Netflix has a plethora of documentaries for you to wade through. From true crime to thrilling sports stories, the streaming service has something for everyone.
Netflix
Here are six must-watch documentaries that are now available to stream on the platform – at least in our tastes and opinions. We’ve enjoyed each of these documentaries and we hope you will too.
Civilian: Ben Crump
This documentary tells the story of civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who took on the cases of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor with a mission to raise the value of black life in America. Directed by Nadia Hallgren, we get an intimate behind-the-scenes look at Crump’s life and see how he balances family and work.
Joan Didion: The Center Won’t Hold
Alternatively, there is an additional icon portrait to follow. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold chronicles the life of essayist, novelist, screenwriter, and critic Joan Didon through personal stories from behind the influential work. Guest appearances include Vanessa Redgrave, Harrison Ford, Anna Wintour, David Hare, Calvin Trillin, Hilton Als and Susanna Moore.
Dick Johnson is dead
Kirsten Johnson made this star-studded documentary in hopes of dealing with her fear of losing her father. It’s both heartfelt and funny, mixing fact with fiction by presenting creative and imaginative ways for her father, Dick Johnson, to die in order to laugh through the pain. It’s a beautiful portrait of a father-daughter relationship with a life-affirming message at its core.
My octopus teacher
Lovers of nature documentaries will enjoy every second of the Oscar-winning My Octopus Teacher. We follow diver Craig Foster as he and an octopus form an unlikely friendship in a South African kelp forest. It’s quite a remarkable film with amazing underwater footage that was shot over eight years. 3,000 hours of footage has been condensed into a neat 85 minutes to tell this unlikely story of humanity.
Deepest breath
Thrill seekers will love one of Netflix’s newest documentaries, The Deepest Breath. From the beginning, we mysteriously follow a champion freediver as she chases her dreams through the connections she makes along the way. It’s exciting and poignant at the same time and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
13
13. was long heralded as the final condemnation of mass incarceration. Discusses the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “There shall be no slavery or involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime of which a party has been duly convicted”. Mixing archival footage with interviews with activists, politicians and formerly incarcerated people, DuVernay explores the path from slavery to mass incarceration.
