Apple TV+ just rolled out a five-part Martin Scorsese documentary, and yes, it’s the real deal. We don’t get deep-dive Scorsese docs very often, and this one actually earns the hype. It’s called "Mr. Scorsese," it’s directed by Rebecca Miller (she’s married to Daniel Day-Lewis, which ends up mattering here), and it’s the first time I’ve felt like his entire life and career got a proper, expansive, no-rush-please treatment… even when one episode does feel a little rushed.
What this series is
Premiering October 17, 2025, "Mr. Scorsese" runs just shy of five hours across five episodes and digs into everything from his sickly childhood in Little Italy to his late-career meditations on faith and mortality. The series gets into his private archives (a rarity), sits him down for honest, sometimes raw conversations, and surrounds him with voices who’ve actually been in the trenches with him: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Paul Schrader, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Isabella Rossellini, and more. It’s candid, occasionally uncomfortable, and very generous with process talk.
The episodes, ranked (with what to expect)
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5) Episode 4: "Icon"
Takeaway: Stardom is a blessing and a headache. Coming off the outrage over "The Last Temptation of Christ," Scorsese detonates the crime genre with "Goodfellas" (still a top-tier gangster movie, argue with your wall). Miller nails why that film hit like a thunderclap, and Thelma Schoonmaker’s breakdowns of the cutting are catnip if you care about how movies move. The tech talk around the big sequences will make you want to rewatch it immediately.
The rub: this entry zips by the rest of his ’90s/early-2000s run like a highlight reel. De Niro and others show up, but their comments feel thinner than in the other chapters. It’s still must-see, but you’re left wishing it dug deeper into the machinery behind the hits. Wildly, IMDb likes this one the most.
Runtime: 52 minutes | IMDb: 9.1/10
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4) Episode 5: "Method Director"
Takeaway: The elder-statesman years are about reinvention, not retirement. The Scorsese–DiCaprio partnership gets the spotlight, and it’s surprisingly personal. DiCaprio opens up about "The Aviator" and "The Wolf of Wall Street," with on-set stories from "Wolf" where actors were basically trying to out-improv each other. It’s funny and revealing.
What stings is how little time the trio of "Silence," "The Irishman," and "Killers of the Flower Moon" gets — about ten minutes, total — considering they’re the clearest expression of where his head and heart are now (mortality, faith, legacy). Spielberg and other directors offer warm tributes, and Scorsese himself sounds as hungry as ever. The portrait of an artist in his 80s who’s still poking at cinema like it’s a new toy is quietly moving.
Runtime: 61 minutes | IMDb: 8.7/10
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3) Episode 2: "All This Filming Isn’t Healthy"
Takeaway: Genius and self-destruction can be toxic collaborators — and sometimes productive ones. This is the rawest hour. It tunnels into the ’70s, when Scorsese was working like a man possessed and burning himself down at the same time. The Scorsese–De Niro partnership gets a true autopsy, not a puff piece: how they built "Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver" from the ground up, how their temperaments clicked, where they clashed. Scorsese is frank about the drug abuse that nearly killed him, and Paul Schrader lays out the psychological abyss that fed "Taxi Driver."
Miller keeps the artistry and the cost in the same frame, which is the only honest way to tell this story. If you’ve ever wondered why the 1970s reshaped American movies — and why Scorsese became the voice of a generation’s anxiety — it’s all here.
Runtime: 63 minutes | IMDb: 8.9/10
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2) Episode 3: "Saint/Sinner"
Takeaway: Faith, doubt, and stubborn integrity aren’t side themes — they’re the engine. After the triumph of "Raging Bull" and the box office faceplant of "The King of Comedy," Scorsese recalibrates: smaller budgets, projects that cut close to the bone. The series really digs into his spiritual appetite, centering on the battles around "The Last Temptation of Christ."
"I always say Marty is a saint-sinner."
That’s Isabella Rossellini, and it’s the perfect thesis for this chapter. Scorsese’s answer, when a studio exec asked why he wanted to make "Last Temptation," is disarmingly simple:
"I want to get to know Jesus better."
Daniel Day-Lewis has sharp observations about Scorsese’s almost priestly devotion to the work. Sharon Stone and others talk about how that sacred/profane tension lights up his films without moral finger-wagging, and Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing notes on "Last Temptation" are especially revealing. Miller ties it back to his childhood geography: a cathedral down the block from a mob hangout. That contradiction shaped the moral weather of his movies.
Runtime: 53 minutes | IMDb: 9.0/10
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1) Episode 1: "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Takeaway: The neighborhood built the filmmaker. Perfect opener. Miller brings in Scorsese’s actual childhood friends from Little Italy — including the guy who inspired De Niro’s character in "Mean Streets" — and it plays like you’re at a kitchen table listening to the origin story get told right. Because of his asthma, young Marty spent a lot of time watching life from the window, turning the world into shots and frames in his head. That spectator’s eye becomes his signature style.
The religious bedrock matters, too. Catholic ritual gave him calm and structure against the violent, chaotic pull of the streets. Father Francis Principe was the first mentor after his parents, nudging him toward art (and briefly, toward religious life). There’s lovely archival footage of his mother, and you feel how every theme — the Catholic guilt, the macho codes, the ethical gray zones, the sudden violence — bubbles up from that one neighborhood. Once you’ve seen this hour, the whole career map makes sense.
Runtime: 54 minutes | IMDb: 8.4/10
Why the series works
Rebecca Miller gets that Scorsese doesn’t treat filmmaking like a job; he treats it like a vocation. She frames their conversations like two artists feeling around for the same light. That’s why even five hours slide by faster than a lot of two-hour movies — the thing has momentum and curiosity baked in.
"You have this gift and you’re utilizing the gift, and that’s a sacred thing."
That line from Scorsese is the spine of the whole doc. Miller even describes him as a lifelong pilgrim, fumbling toward something holy. Whether it’s De Niro pulverizing through "Raging Bull," DiCaprio pushing past comfort in "The Aviator" and "The Wolf of Wall Street," or the late-career reckoning of "The Irishman," Scorsese is searching — not for perfection, but for meaning.
How to watch
"Mr. Scorsese" is streaming now on Apple TV+. All five episodes are available to binge. New subscribers get a 7‑day free trial, then it’s $12.99/month.
Your turn: which episode hit you hardest? Are you team "Goodfellas" or team "Taxi Driver"? And did that "saint/sinner" lens change how you see his movies? Drop your take below — I’m very ready to argue this respectfully and at length.