The Best Documentaries Currently Streaming on Netflix

Documentaries have become especially popular in the last few years, and it’s no surprise: in a world where “facts” are as malleable as an edited Facebook post, docs offer a little more stability. That’s not to say that everything about a film is complete honesty, but when it takes a team of directors and a budget to tell a story, there’s at least the assurance that lies are just as hard-won as the truth.

Whether you want to get excited, educated, angry, or just get high and watch some cool nature scenes, these are the best documentaries currently streaming on Netflix.

What’s wrong, Miss Simone? (2015)

Director Liz Garbus ( Ghosts of Abu Ghraib ) captures some of the danger and electricity of Simone’s art and activism at its peak. One of the century’s greatest entertainers was also a force of nature as an individual; in an America that continues to disrespect black power, the image of the invincible black woman is a joyous one, even if the price she paid was real. Simone was at the very center of the culture and revolution of the 1960s, and this documentary speaks to her strength and importance.

Shirkers (2018)

In 1992, three friends from Singapore (Sandy Tan, Jasmine Ng and Sophia Siddique) made a film called Shirkers with the help of a film teacher. The teacher then made off with the finished product and disappeared, never to be heard from again, at least not by the filmmakers. After the man’s death, the film was returned to Sandy Tan, who used it to create a fascinating documentary about the danger and hope of returning to a lost past.

13th (2016)

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed in 1865, abolished slavery in the United States, but it also left a huge loophole that, as director Ava DuVernay convincingly argues, America was happy to exploit. Although the amendment ended forced labor, it made an exception for punishment for conviction of a crime. You only have to look at the current prison industrial complex and the absurdly disproportionate incarceration rates of Black Americans to see where it’s headed. But “13th” examines the entire history of forced convict labor, which began with the disenfranchisement of black voters immediately after the Civil War and continues to this day.

American Factory (2019)

“American Factory,” the first film acquired by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions and their first film to win an Oscar (for Best Documentary Feature), reflects the best aspects of the Obama brand—and I mean at its best. possible sense. way. The film is about an abandoned GM plant in Ohio that was purchased by a Chinese billionaire for his company, glass manufacturer Fuyao. The plant employed 2,000 American workers, but the complex dynamics between Chinese management and working-class American employers quickly point to potentially insurmountable problems. The film cleverly takes a fly-on-the-wall approach, with no narrative other than what we see and hear inside the factory itself; there’s a warning here about a globalizing culture that’s changing the way we work (whether we like it or not), but there’s absolutely no sense that there are heroes or villains here—just a lot of people trying to figure it all out.

Crip Camp: The Disabled Revolution (2020)

Another Higher Ground production and another Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature (the film lost to My Octopus Teacher , which we’ll get to later). Crip Camp does a brilliant job of highlighting the everyday challenges that many people with disabilities face. The film opens at a Catskill summer camp in 1971, exploring the title’s Camp Jened as a place where people can be free to be themselves and have fun without being judged. Then Crip Camp looks beyond those summer days to five former campers who took their experiences as the foundation for a lifetime of activism. “Inspirational” is an easy word to use, especially when talking about people with disabilities, but it fits here.

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

Filmmaker and naturalist Craig Foster spent a year building a relationship with the wild common octopus—a creature we’ve discovered can be startlingly intelligent in many recognizable ways and downright alien in many others. However, Foster and the octopus become something of good friends, hanging out and playing with each other while he is given deeper access to her underwater world. The dangers of this world and the species’ naturally short lifespan offer truly moving lessons about the profound fragility of life, and the joy and value of connection. If you’re looking for something lighter after finishing, the Documentary Now episode “My Rascal Monkey” is a pretty fun counterpoint.

Our Father (2022)

Taking a dark path, Our Father explores the life of (among others) Allegedly Ballard, one of the 94 (or more) biological descendants of church elder and fertility doctor Donald Cline, who impregnated dozens of his patients with his own sperm. neither their consent nor their knowledge. The film takes a sensationalist approach to an undeniably dark story, and frankly, there are probably better and more sensitive ways to tell this story. Our Father often focuses on the victims, both parents and children, but also hits them over the head with each sinister blow. That being said, the story told here is as fascinating as it is terrifying.

senior (2022)

Although overshadowed by his son, Robert Downey Sr. was one of the key figures of the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s, creating brilliant, low-budget (but generally quite successful) satires of American culture and capitalism. This documentary about his life, directed by Chris Smith ( American Cinema ), does not give him credit as a director, but instead focuses on his career and relationship with his son, told from the younger man’s point of view. If it’s not as gonzo as a straight portrait of an older man, it probably should be, but there’s still a smart, tender look at an artist and a father here.

For the Love of Spock (2016)

Director and actor Adam Nimoy explores the life of his famous father, telling it as best he could. This is not an idealized Spock actor, but a real flesh-and-blood man with passions that go beyond television, with a complex relationship with his family, as well as his own fame. I’m not sure there’s a better study of Nimoy or the pop culture significance of his unforgettable Spock.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

There are plenty of great documentaries about old Hollywood figures, many of them fascinating, but few (if any) can compare to the remarkable story of Hedy Lamar, who was once remembered as a talented glamor girl who had her fair share of experiences. Having fled Austria from her controlling, Nazi-supporting husband, Hedy arrived in Hollywood in the early 1930s, never losing her interest in inventing. With no formal education, thanks to successful films and scandals, she worked on technologies ahead of her time that could have ended World War II faster if anyone at the time had realized the nature of her patents.

Homecoming (2019)

A document of Beyoncé’s performance at the 2018 Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Homecoming is not only a stunning recording of her performance there, but also a record of her impressive work ethic and attention to detail. Moreover, this film doesn’t ignore what the performance is: Beyoncé was the first black woman to headline the festival, and the film celebrates that moment and the power and joy of black excellence.

Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (2023, four parts)

There are a million diet and lifestyle shows out there, but this miniseries takes a slightly different approach: It focuses on the real stories of people living in what director and writer Dan Buettner calls “blue zones”: areas of the world where people consistently live much longer. than average. Health advice packs a punch when it comes from the mouth of a 104-year-old woman or a group of 90-year-old siblings surrounded by entire communities living longer (and happier).

Pray Away (2021)

So-called “conversion therapy” (the practice of targeting LGBTQ people to change their sexual preferences or gender identity) may seem like a fairly easy target, but it is still perfectly legal in most of the world and much of the United States. . Director Christina Stolakis takes an empathetic approach, interviewing both therapy survivors dealing with the aftermath and former therapy leaders and advocates struggling with the consequences of their actions.

Won’t you be my neighbor? (2018)

Morgan Neville’s 2018 profile of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood host Fred Rogers became the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time. Gentle and patient, like Mister Rogers himself, the film explores both the genuine compassion and the quiet fire that fueled him throughout his life. Archival footage and interviews with family and friends make it clear that his determination to create a safe space for young children to learn and grow was completely genuine, and it is something we need more of.

Biggie: I’ve Got a Story to Tell (2021)

Christopher Wallace has been portrayed several times in both documentaries and narrative films, but almost all of them focus on his death – which is understandable, given that his still unsolved murder was commemorated by albums called Ready to Die. and the posthumous “Life”. After death.” His final act has a mythical quality that often overshadows his life, but I’ve Got a Story to Tell avoids falling into that trap, instead getting on with his life, thanks in part to the involvement of his mother and others who knew him. It the story of an artist’s life that was cut short, but which does not shy away from the dark side of his life.

Immigration Nation (2020, six parts)

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) participated in this documentary mini-series, apparently believing that they did a much better job than they currently do. Directors Christine Clusio and Shaul Schwartz were given unprecedented access to the agency, both on the ground and behind the desk. What is revealed, very often from the mouths of agents and administrators, is a portrait of a brutal agency operating on the fringes of legality and having a devastating impact on the lives of those desperate to test the promise of America.

Pharmacist (2020, four parts)

COVID pushed the opioid epidemic out of the headlines for a while, but it certainly hasn’t gone away. This fascinating documentary miniseries unexpectedly revisits the beginning of the crisis: the barely investigated murder of his son led pharmacist Dan Schneider to seek justice, giving him the skills and resources to study the growing surge in OxyContin prescriptions in the early 2000s. It’s an unlikely lens through which to examine an ongoing and deadly epidemic.

Ordinary People: The Forgotten Holocaust (2023)

In a simple style (no flash required) , Ordinary People adapts Christopher R. Browning’s book to tell, in part, the story of the 101st Reserve Police Battalion of the German Order Police. This group and others like it executed an estimated two million German Jews and other “undesirables,” but they were composed primarily not of fanatical Nazis or specially trained regime agents, but of ordinary conscripts who, as the film claims, committed more brutal crimes . social dynamics than any hatred they brought into their work. It’s poignant, chilling, not to mention a timely reminder of how easily ordinary citizens can fall into fascism under the right conditions.

They Won’t Grow Old (2018)

Peter Jackson’s documentary is a technical feat, but it’s also a stunningly emotional journey through time. Taking archival film from the First World War, much of it previously unpublished, Jackson and company colorized and updated the footage using modern techniques, adding highly detailed sound effects and voice performances to create a document that captures the experiences of British soldiers who fought. The single narrative is based on interviews with those who were there, and the result is a poignant, moving play that makes the war that happened more than a century ago feel very real.

FIFA Uncovered (2022, four parts)

Beginning in 1974, FIFA Uncovered chronicles decades of corruption in the global governing body of football (or rather, soccer). This was the year that new President João Havelange came to power and introduced sweeping changes aimed at taking the sport global – a hugely successful operation that, throughout this mini-series, increasingly resembles a deal with the devil. Bribery, corruption, racketeering: they’re all there, making the documentary at times feel like a true crime drama.

The Last Dance (2020, ten parts)

A much more upbeat sports documentary , The Last Dance chronicles the life and basketball career of Michael Jordan, focusing on the Chicago Bulls’ winning 1997-98 season. The miniseries argues that there has never been a team like this, before or since, and uses hundreds of hours of never-before-seen archival footage and interviews, each of which warrants 10 episodes – a gripping, enjoyable documentary that looks like this. like it’s just the right length.

Our Planet (2019, eight parts)

Now in his 90s, David Attenborough remains as prolific as ever, perhaps developing a greater sense of urgency in his mission to educate about the environment and conservation. In Our Planet , Netflix’s first nature documentary miniseries, its focus is on species at risk of extinction due to climate change. It’s a spin-off of the Planet Earth series and features wall-to-wall, high-definition nature footage that’s every bit as stunning as you’d expect.

Five Are Back (2017, three parts)

A fascinating look at Hollywood’s golden age during World War II, the series focuses on five directors: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra and George Stevens, looking at both their film work and military service with a contemporary perspective. points of view. directors like Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro and Francis Ford Coppola are weighing in. Meryl Streep’s story has some exciting and unexpected moments, such as when William Wyler refuses to make a film about the recruitment of black soldiers after learning about the enormous racism. in the military or when racist depictions of the Japanese in films strike again at the military establishment.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022, four parts)

Focusing on survivors of the polygamous fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the series focuses on the women who were kept subjugated by leader Warren Jeffs and others through psychological, physical and sexual abuse. The interviews are chilling, as are the recovered community videos. It’s all deeply disturbing, but the documentary largely avoids the true crime trap of feeling exploitative.

Born in Syria (2016).

Although the film is several years old, the crisis created by the Syrian civil war has barely subsided and global conflicts continue to displace people around the world, making this moving and sometimes painful documentary about young refugees remains tragically relevant. And Born in Syria does a particularly good job of bringing out that human element, following seven children forced from their homes, only to discover that the worst is far from over for them.