Television series
Murder Among the Mormons
Three episodes, one impossible story: a mild-mannered document dealer turns out to be one of the most successful forgers in American history, and the fallout from his fakes leaves two people dead in a string of bombings across Salt Lake City. Directors Jared Hess and Tyler Measom let interviewees do the talking, building less a whodunit than a howdidhedoit — a slow, unsettling unspooling of a decade-long con nobody caught until it detonated.
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Wild Wild Country2018
Another meticulous deep-dive into a closed American religious community rocked by crime, with the same slow-burn structure of archive footage and stunned talking heads pulling back layer after layer of a scandal nobody outside saw coming.
But Six hours is a big ask, and the pacing luxuriates in detail rather than rushing toward the punchline.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015
A true-crime series built the same way — patient, procedural, letting one man's own words hang him — with an ending that genuinely rewrote what documentary filmmakers thought they were allowed to do.
But The central figure's ego drives the show, which can feel queasier and more theatrical than Mormons' quieter unraveling.
The Vow2020
Swap forged documents for forged devotion: another story of a charismatic operator who fooled smart, decent people for years, told with the same patient, insider-access style.
But It's long — two seasons — and leans harder into psychological manipulation than the evidence-chasing satisfaction Mormons delivers.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
F for Fake1973
Orson Welles' essay-film about art forger Elmyr de Hory is the ur-text of the forgery documentary — Mormons owes its whole fascination with faked authenticity to this one.
Welles turns a documentary about a real forger into a trick itself, blurring fact and performance until you're not sure what, if anything, in the film is true — a dazzling meditation on authenticity that predates and outsmarts every modern con documentary.
But It's playful and digressive rather than plot-driven, with none of the true-crime momentum or stakes you'd expect.
More like this (8)
Abducted in Plain Sight2017
If what hooked you was sheer disbelief that people could be fooled this badly for this long, this is the gold standard of jaw-on-the-floor true crime.
But It's sensational where Mormons is restrained, and some viewers find its tone tips from horrified into exploitative.
Making a Murderer2015
Another meticulous unraveling of official narratives, forensic questions, and small-town secrets, stretched over hours rather than minutes, for anyone who wanted more time inside the investigation.
But Ten hours a season is a serious commitment, and its advocacy angle is more partisan than Mormons' cooler remove.
LuLaRich2021
A lighter cousin: the same fascination with a con that hid in plain sight for years, dressed this time as a leggings pyramid scheme instead of rare-document dealing.
But Lower stakes and lower-drama victims mean less dread, more exasperated head-shaking.
Fyre2019
Ninety minutes of watching a confident liar talk his way past everyone who should have caught him sooner — the same slow horror of realizing how long a con can run unchecked.
But Millennial-festival trappings feel trivial next to bombings, and the tone is closer to comedy of errors than tragedy.
American Murder: The Family Next Door2020
A tighter, single-sitting documentary that relies almost entirely on text messages and police footage rather than narration — a stripped-down cousin of Mormons' patient reconstruction.
But It's domestic violence, not white-collar deception, and considerably more upsetting to sit through.
The Staircase2022
The granddaddy of the slow-build, years-spanning true-crime documentary — courtroom footage, ambiguous evidence, and a defendant you're never quite sure about, stretched over a genuinely epic runtime.
But It's older and more courtroom-procedural than character study, with an even less hurried pace than Mormons.
Zodiac2007
Fincher's dramatized procedural chases an unsolved case through decades of clues and dead ends — the same obsessive, document-by-document detective work that drives Mormons' investigators, just fictionalized instead of interviewed.
A masterclass in slow-building dread, following investigators who become as consumed by an unsolved case as the audience does, fixated on paper trails, handwriting, and half-answers.
But It's two and a half hours long and deliberately withholds resolution — frustrating if you need a tidy answer at the end.
American Vandal2017
A mockumentary that apes the exact grammar of true-crime series like Mormons — earnest narration, reenactments, talking heads — then applies it to a high-school prank, exposing how manipulable the genre's tools of 'truth' really are.
It's genuinely funny and surprisingly moving, and once you've seen how easily the format can be turned into satire, you'll never watch a straight-faced true-crime doc quite the same way again.
But It's a teen comedy about vandalism, not a real crime — some will find the tonal gear-change from Mormons too jarring.
