Movies Like Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti

If you liked Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti (2007), a documentary movie directed by Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Into the Abyss (2011)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their…
2
Crazy, Not Insane (2020)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Fascinated by the human brain and its capacity for ruthlessness, psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis has spent her life investigating the interior lives of violent people. With each case, she came closer to developing…
3
The Menendez Brothers (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
4
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
5
The Investigation of Lucy Letby (2026)
★ 6.3/10Also documentary
An engaging and thought-provoking look at Lucy Letby, the former nurse serving life in prison after being convicted of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of seven others.
6
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
One night in November 1976, after his car breaks down on a road outside Dallas, Randall Dale Adams accepts a ride from teenager David Harris. Harris is driving a stolen vehicle and, later that night, when Dallas police…
7
Adele One Night Only (2021)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
A primetime special with performances from the superstar including Adele’s first new material in six years plus her chart-topping hits. The special will also feature an exclusive interview with Adele by Oprah Winfrey…
8
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
9
American Teen (2008)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.
10
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
Fresh off the heels of her brand-new album, "Happier Than Ever," this cinematic concert experience features an intimate performance of every song in the album's sequential order – for the first and only time – from the…
11
Western Stars (2019)
★ 7/10Also documentary
The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen…
12
Looking for Richard (1996)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
13
The Alabama Solution (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
Incarcerated men defy the odds to expose a cover-up in one of America’s deadliest prison systems.
14
The Crash (2026)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
15
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.
16
STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary
A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an…
17
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at…
18
Boys State (2020)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.
19
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990…
20
Titicut Follies (1967)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary
Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often…