Television series
The Family
Other titles called The Family: the 2013 film.
A four-part documentary exposing the Family, a shadowy Christian fundamentalist network with deep roots in American politics and global influence. It's meticulously researched, often chilling, and structured like a mystery that gets darker with each episode. For anyone who's wondered how certain policy decisions happen, or who wants to understand the infrastructure of American power beyond the visible surface.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like patient, forensic documentary that builds a picture of power from quiet rooms, careful interviews and the gaps between what people say.
Skip it if you want a fast, tidy narrative with clear heroes and villains, since this moves slowly and stays wary of easy conclusions.
What it asks of you: Five episodes of about fifty minutes each, enough for a long weekend, and it rewards sitting with it rather than playing in the background.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Spotlight2015
A methodical, ensemble-driven investigation into institutional corruption shielded by power and secrecy. The pace and structure feel like The Family's extended argument compressed into two hours.
But The subject—Catholic Church abuse—requires emotional fortitude, and the ending is already known to most viewers.
The Brainwashing of My Dad2015
A daughter investigates how her father was drawn into conservative media and ideology, revealing the psychological machinery behind radicalization and belief capture in America.
But More personal memoir than institutional investigation; if you wanted a sweeping view of power, this is intimate and smaller-scale.
United States of Secrets (Part Two): Privacy Lost2014
A PBS investigation into NSA surveillance and the government structures protecting classified power. Similar forensic approach to uncovering what happens in rooms where decisions are made.
But Post-Snowden fatigue is real; some viewers already feel they know this story or that nothing came of it.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Family
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Killing Reagan2016
Both trace how a specific worldview and network engineered control of American politics, just at different scales and with different tools.
A dramatized but meticulously fact-checked biography showing how a political ideology (conservative Christianity) shaped a presidency from behind the scenes, with the same obsessive focus on influence and access.
But It's a drama, not documentary, so the truth is interpretively colored; some scenes are educated guesses rather than fact.
More like this (2)
One of Us2017
Documents people escaping insular religious communities, showing how ideology becomes structure and how hard it is to leave. A ground-level view of what The Family builds.
But Focuses on ultra-Orthodox Judaism, not Christian conservatism, so the connection requires you to abstract the pattern.
The Profit2013
While ostensibly about business turnarounds, it exposes how money and influence actually flow through American institutions and who holds real power behind facades of legitimacy.
But A completely different genre that requires you to read between the lines; not everyone finds that rewarding.
People
Cast
Production
- Alex GibneyExecutive Producer
Recommended by
Wild Wild Country, Jesus Camp, Benefits Street, Hail Satan?, Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi, One Born Every Minute, Skint