9 Documentaries to Pretend-Watch While Your Landlord Fixes the Garbage Disposal

So your landlord is coming by this Saturday to look at your garbage disposal. It could take 15 minutes, or it could take 4 hours.

Well, you can’t hover over them that whole time asking if they need help (and hoping they don’t), but you also can’t watch reruns of Vanderpump Rules without feeling judged, so what are you left to do?

Pretend to watch a documentary!

Put one of the following programs on and let your eyes glaze over as you blankly stare beyond the screen and watch your landlord out of your peripherals.

1. SECRETS OF THE SAQQARA TOMB (2020)

In this film, archaeologists discover an Egyptian tomb that’s been untouched for 4,400 years. Throw in a couple of “wow”s to show that you’re really absorbing this amazing discovery. Your landlord will think, “damn, this is what my tenant normally does on a Saturday, what an intellect!”

2. BLACKFISH (2013)

Show your compassion by pretend-watching this sad story about the evils of SeaWorld. Wouldn’t hurt to let a few tears fall down your cheek. Maybe it’ll inspire your landlord to show compassion the next time you put dish soap in your washing machine.

3. BLACK HOLES, THE EDGE OF ALL WE KNOW (2020)

Tackle the mystery of black holes while your landlord tackles the hole in your pipe that you accidentally created while trying to clean your garbage disposal with a #cleaninghack you saw on TikTok.

4. 72 DANGEROUS ANIMALS: ASIA (2018)

Raise the volume on this self-explanatory documentary to distract your landlord from your second cat that they don’t know about. Rascal’s meows for attention and clawing at the bedroom door will be drowned out by 72 even-louder animals!

5. HELVETICA (2007)

If you’re making your landlord travel across town just to press the restart button on your garbage disposal, you might as well not look like a complete moron. This documentary will tell them that you’re artsy and those flimsy command strips you used to hang up your movie posters were not a mistake, but a choice.

6. CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2010)

This documentary leads you into the Chauvet Cave in France, home to some of the oldest paintings by humans. It’ll take you and your landlord back to a time when drawing on the wall was actually really provocative and not a violation of the lease.

7. TRUST MACHINE: THE STORY OF BLOCKCHAIN (2018)

Curious about cryptocurrency? Doesn’t matter, this is a great documentary to show your landlord that you’re too caught up in more complex matters to know not to pour hot wax down the sink.

8. THE CENTURY OF THE SELF (2002)

Since you can’t fully relax until your landlord leaves, you might as well double down on the discomfort and learn about how the more we learn about how our minds work, the more companies and governments will use that knowledge to manipulate us. Fun stuff!

9. HYPERNORMALISATION (2016)

This film basically asks “what the hell happened?” And although it has no business being as long as it is, 2 hours and 45 minutes is the perfect amount of time for your landlord to take under your sink, say “I need to grab a few parts” then disappear for an hour and come back to see you still watching this documentary.