Whether they’re informative or inspiring, there’s nothing quite like a good documentary.
Being entertained and educated at the same time is one of life’s great pleasures, and so it’s lucky Netflix has us sorted with documentaries that do just that.
Here, we have collated the seven best documentaries you can watch on the streaming service right now – from the newly released to the ones that have remained a favourite for a number of years.
Happy watching!
Knock Down the House
Knock Down the House is a Netflix documentary following four female US Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, during the 2018 midterms.
The documentary sees a young bartender from the Bronx, a coal miner's daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada, and a registered nurse in Missouri build a grassroots movement of insurgent candidates to challenge seasoned politicians with powerful friends in Congress.
One of their races becomes the most shocking political upsets in recent American history.
The Great Hack
Have you ever thought your phone – or more specifically, Facebook – was listening to you? Are you confused about just how much the social media giant knows about you?
This documentary investigates the above and more, in wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that embroiled Facebook in early 2018.
The documentary brings the complex truth of data tracking and targeting to life as it details exactly how algorithms threaten the very structure of a healthy democratic society.
Period. End Of Sentence.
Winning the Best Short Documentary prize at this year's Academy Awards, Period. End of Sentence is a 26-minute Netflix documentary about the way menstruation can harm, or completely stop, a girl's ability to go to attend school.
Director Rayka Zehtabchi follows a group of women in rural India – where period stigma is rife – as they make low-cost sanitary pads following the installation of a pad machine in their village.
The effect on the personal, financial and economic lives of the women is astonishing.
Period. End of Sentence. is topical, emotional and thought-provoking – you won't regret the mere 26 minutes it takes to watch it.
The Family
The Family was released this year by Netflix and sees investigative journalists expose the Fellowship Foundation (i.e. the Family), a secretive Christian Conservative organisation in Washington D.C who hold immense authority all over the world.
Their members included senators, diplomats and religious leaders, who worked together to influence government and legislation.
Their pursuit was not about faith, but power.
Watch the trailer for The Family here. Post continues after video.
The Game Changers
What is the optimal diet for human performance? That is the simple question The Game Changers tries to answer.
The vegan documentary is produced by Academy Award-winning director James Cameron and focuses on a number of plant-based athletes including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan and Lewis Hamilton.
It explores the health benefits of a meat-free diet and the impact it has on a person's strength.
Fire in Paradise
This is one Netflix's newest documentaries, released at the start of November.
Fire in Paradise documents the deadliest wildfire to ever spread across California, known as Camp Fire. In November 2018, the fire killed 85 people and caused $16.5 billion of damage to the area. The film chronicles the devastation caused through interviews with survivors and firefighters, phone-camera footage and news stories from the time.
As Netflix puts it, "When the world's in flames, where do you go? And when unprecedented fires are the new normal, how do you move forward? "
Avicii: True Stories
From one of the newest to one that has been available for a number of years, Avicii: True Stories is an absolute must-watch.
The 2017 documentary was filmed and released prior to the artist's sudden death in 2018, as it chronicled the behind-the-scenes of the DJ’s life on the road and shone a spotlight on his health issues, linked to his drinking.
Including interviews with the DJ himself, it portrays what exactly was behind Avicii's decision to retire in 2016, and his team's reaction to his mental health struggle.
What are you favourite documentaries? Let us know in the comments section below.
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I would have to include Fyre and Haunting: the art of the scare.