Netflix has a wide variety of best documentaries to watch for its viewers. If you’re looking for an intimate viewing experience, these are the five best documentaries to watch on Netflix. Each of these series offers unique and fascinating insights into different aspects of life. Whether you’re interested in history, culture, nature, or science, there’s something for everyone on Netflix!
Although Netflix is often credited with the invention of binge-watching, it has also kindly expanded its library with a fantastic documentary and docuseries collection. So, even if you don’t want to stay on the couch for six hours, you can still learn something new while doing it.
The streaming service’s documentary collection includes award-winning original documentaries, Oscar-winning classics, and a wide range of fascinating docuseries on nearly any topic imaginable. These are the most compelling Netflix documentaries right now.
7 Best Documentaries to Watch on Netflix
“Don’t forget to check the bonus series we added for you ;)”
Inventing Anna
What is it about:
A journalist with a lot to prove is drawn into Sorokins’ crimes as she awaits trial in this TV series, which follows her as she investigates how she was able to charm New York high society’s love and cash. It is inspired by New York Magazine’s ‘How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People’ feature, which questions whether Sorokin was truly a con woman or simply the latest example of the American Dream.
Another of Anna’s former friends, Rachel DeLoache Williams, has written a book about her entitled ‘My Friend Anna: The true story of the fake heiress of New York City.’ Rachel was a young girl when she met Anna, and the two became inseparable. Before Rachel began to suspect that her increasingly mystifying friend wasn’t all she appeared.
The Plot:
Inventing Anna is a drama based on the true tale of con artist Anna Sorokin (also known as Anna Delvey), who plied her trade in New York’s high society.
Anna Sorokin was a Russian national who came to New York in 2013 and created a phony identity as Anna Delvey, claiming to be an extremely wealthy German heiress.
Therese, on the other hand, told her new pals that her money was close to $60 million but was able to persuade high-society friends to pay for hotel stays, meal trips, and shopping excursions by claiming that her money was trapped abroad or that she had forgotten her wallet.
Tinder Swindler
What is it about:
The Netflix original documentary Tinder Swindler follows the life of Shimon Hayut, a famous Israeli con man known as The Tinder Swindler. On February 2, 2022, the film was released under the name Tinder Swindler in Britain. Simon Leviev (Shimon Hayut), an Israeli con artist who used the dating app Tinder to meet people and emotionally manipulate them into financially supporting his lavish lifestyle on the pretext that he needed money to flee his “enemies,” is the subject of this nonfiction feature film.
The Plot:
Shimon Hayut was an Israeli man who traveled throughout Europe claiming to be the son of Russian-Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev, also known as the Diamond King. He used the dating app Tinder to contact women like Simon Leviev and defrauded them out of money that he would never return.
He would dazzle them with expensive presents and invite them on private planes with money he obtained from previous victims. He would later claim that his “enemies” were targeting him, frequently sending the same communications and photos to each woman, implying that he had been attacked with a knife but that his bodyguard had saved him and was wounded.
After he obtained control of their bank accounts and credit cards, the man claimed that his misuse of them had caused him to miss payments on these necessities. He would ask his victims to assist him financially as a result of the breach in security, allegedly delaying his use of his credit cards and bank accounts; the ladies would frequently take out bank loans and new credit cards in order to assist. He would then use the money gained through deceitful means to attract additional victims while essentially running a Ponzi scheme.
He would then pretend to pay back his victims by sending fraudulent papers that showed bogus bank transfers, and he would subsequently cut off contact with them. He occasionally threatened them and used manipulation to coerce more money from his victims. It’s believed that he cheated $10 million from people all around the world.
Fyre festival
What is it About:
The Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music event organized by con artist Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. It was designed to promote the Fyre Media music talent booking app. The festival was set to occur on April 28–30 and May 5–7, 2017, on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas.
According to the New York Times, many of whose models were paid to promote the event on Instagram, and as a result “did not initially disclose they had been compensated,” including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, and Emily Ratajkowski.
The Fyre Festival was marred by numerous issues related to security, food, lodging, medical care, and artist interactions throughout the event’s opening weekend. Instead of the opulent villas and gourmet meals for which attendees paid hundreds or thousands of dollars, they were given cardboard plain cheese sandwiches and FEMA/UN tents as accommodation.
It was referred to as a stunning party on an abandoned island, with appearances from famous personalities including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin.
Guests who booked were promised luxury accommodation and “the best in food, art, music, and adventure” in the Bahamas. The cost of passes was up to $100,000 (£75,000). Instead, they showed up for beds on wet carpets and cheese slices on bread, as well as their luggage left in a dark parking lot.
Worst roommate ever
What is it about:
The Worst Roommate Ever is a Netflix docuseries that tells four tales of malevolent and sometimes violent Roommates who turn their unsuspecting victims’ lives into real-life horrors.
The viewers are transported into the frightening world of what it might be like to share a room with a worst-case scenario when these malevolent and sometimes violent goals are revealed.
The night stalker
What is it about:
The True Story of How One of the Most Notorious Serial Killers in American History Was Wounded Down and Prosecuted is a limited docu-series that chronicles how one of the most notorious serial killers in American history was brought to justice.
The Night Stalker follows the harrowing case of Richard Ramirez, a Satanic worshipper who terrorized Los Angeles in the mid-1980s with a gruesome campaign of murder and home invasion.
The series takes viewers inside the LAPD’s hunt for Ramirez, from the first chilling crime scene to his eventual capture. Featuring interviews with those who knew him best, The Night Stalker is a gripping tale of one man’s reign of terror and the detectives who finally stopped him.
Jeffree Epstein
What is it about:
Filthy Rich is an American web documentary television miniseries about Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. The book was co-written by John Connolly and Tim Malloy, and the miniseries are adapted from their 2016 book of the same name. On May 27, 2020, Netflix released Filthy Rich. The four-part documentary, which premiered on August 25, 2017, features interviews with several survivors including Virginia Giuffre and Maria Farmer, as well as former supervisors and police chief Michael Reiter, a key figure in the first criminal case against Epstein.
Filthy Rich is a fact-based, unauthorized film that focuses on Jeffrey Epstein’s rise to power on Wall Street and the systems in place that allowed him to abuse dozens of young women for decades without attracting much attention. Directed by filmmaker Lisa Bryant, Filthy Rich zigzags through time (think The Last Dance) to tell the story of Epstein’s rise to power on Wall Street and the mechanisms in place that enabled him to victimize hundreds of young ladies for decades.
Formula 1
What is it about:
Netflix and Formula One created Formula 1: Drive to Survive, a documentary series that gives an inside look at the drivers and races of the F1 World Championship.
The second season, covering the 2019 World Championship premiered on 28 February 2020, and the third season, covering the 2020 World Championship, debuted on 19 March 2021. A fourth season dedicated to the 2021 World Championship was released on 11 March 2022.
And the Bonus series as we promised
Bad Boy Billionaire
What is it about:
The Netflix original documentary anthology series Bad Boy Billionaires: India is a 2020 Indian Netflix original web series that chronicles the lives of four prominent business magnates from India, including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Subrata Roy, and Ramalinga Raju. The series, which was released in part following a lawsuit filed by Subrata Roy’s Sahara Group, exposes notable financial frauds in India. Following legal issues, Netflix unveiled the movie’s official trailer on 24 August 2020 and stated that it had been removed from the site. The movie was previously scheduled to premiere on Netflix on 2 September 2020.
In October 2020, Netflix released three (out of four) episodes of Bad Boy Billionaires across the world to favorable feedback and high viewership. It went on to become India’s most-watched Netflix program for multiple weeks, reaching the top of the worldwide charts and being named the top documentary of 2020 in India. In 2021, it won India’s main film award, the Filmfare Award.
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