Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor Leads Critics Choice Association Documentary Awards

According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Netflix’s documentary The Perfect Neighbor has emerged as the frontrunner at the 10th annual Critics Choice Association Documentary Awards in 2025. The film, which challenges the consequences of self-defense laws in the state of Florida, took home five awards including Best Documentary Feature.

Apple TV’s Mr. Scorsese, Ocean with David Attenborough, and Orwell: 2+2=5 — the latter having led the nominations with seven — each won two awards.

At last year’s ceremony, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will and Harper shared the award for Best Documentary Feature.

Full list of winners at the 2025 Critics Choice Association Documentary Awards:

Best Documentary Feature
2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press)
The Alabama Solution (HBO Max)
Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix)
Cover-Up (Netflix)
Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) – Winner
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
The Tale of Silyan (National Geographic)

Best Director
Mstyslav Chernov – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press)
Petra Costa – Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix)
Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim – Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
Geeta Gandbhir – The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) – Winner
Andrew Jarecki & Charlotte Kaufman – The Alabama Solution (HBO Max)
Raoul Peck – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)

Best First Documentary Feature
Art for Everybody (Tremolo Productions)
Grand Theft Hamlet (Mubi)
My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Max) – Winner
Seeds (Interior Films)
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (Apple TV)
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (Margot Station)

Best Cinematography
Ben Bernard – Architecton (A24)
Jean Dakar – The Tale of Silyan (National Geographic)
Elizabeth Lo – Mistress Dispeller (Oscilloscope)
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo & Tor Edvin Eliassen – Folktales (Magnolia Pictures)
Brittany Shyne – Seeds (Interior Films)
Toby Strong, Doug Anderson (Underwater Photography) – Ocean with David Attenborough (National Geographic) – Winner

Best Editing
Michael Harte – Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
James Lester and Oz Rodríguez, John MacDonald (Music Montage) – Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music (NBC)
Viridiana Lieberman – The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) – Winner
Page Marsella – The Alabama Solution (HBO Max)
Michelle Mizner – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press)
Alexandra Strauss – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)

Best Score
Alexei Aigui – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon) – Winner
Kris Bowers – The Eyes of Ghana (Breakwater Studios / Higher Ground Media)
Laura Heinzinger – The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
Claudia Sarne – Love + War (National Geographic)
Sam Slater – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press)
Paweł Szymański – Trains (EPF Media / Drygas Film Production)

Best Narration
2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press) — Mstyslav Chernov
The American Revolution (PBS) — Peter Coyote
The Americas (NBC) — Tom Hanks
Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix) — Petra Costa
Octopus! (Prime Video) — Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon) — Damian Lewis – Winner*

Best Archival Documentary
One to One: John & Yoko (Magnolia Pictures)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) – Winner
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
Trains (EPF Media / Drygas Film Production)
WTO/99 (Foghorn Features)

Best Historical Documentary
The American Revolution (PBS) – Winner
Cover-Up (Netflix)
Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977–2015 (HBO Max)
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (National Geographic)
Number One on the Call Sheet (Apple TV)
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)

Best Biographical Documentary
John Candy: I Like Me (Prime Video)
Love + War (National Geographic)
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV) – Winner
My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Max)
Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (Apple TV)

Best Music Documentary
Becoming Led Zeppelin (Sony Pictures Classics) – Winner
Billy Joel: And So It Goes (HBO Max)
Bono: Stories of Surrender (Apple TV)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (Magnolia Pictures)
Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music (NBC)
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (Hulu)

Best Political Documentary
The Alabama Solution (HBO Max) – Winner
Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix)
Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
The Librarians (Independent Lens)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (Marminchilla)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)

Best Science/Nature Documentary
The Americas (NBC)
Checkpoint Zoo (Abramorama)
The Last Rhinos: A New Hope (National Geographic)
Ocean with David Attenborough (National Geographic) – Winner
Octopus! (Prime Video)
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey (Netflix)

Best Sports Documentary
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix) – Winner
America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys (Netflix)
Big Dreams: Little League World Series 2024 (ESPN Films)
Full Court Press (ESPN+)
Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott (ESPN)
We Beat the Dream Team (HBO Max)

Best True Crime Documentary
The Alabama Solution (HBO Max)
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer (Netflix)
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) – Winner
Predators (MTV Documentary Films / Paramount+)
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (Netflix)
The Yogurt Shop Murders (HBO Max)

Best Short Documentary
All the Empty Rooms (Netflix)
Classroom 4 (PBS)
The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max)
Exodus (Park County)
Fiddler on the Moon: Judaism in Space (Ironbound Films)
Sallie’s Ashes (Robi Creative)
Saving Superman (Switchboard) – Winner
Shanti Rides Shotgun (Voyager)

Best Limited Documentary Series
The American Revolution (PBS)
Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977–2015 (HBO Max)
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer (Netflix)
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (National Geographic)
Magic City: An American Fantasy (Starz)
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV) – Winner
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night (Peacock)
The Yogurt Shop Murders (HBO Max)

Best Ongoing Documentary Series
30 for 30 (ESPN Films) – Winner
American Masters (PBS)
The Reluctant Traveler (Apple TV)
Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross (Roku Channel)
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller (National Geographic)
Trainwreck (Netflix)