7 Best Documentaries on Netflix Right Now

2. The Defiant Ones

Haven’t I already told you guys that the best genre of content, currently available on Netflix, is documentaries/docuseries? I mean, of thousands of movies and TV series, I have found docuseries to be most fascinating and worth-watching.

I’m not discarding the value of movies and TV series, but lately, I have discovered this ever-increasing passion for documentaries and Netflix has proved to be a great platform, in terms of providing me with a diverse and tasty buffet of documentaries.

Moreover, one may disagree, and I have no problem with that, but documentaries provide viewers with this undeniable feeling of authenticity through a unique and crafty blend of archival footage, photographs, interviews, pre-recorded audio, and sequences from the past and the present. Also, docuseries provide viewers with more-authentic and less-dramatic accounts of history, scandals, controversies and other significant events.

Given the free time on my hands, I have watched a number of great documentaries in the last couple of months and I have already shared some of the them with you in the following piece.

Following-up on the above-mentioned piece, I decided to prepare another list, addressing the same subject, to save you guys from wasting your ‘precious’ time and provide you with worth-watching content for the weekend.

Heart-rending stories of sexual abuse, evolution of the game of football in late 19th century, unbecoming of a Hollywood mogul, Michael Jordan’s journey to greatness and his farewell season with the Chicago Bulls, the unbreakable partnership of music legends Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iowine, and Joe Exotic’s journey from being the Tiger King to a nobody; the following list is an eclectic mix of documentaries or docuseries, which are loaded with distressing accounts of brutality, harassment and murder, coupled with never-told-before tales of achievement and greatness.

Furthermore, I have arranged the following series in this order of least favorite to most favorite so, you guys can get a better idea of what to watch first and vice verse.

7. The Carter Effect

If you’re a basketball fan, you must have already watched ESPN-Netflix docuseries The Last Dance. However, there is a great probability that you haven’t even heard of The Carter Effect because, unlike The Last Dance, there wasn’t such a great buzz around this documentary.

Additionally, The Carter Effect couldn’t rack up large number of views, partially because it wasn’t that good and mainly because it doesn’t tell such a grandiose story in comparison to The Last Dance.

Nonetheless, it is still a worth-watching documentary, one which Vince Carter truly deserved.

Directed by Sean Menard, this 1-hour long documentary tells the story of a 6'6" Shooting Guard/Small Forward from Daytona Beach, Florida, who played pivotal role in changing the basketball scene in Canada by joining then newly founded Toronto Raptors.

Given that Carter couldn’t complete his final season and couldn’t say goodbye to the NBA and his fans the way he perceived, The Carter Effect is a befitting tribute to Vincanity and its impact on the game of Basketball.

6. Untouchable

To be honest, I watched this documentary yesterday. Though, I already knew the story of sexual harassment and sexual abuse, inflicted by then Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, on a number of actresses but still Untouchable provides me with this unique experience of hearing from the victims and to have a clear idea about this monster, disguised as a human.

Back in 2017, when Ronan Farrow wrote this story, it shocked the whole world. It was so disturbing that a lot of us couldn’t even comprehend it. However, as the victims started speaking and a number of new stories of harassment, abuse and rape started to emerge, there was no hiding for Harvey Weinstein.

Subsequently, the #MeToo movement started, rising the collective consciousness about the prevalence of this culture of sexual harassment all around the world.

Now, with documentaries like this one, victims have been given a voice and platform to speak about their sufferings and give others an idea about how these monsters achieve their ulterior motives by making use of their fame, popularity and status in the society.

The best thing about this documentary is, unlike Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, this documentary takes into account the rise and fall of this Hollywood mogul, giving us an idea about his status and his position among his peers and friends. Also, the director Ursula Macfarlane, has made a great effort to give us an honest account of what these victims had to face and how they were sexually abused by Harvey.

All in all, it is such a powerful documentary, a must-watch for all of us.

5. The Dawn Wall

If you’re a fan of rock-climbing, you must have already heard about it or seen it. However, if you haven’t, what are you even doing?

Moreover, irrespective of whether you’re fan or not, The Dawn Wall is such a crafty piece of work, that you should put this documentary on your watch-list without wasting any more time.

Directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, The Dawn Wall is a 1 hour 41 minutes-long story of perseverance and passion, centered on the unprecedented attempt of legendary free climber Tommy Caldwell to scale the Dawn Wall of the famed El Capitan.

It is not without all those glamorous shots of El Capitan but unlike most documentaries, based on the same subject, The Dawn Wall mainly focuses on exploring the story of this unprecedented effort from the personal and professional context of the climbers.

One might argue that Free Solo is a better documentary than The Dawn Wall, which is true. However, the issue is Free Solo is not available on Netflix. Thus, the next best thing, which you can relish, is undoubtedly The Dawn Wall.

4. The Trails of Gabriel Fernandez

I came to know about this through a YouTube video and I didn’t have great expectations from it. However, even before completing the first episode, I got totally invested in the series. It was such an honest telling of brutality and inhumanity that this series shocked me to the core.

This series tells the story of an eight years old boy, Gabriel, who was killed by his mother and her boyfriend after several episodes of torture and brutality, being inflicted upon the innocent boy.

Directed by Brian Knappenberge, this docuseries carefully explores the murder of Gabriel and the trials that followed, raising questions about the inefficiency and negligence of protective services.

It is a dark, disturbing and traumatizing experience to even have the knowledge of all the sufferings, which Gabriel had to go through, and above-all this series is unapologetically honest.

3. Tiger King

I didn’t know anything about Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage aka Tiger King or these eccentric people, having this ‘love’ for breeding, nurturing and caging big cats, before this series. Thus, for me, it was quite intriguing to know about this business and all these people, caging and nurturing exotic animals in their private zoos.

The docuseries starts slow but it picks up pace with every episode, getting weirder and stranger with every passing minute.

Furthermore, it is indeed a mayhem, as suggested by the title, because it involves a number of eccentric characters, guns, violence, rivalries and a murder-for-hire plot.

Both the directors, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, deserve credit for this stranger-than-fiction story, centered on the illegal breeding and nurturing of big cat breeding and its bizarre underworld.

If you are looking for my views on the whole thing then I must say (Spoilers Ahead!) Joe Exotic abused all these animals for all these years and Carole Baskins ain’t clean either. Moreover, instead of putting million of dollars in this hunt against Joe Exotic, we could’ve spent all this money for the preservation of wildlife. But again, who we are to question their priorities!

2. The Defiant Ones

Of all the documentaries and series, addressing the evolution of hip hop and the becoming of the legend of Dr. Dre, The Defiant Ones certainly sits at the top of the pile. Moreover, it is not only about Dr. Dre, rather it is equally about Jimmy Iovine, the record-producer-turned-businessman, and also explores his journey to become a music icon and a shrewd businessman in his own rights.

It took about three years to film this series and I must say that every bit of this 4-part series justifies such a commitment. It provides viewers with too much details and knowledge that you have to pause and take a breathe to absorb, what you have been told.

It tours the journey of two kids from the street, who revolutionized music and impacted their respective cultures in their own peculiar ways, and explores that how they formed this unlikely duo and how they ended up brokering one of the greatest deals in the history of music.

On the top of it, The Defiant Ones tells this breathe-taking story from the perspective of all those, who were involved as all these legends and music icons including Bono, David Geffen, Eminem, Ice Cube, Gwen Stefani, Jon Landau, Tom Petty, Snoop Dogg and Bruce Springsteen give their valuable insight about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

Another amazing thing about this series is, it doesn’t provide viewers with a dressed-up puff piece, rather the tone of this docuseries is original as it provides an exclusive, never-seen-before experience.

Shout out to Allen Hughes, who created such a masterpiece and bestows music fans with such a befitting video to remember and admire the greatness of this unbreakable duo of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

1. The Last Dance

When I watched the first episode of The Last Dance, I knew that it would be at the top of the list. It was so good that I couldn’t think of another series to top this one.

Directed by Jason Hehir, this 10-episode miniseries is centered on arguably the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan, and chronicles the last season of Michael Jordan with Chicago Bulls; the 1997–98 season.

We all should be thankful to Jason Hehir and should appreciate his artsy and brilliant re-telling of an already known story of Michael Jordan and Bulls’ Dynasty.

In terms of the dramatization of the events and their telling, I don’t think one can find a better sports docuseries right now. The way he has taken into consideration every aspect, surrounding the 1997–98 Bulls, Hehir deserves all the appraise and recognition.

A great collection of archival-footage, blended with present day interviews and interlacing story-lines, mainly focusing on the career of Michael Jordan without neglecting other important pieces such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson and the supporting cast; The Last Dance is the perfect blend of sports, drama and entertainment.

That’s all. 7 best documentaries that you can enjoy on Netflix right now.

If you’re thinking that I have missed on some certain names, I would suggest you to give the following pieces a read. Thank you.