I missed the acclaimed documentary Billy The Kid during its short run in theaters, thinking that, like most indie docs, it would be on Netflix in a few weeks. But then it wasn’t, for a really really long time (with the dreaded-yet-rare “unknown” under “release date”), and all my fellow documentary-geek friends kept talking about it, and giving me fake-sad/actually-smug looks when I complained about missing the movie that’s been called the best documentary since The King Of Kong. The movie follows a unique teenager from Maine named Billy whom the director, Jennifer Venditti, met by chance while working on another project. I finally saw it (it had a short run on Cinemax), and I can add my praise to the cacophony: Billy The Kid is like Freaks And Geeks meets 14 Up, and I loved it.

Here’s the trailer, which explains the movie better than I can:

The DVD has bonus features — commentary by and interviews with director Jennifer Venditti and a featurette. You can see Billy The Kid on Netflix, or by purchasing it here (use the code BTK25 for a 25% discount). (This isn’t advertising. I just really loved this movie.) If enough people watch it, maybe they’ll make a sequel — one thing you can’t shake while watching the movie is a desire to see Billy grow up, like in the Up Series movies. So let’s all Netflix it!