Best Netflix documentaries to watch right now

Vjeran Tomic’s most famous Paris heist was on the Musée d’Art Moderne in 2010, when he half-inched a Matisse, a Picasso, a Braque, a Léger and a Modigliani from under the guards’ noses — but that was a regular theft, achieved by cutting through a padlock and breaking a window. The Parisian criminal community has greater respect for his earlier work, when he would break into top-floor luxury flats by climbing up freestyle and leaping from roof to roof.

This film combines head-camera re-enactments with the words of Tomic himself.

Jack Seale

Many fictional horror stories have been inspired by it, but factual telly hasn’t examined the 1981 murder of Alan Bono in Brookfield, Connecticut, in much depth until now. Many of those involved tell their stories for the first time in this documentary, as it revisits the “Devil Made Me Do It” case — the killer claimed that he was not guilty on grounds of demonic possession.

As the case became the focus of “demonologists” and paranormal investigators as well as reporters, a disturbing backstory emerged. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, a horror movie based on the case, is also on Netflix.

Jack Seale

A gentle, intimate half-hour documentary follows Milana, a Ukrainian girl, as she arrives in the Austrian Alps and — accompanied by her grandmother, Olga — enrols in a week-long summer camp. They have fled the war with Russia and now young Milana faces an uncertain future. The resilience and bravery she’ll need in life are about to be tested as she attempts some vertiginous climbing activities, with the trauma of what she’s already experienced still raw.

It’s a simple but stirring metaphor for the struggles of kids displaced by conflict, and an inspiring story in its own right.

Jack Seale

It remains one of the oddest cases in British criminal history. In April 1999, Jill Dando — not just a BBC presenter and newsreader but the highest-profile TV personality in the country, widely admired for her easy relatability and Princess Diana-esque air of elegant glamour — was shot dead in broad daylight on her own doorstep, and we still have no idea who did it or why.

This three-part documentary sifts through every element of the mystery, from the initial shock and the multiple theories on who might have been responsible, to the fraught murder trial two years later that proved to be a miscarriage of justice. It’s one of those true-crime docs that, at every turn, unleashes an interviewee whose insight or unusual demeanour adds another layer of intrigue.

Jack Seale

New Netflix docuseries Encounters explores four true stories of human contact with otherworldly phenomena, featuring revelations from military whistleblowers of alien encounters, UFOs and clandestine Pentagon programmes, as well as coverage from major news corporations.

Each episode dives into a different encounter, whether it be with a submersible spacecraft off the coast of a Welsh village or an alien encounter experienced by a group of children in Zimbabwe.

Katelyn Mensah

The accident during Stage 8 of this year’s Tour de France, which broke Mark Cavendish’s collarbone and put him out of the race, isn’t the news background this documentary’s producers would have chosen. Then again, it is a story of struggle and bad luck as well as great triumph: with intimate access to Mark Cavendish himself as well as his family and his colleagues, it charts how Cavendish’s comeback performance in the 2021 Tour de France ended five years of injury, illness and depression.

Like Netflix’s recent documentary Tour de France: Unchained, it brings home the sheer intensity of elite cycling

Jack Seale

A stylishly filmed documentary remembers a serial-killer case that terrified and enthralled Mexico City at the turn of the millennium. With several elderly women dead by strangulation or bludgeoning, the police came up with an extraordinary profile of the likely killer: a man, dressed as a nurse, probably with a background in wrestling. Some of those descriptors proved to be accurate when the culprit was eventually found, but that came after a lot of media hype, some suspected copycat murders – and many more victims, who are commemorated here along with an analysis of a unique cultural phenomenon.

Jack Seale

Netflix’s excellent series of one-off sports documentaries focuses on the quirky or controversial edges of the sporting world – such as the fact that some of the most anticipated and analysed boxing bouts of the past couple of years have featured a YouTuber, Jake Paul, whom many connoisseurs of pugilism think is making a mockery of their beloved discipline. But is the prankster-turned-fighter really trashing a noble art, or is he correct in his assertion that boxing is just showbiz? Interviews and training footage try to get behind the phenomenon.

Jack Seale

Peter Dinklage narrates a wry documentary that mixes animation with archive footage to build a “playbook” for anyone wanting to found their own sinister cult. From mass weddings and free love to psychological control methods and simple weaponry, the tools and techniques required are set out by observers of breakaway communities, spotting patterns in the behaviour of people who have become gurus. Lesson number one: never tell potential recruits up front what your organisation is really about.

Jack Seale

Lucie Blackman, a 21-year-old woman from Kent, was working as a bar hostess in Tokyo in 2000 when she suddenly vanished. Her father Tim is interviewed in this documentary about the case and recalls the sheer panic caused by attempting to search for a loved one in an unfamiliar metropolis. The hunt for Lucie, which featured calls for help from senior British politicians that fuelled high media interest in both Japan and the UK, raised difficult questions about how seriously law enforcement agencies in Japan had been taking reports of women in danger.

Jack Seale

Completing a four-part documentary series about quests to expand human knowledge – previous episodes have covered the mysteries of the Ancient Egyptians, the prospect of artificial intelligence being used in military contexts, and an archaeological discovery shedding new light on humans’ evolutionary ancestors – is a film about Nasa’s mission to launch the James Webb Space Telescope. The work of engineers and scientists is followed as a billion-dollar piece of kit is created – since its launch it’s provided stunning images telling us more about black holes, galaxies, planets outside our solar system and how the universe looked soon after the Big Bang.

Jack Seale

This truly immersive documentary explores the competitive and dangerous world of free-diving, where a person dives under water on a single breath of air. Italian Alessia Zecchini has set national and world records, and we follow her journey alongside Irish safety support diver Stephen Keenan. Laura McGann’s documentary uses a narrative device that suggests a tragedy will take place, but it’s not immediately clear when it will strike, and to whom. But once the events do unfold, you will be both moved and horrified.

Laura Rutkowski

The brief lifespan of 1980s pop pin-ups Wham! is revisited through a mix of archive footage and interviews in this slight but upbeat documentary. The story begins as one of boyhood high jinks, following Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael as they bond at school and form a band. As fame beckons, Michael’s talents outstrip those of his bandmate — but director Chris Smith downplays any hints of tension. The buoyant snapshots of Wham! in concert prove most engaging, and the film works best as a nostalgic celebration of fleeting youth and friendship.

Kevin Harley

The author, campaigner and former triathlete Sue Anstiss has spent her career pushing for gender equality in sport. In this documentary based on her book of the same name, Anstiss pinpoints the present as a tipping point for women in sport: inequality persists in terms of coverage and funding of women’s sport, but extraordinary strides have been made in the past five or ten years. As Anstiss demonstrates, the shift from where sportswomen were 50 or 100 years ago has been profound.

Jack Seale

A feature documentary, unravelling a real-life medical mystery. In 2016, nine-year-old Maya Kowalski arrived with her parents at a Florida hospital, complaining of pain that doctors struggled to explain. Did she have a rare illness, or was there something more sinister going on? The hospital staff decided on the latter, with lasting and devastating consequences for the family. Maya’s father is interviewed in a film that tells a nightmarish story and raises big questions about how medical professionals should deal with young patients.

Jack Seale

A celebrity who was famous for being herself long before such things became the norm, Anna Nicole Smith had 15 years in the limelight before her early death in 2007. The model, actor and TV presenter was much talked-about, chiefly for her marriage to octogenarian oil tycoon J Howard Marshall, but was never someone the public could say they knew well.

This feature documentary aims to correct that, looking behind the blonde-bombshell exterior and talking to those who actually knew Smith first-hand. It paints a picture of a lonely life.

Jack Seale

Ten years ago, two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the world-famous Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, killing three people and injuring more than 280. A subsequent manhunt ensued, before the authorities identified and eventually captured the perpetrators: brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Now, the events are being explored in new Netflix documentary American Manhunt: the Boston Marathon Bombing, which covers the days of the search that followed the attacks.

The three-parter speaks to FBI agents, police officers and ordinary citizens whose actions led to the killers’ capture.

Lauren Morris

It’s 30 years since the world watched in horror as a 51-day stand-off between the FBI and a cult led by David Koresh in Waco, Texas ended in a fiery massacre. This three-part documentary has the tools to offer a new angle on a heavily analysed event, boasting interviews with people who had been inside the cult, news footage that is only now being released to the public, video recordings taken inside the negotiating room where the authorities drew up their much-criticised plan of attack, and digital re-creations of the Koresh compound. You can feel the chaos simmering.

Jack Seale

This three-parter dives into the competing theories that attempt to explain what happened in 2014 when a Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur on a flight to Beijing, but never arrived. The crew and passengers’ loved ones give their thoughts, as do a plethora of journalists, internet sleuths and amateur experts whom some might call conspiracy theorists. Every possible explanation is unlikely; it’s up to you to decide which one is true.

Jack Seale

A family of attorneys who wield a little too much power, brought down by a series of mysterious deaths? It sounds like the premise for a prestige drama but it’s real, and the history of the Murtaugh clan’s dominance of coastal South Carolina’s 14th district gives this true-crime documentary plenty to chew on.

The intrigue begins with the death of a young family friend in a 2019 boating accident, but when the Murtaughs themselves are hit by violent tragedy, more than one historical incident is re-examined. Local observers are only too willing to speculate on camera about the family’s many secrets.

Jack Seale

The website Pornhub is one of the major online phenomena of the past decade. It helped to pioneer free pornography on the internet, putting traditional producers and distributors out of business and making billions in the process. But as with so many things digital, the lack of regulation has caused problems in an industry already known for unethical practices. This documentary tracks Pornhub’s rise while asking whether it has the will or ability to tackle serious problems such as non-consensual material featuring victims of human trafficking.

Jack Seale

This Netflix docuseries boasts a very peculiar plot line. It tells the bizarre story of a German Shepherd named Gunther, who inherited $400 million from his owner Karlotta Liebenstein, a rich German countess. Following Karlotta’s death, she appointed her family friend Maurizio Mian to be Gunther’s caretaker and manage the multi-million dollar fortune – or at least that’s the story we’re told at the beginning of the documentary.

Packing a lot into just four episodes, and with multiple twists and turns to what was already advertised as an incredibly bizarre story, and bold characters to match, Gunther’s Millions is sure to keep you entertained.

Grace Henry

Last year, Pamela Anderson was the subject of the hit series Pam & Tommy on Disney Plus – and now the former Baywatch star is telling her story on her own terms in a brand-new Netflix film.

Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ryan White – whose previous credits include The Keepers and The Case Against 8 – Pamela, A Love Story is described by the streamer as “an intimate and humanising portrait of one of the world’s most famous blonde bombshells.”

Patrick Cremona