Best Netflix documentaries to watch right now
Netflix has built an impressive reputation for documentaries, offering everything from gripping true-crime stories to acclaimed sports, nature and cultural deep dives. Whether you're revisiting global sensations like Tiger King and The Last Dance or discovering lesser-known gems, there's no shortage of compelling real-life stories to explore.
A recent addition to the streamer is Mourinho, which follows the extraordinary career of legendary football manager José Mourinho, charting his rise from Porto and Chelsea to Inter Milan and Real Madrid through archive footage and interviews with players, rivals and the man himself. This insightful sports documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of football's most successful and controversial figures
Sticking with the profile theme, there's also intimate three-part documentary Kylie, which traces Kylie Minogue’s journey from Neighbours star to international pop princess, using archive footage and candid interviews. With contributions from Dannii Minogue and Nick Cave, it’s an absorbing look at fame, reinvention and personal resilience.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson: the Verdict revisits the 2005 criminal trial of the global superstar. The series features jurors, attorneys, and pivotal witnesses recounting proceedings that cameras never captured, using archival footage to reconstruct the case and its lasting controversy.
If you're a nature fan, A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough is a moving documentary that revisits the naturalist's first encounter with a baby gorilla in 1970s Rwanda, following the animal’s descendants today in a moving, conservation-led story of family, legacy and survival.
There's also Louis Theroux's latest documentary, Inside the Manosphere; thought-provoking film MH370: the Plane That Disappeared, which looks into the theories surrounding the vanishing of the Malaysian flight in 2014 and stranger-than-fiction tale Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, which tells the story of Kirat Assi, a woman who lost a decade of her life to a catfishing ordeal.
If those don't appeal, you could try Homicide: New York, the series that follows detectives and prosecutors as they revisit their most challenging homicide cases? Or how about Can I Tell You a Secret?, a chilling three-part series about the UK's worst cyber-stalking case? Or if natural history is more your thing, then Our Universe narrated by Morgan Freeman should hit the spot.
Whatever you're after, there are so many great factual programmes to choose from on Netflix and we've listed our favourites below for you to start watching.
For those wanting something a bit different, we’ve also created lists of the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix series, as well as the best Netflix comedies.
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This trophy-packed, insider-fuelled documentary charts José Mourinho's iconic rise as one of the world's top footballing managers of the most elite clubs.
Alexandra Lacey directs a feature-length documentary about a true-life case of deception and lies in a glamorous suburb of California. A newlywed wife receives a series of threatening emails from a sender with the profile name Lilithistruth and the husband's former partner is the prime suspect. She is arrested but a supposedly clear-cut case of jealousy and revenge reveals alarming evidence that blurs perceptions of victim and villain
On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia luxury cruise liner struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea, causing catastrophic damage to the hull. As the ship took on water and listed, passengers and crew were slowly evacuated. A feature-length documentary combines previous unseen footage and first-hand testimony from survivors to relive the maritime disaster and its psychological aftermath
True-crime documentary series examining extreme disputes between neighbours, featuring real cases of harassment, intimidation and murder, told through victims’ accounts and dramatic reconstructions.
This documentary explores Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova's decades-long dominance of women's tennis - and a friendship even cancer couldn't upset.
Told by key players who were inside the courtroom, this comprehensive documentary dissects the trial of Michael Jackson and his complex legacy.
A true-crime documentary series explores the shocking chain of events that led to the arrests of Alexander McKellar and his twin brother Robert for the murder of charity cyclist Tony Parsons. The former Royal Navy petty officer disappeared on a stretch of road near Argyll and his remains were eventually found after a tip off from forensic pathologist, Dr Caroline Muirhead. She had met Alexander on a Tinder date and fell in love with him, only to discover after they were engaged that her fiance was hiding a horrific secret. Dr Muirhead faced a stark choice between remaining loyal to the man she loved or exposing the truth
This documentary revisits Brazil's journey to the 1994 World Cup, featuring interviews and never-before-seen footage shot by the players themselves..
As he battles for a final triumph on the court, Rafael Nadal opens up like never before about what shaped one of the greatest tennis careers of all time.
From soap star to superstar, Kylie's career has been full of twists, turns and spinning around - as she candidly reveals in this unfiltered documentary.
Born and raised in Ontario, Martin Short finessed his comic timing as a cast member on Saturday Night Live before he starred in beloved films of the 1980s and 1990s including Three Amigos, Innerspace, Three Fugitives, Father Of The Bride and its sequel. More recently, he has enjoyed a career renaissance acting alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez in the TV series Only Murders In The Building. Lawrence Kasdan, who directed Short in the 1999 comedy Mumford, helms a feature-length biographical documentary to reveal the complex man behind the screen personae. Exclusive interviews with friends and colleagues including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are juxtaposed with previously unseen archive footage from Short's long and illustrious career on stage and screen
Veteran naturalist Sir David Attenborough tells the story of a remarkable group of gorillas, from his first encounter in the '70s to the present day.
Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now some victims plan for payback. Crime documentary, starring Simon Leviev, Cecilie Fjellhoy and Ayleen Charlotte.
This series follows the life and career of Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, tracing his journey from young prodigy to global sports icon.
In an award-winning TV career spanning more than 30 years, documentarian and broadcaster Louis Theroux has travelled the world to meet colourful characters with conflicting worldviews. In this new film directed by Adrian Choa, he encounters a network of influencers and content creators who are gaining huge numbers of online followers by opposing feminism and reshaping young men's ideas about masculinity. Louis travels to Miami, New York and Marbella to spend time with prominent figures in the manosphere including Harrison Sullivan (aka HS Tikky Tokky), Myron Gaines, Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy (aka Sneako), Justin Waller and Ed Matthews. These proponents of a resurgent global men's rights movement teach Louis their language, including colourful terms such as 'red-pilling', and explain their different interpretations of traditional gender roles and values
Go behind the scenes with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay behind the scenes as he juggles family life, global empire and his biggest launch yet in this all-you-can-eat documentary.
Unseen footage and unheard insider accounts reveal the harrowing and divisive case of Lucy Letby, the neonatal nurse convicted of fatally harming infants.
Monaco, 1999. One of the world's richest men dies in his penthouse. This documentary unpacks the mysterious murder of billionaire banker, Edmond Safra.
French documentary series goes behind the headlines of a 2013 drug bust of four Frenchmen in Punta Cana carrying 700 kg of cocaine, none of whom fit the trafficker profile
Hard-hitting journalism. Era-defining fiction. Witty cartoons. The New Yorker marks its 100th anniversary with this look at its past, present and future
Ed Sheeran performs his greatest hits during a walkabout in New York City, captured in a single fluid take by Adolescence director Philip Barantini
Survivors reveal the manipulation, abuse and emotional scars suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Their stories expose a sex trafficking ring of powerful enablers leading up to his 2019 arrest.
A young man's dramatic rescue at sea spirals into accusations he murdered two members of his wealthy New England family in this true-crime documentary.
Warnings about climate change divide George HW Bush's White House at a pivotal moment for the planet in this documentary told through archival footage.
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