Top 100 Netflix Documentaries to Watch Right Now (#45 to #41)

97% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is where documentaries stop being ‘pretty good’ and start being life-altering. 13th is in this batch, and I already told you what that one did to me. It literally changed my brain chemistry, it fundamentally altered how I think about life. You can’t say that really anything will do that to you… but the 13th did. Regardless, every doc here hits different.

Netflix Documentary #45 — 13th

2016 | Film | Directed by Ava DuVernay

97% on Rotten Tomatoes with 105 critics. I said it in the intro and I’ll say it again: this documentary non-hyperbolically changed my life. Ava DuVernay draws a direct line from the 13th Amendment’s exception clause to mass incarceration, showing how the American criminal justice system has been used as a tool of racial control for 150 years. After watching this, I thought differently. Permanently. It should be required viewing for every American.

Netflix Documentary #44 — Capturing the Friedmans

2003 | Film | Directed by Andrew Jarecki

97% from critics with a massive 161 reviews — the most-reviewed doc on this entire list. A seemingly normal Long Island family is torn apart when the father and son are arrested for child molestation. But the genius of this doc is that you’re never sure what’s true. The family filmed EVERYTHING, and the home videos are simultaneously intimate and deeply disturbing. Andrew Jarecki crafted a masterpiece of ambiguity.

Netflix Documentary #43 — Marty, Life Is Short

2026 | Film | Directed by Adam Bhala Lough

97% on RT. I really enjoyed this one. It’s a 2026 release that landed with less fanfare than it deserved. The subject and storytelling are compelling in a way that sneaks up on you — by the end you’re emotionally invested in someone you knew nothing about 90 minutes ago. That’s the mark of a great doc.

Netflix Documentary #42 — Navalny

2022 | Film | Directed by Daniel Roher

97% from critics and 91% from audiences. The story of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned by the Kremlin and then — in the most audacious move imaginable — called up his own assassins and got them to confess on the phone. The scene where that call happens is one of the most jaw-dropping moments in any documentary, ever. Given Navalny’s subsequent death in prison, this film is both a tribute and an indictment.

Netflix Documentary #41 — Sr.

2022 | Film | Directed by Chris Smith

97% from critics. Robert Downey Jr. directs this intimate portrait of his father, Robert Downey Sr., the underground filmmaker. It’s a father-son story told with genuine warmth and unflinching honesty about their complicated relationship. If you only know RDJ as Iron Man, this will reveal a whole different dimension. Chris Smith co-directs. Heart-wrenching and beautiful.

The Complete Top 100 Netflix Documentary Countdown

Life-changing territory. I’m not being dramatic. 13th literally rewired how I think. The other four aren’t far behind. Let me know if any of these hit you the same way.

featured