Netflix has a bountiful 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. A group of fans took it upon themselves to restore the cemetery to its former glory, and in doing so created what could only be described as a labor of love.
While there are other documentaries that focus on fandoms, this one, which is really based on one scene from one movie as opposed to the entire Man with No Name trilogy shows how much even a little bit of an artwork can impact our lives.
If you're looking for an investigative crime documentary into the murder of JonBenet Ramsey , this isn't it. Instead, director Kitty Green approaches the story from a far more fascinating angle by examining the secrets we all keep. Green went about casting Colorado-based actors for various "roles" of the real people involved with the case, but rather than try to piece the case together, Green has crafted a film about perception, obsession, and what we keep behind closed doors.
A lesser film would have been exploitative true-crime fodder, but Green has made an impressive, empathetic, and thoughtful picture that goes beyond the headlines and hits home even if you never concerned yourself with this particular case. Imagine you were a wealthy art collector. You know the names that are famous, but could you spot a fake?
Probably not on sight, but that's why you leave it to dealers and galleries to verify the authenticity of paintings. But what happens when the gallery may be a willing participant in the fraud? 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? Director Barry Avrich draws us along in this captivating con-artist documentary where it's low stakes for the viewer after all, we're not wealthy art collectors or dealers and high-stakes for those involved.
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 documentary 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 regulatory agency, the FDA, 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 next time you need to have some kind of invasive procedure.
While it is wrong that this burden has been pushed onto patients, at least this documentary arms you with the knowledge you need to so that you can avoid some horrific outcomes.
The first thing to know about the Bob Ross documentary on Netflix is 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. 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.
It's an intriguing film, especially at only 90 minutes in length. You don't have to like Metallica to find this seminal documentary completely engrossing. Out now on Amazon Prime. Westwood takes a look at how Vivienne Westwood has managed to remain at the peak of the fashion industry for almost half a century, going from punk enfant terrible to British icon via a number of audacious creative choices. Westwood, in this documentary, is a meticulous micromanager, turning up at her shops to berate assistants for arranging clothes incorrectly on the rails and rejecting sartorial creations proposed by her designer underlings for tiny errors.
Filmmaker Carol Morley tracked down the people who knew and loved the woman, Joyce Carol Vincent played in dramatised scenes by Zawe Ashton , and gradually uncovered an existence shot through with all the mundane tragedies and missed connections of real life. Ultimately, Dreams Of A Life thoughtfully asks how it can be that we live in such huge, bustling cities and yet still remain so distant from one another. Think that internet fame messes people up?
It does. The American Meme makes this point by degrees, introducing a handful of content creators a horrible but accurate phrase who rely on Instagram, Twitter or the now-defunct Vine for their livelihoods, before gradually revealing their deep, sometimes morbid insecurities. Paris Hilton is even in it and comes across as the savviest of the lot, if only because she has lived life in the public eye for nigh on 20 years.
Out now on BBC iPlayer. Even the most sex-positive feminists express qualms about the unregulated, backroom nature of the industry, which strongly incentivises consenting to more and more extreme acts, often bordering on violence. The gig, of course, turns out to be a fair bit tougher than expected. The final twist? Broomfield himself had a dalliance with Marianne as a student in , giving him a uniquely personal understanding of his subject and her emotional life. Out now on Youtube. The Reagan Show is an odd watch.
Whatever your opinion of the era, the man is undeniably charismatic. Points of focus emerge: the fight to keep the tiny local school open, a farcical shepherding competition, the mobile library doing the rounds — all of them adding up to a beautiful, slow vision of life in the countryside. Forget everything you think you know about Satanism, because this documentary reveals the real story behind The Satanic Temple, which actually first came to life as a joke.
A group of activists who are pro religious freedom and anti-authority, Hail Satan? Talk about being misunderstood If you thought Homecoming was good, wait until you see the Aretha Franklin equivalent, Amazing Grace.
A concert film that uses never before seen footage of her gospel concerts at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, it's a stunning example of the power of music, from the strength of her vocals to the reaction it inspires from her audience. It might have taken almost five decades for this footage to see the light of day, but it was almost certainly well worth the wait. Out now on Amazon Prime Video. Shot over the eight years of Obama's presidency, Jonathan Olshefski's powerful documentary following an African-American family, the Raineys, is a heartening portrait of the resilience, goodwill and courage of those living in America's most impoverished communities.
The odds are stacked against them, with threats of gun violence, illness and drug abuse all too close for comfort, but the family prevails, powered by a determination to help those around them, whether that's through offering free sessions to local rappers in their small recording studio or working in a domestic abuse shelter.
Jesy Nelson thought her dreams had come true when she won The X-Factor as part of Little Mix, but ever since she's been in the spotlight, she's been harassed and bullied by online trolls, to the extent that she's contemplated suicide. In this emotional documentary, Nelson opens up about her struggle with depression and anxiety in the face of so much online abuse, as she attempts to move on from what she describes as the darkest time of her life.
A sobering and insightful look at how online bullying can ruin lives, regardless of your social status, Odd One Out is an important watch as society continues to fall deeper into the black mirror. It's been 17 years since Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine was first released and yet in the wake of the multiple mass shootings that have occurred across America in the past year alone, it still feels as timely as ever.
Digging into the possible reasons for the Columbine High School massacre, Moore challenges the US's culture of fear and widespread gun ownership that costs so many people their lives each year and, in turn, reveals how America's gun control problem is more psychological than it is constitutional. We're all now too familiar with that eerie feeling you get when an ad for cat food pops up on your phone, just minutes after you've verbally asked your partner if they've fed your feline friend.
Delving into the Cambridge Analytica scandal, The Great Hack reveals the frightening extent of consumer data mining that makes such adverts possible, but through the lens of the US presidential election. After harvesting data from 50 million Facebook users, the now defunct political consultancy firm manipulated indecisive voters to sway right through targeted ads, allegedly winning Trump his presidency and Vote Leave the Brexit referendum.
An eye-opening watch that will probably make you want to delete all of your social media accounts, The Great Hack is even scarier than all of those serial killer docs you've been bingeing American Factory is a documentary that takes a look at the tough reality of globalisation, through the lens of factory workers in Moraine, Ohio.
When a General Motors assembly plant closed down in the town in , thousands of people lost their jobs and the area went into decline. A Chinese auto-glass manufacturer, Fuyao Glass, then came in to give people new jobs, but with them came less pay and less rights than what the people of Moraine had been accustomed too. The Chinese thought the US workers were lazy; the town's workers thought the Chinese's demands were unjust.
With the whole process documented by directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, ultimately, the struggle between the two cultures revealed the disparity between both countries' economies — one that is on a rapid incline and the other that is leaving its middle and lower-class citizens behind.
There's something calming about watching nature footage, even when it turns macabre, and especially when it's discussed by Sir David Attenborough — narrative master of the recently released series Our Planet. Through a combination of stunning photography and video footage, the show explores the unique wonders of our world.
Six hundred people were involved in its making, so you can only imagine the levels of impressive sights on offer. Those curious about nature basically all of us , will find great comfort in every episode. This documentary already has a lot of hype and it hasn't even been released yet. Knock Down The House traces the development of one of the most shocking political upsets in recent US history. Following the perspectives of four determined women — including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — it details their challenges to big-money politicians in the race for Congress.
Building a movement with unparalleled levels of drive, it's safe to say this journey changed their lives — and the lives of many other Americans — forever. For an authentic insight into the volatility of American politics, this is the place to go. One in five female college students in America will be sexually assaulted during their time on campus, but barely any of their attackers will be punished for their actions. A poignant look at how rape culture is perpetuated and allowed to thrive in Western society, this documentary revealed what MeToo brought to light in , way before the fall of Weinstein.
The police quickly ruled it a suicide, but a long history of violence and murders directed towards the trans community pointed to something more sinister. The members of the Syrian group of journalists known as Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently have watched their friends and family be executed by Isis and are at such a high risk of being killed themselves that they must live in hiding. Still, this does not stop them from working to reveal the atrocities of the Isis regime in Raqqa to the rest of the world.
Their bravery is practically unparalleled; their resilience is utterly unfathomable. Jones is just as mesmerising and original as she was when she first rose to prominence in the Seventies, and Bloodlight And Bami is a brilliant reminder of the incredible influence she has had on modern pop culture, from her music and style to her androgynous ferocity.
You would think that the medical device industry would be a force for good, developing life-changing technologies such as pacemakers and hip implants. Chronicling the life of soul and jazz legend Nina Simone, this documentary is one hour and 40 minutes of essential viewing for any music fan. Using archived footage and interviews with her daughter, What Happened, Miss Simone? After the Sandy Hook massacre in that killed 20 children and six teachers, local priest Father Bob Weiss found himself suffering from severe PTSD, as he attempted to guide his community in healing after the devastating event.
Varda, who pulls the treasures out of the stories around her as she reflects on her own mortality and the nature of her art, is a gleaner, too.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for its heartfelt, exuberant celebration of a culture and country that had been isolated from America for decades. If you know the music of the band, this is the backstory of how the Social Club became megastars all over the world. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris was working as a private detective when he began investigating a prosecution psychiatrist named Dr.
Hidden motives, withheld data, and questionable interpretations of the facts are everywhere, and each interview invariably creates more questions than it answers. Originally intended to be a minute short film for PBS, Hoop Dreams instead became something much more than that: a rumination on ambition, competition, race, and class in contemporary American society that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the audience award for best documentary.
It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself. Filmmakers D. George Stephanopoulos and James Carville dealing with unforeseen problems and negative press, as their candidate is saddled with accusations of adultery and draft-dodging. The true focus of this watchful, frankly admiring film is the Clinton campaign staff, with James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.
Cue Madonna. The film takes its subject seriously, and the result is a tender, in-depth look at a subculture that is structured as a series of contrasts between dreams and reality, pretending and being—and which continues to resonate today.
It is one of the noblest films ever made. For nearly five years, the acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog desperately tried to complete one of the most ambitious and difficult films of his career: Fitzcarraldo , the story of a man determined to build an opera house in the jungle and drag a riverboat through the rain forest, from one river system to another, in order to do it.
The production, shot on location deep within the rain forests of South America, was beset with problems seemingly from inception. Two of its stars left early: Mick Jagger, for a concert tour; Jason Robards, rushed to New York with amoebic dysentery and forbidden by his doctors to return, necessitating his replacement with Klaus Kinski. Or it moves people deeply. It depends on who you ask. It is the journey that is the objective.
The story of D. Long an essential text for Sondheim fans, Original Cast Album is also a fascinating treatise on the terrifically hard work of making very good art. Director D. As of , the series is now at 56 Up. The original hypothesis of the series, which was initially commissioned by the BBC, was that class structure in the U. The result is both one of the most profound meditations on the Holocaust and on documentary filmmaking as a whole.
Robert J. Disclosure American Factory Dark Money Shirkers Jane Cameraperson Kedi Weiner Blackfish Searching for Sugarman Pina
0コメント