Best Netflix documentaries to watch right now

It remains one of the oddest cases in British criminal history. In April 1999, Jill Dando — not just a BBC presenter and newsreader but the highest-profile TV personality in the country, widely admired for her easy relatability and Princess Diana-esque air of elegant glamour — was shot dead in broad daylight on her own doorstep, and we still have no idea who did it or why.

This three-part documentary sifts through every element of the mystery, from the initial shock and the multiple theories on who might have been responsible, to the fraught murder trial two years later that proved to be a miscarriage of justice. It’s one of those true-crime docs that, at every turn, unleashes an interviewee whose insight or unusual demeanour adds another layer of intrigue.

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New Netflix docuseries Encounters explores four true stories of human contact with otherworldly phenomena, featuring revelations from military whistleblowers of alien encounters, UFOs and clandestine Pentagon programmes, as well as coverage from major news corporations.

Each episode dives into a different encounter, whether it be with a submersible spacecraft off the coast of a Welsh village or an alien encounter experienced by a group of children in Zimbabwe.

Katelyn Mensah

The accident during Stage 8 of this year’s Tour de France, which broke Mark Cavendish’s collarbone and put him out of the race, isn’t the news background this documentary’s producers would have chosen. Then again, it is a story of struggle and bad luck as well as great triumph: with intimate access to Mark Cavendish himself as well as his family and his colleagues, it charts how Cavendish’s comeback performance in the 2021 Tour de France ended five years of injury, illness and depression.

Like Netflix’s recent documentary Tour de France: Unchained, it brings home the sheer intensity of elite cycling

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A stylishly filmed documentary remembers a serial-killer case that terrified and enthralled Mexico City at the turn of the millennium. With several elderly women dead by strangulation or bludgeoning, the police came up with an extraordinary profile of the likely killer: a man, dressed as a nurse, probably with a background in wrestling. Some of those descriptors proved to be accurate when the culprit was eventually found, but that came after a lot of media hype, some suspected copycat murders – and many more victims, who are commemorated here along with an analysis of a unique cultural phenomenon.

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Netflix’s excellent series of one-off sports documentaries focuses on the quirky or controversial edges of the sporting world – such as the fact that some of the most anticipated and analysed boxing bouts of the past couple of years have featured a YouTuber, Jake Paul, whom many connoisseurs of pugilism think is making a mockery of their beloved discipline. But is the prankster-turned-fighter really trashing a noble art, or is he correct in his assertion that boxing is just showbiz? Interviews and training footage try to get behind the phenomenon.

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Peter Dinklage narrates a wry documentary that mixes animation with archive footage to build a “playbook” for anyone wanting to found their own sinister cult. From mass weddings and free love to psychological control methods and simple weaponry, the tools and techniques required are set out by observers of breakaway communities, spotting patterns in the behaviour of people who have become gurus. Lesson number one: never tell potential recruits up front what your organisation is really about.

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Lucie Blackman, a 21-year-old woman from Kent, was working as a bar hostess in Tokyo in 2000 when she suddenly vanished. Her father Tim is interviewed in this documentary about the case and recalls the sheer panic caused by attempting to search for a loved one in an unfamiliar metropolis. The hunt for Lucie, which featured calls for help from senior British politicians that fuelled high media interest in both Japan and the UK, raised difficult questions about how seriously law enforcement agencies in Japan had been taking reports of women in danger.

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Completing a four-part documentary series about quests to expand human knowledge – previous episodes have covered the mysteries of the Ancient Egyptians, the prospect of artificial intelligence being used in military contexts, and an archaeological discovery shedding new light on humans’ evolutionary ancestors – is a film about Nasa’s mission to launch the James Webb Space Telescope. The work of engineers and scientists is followed as a billion-dollar piece of kit is created – since its launch it’s provided stunning images telling us more about black holes, galaxies, planets outside our solar system and how the universe looked soon after the Big Bang.

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This truly immersive documentary explores the competitive and dangerous world of free-diving, where a person dives under water on a single breath of air. Italian Alessia Zecchini has set national and world records, and we follow her journey alongside Irish safety support diver Stephen Keenan. Laura McGann’s documentary uses a narrative device that suggests a tragedy will take place, but it’s not immediately clear when it will strike, and to whom. But once the events do unfold, you will be both moved and horrified.

Laura Rutkowski

The brief lifespan of 1980s pop pin-ups Wham! is revisited through a mix of archive footage and interviews in this slight but upbeat documentary. The story begins as one of boyhood high jinks, following Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael as they bond at school and form a band. As fame beckons, Michael’s talents outstrip those of his bandmate — but director Chris Smith downplays any hints of tension. The buoyant snapshots of Wham! in concert prove most engaging, and the film works best as a nostalgic celebration of fleeting youth and friendship.

Kevin Harley

The author, campaigner and former triathlete Sue Anstiss has spent her career pushing for gender equality in sport. In this documentary based on her book of the same name, Anstiss pinpoints the present as a tipping point for women in sport: inequality persists in terms of coverage and funding of women’s sport, but extraordinary strides have been made in the past five or ten years. As Anstiss demonstrates, the shift from where sportswomen were 50 or 100 years ago has been profound.

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A feature documentary, unravelling a real-life medical mystery. In 2016, nine-year-old Maya Kowalski arrived with her parents at a Florida hospital, complaining of pain that doctors struggled to explain. Did she have a rare illness, or was there something more sinister going on? The hospital staff decided on the latter, with lasting and devastating consequences for the family. Maya’s father is interviewed in a film that tells a nightmarish story and raises big questions about how medical professionals should deal with young patients.

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A celebrity who was famous for being herself long before such things became the norm, Anna Nicole Smith had 15 years in the limelight before her early death in 2007. The model, actor and TV presenter was much talked-about, chiefly for her marriage to octogenarian oil tycoon J Howard Marshall, but was never someone the public could say they knew well.

This feature documentary aims to correct that, looking behind the blonde-bombshell exterior and talking to those who actually knew Smith first-hand. It paints a picture of a lonely life.

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Ten years ago, two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the world-famous Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, killing three people and injuring more than 280. A subsequent manhunt ensued, before the authorities identified and eventually captured the perpetrators: brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Now, the events are being explored in new Netflix documentary American Manhunt: the Boston Marathon Bombing, which covers the days of the search that followed the attacks.

The three-parter speaks to FBI agents, police officers and ordinary citizens whose actions led to the killers’ capture.

Lauren Morris

It’s 30 years since the world watched in horror as a 51-day stand-off between the FBI and a cult led by David Koresh in Waco, Texas ended in a fiery massacre. This three-part documentary has the tools to offer a new angle on a heavily analysed event, boasting interviews with people who had been inside the cult, news footage that is only now being released to the public, video recordings taken inside the negotiating room where the authorities drew up their much-criticised plan of attack, and digital re-creations of the Koresh compound. You can feel the chaos simmering.

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This three-parter dives into the competing theories that attempt to explain what happened in 2014 when a Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur on a flight to Beijing, but never arrived. The crew and passengers’ loved ones give their thoughts, as do a plethora of journalists, internet sleuths and amateur experts whom some might call conspiracy theorists. Every possible explanation is unlikely; it’s up to you to decide which one is true.

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A family of attorneys who wield a little too much power, brought down by a series of mysterious deaths? It sounds like the premise for a prestige drama but it’s real, and the history of the Murtaugh clan’s dominance of coastal South Carolina’s 14th district gives this true-crime documentary plenty to chew on.

The intrigue begins with the death of a young family friend in a 2019 boating accident, but when the Murtaughs themselves are hit by violent tragedy, more than one historical incident is re-examined. Local observers are only too willing to speculate on camera about the family’s many secrets.

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The website Pornhub is one of the major online phenomena of the past decade. It helped to pioneer free pornography on the internet, putting traditional producers and distributors out of business and making billions in the process. But as with so many things digital, the lack of regulation has caused problems in an industry already known for unethical practices. This documentary tracks Pornhub’s rise while asking whether it has the will or ability to tackle serious problems such as non-consensual material featuring victims of human trafficking.

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This Netflix docuseries boasts a very peculiar plot line. It tells the bizarre story of a German Shepherd named Gunther, who inherited $400 million from his owner Karlotta Liebenstein, a rich German countess. Following Karlotta’s death, she appointed her family friend Maurizio Mian to be Gunther’s caretaker and manage the multi-million dollar fortune – or at least that’s the story we’re told at the beginning of the documentary.

Packing a lot into just four episodes, and with multiple twists and turns to what was already advertised as an incredibly bizarre story, and bold characters to match, Gunther’s Millions is sure to keep you entertained.

Grace Henry

Last year, Pamela Anderson was the subject of the hit series Pam & Tommy on Disney Plus – and now the former Baywatch star is telling her story on her own terms in a brand-new Netflix film.

Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ryan White – whose previous credits include The Keepers and The Case Against 8 – Pamela, A Love Story is described by the streamer as “an intimate and humanising portrait of one of the world’s most famous blonde bombshells.”

Patrick Cremona

The Netflix documentary F1: Drive to Survive is so good, you can watch it even if you don’t like motor racing; the same team are behind this series, which reveals just how tough life is as an elite tennis player. In a first season that happens to capture the retirement of Ashleigh Barty and Roger Federer, interviews (including with enfant terrible Nick Kyrgios) and behind-the-scenes footage gives a flavour of what it’s like to be competing for Grand Slams – or battling up the ranks, hoping to win a big title some day. As with the F1 show, we witness the adverse effects of intense pressure but also a lot of laughs.

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His arrest in 2008 and subsequent conviction anointed New York financier Bernie Madoff as one of the biggest con artists of all time: his investment advice firm was in fact the largest Ponzi scheme of all time, worth nearly $65bn before the financial crash brought it down. This four-part documentary uses close access to the late Madoff’s associates, as well as the journalists who brought him down and dramatic reconstructions of the man in his pomp in his Manhattan offices, to tell a pacy tale about someone whose charisma and ambition were never compromised by any feelings of guilt.

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Mere weeks after Netflix dropped the third season of this controversial documentary, here’s a fourth. The concept is simple and stark: convicted murderers in the US are allowed to tell their own stories. Get past the fact that this means people guilty of horrendous crimes are portrayed more positively than normal, and you find compelling stories of remorse, or an absence of it, often combined with revelations about the adverse life circumstances that preceded the murderer’s actions.

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