In our modern age of streaming, no one has access to better true crime documentaries than Netflix. From crimes that reshaped America to lesser-known cases from around the world, here are 33 true crime documentaries and docuseries you can stream on Netflix tonight.
Investigators guide the audience through the process of apprehending Nilsen and attempting to track down the remains of his many victims, but the real insights come from the audiotapes of Nilsen himself that he recorded from his jail cell.
In one of the most heavily covered trials of the 2000s, Amanda Knox was convicted of the 2007 murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. After spending four years in an Italian prison, she was freed. Debate about whether or not she actually did it rages to this day.
In August 2018, residents of the Denver area saw Chris Watts on local TV stations, begging for the safe return of his wife Shanann and their two daughters Bella and Celeste, who had been missing since the previous day.
One of the most unique documentaries in recent memory, all of its interviewees are actors in the midst of auditioning for a movie about the murder. Its different approach allows Casting JonBenet to tell a bigger story about how true crime affects us all.
The murder of renowned Mexican journalist Manuel Buenda in 1984 shocked the nation. His column, which was printed in over 200 newspapers across the country, exposed government and police corruption and reported on organized crime and drug trafficking.
What seemed to be a normal military checkpoint stop turned into a massacre when a bomb went off and the British soldiers started firing. Three members of the band were killed and all of Ireland was left reeling.
After the murder of her daughter Crystal Theobald, Belinda Lane takes the pursuit of justice into her own hands by tracking down the killers on social media. Her tactic? Setting up a fake profile and pretending to be Crystal herself.
In 1974, six people were convicted of murder based only on their confessions. The bodies of the victims were never found, and there were no witnesses or any physical evidence. The suspects were kept in isolation for extreme periods of time, drugged, and were subjected to water torture.
In 1969, Sister Cathy Cesnik, a popular teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland, was murdered. Almost 50 years later, her former students came together to find the truth about her death, and about the powerful forces that may have had a hand in it.
On August 10, 1977, David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam killer, was arrested. The largest manhunt in the history of New York City was over, and the terrifying killing spree was finished. Or was it?
Maury Terry spent nearly 40 years trying to prove that Berkowitz did not act alone and that he was acting on behalf of a Satanic cult. This series follows a man caught between perusal of the truth and becoming a victim of his own obsession.
When a video of a man killing two kittens goes viral online, a team of internet sleuths come together to bring him to justice. They analyze every frame of the video, using small details to narrow down his location.
Even before their bodies were found, the disappearance of the Alcsser Girls became a major national news story. This series traces the events of 1992 through archival footage along with fresh insight from interviews and evidence, examining the long term effects of the brutal murders on Spain as a whole.
Aaron Hernandez had everything. He was building an incredibly successful career as a tight end for the New England Patriots. He was engaged to the mother of his one-year-old daughter. So when he was arrested for the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd, everyone had questions.
Wallace Souza was a hero to the people of Brazil. Starting in 1989, he served as the host of Canal Livre, a variety show that also specialized in covering crime-fighting and social justice efforts.
Humboldt County, California is home to a booming local marijuana industry, but things are not very mellow in the surrounding mountain range. More people go missing from Humboldt County than anywhere else in the state.
A true crime classic over a decade in the making, The Staircase covers the trial of novelist Michael Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife. Peterson claimed she had fallen down the stairs, while investigators believed he had bludgeoned her to death.
Henry Lee Lucas was already serving out his sentence for 11 murders when he began to confess to more. First it was 60 people, then 100, and kept growing from there. Texas law enforcement officials were closing cold cases left and right, and a convicted serial killer became a key asset to the police.
In 1977, Talmadge Hayer, a convicted assassin of Malcolm X, claimed in an affidavit that the other two men convicted with him were innocent. He went on to name his real co-conspirators, who all belonged to the same Nation of Islam mosque in Newark, New Jersey.
In 2012, Elize Matsunaga shot and dismembered her husband Marcos Matsunaga. From the moment she was arrested, a plethora of theories emerged about why she would have committed such a brutal act. In her first interview, Matsunaga herself presents her version of the story, detailing a disintegrating marriage and a crime of passion.
Meanwhile, other figures connected with the case share their own opinions. In recounting one of the most shocking cases in modern Brazilian history, Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon A Crime shows the multitude of ways one event can be viewed.
When Mara Marta Garca Belsunce was found dead in her bathtub in her country club home, her husband told investigators it was an accidental fall. Within two months, forensic evidence made it clear that she had been killed by five shots to the head.
Both investigations resulted in two separate pairs of men confessing and going to jail. As time passes, holes begin to emerge in the confessions and troubling questions begin to emerge about the methods of the Ada police department.
The best documentaries on Netflix comprise a substantial portion of the top streaming content for the service, with the platform known for delivering on almost every subject from the natural world to true crime. Most viewers are likely to be more familiar with Netflix's roster of shows and movies, but the streamer's growing list of documentaries and docu-series deserve just as much attention from subscribers. From the classic nature, technology, sports, and true-crime documentaries, to ones that dive deep into art, unexplained mysteries, politics, history, and even philosophy, it's all on Netflix.
While the genre is traditionally more popular for documentaries about nature and true crime, there are documentaries currently available on Netflix about practically any topic under (and beyond) the sun.Netflix has offered everything from true-crime stories to inspirational sports documentaries, as well as some behind-the-scenes looks at the entertainment industry, making the streaming service a go-to destination for the best in documentaries for all tastes.
Tiger King was an instant phenomenon when it hit Netflix in 2020. This Netflix true-crime documentary tells the story of Joe Exotic, a man who owned a zoo in southern Oklahoma where he kept exotic wildlife, including some tigers. However, what made this so fascinating was watching Joe Exotic tell his own story. The documentary shows how he allegedly hired someone to kill a woman named Carole Baskin, someone who was coming after him for animal endangerment.
Carole had secrets of her own, as there are rumors she might have killed her own husband. Things grew even more bizarre when Joe Exotic tried to reach out to President Donald Trump for help in getting him off the charges, while the authorities fought to not only bring him down for the murder charges but also rescue the big cats that he kept in his park. All the double-crosses and ridiculous situations turned it into a massive hit for Netflix. It spawned two Netflix sequels and the story was turned into a Peacock original movie.
Netflix released the documentary Our Father in 2022, a horrific story about a doctor who betrayed the trust and medial ethics of dozens of his patients. Donald Cline was a fertility doctor in Indianapolis who used his own sperm to impregnate dozens of patients. Between 1974 and 1987, the doctor sired over 90 children without letting anyone know he was the sperm donor. This led to charges of fertility fraud, where he has already had to pay out over a million dollars in settlements in civil cases.
While reviews have been mixed, sitting at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, this documentary was both creepy and terrifying, with the victims of Our Father's true story talking about their reactions to this strange case. Lucie Jourdan directs this Netflix true-crime documentary, which has plenty of shocking moments including the results of one woman's DNA test becoming a bigger ordeal than anyone could have expected. For fans of true crime, and others who might want to see how medical corruption can spiral out of control, Our Father fits that bill.
The best Netflix documentaries are a great option when fictional TV shows and movies aren't enough. Pulled from actual events, these nonfiction shows and movies give us plenty of pathos and beautiful moments of nature to dive into.
The documentary follows disillusioned filmmaker Craig Foster as he looks for meaning in his life. He begins taking daily snorkeling excursions into a South African Kelp Forest where he forms an unlikely bond with an octopus who he sees almost every day on his journeys.
As Foster delves into the octopus's world, he witnesses her intelligence, resourcefulness, and the challenges of her short life. This newfound friendship becomes a turning point for Foster himself. Witnessing the octopus's resilience chips away at his cynicism, fostering a newfound openness towards both the natural world and those around him.
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