Top 10 Best Documentaries on Netflix Right Now

If you’re out searching for the best Netflix documentaries right now, this article was compiled just for you. We will highlight the top 10 best documentaries on Netflix to aid your next choice.

Unlike fictional movies, a documentation of reality is meant to provide both validation and insight into real-life events- this documentation is what we refer to as a documentary.

Thanks to technology, most documentaries can be streamed as soon as they are released with very little data needed. Some of the best platforms for documentaries are HBO Max, AMC+, FlixFling, Hulu, and Netflix. In this article, however, RNN.NG explores the top 10 best documentaries on Netflix right now.

Some of these documentaries are Netflix Originals that may not be found on other platforms. Some Netflix Original documentaries include 7 Days Out, 137 Shots, A Farewell to Ozark, After Maria, and Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan, among others.

The good thing about this article is that it whets your appetite before you eventually get to watch the documentaries outlined above. Rather than using a trial and error method of watching documentaries, articles like this will help you decipher what exactly you’re interested in and save you previewing time.

Without further ado, let’s dig in!

Top 10 Best Documentaries on Netflix Right Now

The table below shows the list of the 10 best documentaries on Netflix right now.

10. Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017)

This particular documentary is an escape from the norm. It focuses on the life of celebrity artiste, Lady Gaga, however, it is still not your regular celebrity documentary.

The documentary covers the artist’s life during the writing and release of her album, Joanne. This work is intimate as it features Gaga in her most delicate times.

9. The Sparks Brothers (2021)

Reviews from The Sparks Brothers show that most of the viewers watched the documentary because of Edgar Wright. The filmmaker has a famous reputation for making good movies (Baby Driver inclusive) and this documentary is another body of work to prove his prowess.

“The Sparks”, referred to as your favorite band’s favorite band is an entertaining history of Ron and Russel Mael’s pop-rock duo. Despite producing music for half a century, the duo goes unnoticed. The documentary, therefore, focuses solely on their music rather than their life.

If you love music, especially from the Sparks, this documentary is your go-to.

8. Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed (2021)

This documentary like many others is focused on the life of a famous personality. Bob Ross was an American painter, art instructor, and television host.

The late icon was famous for creating over 30,000 paintings and touching the lives of millions around the world. One would expect to watch a documentary amplifying this part of Ross. However, in this documentary directed by Joshua Rofé, more deep secrets about the artist’s life are revealed.

It remains one of the highest-grossing NetFlix documentaries on the streaming platform.

7. The Barkley Marathons (2016)

Reviews of this documentary show that it is an Audience Favorite. The Barkley Marathons is not your regular marathon race.

This documentary derives its title from the very event it depicts. If you cringe at the idea of a marathon, then you would flee at the idea of an ultramarathon. Barkley Marathons is an ultra marathon race where about 40 athletes try to complete a 100-mile race in 60 hours.

The documentary sees the athletes striving to finish the seemingly impossible course which involves some rough terrains- some of the world’s roughest.

The Barkley Marathons is arguably one of the best Netflix documentaries right now.

6. Crack (2021)

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy, is a documentary that retells the story of the Crack epidemic that bedeviled the United States of America in the 1980s.

The Netflix original was released in January 2021 and has topped the charts as one of the best Netflix documentaries ever.

Crack is more than just a story, It is a tribute to the lives, families, and communities affected during the epidemic, as well as a depiction of the marginalization of the black people in the U.S.

The documentary was directed by Stanley Nelson.

5. Flint Town (2018)

Flint Town is a documentary depicting the quality of life of people in Flint, Michigan (U.S). The police strive to maintain law and order in the violent city but survival is a major goal for its residents.

Citing issues like poverty, crime, and the water crisis in the town, the people of Flint chase survival by all means.

Flint Town is not necessarily an exact depiction of real-life occurrences but it’s not fictional either, thus, it deserves a spot on RNN’s list of the top 10 best documentaries on Netflix.

4. Dirty Money (2018)

Dirty Money is one of the best Netflix documentaries on the platform right now. The docuseries portrays the corruption and scandal in many businesses today. You’re forced to wonder if businesses really exist to serve their clients or if they even care about them at all.

It exposes the lengths the rich would go through to keep and increase their riches while putting others at risk. Whether dirty or not, it seems as though money must be made by all means. Dirty Money is an interesting watch.

Top 3 Best Documentaries on Netflix

This is probably the moment you’ve been waiting for. Let’s get straight into it! The top 3 best documentaries on Netflix at the moment are:

• Tinder Swindler
• Our Father
• Planet Earth II

3. Planet Earth II (2016)

Planet Earth II is one of those sequels that make you sigh in satisfaction at the fact that you did not wait in vain. After the first series aired in 2006, Sir David Attenborough explores the earth yet again in this second series.

In this documentary, the legendary narrator explains how climate change has impacted our world and its effects on our lifestyle today.

It is definitely an educating documentary.

2. Our Father (2022)

This recently released documentary also makes the list of the best Netflix documentaries at the moment. Our Father is one body of work that makes one’s jaw drop in either disbelief or disgust (or both).

The documentary follows the true life story of a former fertility doctor (rather, fertility fraudster), Donald Cline,  based in Indianapolis. Cline had and executed the habit of inseminating female patients with his own sperm at his clinic, making him the “father of many nations”. He automatically fathered at least 94 children with several women, asides the four from his own wife.

The long-hidden truth begins to creep out from under the carpet when a woman undergoes a DNA test.

If Donald Cline’s story is new to you then Our Father was made just for you.

1. The Tinder Swindler (2022)

The Tinder Swindler is the best documentary on Netflix right now. The 2022 documentary is highly relatable in today’s world. It exposes viewers to the harsh realities that befall some people who partake in online dating.

Simon Leviev, the supposedly perfect online lover, soon renders his rich victim wretched, ripping her of huge sums of money with the simple art of telling a lie.

Using his victims to aid his fake but expensive lifestyle, Simon continues to dupe women of hundreds of thousands and since the internet securely provides a mask for him, he succeeds in his bid as a con artist.

Many “Simons” exist in our world today, who are not only con artists and huge liars but are also self-seeking and mean-hearted- this documentary unmasks this terrible act. “The Tinder Swindler” is the most-watched Netflix Documentary in the history of the streaming platform so far. It was directed by Felicity Morris and released in 2022.

Rundown: Best Netflix Documentaries

For emphasis, here are the top 10 best Netflix documentaries at the moment.

Tinder Swindler still tops the list as the best documentary on Netflix until there’s another relatable piece that’ll get the world talking.

Here’s the full list:

1.  Tinder Swindler (2022)
2. Our Father (2022)
3. Planet Earth II (2016)
4. Dirty Money (2018)
5. Flint Town (2018)
6. Crack (2021)
7. The Barkley Marathons (2016)
8. Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed (2021)
9. The Sparks Brothers (2021)
10. Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017)