The 30 best documentaries on Netflix (October 2026)

13th (2016)

The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, but this searing documentary argues that both have only taken on different forms in the years since its adoption. The Emmy-winning work, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay, traces the systematic oppression of Black Americans following the official end of slavery in 1865, from segregation to the disproportionate targeting of minorities during the war on drugs to the prison-industrial complex, from which private contractors have benefited financially.

DuVernay tackles varied and complicated forms of corruption here, but 13th is carefully plotted to show how each act of disenfranchisement leads to another, serving as a riveting rallying cry. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch 13th: Netflix

Director: Ava DuVernay

All the Empty Rooms (2025)

In the documentary short All the Empty Rooms, journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp cross the United States, photographing and memorializing the abandoned bedrooms of children and teenagers killed in school shootings. The film’s mission is to put a human face on the gun violence crisis, and the production couldn’t have accomplished its goal in a more visceral way. A true emotional gut punch, All the Empty Rooms reminds viewers that children once lived, slept, and dreamed in these now-vacant rooms. Moving with empathy and compassion, Hartman and Bopp capture how these spaces help loved ones grieve and remember. —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch All the Empty Rooms: Netflix

Director: Joshua Seftel

Cast: Steve Hartman, Lou Bopp

André Is an Idiot (2025)

Death is funnier than anticipated in the award-winning documentary André Is an Idiot. This heartwarming journey through one man’s terminal cancer diagnosis is more than just a reminder not to skip medically recommended colonoscopy screenings — it’s an empathetic and darkly funny exploration of what it looks like to live while dying.

The movie’s subject, advertising creative André Ricciardi, conceived of the project after learning he had stage 4 colon cancer, but died in December 2023 before the film was completed. His efforts were not in vain, and André Is an Idiot won the Audience award and the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing award for documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. —I.G.

Where to watch André Is an Idiot: Netflix

Director: Tony Benna

Cast: André Ricciardi

Apollo 11 (2019)

Human achievement leveled up during the summer of 1969 when America successfully sent three astronauts to the moon. In the almost six decades since, the historic Apollo 11 mission has folded into American history and culture, but it’s never been experienced like this.

Apollo 11, a 93-minute documentary, takes viewers on an immersive journey behind the scenes of the launch and into the galaxy, thanks to an archival trove of 65mm footage and thousands of hours of audio recordings. The documentary is in a category all its own, with EW’s critic calling it “an inspiring, magical, and transcendent testament to human know-how, ambition, and achievement of the seemingly impossible. It’s, in a word, awesome.” —I.G.

Where to watch Apollo 11: Netflix 

EW grade: A 

Director: Todd Douglas Miller

Cast: Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Charles Duke, Bruce McCandless

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)

The summer of ‘69 wouldn’t have been the same without the formation of Led Zeppelin. The rock band missed the British Invasion, but took America by storm at the end of the ‘60s, becoming the number one music group by 1970, and one of the best-selling acts of all time.

Becoming Led Zeppelin is the band’s first authorized documentary and follows the group’s creation and early years together. Featuring three of the four bandmates — John Bonham died in 1980 at 32 years old, his story is presented through archival interviews — Becoming Led Zeppelin is music history told right. —I.G.

Where to watch Becoming Led Zeppelin: Netflix

Director: Bernard MacMahon

Cast: Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Robert Plant

Cover-Up (2025)

The My Lai massacre. The secret bombing of Cambodia. The Watergate Scandal. Domestic spying conducted by the CIA. Torture at Abu Ghraib. Freelance journalist Seymour Hersh investigated some of the 20th century’s most incendiary stories. His reporting created lasting cultural and political impact — and earned him his fair share of enemies.

For the first time ever, Hersh allowed filmmakers into his world of political and military intrigue, offering insight into his reporting process, sources, and body of work. A documentary as gripping as a thriller, Cover-Up is a journey through political history via Hersh’s archives and anecdotes. The film is a crucial reminder of the importance of a free press, and its release couldn’t come at a better time. —I.G.

Where to watch Cover-Up: Netflix

Directors: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus

Cast: Seymour Hersh

Crip Camp (2020)

Following the success of American Factory, Higher Ground released this Oscar-nominated documentary about a New York summer camp called Camp Jened, which served as a haven for people with disabilities. Featuring footage of co-director James LeBrecht’s experiences there in the early 1970s, the film demonstrates how the campers went on to fight in the disability rights movement of the late-20th century.

Balancing warmth with the urgency of its message, Crip Camp gives a more three-dimensional view of this marginalized community than most films, emphasizing the power of advocating for one’s rights. As EW’s critic writes, “Like most good storytelling, it takes care to make the political personal.” —K.J.

Where to watch Crip Camp: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Directors: Nicole Newnham and James Lebrecht

Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)

Life and death are inexorably linked in this unique film by celebrated documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson). As her father lives with dementia, Johnson stages various fictional scenarios in which he accidentally dies — from tripping down the stairs to getting hit by a falling air conditioner — which he charmingly acts out for the camera.

What may sound morbid in writing is actually a bittersweet meditation on the stigma surrounding death and a daughter’s special way of bonding with her dad before it’s too late. Come for the absurdly planned schemes, stay for, as EW’s critic observes, “the immeasurable love between [the film’s] maker and its muse.” —K.J.

Where to watch Dick Johnson Is Dead: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Kirsten Johnson

Disclosure (2020)

Similar to the 1995 landmark film The Celluloid Closet — which discusses LGBTQ+ representation on screen — this documentary narrows in on depictions of trans characters in Hollywood. From problematic movies such as The Crying Game (1992) and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) to groundbreaking shows like Orange Is the New Black and Pose, Disclosure deftly tracks the evolution of trans acceptance and how far we still have to go.

While the footage often speaks for itself, the value of this documentary comes from real-life actors and artists discussing how those cultural depictions shaped not only the societal perception of trans people but also how they view themselves. —K.J.

Where to watch Disclosure: Netflix

Director: Sam Feder

Found (2021)

The effects of China’s one-child policy are explored through the stories of three adopted American teenage girls in this rousing documentary. Each is adopted from China and comes to discover they’re cousins, leading them to explore their ancestry.

What makes Found fascinating is how it allows for multiple perspectives from the cousins — one feels perfectly at home in America, while another is hoping that reconnecting with her roots will provide some resolution. It also makes room to honor the caretakers who house orphaned children and the sensitive nature of the adoption process. Have tissues nearby when watching. —K.J.

Where to watch Found: Netflix

Director: Amanda Lipitz

The Lost Children (2024)

In 2023, a small plane containing seven people — including four children under the age of 13 — crashed in the Colombian Amazon. When rescuers located the aircraft in the jungle two weeks after the accident, they found the bodies of the three adult passengers — but the kids were missing.

An astonishing tale of survival, The Lost Children details how the children’s Indigenous upbringing prepared them to withstand their punishing environment, and highlights how the search and rescue effort aligned two groups historically at odds: the Colombian military and local native communities. The events are recent, but the storytelling is timeless. —I.G.

Where to watch The Lost Children: Netflix

Directors: Jorge Duran, Lali Houghton, Orlando von Einsiedel

Marty: Life Is Short (2026)

With a comedic resume that includes SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and almost five decades’ worth of film, TV, and stage work, Martin Short built his career on making people laugh. His ability to do so is a superpower, enhanced by years of early personal loss. Orphaned at 20 years old and the youngest of five siblings (the eldest who died in a car accident when Short was 12), Short’s joyful approach to comedy and life gave him a unique lens through which to view Hollywood and made him a beloved figure among his large cadre of industry pals and co-workers. Director Lawrence Kasdan (1983’s The Big Chill) — another longtime friend — invites a few of Short’s closest comedy peers to help flesh out the actor’s story and explain how metabolizing tragedy can shape a life of positivity. —I.G.

Where to watch Marty: Life is Short: Netflix

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Cast: Martin Short, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin

Miss Americana (2020)

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour inspired one of the biggest pop culture conversations of 2023, but even as Swift proved over and over why she’s one of the best in the business, it’s worth traveling back in time a few years to a period when her reputation was on the line and much less respect was afforded to her work. Miss Americana allows Swift the chance to get truly vulnerable, scrubbing away her strategically crafted image to reveal the human being behind the lyrics.

Swift opens up about her struggles with feuds and fame, her issues with disordered eating, her political frustrations, and ultimately, the responsibility she feels towards her fans, her music, and her legacy. Miss Americana will, as EW’s reviewer writes, make “you wish you’d seen more of this Taylor a long time ago.” —I.G.

Where to watch Miss Americana: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Lana Wilson

Cast: Taylor Swift

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2021, My Octopus Teacher is a story of relationships, as told by a filmmaker who bonds with an octopus. Craig Foster spent a year free-diving and following an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, and the bond he develops with the animal as she invites him into her underwater life helps to inform and transform his relationships with his fellow humans — especially his son.

It takes a talented production team to make a movie about sea creatures feel like an important story about humanity, but this crew pulls it off, creating a piece of art that is affecting, educational, and inspiring. —I.G.

Where to watch My Octopus Teacher: Netflix

Directors: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed

Cast: Craig Foster, Tom Foster 

The Only Girl in the Orchestra (2023)

In 1966, there were 104 members of the New York Philharmonic: 103 men and one woman. The woman’s name is Orin O’Brien, and she was hired by Leonard Bernstein to play double bass. As the first woman invited to perform in the orchestra, O’Brien’s incredible story as a pioneer within classical music was captured by her niece, filmmaker Molly O’Brien, and won the Best Documentary Short at the 2025 Oscars. The film is only 35 minutes long, but it packs a punch, allowing O’Brien to reflect on her love of her craft and 55-year career with the Philharmonic, which ended when she retired in 2021. —I.G.

Where to watch The Only Girl in the Orchestra: Netflix

Director: Molly O’Brien

Cast: Orin O’Brien

The Perfect Neighbor (2025)

Florida is known for employing a stand-your-ground law, a legal policy that provides residents the option of employing lethal force rather than retreating as a means of self-defense. The law has proven controversial in the past, but in 2023, it was tested when 35-year-old Ajike Owens was shot through a locked door while waiting to speak with her neighbor.

The Perfect Neighbor gives an unvarnished accounting of the events leading up to and following Owens’ murder using body cam footage collected during the police’s prior visits to the killer’s house. What emerges is a documentary free from editorializing — the story is told by Ajike, her neighbors, the police investigating the conflicts, and the killer herself. The events in the film are hard to stomach, but the systemic issues the documentary highlights make The Perfect Neighbor a must-watch. —I.G.

Where to watch The Perfect Neighbor: Netflix

Director: Geeta Gandbhir

The Queen of Versailles (2012)

America’s economy was booming in 2004 when billionaires David and Jackie Siegel decided to build the biggest house in America. Modeled after the Palace of Versailles and designed to be bigger than the executive residence at the White House, construction on the Florida mega-mansion came to a screeching halt as the housing market and economy crumbled. Production on The Queen of Versailles documentary was perfectly positioned to capture the “rags-to-riches-to-rags” story as it unfolded in real time. 

Billionaire financial troubles don’t usually engender much sympathy, but the story of the Siegels’ house and business struggles provided a heightened and more entertaining version of what everyday Americans were experiencing. (The documentary also inspired a short-lived Broadway musical in 2025, with music by Stephen Schwartz and Kristin Chenoweth starring as Jackie Siegel.) —I.G.

Where to watch The Queen of Versailles: Netflix

EW grade: A

Director: Lauren Greenfield

Cast: David Siegel, Jackie Siegel

Race to the Summit (2023)

Fans of Free Solo will find new heights to explore in Race to the Summit. This sports and climbing documentary chronicles the rivalry between alpinists Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold as both climbers race to secure the fastest times on their ascents up the Swiss Alps’ great north faces.

As with all climbing documentaries, non-climbers will struggle to understand what drives a person to risk their life like this, but the film’s stunning vistas and the athletes’ dedication to their sport need no explanation. Viewers with fears of heights may want to steer clear, however: These shots are guaranteed to raise your heart rate and take your breath away. —I.G.

Where to watch Race to the Summit: Netflix

Directors: Nicholas de Taranto, Götz Werner 

Cast: Dani Arnold, Alex Honnold, Ueli Steck

Rolling Thunder Revue (2019)

Martin Scorsese blurs the line between fiction and reality in this glimpse into Bob Dylan’s eponymous 1975 tour. The director blends archival footage with modern interviews from those who were in the singer’s circle, including Joan Baez and Sam Shepard, as well as from fictional characters, played by the likes of Sharon Stone and Michael Murphy. This fluid style pays tribute to Dylan’s 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, which also combines documentary footage and fictional vignettes.

While your enjoyment may vary depending on your tolerance for experimentation, EW’s critic writes, “The Rolling Thunder Revue was Dylan’s personal magical mystery tour — and in Scorsese’s hands, there’s no shortage of magic or mystery.” —K.J.

Where to watch Rolling Thunder Revue: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Martin Scorsese

Secret Mall Apartment (2024)

One of 2024’s buzziest documentaries began as a Rhode Island urban legend. In 2003, a group of eight young adults snuck a secret apartment into a new mall in Providence. The artists squatted there for four years without detection, until one of them was discovered.

The documentary, released 21 years after the friends first moved in, is a fascinating portrait of a project that started as a protest against gentrification and evolved into a combination of prank, performance art, and sustained act of meta-rebellion. The events depicted in Secret Mall Apartment occurred years before filming everyday life became de rigueur, but the eight artists who lived in the shopping center recorded everything using RadioShack cameras, giving director Jeremy Workman plenty of visual highlights to illustrate the story. —I.G.

Where to watch Secret Mall Apartment: Netflix

Director: Jeremy Workman

Cast: Michael Townsend, Colin Bliss, Adriana Valdez-Young, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing

The Social Dilemma (2020)

“I always felt like, fundamentally, it was a force for good,” says Alex Roetter, former head of engineering for Twitter in this incisive documentary. “I don’t know if I feel that way anymore.” The Social Dilemma dives deep into the manipulation tactics of sites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Instagram to keep users hooked and the negative consequences that result — from the spread of misinformation to depression and suicide.

The doc features various talking heads from former employees of these social media sites, who explain their companies’ insidious practices. Additionally, the film presents a dramatization of an average family of five to demonstrate social media addiction in various forms. After watching The Social Dilemma, which presents its thesis in sobering fashion, it will be hard not to think twice before mindlessly scrolling Facebook or Instagram again. —K.J.

Where to watch The Social Dilemma: Netflix

Director: Jeff Orlowski

‘’Sr.’’ (2022)

Before Robert Downey Jr. became one of the faces of mainstream cinema, there was his counterculture filmmaker father. Robert Downey Sr. made a name for himself in the independent cinema scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s, directing a series of anti-establishment films. His life is profiled in this moving documentary, delving into his unconventional career and his relationship with his son.

Downey Jr. — one of the producers on “Sr.” — unpacks family traumas and shares his remembrances of his father throughout the doc. The film serves as a deeply personal tribute from a son to a father, and a loving eulogy, as Downey Sr. died in 2021 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. —K.J.

Where to watch “Sr.”: Netflix

Director: Chris Smith

Teenage Wasteland (2026)

The ‘90s were a time of raging against corporate machines and questioning institutions, and Gen X nostalgia is at an all-time high in the documentary Teenage Wasteland. A tonal hybrid between coming-of-age story and true crime investigation, this film follows a high school class from Middletown, N.Y., whose student video project takes on increased significance after the students discover toxic sludge leaking into the local water supply. 

Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (2020’s Boys State, 2024’s Girls State), Teenage Wasteland was edited using more than 500 hours of original student video shot between 1991 and 1997, juxtaposed with newer interviews of the now-grown student reporters reflecting on their experiences breaking the story and continuing to push for answers. —I.G

Where to watch Teenage Wasteland: Netflix

Directors: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss

Tell Me Who I Am (2019)

Documentaries don’t come much more riveting — or harrowing — than Tell Me Who I Am. The film centers around a pair of middle-aged identical British twins: Alex and Marcus Lewis. When Alex was 18, a motorcycle accident resulted in brain damage, impairing his memory and leaving him with only one truth: Marcus was his brother, and he could trust him implicitly.

Marcus helped Alex rebuild his life, but when the twins were 32, they discovered a photo in their deceased parents’ home that sent both of their realities spiraling. EW’s critic writes, “[T]he truth, when it does come out, is devastating — to the point that it can feel invasive to watch such a profoundly private moment unfold on camera for our benefit.” —I.G

Where to watch Tell Me Who I Am: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Ed Perkins

Cast: Alex Lewis, Marcus Lewis

To Kill a Tiger (2023)

One of the best documentaries to premiere in 2022, To Kill a Tiger is a Canadian film that tells the story of one family’s fight for justice for their 13-year-old after news of her rape becomes public in their small village in India. Emotional, educational, and deeply personal, the film cleaned up on the film festival circuit in 2023 and was nominated for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 2024. Executive produced by Mindy Kaling, Dev Patel, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and the poet Rupi Kaur, among others, To Kill a Tiger is a necessary film with an important message, told and packaged with bravery and compassion by director Nisha Pahuja. —I.G

Where to watch To Kill a Tiger: Netflix

Director: Nisha Pahuja

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025)

In 2021, a scandal divided a small town in Michigan. A high school girl and her boyfriend started receiving threatening texts from an unknown number — and no one could figure out who was sending them. The harassment continued for a year, during which time the school, law enforcement, and FBI got involved. They eventually figured out where the texts were coming from, and the culprit shocked everyone.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is one of those documentaries that is so outrageous, it gets people talking. And if you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers, log off right now and watch the film before that changes. But even if you’ve had the twist spoiled by the online discourse, the film is still worth watching: It’s one of those stories that’s so wild, you have to see it to believe it. —I.G

Where to watch Unknown Number: The High School Catfish: Netflix

Director: Skye Borgman

Virunga (2014)

The Oscar-nominated documentary Virunga is one of the prime examples of a documentarian shifting perspectives dramatically to follow the more interesting story. Filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel set out to document the preservation efforts of workers at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park to protect endangered gorillas. Shortly into filming, a rebellion by the military group M23 took place in the region, adding further dimension to Einsiedel’s original plan.

The doc explores the impact of the rebellion on the park, in addition to the exploits of a British oil company hoping to drill in the area. Unfolding with earned dramatic tension, Virunga is urgent and powerful in its message of mankind’s destruction of natural environments, while giving us heroes worth rooting for. —K.J.

Where to watch Virunga: Netflix

Director: Orlando von Einsiedel

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

Netflix is home to numerous documentaries about celebrities and artists, but few have led a life as fascinating as Nina Simone’s. The iconic jazz blues singer — responsible for definitive versions of such classics as “Feeling Good,” “I Put a Spell on You,” and “Sinnerman,” as well as originals like “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” — was an outspoken activist during the civil rights movement, infusing progressive messages into her music and risking her own career to stand up for what she believed in. What Happened, Miss Simone? will have you searching for her virtuosic performances on YouTube for hours on end. —K.J.

Where to watch What Happened, Miss Simone?: Netflix

Director: Liz Garbus

Will & Harper (2024)

Saturday Night Live launched Will Ferrell’s comedy career and turned castmates and co-writers into lifelong pals. Ferrell’s nearly 30-year friendship with one of the show’s former head writers changed one day when he received an email stating that said writer was transitioning to live as a woman.

Will & Harper follows Ferrell and comedy writer Harper Steele as the two embark on a road trip across America to better understand their new dynamic and explore this next phase in their friendship. A buddy comedy unlike any you’ve seen before, Will & Harper is an ongoing conversation about show business, platonic relationships, and living one’s authentic life in modern America. Since leaving SNL, Ferrell has taken on dramatic roles, but never has he been more human and honest than in this prescient and funny documentary. —I.G

Where to watch Will & Harper: Netflix

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Cast: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (2015)

Released seven years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Winter on Fire follows a Ukrainian fight of a different kind. The visceral documentary centers on the Maidan Uprising of 2013 and 2014, which began after a free-trade deal with the European Union fell through at the last minute, with then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych making a deal with Russia instead.

Through immersive on-the-ground footage, Winter on Fire tracks protestors from peaceful demonstrations to violent confrontations with police as people from all walks of life fight against a government preventing them from moving forward as a nation. The galvanizing documentary earned an Oscar nomination, and director Evgeny Afineevsky released a companion film in 2022, Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, which chronicles the Russian invasion. —K.J.

Where to watch Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom: Netflix

Director: Evgeny Afineevsky