The Best Documentaries to Watch on Netflix If You've Binged Through Your Favorite Dramas
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Netflix has a fantastic collection of documentaries or docuseries, from gripping true-crime tales to eye-opening environmental exposés to intimate looks into the lives of your favorite musical artists. Even dedicated documentary aficionados can find new films on the streaming service, but dabblers in search of something fresh to watch will be satisfied by the list below.
If you’re in the mood for something breezy, fun, yet educating, try a food and travel series like David Chang’s Ugly Delicious, where the Momofuku chef embarks on culinary adventures with his celebrity friends. For super fans of pop culture, Netflix has docs on stars like Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Pamela Anderson, and Beyoncé, in particular the latter’s opus, Homecoming. And if you’re a true crime fanatic, the streamer covers everything from murder to cults, all with a healthy dose of mayhem for added entertainment.
Scroll through below to to discover 35 remarkable documentaries currently available for your viewing pleasure on Netflix.
Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga
This doc tells a fairly recent story, covering the highly unusual events surrounding the GameStop stock rise of early 2021. Amateur investors organized primarily on the Reddit forum WallStreetBets faced off against Wall Street's hedge funds. Disgusted with market manipulation by some of the richest people in the world, they supported the struggling video game retailer and caused its stock price to climb astronomically. The hedge funds lost money and the response from financial institutions exposed the hypocrisy in the system. If you gleaned some details from social media at the time, this film will fill in the blanks and then some.
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Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
The FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is a secretive and highly insular world and Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey gives a rare, deep look into the church for outsiders. The polygamous sect broke away from the mainstream Mormon Church long ago and were under the rule of charismatic leader, Warren Jeffs. Interviews with people who escaped FLDS include their personal experiences of arranged marriages and systemic abuse within the community. The picture of religious extremism is dark, but the survivors ability to transform and thrive is inspirational.
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Wild Wild Country
In the 1980s, the Rajneeshpuram commune, a controversial spiritual community, consumed a swathe of rural Oregon. The series traces the path that the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh took through the area with the help of his most devoted and controlling follower, Ma Anand Sheela. The events that unfolded are very well-remembered in that part of the state, so the docuseries is full of fascinating interviews and first-hand footage of the increasingly sinister antics of the group. You'll be quickly absorbed in the inner workings of the commune and figuring out who the real villains and heroes of the story were.
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Pretend It's a City
Directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the docuseries Pretend It's a City follows author and humorist, Fran Lebowitz, as she walks the streets of her favorite place on earth. Scorsese and Lebowitz are friends, and he clearly delights in her observations about NYC, how it has changed over the years, and in the stories of her own life—which is a fascinating one! The show is a comforting, nostalgic glimpse into a landscape that is both familiar and constantly changing, with a host who has seen it all.
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My Octopus Teacher
Craig Foster is both a filmmaker and free diver, who forms a bond with a wild octopus during his trips underwater to the kelp forests of South Africa. The documentary shares their intimate interactions over an entire year and Foster honors his new friend's intelligence, resilience, and beauty in the clips he catches of her life. His octopus teacher profoundly increases his appreciation for the ocean and the film illustrates our connection to it, and all marine life, as fellow living creatures.
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Disclosure
Disclosure explores the portrayal of transgender people in film and television through interviews with activists, performers, and scholars. In addition to being a fascinating historical analysis of film at large, it shows how cisgender actors are commonly promoted to play trans characters, often relying on caricatures and stigmatizing portrayals. The doc makes a clear case for why real representation matters on every level, from social to economic to political.
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Pamela, a love story
Pamela Anderson's life story has been a subject of much scrutiny and often used without her permission for sensational stories and other people's profit. This doc made with Netflix is from her perspective, exploring her career from Playboy model to today, her relationship with Tommy Lee, the infamous sex tape, and her reaction to Hulu's Pam and Tommy. It includes intimate interviews and appearances from her kids, and most importantly, Anderson's permission.
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Capturing the Killer Nurse
Charles Cullen worked for 16 years as a nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and killed as many as 40 people in nine different hospitals. Cullen was under suspicion for a long time, but he was continuously shuttled to new jobs as institutions sought to protect themselves from liability. He was finally taken in with the help of another nurse, Amy Loughren, who got a confession out of her former friend. This doc was additionally fictionalized on Netflix in The Good Nurse, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne.
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Halftime
This doc offers a behind-the-scenes look at Jennifer Lopez's halftime performance at Super Bowl LIV in 2020 alongside Shakira. The film incorporates the personal and professional challenges J.Lo faced in the lead-up to the performance, including the intense scrutiny of the media and the pressure to deliver an incredibly memorable show.
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Our Father
Dr. James Marion Sims was a prominent fertility doctor who exploited and abused his patients for decades, violating their trust by using his own sperm to impregnate them without their consent. The doc interviews the women he betrayed and their families, explaining how Sims was able to continue his unethical practices with impunity for so long. It connects Sims to the urgent need for greater accountability and oversight in the healthcare industry, and for teaching patients to advocate for themselves.
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Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives
“Vegan Queen” Sarma Melngailis was famous for her recipes and vegan restaurant that attracted celebrities from all over. But then she met a man. This docuseries is about how Melngailis fell for the manipulations of Shane Fox, a guy who promised immortality for her and her dog. Soon her life was falling apart, and while there's plenty of testimony from observers of her wild ride, the woman are the center of it all gets interviewed as well.
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Pray Away
This documentary shares a message directly from the earliest spokespeople of conversion therapy: it doesn't work. Conversion therapy is an abusive tactic to suppress and abuse LGBTQ+ people, and it hasn't waned in popularity since its advent in the 1970s. This film covers the beginnings of the movement with interviews from queer people who now admit they never changed, and why it's so important to come forward decades later.
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The Tinder Swindler
The infamous Simon Leviev was a pro at making women trust him after matching on the dating app Tinder. He claimed to be the heir to a diamond mogul and was seemingly able to back up these claims with outrageous displays of wealth. Then, all of the sudden, he'd need a little loan. While you might scream in frustration watching woman after woman get taken in by Leviev, the doc does explain how anyone could get taken in by a conscienceless scammer under the right circumstances.
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Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes
John Wayne Gacy is a very well-known serial killer, partly because he was so prolific (he killed over men in about a four year timespan) and because he dressed up as a clown. But if you want to delve deeper than these two very striking facts, this doc goes very deep into Gacy's history and includes new audio of the murderer talking with his defense team about his reasons for killing, and how he got away with it for so long.
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White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch
The models for Abercrombie & Fitch might be nice to look at, but this documentary delves into the unsexy side of the century-old company. If you grew up in the nineties, looking at the history of the store's rise and fall will bring back a lot of memories. And if you didn't, this will give you a deeper understanding of fashion, trends, and how ugly things can get in the retail market.
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Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed
Most people associate Bob Ross with “happy little trees,” but the behind-the-scenes story paints a very different picture. This doc won't ruin your image of Mr. Ross, thank goodness, but it will shine a light on the destructive effect money can have on people after the person they loved is gone.
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Conspiracies
Are you a royal family follower solely for the conspiracy theories associated with the Windsors? Have you watched every documentary ever about Scientology? This 2015 docuseries has you covered.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Samin Nosrat teaches foodies about the four essential elements of cooking good food. You'll become an expert on the title subjects—and want to cook and eat everything.
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jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
Filmmaker Coodie has been following Kanye West since the advent of his career, long before his recent controversies, so the doc contains the sort of intimate footage most music biographers can only dream about. The three-part series contains so many details about one man's path to world-wide fame and fortune, and all the ups-and-downs such a journey entails.
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Cheer
If you're not a fan of cheerleading, Cheer might change your mind. This gripping series about Navarro College's cheer program in Corsicana, Texas follows the story of tenacious athletes defending a winning legacy.
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Ugly Delicious
David Chang's two-season series is about the best-tasting food in the world, even when it's not always the prettiest. Watch an episode about pizza while you eat pizza for dinner for the third time in three weeks. Yes, you're allowed to celebrate the food you've been eating too much of in quarantine, and all the food you want to eat once this whole thing is over.
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Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
If you want to relive a truly historic moment at Coachella, watch this Beyoncé documentary about the making of her 2018 performance.
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Last Chance U
Just like Cheer, this series about elite football players with difficult pasts who turn to junior college teams for one last chance will have you hooked.
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Chef's Table
Take a peek into the best-looking kitchens around the world and explore the masterpieces made by innovative chefs. Yes, you will get hungry.
Miss Americana
In this 2020 film, Taylor Swift tells her story of fame, how she harnesses her own power, and why she's finally speaking out for what she believes in.
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Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable
Professional surfer Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in 2003 after a shark attack. Since then, she's gone on to achieve incredible accomplishments in her career and personal life. This doc tells her story.
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Trump: An American Dream
This British docuseries recounts how Donald Trump made his way to the presidency.
The Keepers
On January 3, 1970, the body of Sister Cathy Cesnik was found in a remote area outside Baltimore two months after she went missing. The mystery surrounding her death uncovers a horrifying cover-up within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in this chilling seven-part documentary series.
Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox spent nearly four years in an Italian prison following the 2007 murder of her roommate, a fellow exchange student. She was exonerated in 2015. This doc features interviews with Knox and the people closest to her.
Abducted in Plain Sight
This is the story of how 12-year-old Jan Broberg was abducted (twice) in her small church community in Idaho in 1974.
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Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
Present-day interviews, archival footage, and audio recordings comprise this doc on notorious American serial killer Ted Bundy.
I Am a Killer
If murder isn't too dark for you right now, you might want to check out this two-season series from 2018. It's told from the perspective of death-row inmates who were convicted of capital murder.
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Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez went from New England Patriots tight-end to convicted murderer for the death of Odin Lloyd. This documentary series explores how that happened.
Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak
This 2020 documentary might not be what you want to watch right now, but if you're into learning about viruses and how to prevent future pandemics, this will be a fascinating—not just terrifying—watch.
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