Top 100 Netflix Documentaries to Watch Right Now (#20 to #16)

Still at 100%. We’re in the top 20 now. Found. Gone Girls. Elizabeth Smart. The stories are extraordinary and the filmmaking is impeccable. And I HAVENT SEEN A COUPLE OF THESE YET!? So flipping excited. Look at us GOOOoooOOoOoo! Join me in watching these along side me. Starting with #20, Descendant and working my way through to the bottom of the list.

Netflix Documentary #20 — Descendant

2022 | Film | Directed by Margaret Brown

100% from critics. The descendants of the last known slave ship to arrive in America — the Clotilda — search for the wreck and reckon with their ancestors’ history. It’s a quiet, powerful doc about memory, identity, and the unfinished business of slavery in America. The 100% score reflects critical appreciation for its patience and depth.

Netflix Documentary #19 — Found

2021 | Film | Directed by Amanda Lipitz

100% on RT. Three American teenage girls — all adopted from China — discover through 23andMe that they’re biological cousins. They travel to China together to search for their birth families, confronting the legacy of China’s one-child policy along the way. It’s intimate, heartfelt, and raises profound questions about identity, family, and what it means to belong. I flagged this one personally because the human story is just extraordinary.

Netflix Documentary #18 — Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer

2025 | Series | Directed by Liz Garbus

100% from critics (though only 7 reviews — thin data). Liz Garbus directing true crime is basically a guaranteed quality stamp at this point. The Long Island serial killer case — bodies discovered along Ocean Parkway, a decades-long investigation that went nowhere — is one of America’s most frustrating unsolved cases. This series brings new attention and new angles.

Netflix Documentary #17 — High on the Hog

2021 | Series | Directed by Roger Ross Williams

100% on RT. A culinary and cultural journey tracing the African American food story from Africa to the American South and beyond. If you think food docs are just about recipes, this will change your mind. It’s about identity, migration, resilience, and how food carries history. Stephen Satterfield is a wonderful guide. Two seasons of essential viewing.

Netflix Documentary #16 — Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart

2026 | Film | Directed by Benedict Sanderson

100% from critics. The 2002 abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, told in her own words with rare archival footage. It’s a harrowing story of survival, resilience, and healing. Sanderson (who also directed the Lucy Letby doc on this list) shows range — this is true crime that centers the survivor rather than sensationalizing the crime.

The Complete Top 100 Netflix Documentary Countdown

Top 20 and counting. The finish line is in sight but the quality ceiling keeps rising. See you next post for the top 15.

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