For about as long as it has existed, HBO has been home to some of the best documentaries around. From classics like Paradise Lost to more modern offerings like Pee-wee as Himself, the premium cable outlet has put out countless highly decorated documentaries. That trend continued when The Alabama Solution found its way to the 2025 movie schedule in early October.
The documentary, which has a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, comes from the team behind The Jinx, the multi-part docuseries about Robert Durst, who found a unique and harrowing way to expose injustices and raise awareness about what’s going on within the Alabama Department of Corrections. A must-watch, this riveting film makes a strong case for the importance of documentaries in today’s society.
The Alabama Solution Explores Various Prison Issues Largely Through The Lens Of Inmates’ Cell Phones
When I first saw ads for The Alabama Solution, I had a feeling the documentary had something to do with inmates using cell phones in prison. Not long after starting the movie with my HBO Max subscription, I realized that this was going to be a powerful documentary largely told through the lens of inmates’ eyes and their smuggled-in cell phones.
Over the course of the next two hours, I watched as directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman explored a litany of issues plaguing prisoners (and their families) in the ADOC, with problems ranging from overcrowded and understaffed facilities to the death of an inmate and so much more, The Alabama Solution provided a raw, unflinching, and unfiltered look into the prison system.
This Is Both Empowering And Utterly Heartbreaking
At times, The Alabama Solution is incredibly empowering in that it allows inmates to tell their stories with their own voices (and largely through their own phones). There are moments when prisoners don’t wait for someone on the outside to make things better but take matters into their own hands to voice their concerns about unfair treatment and inhumane conditions.
At the same time, this is also one of the most harrowing true crime documentaries you’ll watch all year. From the brutal death of Steven Davis and his family’s quest for answers and peace to the state’s unwillingness to hear the concerns of the dire living standards, this film is utterly heartbreaking. Yes, these are convicted criminals, but they are also human. This film goes heavy on that.
The Alabama Solution Proves Why We Need Documentaries
Was The Alabama Solution a fun documentary or one that is easy to watch? No, not really. However, as with other great docs like Harlan County, USA, Blackfish, or Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (the most emotionally grueling of them all), this new HBO original proves why we need documentaries. It exposes buried truths, provides a voice for the voiceless, and helps make us a little more empathetic, even towards those who we may think deserve it the least.
Though there are still a couple of months left in 2025, there’s a good chance The Alabama Solution will end up being the best documentary of the year, if not of this decade.