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Documentarian Greg Tillman's Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror retells the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The documentary is a compelling, minute-by-minute recreation of the ensuing chaos, tragedy, and heroism that killed 168 people. It includes reenactments, interviews with survivors and responders, and newly uncovered audio with bomber Timothy McVeigh. It provides fresh insight into the investigation, which shows how police apprehended McVeigh, as well as tracing the extremist worldview that motivated him.
This three-episode docuseries can be streamed on Disney+, Hulu, and Nat Geo TV's website. If viewers like watching Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America for its themes of tragedy and truth, here are seven similar documentaries — including Man on Wire and The Act of Killing — that explore true stories and the human cost of violence.
Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.
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Man on Wire and 6 other documentaries to watch if you liked Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror
1) The Act of Killing
Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing (2012) is centered on Indonesia's mass killings between 1965–66. The documentary was shot in Medan, and it has perpetrators, Anwar Congo, among others, who describe their own murders and discuss what they have done. The documentary exposes the psychological damage that it did to the killers, some of whom were notorious gangsters in adulthood.
Set after the 1965 political purge, it discloses how the mass killings were conducted with the support of the state and the West. Using a montage of acting and real-life snippets, the film examines how violence is remembered, justified, and, for others, regretted. Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America and The Act of Killing are both documentaries that search for the consequences of tragedy, each portraying the psychological effects of violence, either survivors coping with loss or perpetrators justifying violence.
Where to watch: Netflix, Peacock, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video
2) Man on Wire
Man on Wire (2008), James Marsh's film, chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.. Adapting Petit's book To Reach the Clouds, the movie intercuts archival footage, re-enactments, and interviews to relate the brazen heist-like crime, as told by figures such as inside man Barry Greenhouse.
Inspired by Petit's book, the film was produced with his collaboration and directed by James Marsh. The film was a tribute to New York without a reference or mention of the 9/11 attacks.
Both the Oklahoma City Bombing and Man on Wire consider events that held the entire world's attention, depicting human determination and fortitude. While one narrates a gruesome terrorist bombing, the other narrates a su*cidal high-wire walk between the Twin Towers.
Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
3) The Woman Who Wasn't There
Tania Head's story of surviving the 9/11 attacks and losing her fiancé in the North Tower captivated the public. She rose to national prominence as President of the World Trade Center Survivors' Network, with her account of escaping the South Tower seen as both unthinkable and tragic.
But the tale takes a surprising turn when a journalist uncovers that Tania Head's name and presence are fictional in The Woman Who Wasn't There. The documentary reveals the dark reality behind the head of the survivors' support group, presenting a chilling analysis of psychological healing versus outrageous fraud.
Both The Woman Who Wasn't There and Oklahoma City Bombing are alike in that they describe how survivors or those affected by sensational events deal with what occurred to them.
Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
4) Assassins
Assassins (2020), directed by Ryan White, explores the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Two young women, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, were misled into thinking they were part of a prank and accidentally assassinated him with a nerve agent at an airport in Malaysia. The surreal assault was filmed on security cameras and was global news.
Both the Assassins and the Oklahoma City Bombing delve into cases where dishonesty takes a pivotal position. The former reveals how two women were tricked into killing Kim Jong-nam, while the latter explores McVeigh's biased sense of justice.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
5) Who Killed Malcolm X?
Who Killed Malcolm X? is a 2020 Netflix documentary series by Rachel Dretzin and Phil Bertelsen tracing the 30-year journey of historian Abdur-Rahman Muhammad into the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. The series broaches the 1977 affidavits of Talmadge Hayer, one of the three men convicted of being an assassin, who stated that the other two men convicted along with him were innocent and named four other co-conspirators associated with the Nation of Islam mosque in Newark.
Oklahoma City Bombing and Who Killed Malcolm X? have a common thread of investigations that question the prevailing narratives. Both shows present longstanding mysteries by disputing the conclusions made and disclosing information previously omitted in the cases.
Where to watch: Netflix
6) The Imposter
The Imposter is a 2012 documentary directed by Bart Layton. It explores the 1997 case of French impersonator Frédéric Bourdin, who posed as Nicholas Patrick Barclay, a Texas teen missing since 1994. It includes interviews with Bourdin and the Barclay family, archival news footage, and dramatized reenactments.
The Imposter follows the Spanish man who poses as the missing American boy and is accepted by the boy’s family in Texas. As doubts arise, a private investigator and FBI agent uncover the deception, revealing themes of identity, manipulation, and blurred truth.
Oklahoma City Bombing and The Imposter both explore themes of deception—one through a con man's impersonation of a missing boy, the other through a terrorist attack that left a lasting legacy of distrust and fear.
Where to watch: Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix
7) Three Identical Strangers
Three Identical Strangers (2018) by Tim Wardle is about triplets Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran, who were adopted by different families. Archival footage and interviews are used in the film to link the brothers' reunion in 1980 and the revelation that they only discovered afterwards their adoption was being conducted as a secret "nature vs. nurture" experiment using siblings brought up in different economic circumstances.
The film delves into whether the experiment was ethical and the psychological impact of it on their lives. Three Identical Strangers and Oklahoma City Bombing both uncover hidden truths. The latter uncovers the devastating effects of domestic terrorism, while Three Identical Strangers uncovers the secret experiment that shattered the lives of three triplets born to be separated.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
Interested viewers can also watch Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror on Netflix.
