Swap Stranger Things and Queer Eye for some serious brain food on Netflix.
From moving documentaries about music, ageing and the science behind happiness to Oscar-winning films about our world today, check out the very best documentary films and TV series available on Netflix UK now.
The best new movies and TV shows streaming on Netflix | UPDATED DAILY
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Updated 29th August 2018
Wild Wild Country
A six-part series that, once the methodical first episode is out of the way, keeps springing jaw-dropping surprises. In 1981, guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and thousands of his acolytes suddenly made Antelope, Oregon their home. Cult members, traumatised locals and, most fascinatingly, Bhagwan’s combative and elusive deputy are interviewed about the chaos that ensued. Watch on Netflix
Weiner (2016)
What on paper sounds like one drawn-out penis joke actually unfolds into a bizarrely funny, insightful and endlessly intriguing fly-on-the-wall documentary about a deeply flawed man, who, at one stage in his career, was seen as a potential saviour for the Democratic party. Now, he’s in jail for sexting with a minor. To fill in the blanks, head to your Netflix account. Watch on Netflix
India’s Daughter
This powerful documentary – which originally aired on BBC4 in the UK – follows the 2012 news story that shocked the world: the Delhi gang rape and murder of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh. Featuring a filmed interview and confession from one of the rapists in the case, it’s proved to be a controversial film and was banned in India. Watch on Netflix
Blackfish
This was the movie that forced SeaWorld to halt its orca breeding programme and stop all live killer whale performances. Following Tilikum, a performing killer whale who killed several people, including trainer Dawn Brancheau, while in captivity, Blackfish challenges the relationship between nature and the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. Watch on Netflix
The Defiant Ones
Rapper Dr Dre and label boss Jimmy Iovine are business partners, having both enjoyed rapid rises through their own sectors of the music industry. This twin bio tells a tale of the drive and insecurities behind dreamers who had what it took. Watch on Netflix
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Before there was Chef’s Table, there was Jiro Dreams of Sushi, David Gelb’s heartwarming documentary about an 85-year old Japanese sushi chef who runs a 10-seater, $280 a plate, 3 Michelin-starred restaurant in a Tokyo subway station. Watch on Netflix
The Keepers
This dogged and heartrending documentary series begins by attempting to uncover the truth surrounding the murder of a Catholic nun, a case that has gone unsolved for 50 years. However, the film soon expands to investigate allegations of sexual abuse at the Catholic high school where the nun, Sister Cathy Cesnik, worked. The resulting investigation is told in seven meticulous and quietly raging episodes. Watch on Netflix
My Beautiful Broken Brain
Lotje Sodderland was 34 when she survived a hemorrhagic stroke. The producer started filming herself as she was forced to start again in a world which now seems foreign and the results are fascinating. Watch on Netflix
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
The late, great food and travel writer continues to win new admirers and loyal audiences, as was proved earlier in 2018 when Netflix committed to extending its deal to stream Bourdain’s series including Parts Unknown for “months to come”. Always magnetic and a generous screen presence, let’s hope those months turn into years. Watch on Netflix
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
Via an interview and previously unseen on-set footage, Jim Carrey looks back at Man on the Moon, the 1999 biopic in which he played cult comedian Andy Kaufman. It’s more illuminating than the film: the extent to which Carrey became Kaufman is revealed. Watch on Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone?
The definitive portrait of one of America’s most turbulently talented musicians. Through never-before-seen archive footage and sumptuous live performances, Nina Simone’s courage, gift – and demons – are beautifully brought to life on screen. Watch on Netflix
Recovery Boys
From the director of Heroin(e) comes another tough look at the American drug crisis. Four young men enter rehab with a difference: working on a farm, and existing against the raw beauty of the countryside, is the backdrop to their struggle to kick opioids. The emotions that spill out intense. Watch on Netflix
Diana In Her Own Words
This controversial documentary first aired on Channel 4 in the UK in 2017. The film features recordings made by Princess Diana between 1992 and 1993, when she engaged a voice coach to improve her public presentation skills. Some of the segments prove remarkably candid, particularly when it comes to her ill-fated marriage to the Prince of Wales. If you want spoilers for what’s to come in The Crown in the future, this is the place to start. Watch on Netflix
Icarus
How one amateur cyclist helped expose Russia’s unprecedented state doping programme. The sport documentary is a remarkable watch, not just because of the revelations it contains, but because of the characters that are involved in this giant web of deception and doping. The film has now been nominated for a Bafta in the 2018 Best Documentary category. Watch on Netflix
The Staircase
The story of Michael Peterson, who was convicted in 2003 of murdering his wife but insisted she’d simply fallen, has been told on TV before: BBC4’s Storyville covered it in 2005 and updated it in 2013. Netflix now has further new episodes. If you’re new to the story, this is your fresh true-crime obsession. Watch on Netflix
The Final Year
This extraordinary documentary is about much more than securing President Barack Obama’s legacy. With incredible access, filmmaker Greg Barker charts the former president’s final efforts before he leaves office. Watch on Netflix
The Ivory Game
This documentary film, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, shows us the front line in the war against the global ivory trade – and shows how close the African elephant is to extinction. Watch on Netflix
The White Helmets
The Academy Award-winning documentary follows the work of the Syrian Civil Defense – also known as the White Helmets – who are first on the scene during the horror of daily airstrikes on civilian targets during the country’s civil war. It was the first Oscar win for Netflix. Watch on Netflix
The True Cost
Do you know how much your affordable high street clothes really cost? This troubling documentary questions consumerism, materialism and the true human consequences of our fashion obsession. Watch on Netflix
Capitalism: A Love Story
In this award-winning doc, Micheal Moore explores the global economic meltdown, asking how corporate interests have been allowed to take precedent over public good. Watch on Netflix
13th
The title of this potent film refers to the 13th Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” ‘Punishment for crime’ is the key qualifier here, as the documentary explores the injustices at the heart of America’s penal system. Watch on Netflix
Particle Fever
You’ve heard of the Large Hadron Collider, but do you actually know what it is, what it does, or what it could tell us about our world? Here six brilliant scientists explain. Watch on Netflix
Twinsters
The weird and wonderful power of the internet, eh? Samantha and Anais are two adopted young women who connected on social media – and believe themselves to be twin sisters separated at birth. Watch on Netflix
Louis Theroux: A Different Brain
Seasoned documentary maker Louis Theroux has a number of his documentary films available on Netflix – this special from 2016 is one of his best recent works. Watch on Netflix
Rotten
Not one to watch with your dinner on your lap. Rotten takes a cold, hard look at the global food industry, and exactly what it takes to keep a meat-hungry, binge-eating populace in bread. The US is its focus, but where their food industry leads, the rest of the world follows. We should all take note. Watch on Netflix
Making a Murderer
A true crime game changer, and still one of Netflix’s most talked-about series. Filmed over 10 years, Making a Murderer follows Steven Avery, a man who served 18 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, only to be arrested for murder upon his release. The filmmakers are currently working on a follow-up – although Netflix will not rush them to tell a story that took so long to tell first time round. Watch on Netflix
from Radio Times https://ift.tt/2MBzjCN
