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Hadda Condino
Documentaries connect us all. Even in cases where the film's overall focus is narrowed to fit a pre-conceived narrative, there's an unmistakable feeling of intimacy, of being let into a filmmaker's brain for a quick flash. In using snippets of the real world, in a variety of forms, great documentaries use images of universal, familiar existence to impart something tremendously personal. Netflix has a bounty of great documentaries that cover a diverse range of subjects, from true crime to sports to even filmmaking. Below, we've assembled a list of what we believe are the best documentaries on Netflix right now.
The Deepest Breath is a documentary film that captures the dangers and glory of one of the deadliest extreme sports in the water: freediving. Filmmaker Laura McGann (The 8th) explores the necessary training and undeniable strength needed to compete in the water sport, focusing on an Italian competitor named Alessia Zecchini. The documentary features archive footage of the woman intent on earning the title of woman to free dive deepest, as well as interviews with expert safety diver Stephen Keenan.
The Deepest Breath has received critical acclaim for its treatment of the subject and its spectacular footage of the ocean depths, which is coupled with the story of a real-life tragedy. As any good sports documentary should, The Deepest Breath showcases the passion and skill required to win in such a demanding arena.
A documentary keen on examining the wild relationship between the father and son at the center of its story, The Saint of Second Chances is a redemption tale akin to sports movies in the fiction world. The film features a playful narrative that adds to its appeal, and it has received widespread critical acclaim. A no-holds-barred look into the rifts between family members and the part that the media can play in such cases, The Saint of Second Chances holds an almost universal relevance to the lives of viewers and can impact how we all view our loved ones.
Directed by Henry Roosevelt, Take Care of Maya follows the harrowing true story of Maya Kowalski, who was diagnosed with a rare illness and prescribed Ketamine for her pain. The treatment works for a time, but when her symptoms resurface, her new doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital force her into state custody, suspecting her parents of abuse. This kicks off a deeper investigation into the medical system that quickly snowballs to expose much bigger cracks in the American child welfare organization.
In a time when virality and social media influence have become an ever-growing industry, The American Meme is a documentary film that explores the many facets of this world, both the highs and the lows. Director Bert Marcus walks us through the recent history of influencer culture and the way capitalism has created an entire industry that relies on cultivating parasocial relationships that live and die by the like button. The American Meme follows some of the biggest personalities whose careers were built through online buzz, like Paris Hilton, DJ Khaled, and Dane Cook.
Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story is an unexpected journey into an often overlooked sport, following Leo Baker as he ascends to the elite heights of professional skateboarding. Directors Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda explore the competitive nature of skate culture, which grew from the neighborhood skate park to the world stage, quickly becoming an exclusive inner circle. The film catches up with Baker in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, which was the very first time that skateboarding was included in the Summer Olympics.
Through the documentary, Marsh and Reda allow Leo Baker to reveal how his skills took him to the top, forging a path for others to follow while building an inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community. A Netflix Original, Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature at the 2022 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art is an enthralling documentary on the largest case of art fraud in American history. Through the film, director Barry Avrich reveals how an ingenious $80 million con was perpetrated through the famous and reputable Knoedler & Company. The question becomes how much did those employed by Knoedler know. Were they duped like their clientele, or did they willingly look the other way because they had become complicit in a profitable scheme?
This is precisely what this captivating con-artist documentary is all about, and Made You Look does an excellent job unfolding this suspenseful real-life crime story. The film received positive reviews for its lively storytelling and the fascinating mystery at its heart. It's low stakes for the viewer (after all, we're probably not wealthy art collectors or dealers), high-stakes for those involved, and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.
While you may want to go for the latest technology when it comes to getting a new cell phone or video game console, you should be more circumspect when it comes to what you put in your body. In their 2018 documentary The Bleeding Edge, writer-director Kirby Dick and producers Amy Ziering and Amy Herdy examine the medical device industry and discover (shocker) that capitalism has inserted its tentacles into the FDA, the regulatory agency that should be overseeing the devices that doctors are implanting into patients.
With a strong mix of personal stories and pulling back to explore the larger issues, The Bleeding Edge will change the way you interact with your doctor the next time you need to have some kind of invasive procedure. The film was a critical darling upon its release and has maintained a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While it is wrong that this burden has been pushed onto patients, at least this documentary arms you with the knowledge you need so that you can avoid some horrific outcomes.
As you may have guessed from the title, Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed is a documentary that chronicles how the titular artist became a pop culture icon by accident and covers his philosophy of painting. A Netflix Original documentary directed by Joshua Rof (Sasquatch), the film features interviews with Ross' son and best friend, as well as others who knew him. It also gets a bit into his personal life, showing us the man behind the canvas. But the main thrust of the movie is the business dealings that took advantage of Ross and the fallout from his death.
The first thing to know about the documentary is that it does not reveal that this beloved figure was a bad man. But it does uncover the disturbing truth behind the business of Bob Ross Inc., specifically what happened after Ross' untimely death. Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed is an intriguing and fascinating film that received critical praise for how it shines a light on the untold story of a beloved celebrity. - Adam Chitwood
The film functions as a psychological profile of a man with limitless potential who was too smart for his own good. Destined for greatness (or infamy) from an early age, we come to see Scott as an adrenaline junky who began robbing banks as much for the rush (or probably more so) as for the monetary gain. Though not explicitly stated in these exact words, it comes across as if crime became an addiction for Scott. Entries from his journal and accounts from his friends show he had certain reservations about his life of misadventure. But one gets the impression he needed the danger, the rush, the adrenaline spike. And like an addict embroiled in the throes of substance abuse, Scott became singularly fixated on his next high, losing sight of almost everything else.
In addition to going out of his way to keep the authorities guessing, Scott took inspiration from cinema, of all places. He studied movies like Point Break and Heat and used them to become a better criminal mastermind. His real-life exploits often paralleled the events of the films he used as inspiration, giving the documentary an extra measure of cinematic flare.
It's why the humble documentary is more important than ever, unearthing truths, offering different perspectives, and introducing you to stories you might not have come across in your short time on this planet.
Netflix's documentary offerings are strong stuff, with many of the streaming service's films and series proving some the most talked about watches of certain times in our lives and others flying under the radar despite their excellence. From Ava DuVernay's examination of the mass imprisonment of Black people in the U.S. to a Sundance favourite about an inclusive summer camp for young people with disabilities, from a true crime (but not as you know it) essential to the Michael Jordan documentary even non-sports fans will love, there's something for everyone to learn in this list.
We've rounded up the very best documentary films and TV series on Netflix, so you can load up on some of the strangest, most enraging, most uplifting true stories, all crafted by those determined documentary makers who spend hours and hours editing their findings into a compelling path.
Ava DuVernay's 13th should be compulsory viewing, a powerful documentary that examines mass incarceration and wrongful imprisonment of Black people in America and the long, sinister, racist history that has enabled this discriminatory system to continue.
It turns out that Chris Smith, the director of revered 1999 doc American Movie (with its riotously funny and surprisingly touching take on the indie-indie-indie Milwaukee movie scene), was the perfect filmmaker to tackle a documentary about the last days of legendary indie director Robert Downey Sr. The man behind classic alt-comedies of the '60s and '70s like Putney Swope and Greaser's Palace was a perfect character himself, so much so that Smith sometimes turns the camera over to Downey Sr. so he can tell some of his own story with his signature humor.
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