep space. Completely different subject, but it's about human curiosity, long journeys, documentation, and what we leave behind. Visually sumptuous and unexpectedly moving.

But Space documentaries can feel emotionally distant. This one is sentimental in ways some find schmaltzy. Not urgent or political.