16. Extremis (2016)
Extremisfollows Dr. Jessica Zitter, a physician who specializes in ICU and palliative care, as she helps families make end-of-life decisions for patients dealing with terminal illnesses.
Extremisonly has a 24-minute runtime, but it packs a lot of emotional content in that short time as it invites you into the final moments of three patients. You may be surprised by how your own views of end-of-life decisions change—or don’t.
15. The Great Hack (2019)
As if we all didn’t hate Facebook enough already,The Great Hackwillreallymake you want to delete your account.
Remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal that came to light in 2018? The one where Cambridge Analytica collected the personal data of millions of Facebook users to influence the US election?
The Great Hackis a thorough examination of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the experiences of people who were affected by it. The fact that tech giants have been taking advantage of your personal information is a tough realization to swallow.
Related:The Best Political Documentaries
14. Girl in the Picture (2022)
Girl in the Pictureis a true crime documentary that investigates the identity of a mysterious girl whomnobodyknows. The only one whodoesknow who she is? Her father, as seen in the titular picture.
The thing is, her father was a federal fugitive who’s been on the run from the law for decades. And as it turns out, he didn’t just abduct the girl and steal her away—he made her do unspeakable things.
Related:The Best Movies About Kidnappings, Ranked
13. The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari (2022)
Whakaari (also known as White Island) is an active volcanic island in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. Back in 2019, Whakaari exploded while 47 tourists were on the island, killing dozens and injuring many more.
The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaariis an edge-of-your-seat documentary that takes you through that entire day, compiling all kinds of footage with shared accounts by survivors and rescuers.
It’s one of the most thrilling documentaries ever produced by Netflix, and a visceral reminder of how abruptly chaotic life can be.
Related:The Best Movies About Volcanoes and Eruptions, Ranked
12. Shirkers (2018)
Back in 1992, a teenage girl named Sandi Tan shot an independent film with her two friends and her film teacher.
She left the footage with her teacher and went to study abroad—but when she returned, the teacher had disappeared along with the footage, never to be seen again. But this isn’t a true crime documentary.
Some years later, Tan receives a copy of her old footage from her former film teacher’s ex-wife, except without the audio tracks. So, she pivots and turns it into a documentary about the creation of her old film.
Shirkersis a beautifully introspective exploration on themes of loss, creativity, disappointment, and coming to terms with such disappointments. It’s unique in today’s world of documentaries.
Related:The Best Movies About Grief and Loss, Ranked
11. The Push (2016)
Derren Brown is a performer who specializes in mentalism and often “tricks” people into believing things that aren’t real via hypnosis, illusions, persuasion, suggestion, misdirection, etc.
The Push(also titledPushed to the Edge) is an intricate and complex social experiment that he devised, where he and his team of actors set up a completeTruman Show-esque scenario to see whether or not a person can be manipulated into pushing someone off a building.
I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice it to say thatThe Pushmay disturb you—if for no other reason than the realization that humans are extremely susceptible to psychological influences, and we aren’t always acting within our full control.
10. Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
At the age of 18, Alex Lewis gets into a bad motorcycle accident and loses all of his memories. The only thing he still remembers? That he has a twin brother named Marcus.
Over the course of many years, Marcus helps Alex recreate his lost memories, but something seems off. It’s clear that Marcus is hiding details from him—dark details about his family and his past.
Tell Me Who I Amis less on the thrilling side and more on the intimate side of documentaries, as these two brothers spend years working through all the difficulties and trauma they’ve suffered together.
Related:The Best Movies About Memories and Memory Loss, Ranked
9. Athlete A (2020)
Athlete Ais an investigative documentary that looks into the harsh realities of sexual assault faced by young female gymnasts in the United States.
Spearheaded by a team ofThe Indianapolis Starjournalists, the investigation leads up to Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, who’s been covering up sexually abusive behaviors perpetrated by gymnastics coaches and doctors.
Athlete Aisn’t an easy watch, but it’s an important one—and certainly one of the most eye-opening documentaries put out by Netflix.
8. The Social Dilemma (2020)
The Social Dilemmais a hard-hitting exploration of social media and its effects on people and society. In particular, it looks at the design of social media and how it’s optimized for addictiveness, how it can create echo chambers, and how it can poison one’s thinking.
Between all the different interviews with employees and executives from high-profile social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, you’ll have the scales peeled from your eyes as the realities of social media engineering come to light.
Related:The Best Movies About Social Media (And Its Dangers), Ranked
7. The Bleeding Edge (2018)
The Bleeding Edgeis a documentary that dives into the medical device industry and all the nightmarish activity that happens behind the scenes as far as testing, regulations, corporate cover-ups, and greed-driven decisions are concerned.
Several medical devices with horrific stories are investigated in the film, supplemented by interviews with victims and insiders. Spotlighted devices include the birth control implant Essure, the da Vinci Surgical System, and chrome-cobalt hip replacements.
The most chilling scene inThe Bleeding Edgecomes right at the end, where we’re reminded that nobody from the FDA or any of the companies in the documentary agreed to be interviewed.
6. Diagnosis (2019)
Diagnosisis a seven-episode mini-series based on a medical column inThe New York Times Magazineby Dr. Lisa Sanders.
In the episodes ofDiagnosis, Dr. Sanders helps take care of real patients who have truly unknown illnesses and tries to find diagnoses for their issues. She just wants to get them answers.
And she does so by writing about her patients in her medical column in order to get feedback from her readers. Using their responses, Dr. Sanders can look into leads—and solve these medical mysteries.
It’s real evidence that we can help each other by working together.
5. Icarus (2017)
Icarusis an incredible (and frightening) documentary that came about by sheer happenstance.
Bryan Fogel originally wanted to record his personal experiences with performance doping in order to win an amateur cycling race. But then he’s pulled down the rabbit hole and ends up uncovering Russia’s state-sponsored doping program for the Olympics.
It starts off a bit slow, but by the endIcarusends up being one of the most thrilling documentaries ever made—because this is serious stuff, and Fogel’s life is actually on the line when he goes too deep.
Related:The Best Sports Documentaries
4. Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019)
In 2010, a man named Luka Magnotta posted an online video called “1 boy 2 kittens,” which showed him trapping two kittens in a vacuum seal bag, sucking all the air out, and suffocating them to death.
After that video went viral, two amateur sleuths—Deanna Thompson and John Green—started a Facebook group in an attempt to identify the man, locate his whereabouts, and bring him to justice.
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killeris a three-episode true crime docuseries that chronicles their investigation from start to end. It went on to be one of Netflix’s most-watched documentaries of the year.
Related:Scary Real-Life Crimes That Were Inspired by Movies
3. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacheris one of the most eye-opening documentaries you’ll ever watch. Even if you already knew that octopuses were smart, this documentary will blow your mind.
Filmmaker Craig Foster spends a year in South Africa developing a relationship with a wild octopus. The octopus plays with him, eats with him, and lets him study her as she lives and sleeps.
It’s incredible to see this relationship develop, and Foster allows us to see how this octopus taught him so many different things about life.
2. 13th (2016)
13this a deep dive into the structures, institutes, and systems of United States prisons. More specifically, it explores how modern prisons are used to suppress, disenfranchise, and enslave black Americans—despite slavery abolishment by the 13th Amendment.
Most Americans aren’t aware of how the country’s prison-industrial complex operates, and13thwill open your eyes in ways you’d never expect. Then again, by how things have been going since 2020, perhaps the details of this documentary won’t be so unexpected.
Related:The Greatest Documentary Filmmakers (And Their Best Films)
1. Seaspiracy (2021)
Seaspiracyis a much-needed wake-up call for the world, bringing to our attention the far-reaching environmental impact of commercial fishing and widespread fish consumption.
The documentary explores several topics that all tie into marine life and the ocean: plastic debris, ghost nets, overfishing, and more. It takes a hard stance—some might even call it extreme—and outright rejects the modern concept of sustainable fishing.
Even if you don’t agree with everything presented,Seaspiracyis an important documentary to watch as it sheds light in areas unseen up until now. It’s certainly worth chewing on.
Expanding Worldviews With Documentaries
All of these documentaries are well-made, touch on topics that are really interesting, and invite you to change your perspective by presenting eye-opening facts that you may not have known.
Netflix’s documentaries—when they’re done well—are a great way to expand your own worldview and start seeing the world from different viewpoints. New perspectives can help you grow as a person.
If you’re looking for even more eye-opening content, dive into these amazing conspiracy theory documentaries on Netflix:
Read next:The Best Conspiracy Theory Documentaries on Netflix
