These days, people who want to see documentaries of any kind go to Netflix. Some, like 13th, American Factory, and Crip Camp, have gone on to receive a lot of praise, while others, like Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond and The Tinder Swindler, are among the most unbelievable true stories. There’s a genuine tale out there to rival any kind of fiction, no matter how you’re feeling. We’ve put together a selection of the top documentaries we think are currently available on Netflix below.
My Octopus Teacher
https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007
Description
You should see the wonderful documentary My Octopus Teacher, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed if you’re searching for something calming, uplifting, and strangely beautiful. The film centres on filmmaker Craig Foster, who comes upon an octopus while snorkelling off the coast of South Africa. He makes a daily commitment to engage with the octopus and gain as much knowledge as he can about it. We see a majestic and startlingly clever animal scrounging for survival in a hazardous kelp forest thanks to their amazing underwater photography. The film never loses sight of the magnificence it depicts, nor does it anthropomorphize or minimise the intricacy of this underwater world. Even if you’re not a big fan of nature films, My Octopus Teacher is sure to captivate you.
- Actors – Craig Foster, Tom Foster
- Director – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
- Story writer – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
- Age Restriction – U/A 13+
Rating
IMDB: 8.1/10 (62K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 93% (45 Votes)
The Deepest Breath (2023)
https://www.netflix.com/title/81630917
Description
Filmmaker Laura McGann depicts the perils and beauty of freediving, one of the most dangerous extreme sports in the ocean, in her video The Deepest Breath. With an emphasis on one Italian competitor by the name of Alessia Zecchini, the documentary examines the essential strength training and physical preparation required to participate in water sports. The Deepest Breath illustrates the desire and expertise needed to succeed in such a difficult field with the use of a historical video of the woman determined to become the deepest woman to free dive and conversations with professional safety diver Stephen Keenan.
- Actors – Alessia Zecchini
- Director – Laura McGann
- Story writer – Laura McGann
- Age Restriction – U/A 13+
Rating
IMDB: 7.7/10 (13K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 85% (65 Votes)
Saint of Second Chances
https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81476121
Description
The Veeck family, led by father Bill, is one of the most well-known family names in professional baseball. The family spent years creating a legacy in the game. His father was pushed into exile from the one sport he had ever known and compelled to seek atonement when his son Mike brought his father’s career to an abrupt end. The Saint of Second Chances is a documentary that focuses on the intense bond between the father and son at the core of the narrative. It is a story of redemption analogous to fictional sports films, and Mike Veeck’s path is undoubtedly inspirational. The Saint of Second Chances is a candid examination of the divisions between families and the role the media can play in these situations. It will resonate with viewers on a personal level and change the way we all think about our loved ones.
- Actors – Charlie Day, Mike Veeck
- Director – Jeff Malmberg, Morgan Neville
- Age Restriction – U/A
Rating
IMDB: 7.5/10 (854 Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 96% (79 Votes)
Take Care of Maya
https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81349305
Description
The Kowalski family describes the event that would alter their lives forever, and Maya captures their terrifying experience from their point of view. In the documentary, the tale of Maya Kowalski—who was given a prescription for ketamine to relieve her pain—is revealed. Her new physicians at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital push her into state custody for abuse after the treatment fails to alleviate her ailments. This begins a more thorough examination of the child health care system, which soon gets out of control and reveals far larger flaws in the child welfare system in the United States.
- Director – Henry Roosevelt
- Age Restriction – U/A 13+
Rating
IMDB: 7.5/10 (8K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 92% (13 Votes)
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
https://www.netflix.com/title/80216393
Description
Undoubtedly, one of the most well-known names in the conservation industry is David Attenborough. In A Life on Our World, he recounts his extensive career while considering the significant changes that the world has seen in the roughly ninety years of his existence. Incorporating clips from his earlier projects, Attenborough refers to the documentary as his “witness statement.”
He also shows what he thinks could happen if we keep abusing nature in the manner that we already do. Not to get too technical, it entails severe climatic shifts and the destruction of entire ecosystems, which all add up to a major extinction event. However, Attenborough also makes the case that this future is averted and outlines the actions we must take to undo the harm we have caused to the environment. This thought-provoking documentary presents both criticism and optimism in equal measure.
- Actors – David Attenborough
- Director – Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey
- Age Restriction – U/A 13+
Rating
IMDB: 8.9/10 (34K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 96% (237 Votes)
13th
https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741
Description
Following the success of her critically acclaimed film Selma, Ava DuVernay directs a riveting documentary on the widespread incarceration of minorities in the wake of the 13th Amendment. The documentary makes clear that the mass imprisonment of African Americans and other minorities is caused by more than simply deeply rooted cultural bigotry. In addition, there is a financial motivation since it makes sense to lock people away. The film 13th methodically examines the decades that followed the 13th Amendment’s ratification to demonstrate how the government, corporations, and media singled out Black people to establish a new kind of slavery. You will be angry, depressed, and perhaps inspired to take action against a system that has severely harmed our fellow citizens.
- Director – Ava DuVernay
- Story writer – Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick
- Age Restriction – A
Rating
IMDB: 8.2/10 (37K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 97% (109 Votes)
Rolling Thunder Revue
https://www.netflix.com/title/80221016
Description
As an artist, Bob Dylan has always blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction with his character; in his 1975 concert tour documentary Rolling Thunder Revue, Martin Scorsese examines this blurring. Scorsese combines fiction with reality in Rolling Thunder Revue, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what is real and what is made up. Amidst all of this crowd interaction, there is an amazing performance video with Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and several other performers on this tour, which occasionally resembles a circus more than a concert. Scorsese understands how to delve deeply into what makes an artist so fascinating and to play it up into fantastic films, as he has demonstrated with his past music documentaries.
- Actors – Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez
- Director – Martin Scorsese
- Story writer – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- Age Restriction – U/A 13+
Rating
IMDB: 7.5/10 (7K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 92% (97 Votes)
Sr.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81644889
Description
Robert Downey Sr. is a sincere and intimate tribute to the late director and the father of one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. Produced by his son Robert Downey Jr., the film delves into the unrestricted career of the innovative director Chris Smith, Sr. From the perspective of an adventurous son, Sr. is frequently poignant without concealing more brutal truths, enabling friends and associates such as Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method) and Norman Lear (One Day at a Time) to offer authentic and occasionally suggestive homages to the visionary who introduced the humorous counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.
- Actors – Robert Downey Jr., Robert Downey Sr.
- Director – Chris Smith
- Age Restriction – A
Rating
IMDB: 7.2/10 (3K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 90% (143 Votes)
Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story
https://www.netflix.com/title/81018205
Description
Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story follows Leo Baker as he rises to the pinnacles of professional skateboarding, providing a surprising peek into an activity that is frequently disregarded. The competitive aspect of skate culture is examined by directors Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda. Skate culture swiftly expanded from the local skate park to the international arena and became an elite inner circle. Marsh and Reda allow Leo Baker to discuss how his abilities propelled him to the top in the documentary, creating a route that others may follow and fostering an accepting environment for the LGBTQ+ community.
- Director – Nicola Marsh, Giovanni Reda
- Age Restriction – A
Rating
IMDB: 6.7/10 (444 Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 100% (10 Votes)
The Sparks Brothers
https://www.netflix.com/title/81436982
Description
Despite being your favourite band’s favourite band, Sparks has remained relatively unknown for most of the 50 years that they have released music, which consists of 25 albums. Edgar Wright, the director, attempts to address this with the fantastic film The Sparks Brothers, which explores the whole career of the pop-rock duo Ron and Russell Mael. At the end of the film, you’ll like Sparks just as much as he does because, unlike other music documentaries that attempt to explore the personal lives of their subjects, Wright keeps his focus entirely on the music (and at two and a half hours, there’s not much room for anything else given the band’s vast discography). It’s a gift of admiration for music.
- Actors – Ron Mael, Russell Mael
- Director – Edgar Wright
- Age Restriction – A
Rating
IMDB: 7.8/10 (5K+ Votes)
Rotten Tomato: 96% (162 Votes)
Conclusion
To conclude we can say that we are all connected by documentaries. There’s a distinct sense of intimacy as if we are allowed brief access into the director’s mind, even in situations where the film’s general emphasis is restricted to suit a preconceived storyline. Great documentaries employ glimpses of the actual world in a multitude of formats, showcasing images of common, everyday living to convey something intimate. There are several excellent documentaries available on Netflix that cover a wide range of topics, including sports, real crime, and even filmmaking.