Nature of the Crime (now streaming on Max) tackles the kind of topic that HBO documentaries rarely shy away from: a divisive one. Directors Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet (Netflix’s Surviving Death) probe the parole system, specifically honing in on two New York men who committed reprehensible crimes, and their attempts to regain their freedom after decades in prison. In fully contextualizing these cases, the film stirs up ideas about punishment and rehabilitation, and ponders whether parole systems – which are different in every U.S. state – might need some rehabbing too.