This 2005 Documentary Is So Horrifying, It Still Haunts Me Years Later

There have been so many documentaries over the years that have stuck with me.

While I could recommend a slew of stellar documentaries that will make you sad or get your blood boiling (or both), few have affected me like German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary, Grizzly Man. Following the story of free-spirited Timothy Treadwell using the man’s own documentary footage spliced into Herzog’s piece, we see the life that led up to the man’s death at the claws of his favorite animal: The grizzle bear. I know what you’re picturing from that description, but it’s much more horrifying than you think.

Timothy Treadwell had been making his own documentary

There’s so much footage of Treadwell communing with grizzly bears in Grizzly Man, and that’s thanks to the man’s insistence on making his own documentary. He loved the gigantic bears and would spend summers with them in the wilderness of Alaska. He wanted to share his footage to teach the world that these massive animals are largely misunderstood. Alas, while his footage may not have had played its intended role, it provides context and a humanity to Treadwell that we may not have otherwise gotten in Grizzly Man.

He was filming…everything.

And that’s where the truly horrifying moments come in. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you. It’ll be more impactful if you just watch. But I will say, Treadwell was filming up until the end of his and his then-girlfriend’s (Amie Huguenard) life. There’s a moment that even Werner Herzog, a filmmaker known for pushing the envelope much farther than anyone else in the industry, is so emotionally distraught that it shifts the narrative of the film.

Is Grizzly Man worth watching? Of course. Even if you’re not into documentaries or bears or the wilderness, you’ll get a look at two lives ended too soon and the stark way those lives can affect everyone they touch–even you.

Watch Grizzly Man on Prime Video.