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'Stranger Things 4' Didn't Beat 'Squid Game' as Netflix's Biggest Hit Ever
'Stranger Things 4' Didn't Beat 'Squid Game' as Netflix's Biggest Hit Ever
Stranger Things 4 has been wildly popular -- just not the most wildly popular: Watch-time stats that Netflix released Tuesday solidified its status as the second most popular title the streaming service has ever released, behind Squid Game.
As of the week ended Sunday, Stranger Things 4 has been watched for a cumulative 1.35 billion hours, short of the 1.65 billion hours that Squid Game amassed in its first 28 days of release. Netflix limits how long a show's viewership can count toward its popularity rankings, and the final day for Stranger Things 4 to accumulate hours in its watch-time count was Thursday.
The watch-time popularity ranking for Stranger Things 4 has a couple caveats.
First, those rankings favor shows and movies with unusually long runtimes, like Stranger Things 4. It's why Martin Scorsese's film The Irishman, at three-and-a-half hours long, suddenly became Netflix's No. 7 top film ever as soon as the company started going by watch-time rather than the number of accounts that streamed it.
Stranger Things 4's runtime, at 778 minutes, is nearly 60% longer than that of Squid Game. That gives Stranger Things the advantage of simply having more hours in a single season for each account to stream. (Stranger Things' latest season is also nearly twice as long as the first season of the show was.)
Second, its hours-watched total gets counted a bit differently because the season was released in two separate batches of episodes. For shows like Squid Game, which was released with the traditional Netflix "binge" model, the popularity ranking is based on viewing hours in the first 28 days of release. But if a new season releases its episodes in two parts on different dates, as Stranger Things 4 did, Netflix counts the watch time of the first volume's episodes for their first 28 days, then it counts the watch time of the second volume's episodes for their first 28 days.
For years, Netflix was notoriously tight-lipped about its viewership. Beau Willimon -- creator of House of Cards, which put Netflix's original programming on the map -- once said the company wouldn't even share viewership metrics with him.
But within the last two years, Netflix has become much more open about the popularity of its shows and movies to help it recruit talent and stoke buzz. First, Netflix added a top-trending ranking to its service, so people can see the most popular titles streaming on Netflix in their country on any given day. Then it also started publicly sharing popularity stats for certain titles, publicizing the number of accounts that watched two minutes of a particular title in its first month of release.
Netflix eventually launched a website in mid-November posting weekly charts of its most popular shows and movies, as well as a global ranking of all-time most watched titles. The charts are updated every week and ranked by the total number of hours that subscribers spent watching them.
The rankings represent an unprecedented trove of data about what's popular on Netflix, detailing the most popular titles in the last week not only globally but also for more than 90 individual countries. It's the most transparency that Netflix has ever adopted for its viewership, but it's also meant to help subscribers like you have a better grip on what's most popular on the world's biggest subscription streaming service.
'Stranger Things' Fans Spot Alteration to Old Nancy and Jonathan Scene
'Stranger Things' Fans Spot Alteration to Old Nancy and Jonathan Scene
Stranger Things season 4 has been gripping our attention since it arrived on Netflix in May, attention that has now turned back to earlier seasons. Creators the Duffer brothers discussed re-editing scenes from older episodes, mainly involving touching up VFX. Fans took to TikTok and Twitter to note one of the changes they believed had been made.
One such scene involves Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and her new boyfriend, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), in the second episode of the first season, titled The Weirdo on Maple Street. Steve, a jock-type, convinces Nancy to join him at a house party, where they sleep together for the first time.
Out in the woods, Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) snaps pictures of the party guests, including Nancy when she removes her clothes. Fans on TikTok and Twitter thought they'd picked up on a slight tweak to this scene -- Jonathan no longer shown taking a picture of Nancy when she undresses.
However, the Stranger Things writing team has since addressed the rumors on Twitter. "PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be," the tweet reads.
Jonathan still possesses a picture of the moment, revealed in the next episode, titled Holly, Jolly. Steve and his bully pals discover the photos from the party, calling Jonathan a "creep" and a pervert. "He was probably gonna save this one for later," says Carol Perkins (who was dating Tommy Hagen), referring to the photo of Nancy undressing.
The Duffer brothers have had other opportunities to make tweaks, including the date of Will's (Noah Schnapp) birthday. In season 2, episode 8, Will's mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) says his birthday is March 22. In season 4, episode 2, a timestamp on a video camera recording reads March 22, but no one celebrates Will's big day.
Matt Duffer suggested changing Will's birthday to May 22, "because 'May' can fit in Winona's mouth." He continued, "So that would be us George Lucas-ing the situation." Star Wars creator George Lucas frequently altered his movies after their release. Mostly, this involved improving special effects.
At time of writing, however, Joyce still says March 22 in the season 2 scene.
'Stranger Things' Will Be Netflix's Biggest Hit Yet. How? Netflix Changed its Rules
'Stranger Things' Will Be Netflix's Biggest Hit Yet. How? Netflix Changed its Rules
What's happening
Netflix ranks the popularity of its originals with all-time Most Popular charts, but last month it quietly changed the way it measures the watch time for some shows. The stats for those shows inflated dramatically.
Why it matters
For Netflix to launch a cheaper tier with ads, it must win over advertisers, and its measurement takes on new significance when advertisers become part of the equation.
What's next
Stranger Things, which released seven episodes last week and will drop two more July 1, is all but certain to be ranked as Netflix's biggest hit yet thanks to this rule change that works in the show's favor.
Stranger Things returned Friday with season 4. By the end of the summer, Netflix will almost certainly proclaim the retro sci-fi series' latest season its biggest hit yet. But Stranger Things 4's viewership victory, set to trump the likes of Bridgerton and Squid Game, was assured weeks before a single subscriber streamed a second of it, when Netflix quietly tweaked its own popularity rules.
The change last month has already inflated the stats for shows like Ozark and Money Heist. Stranger Things 4 is next.
Stranger Things 4's first volume of episodes hit Friday. The season's final two episodes, running nearly four hours combined, will land July 1.
Netflix
When the final numbers are in, Stranger Things 4 will likely eclipse Bridgerton and Squid Game in Netflix's all-time Most Popular rankings based on total hours watched. These are charts that Netflix updates weekly at Netflix Top 10. All three shows are colossally well-watched worldwide. But among them, only Stranger Things will enjoy Netflix counting its "watch time" for twice as long. Instead of tallying up viewing hours in its first 28 days of release, as Netflix did for Bridgerton and Squid Game, Netflix will be racking up Stranger Things 4's views over 56 days total thanks to its two-part release schedule.
While these charts can be dismissed as pageantry without much consequence, they're still the most direct data available pointing people -- whether it's Wall Street suits, Hollywood insiders or viewers like you -- to the biggest titles on the world's largest streaming service. They give investors a gauge for Netflix's competitiveness, they can help Netflix recruit talent, and they stoke buzz that may nudge you to watch something you otherwise wouldn't.
But Netflix measurement is about to take on much greater consequence, as the service launches advertising. For Netflix to be able to offer you a cheaper tier with ads, it will need to broaden its measurement beyond watch time and get more transparent in order to win over advertisers, experts say.
Netflix has gotten by this far releasing whatever data it wants on its own terms, said Dallas Lawrence, the head of communications and brand for Samba TV, a television researcher and ad measurement firm. That will change when Netflix must sell itself to advertisers too.
"The buyers will not allow Netflix to grade its own homework," Lawrence said.
Watch time turned upside down
When Netflix launched its Top 10 rankings website in November, it unlocked an unprecedented trove of viewing data. The site details the service's most-watched titles of the previous week and how many hours they were viewed, both globally and in more than 90 individual countries. For its most voraciously viewed titles, Netflix updates a set of Most Popular charts, which rank its most watched originals of all time.
And for a show or movie to make it on the all-time Most Popular rankings, Netflix looks at the 28 days from its premiere to rack up watch hours.
The latest season of Bridgerton, for example, is Netflix's most watched show in English at 656.3 million hours. Squid Game, the breakout South Korean dystopian thriller, is Netflix's most-watched show in any language, at 1.65 billion hours watched in the 28-day window.
Squid Game is Netflix's most watched title so far.
Netflix
That 28-day shot clock was the same for every movie and TV season, until May 10. Then Netflix quietly tweaked the rules to give some shows 56 days -- twice as long -- to amass views. For any series that releases its season in two "volumes" on different dates, the shot clock runs for 28 days after its first batch of episodes, then it resumes again for an additional 28 days after the second batch. Netflix counts the viewing of a volume's episodes only during that volume's first 28 days.
But shows like Stranger Things 4, with seven episodes out now and another two coming July 1, still get 56 days to generate viewing hours toward their ranking. And because the release of a second volume can come soon after the first, the first 28-day window can potentially include rewatch views of the first batch as fans catch up as the second approaches. In the case of Stranger Things 4, fans who immediately binge-watched volume one could revisit these episodes to refresh in anticipation of volume two. And any of that rewatching before June 23 would count.
Shows like Bridgerton and Squid Game, which followed the Netflix convention of releasing a full season at once, are still stuck with their count over 28 days.
Netflix disclosed this change by, essentially, updating its fine print. Judging by archived screenshots of the Top 10 website, Netflix added two sentences to its methodology statement on May 10. Netflix didn't otherwise disclose that it had altered its methodology for the Most Popular rankings.
When reached for comment on this article, Netflix referred to the methodology stated on its site.
Stranger Things 4 was already sure to be a smash by Netflix's standards. Its last season is among Netflix's most watched programs ever, even though it came out when Netflix had two-thirds the subscribers it does now. A three-year hiatus has built up fan demand, and this season's runtime is much longer than the rest. (Its runtime is also much longer than that of Squid Game or Bridgerton. Its first volume of episodes runs an hour longer than the entirety of Squid Game or Bridgerton's whole last season, and Stranger Things 4 still has nearly four hours coming July 1.)
But May's methodology change stacked the deck in favor of Stranger Things. It has already generated 286.8 million hours in the first three days of availability. With 53 more days on its shot clock, it needs to generate less than a tenth of that daily to accumulate enough watch time to become No. 1.
Overnight sensations
The rule change has wildly inflated the watch time for several other shows already. Multiple programs suddenly appeared in Netflix's top 10 charts or shot to a much higher ranking, with hundreds of millions of hours suddenly added to their counts.
Money Heist, which released its final season in two volumes, saw its watch-time ranking jump seemingly overnight after Netflix changed its popularity rules.
Netflix
Money Heist is a hit Spanish thriller series also known as La Casa de Papel. Its final season was released in two volumes, with five episodes landing on Sept. 1 and the last five episodes arriving Dec. 1. After the methodology change in May, its watch time more than doubled. Money Heist is now positioned as Netflix's No. 2 most watched show of all time regardless of language, right after Squid Game. Before the rule change, it didn't even make the top 10.
Other shows have gotten big bumps too. Fantasy police procedural Lucifer released half its fifth season in 2020 and the other half nearly a year later. Lucifer had been absent from Netflix's Most Popular rankings since they launched, but in May, it suddenly appeared as Netflix's No. 7 most-watched program in any language. The latest season of the drama Ozark, released partly on Jan. 21 and partly on April 29, needed three extra weeks of streaming after its original 28-day window to make the English language top 10.
Netflix's Top 10 website still characterizes the watch time of all these shows as hours viewed in their "first 28 days on Netflix."
To bolster the credibility of its stats, Netflix recruited accounting firm EY -- formerly known as Ernst & Young, one of the world's biggest accounting companies -- to vet its data. But EY finished its first Netflix report in February, long before Netflix revised its methodology. And EY's report was a light-touch vetting called a review, which essentially accepts the measurement criteria as Netflix defines them and then verifies that the data abide by those rules. Netflix has no existing plans for another accounting review.
Grading its own homework
Netflix was notoriously tight-lipped about its viewership for years. Beau Willimon -- creator of House of Cards, which put Netflix's original programming on the map -- once said the company wouldn't even share audience metrics with him. But since 2018, Netflix has grown more open about the popularity of its shows and movies, culminating with its Top 10 website.
During Stranger Things' three-year hiatus, Bridgerton became Netflix's most-watched show in English.
Netflix
For Netflix to start offering you a cheaper tier with ads, it needs to actually win advertisers -- and advertisers won't go by Netflix's numbers. Because TV advertising is so expensive, brands and agencies want measurements comparable across services, so they can know what they're getting at Netflix versus Paramount Plus versus Disney Plus, said Needham senior analyst Laura Martin.
Netflix "can do weird things, like introduce new measurement," added Martin, who has called for Netflix to add advertising for years. "But it would slow adoption by advertisers."
Traditionally, advertisers evaluated TV programs by how many people tuned in. "As we enter this new phase, transparency around viewership data is going to be essential, especially on 'closed' platforms" like Netflix, said Anjali Midha, co-founder and CEO of Diesel Labs, a media intelligence firm. Viewership will naturally remain important, she added, but so will demographics, psychographics and other metrics of watching behavior.
But Netflix's own reputation as the gold standard of streaming TV will work in its favor, Lawrence said.
"Streaming has historically been rife with a myriad … sites that still seem like the Wild West, fraught with risky content," he said.
Advertisers may come to welcome Netflix's safety and scope, even if its own measurement rules still shoot from the hip.
Correction, 6:07 a.m. PT June 2: An earlier version of this story suggested Netflix may count viewing of all episodes from split-season shows over a full 56 days. Netflix counts the viewing of episodes only within 28 days of their release, but split-season shows get two 28-day periods -- 56 days total -- to amass watch time.
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'Paper Girls' Review: Newsies vs. Terminator, but Don't Mention 'Stranger Things'
'Paper Girls' Review: Newsies vs. Terminator, but Don't Mention 'Stranger Things'
There's a new streaming series about four walkie-talkie-toting 1980s teens, pedaling their bikes into action against fantastical goings-on.
Yes, I know. Sounds a lot like Stranger Things. But let's try to forget about Netflix's smash hit for a minute and give Amazon's entertaining new sci-fi show Paper Girls a chance.
Paper Girls is based on the award-winning comic by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Cliff Chiang, which began in 2015 and ran for 30 issues. All eight episodes of the first season began streaming on Prime Video in July.
The show begins in the wee small hours as Halloween 1988 draws to a close. Four 12-year-old paper delivery girls take to the darkened suburban streets to begin their round. Tough-talking Mac, shy new kid Erin, rich kid KJ and budding prodigy Tiffany have to contend with racists, bullies and drunks, but these everyday assholes pale into insignificance when the girls are caught up in a war between time travelers.
The first episode is thrillingly chaotic, with the sodium-yellow streetlights giving way to a roiling pink sky as the kids find themselves caught up in craziness and confusion. Their paper round spirals into escalating weirdness and action, with some genuine shocks building to a solid cliffhanger. It's all there: four engaging leads, an intriguing premise and some deliciously odd twists and turns.
The main strength of the show is the young cast as they're catapulted forward 30 years and are thrown around in time, facing themselves and their loved ones in years to come. Riley Lai Nelet and Fina Strazza are relatable as the unassuming underdog and sensitive scion of a wealthy family, while Camryn Jones shines later in the show as the team's sparky thinker. The standout throughout is Sofia Rosinsky, channeling Edward Furlong's rebellious juvenile delinquent from Terminator 2 with a combination of bravado and vulnerability.
The Terminator is probably the other big influence on the series, as a ruthless hunter infiltrates the suburbs to track down our time-displaced young heroines. As with all time travel stories, paradoxes and timelines soon get tangled, with the young newsies encountering their future selves (including comedian Ali Wong).
This is the key thing about Paper Girls: it's a coming-of-age story, using the sci-fi conceit of time travel to allow characters to see how they turned out and demand answers from the people they come to be. The older versions of the girls have as much to learn from their younger selves as the youngsters do from any adult, and it's a compelling way to explore these questions of what it means to grow up and take control of your life.
Or at least, the show comes pretty close. Later in the series one of the young cast meets their older self in an encounter that's bribing with conflict and revelation. But Wong is under-served in her appearance as an adult who just turns out to be a bit mediocre. A slightly disappointing life isn't really the stuff of drama, especially in a show when the other storyline is a frickin' guerrilla war between sci-fi commandos and laser-gun-toting fanatics jumping through time.
Paper Girls has enough twists and compelling characters to keep you involved, but the show does lose momentum after the eventful first episode. All too often the girls arrive in a new location and then just… go to bed. People need to sleep, sure, but scenes like this feel like intermissions when the momentum flags, even sapping the tension out of the pursuing hunter's approach. Paper Girls could do with more urgency and energy as the heroes fight both their enemies and their desire to get back to their home time (or not).
A lack of momentum isn't a problem that troubles Stranger Things, and Paper Girls will suffer by comparison with Netflix's hit show. But it's worth noting that Paper Girls is a different animal. Stranger Things is set in the 1980s because it's all about the '80s: the hair, the music, the clothes, Dungeons & Dragons -- the pop culture references are the point, as this retro nostalgia is a loving tribute to (and updating of) the movies and culture of that era. Paper Girls, however, starts in the 1980s so the kids can hop forward through their lives. There are some excellent vintage needledrops (if only it would do for New Order, Danzing or Echo and the Bunnymen what Stranger Things season 4 did for Kate Bush), but this isn't a show about the '80s specifically: it's a story about growing up told across the timeline of a life.
Paper Girls could do with a jolt of the energy that makes Stranger Things fizz. But set aside any comparisons and there's a lot to like about this twisty show, especially its winning young cast.
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The Absolute Best Sci-Fi TV Shows on Netflix
The Absolute Best Sci-Fi TV Shows on Netflix
Netflix is sitting on a wide range of sci-fi series, from Stranger Things to Black Mirror to The OA. It's also tapped excellent international content, including German sci-fi Dark -- one of the best series on Netflix full stop -- as well as hidden gems, such as Canadian sci-fi Travelers.
Scroll down to hopefully find the best Netflix sci-fi for you, plus excellent international offerings.
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Netflix
Dark (2017-2020)
Germany's answer to Stranger Things deliberately takes its time before stepping into completely compelling and original places. A sci-fi noir, Dark folds time travel, conspiracies and estranged families into a generation-spanning story kicked off by a child's disappearance. If those kinds of meticulously crafted layers are what you're after in your storytelling, settle in. All three seasons of Dark's meditative look at time travel and its effect on human nature are waiting to hit you at full force.
Murray Close/Netflix
Sense8 (2015-2018)
From the creators of The Matrix comes another story that plays with reality. Sense8 follows eight strangers from across the world who discover they're mentally and emotionally linked. Not only do these windows into vastly different lives teach tolerance, but the "sensates" can also tap each other's skills when facing a sinister organization hunting them down. If you jibe with Sense8's diverse characters, you'll fall head over heels for this earnest and sensual sci-fi drama.
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Love, Death + Robots (2019—)
This adult animated anthology series spans a range of genres, with plenty of episodes hitting the Black Mirror comparison button. Robots in a post-apocalyptic city, farmers piloting mech suits and a space mission gone wrong all pop up in the first season. While the episodes can be hit and miss (some have been criticized for their treatment of women), you'll find plenty of thought-provoking and impressive animation.
Netflix
The Silent Sea (2021—)
Yeah, Gong Yoo from Squid Game's in this. What else do you need to know? This South Korean sci-fi mystery follows a crew of astronauts on a mission to an abandoned research facility on the moon. Their target: a sample of an unknown substance for unclear purposes. Betrayal, government lies and personal secrets send this addictive space journey into a tailspin.
Warner Bros./YouTube/CNET Screenshot
The 100 (2014-2020)
If The 100 looks like your standard teen drama, prepare to have your expectations exceeded. There's a reason this post-apocalyptic series scored seven seasons: The 100 brings rich world-building and moral dilemmas that push the stereotypical characters into unique, compelling places. The 100 in question are a generation of juvenile detainees sent to Earth to determine whether it's habitable post-apocalypse. 100 percent give this one a go.
Netflix
Altered Carbon (2018-2020)
Altered Carbon is set in a cyberpunk world where human consciousnesses can be transferred into different bodies. This sees investigator and ex-soldier Takeshi Kovacs transported into the body of Joel Kinnaman in season 1 and Anthony Mackie in season 2. Initially, Kovacs' story involves solving a murder, before he goes on a quest to unravel what happened to his own lost love. Altered Carbon can be clunky at times, but its visual candy and entertainment value hoist you through the exposition and heavy-handed social commentary.
Netflix
Archive 81 (2022)
Unfortunately this sci-fi series isn't seeing a second season -- another Netflix casualty that was killed off far too soon. Two timelines, cults and a mystery are wrapped into Archive 81's tantalizing package. The multiple genre-straddling show stars Mamoudou Athie as Dan Turner, an archivist who takes a gig restoring a collection of damaged videotapes from the '90s. He gets far more than he bargained for, drawn into an investigation of a mysterious cult and a young woman who may or may not be dead. A supernatural thriller with horror, noir and sci-fi seeped into its creepy atmosphere, Archive 81 has it all.
Netflix
Lost in Space (2018-2021)
The reboot of the 1965 series of the same name propels us forward to 2046, two years after humanity finds itself on the brink of extinction. The talented Robinson family head out with a crew to colonize a new planet. Aside from inescapable family drama, they face strange new environments and an odd alien robot that befriends young Will. Mystery, heart and a memorable villain in Parker Posey's Dr. Smith give Lost in Space plenty of fuel to lift off (seasons 2 and 3 are markedly improved over season 1).
Netflix
Stranger Things (2016—)
It wouldn't be a best list without Stranger Things. If somehow you've missed the Duffer Brothers' ode to '80s horror and Steven Spielberg, things are about to get tubular. We follow El, a near-mute girl who was the subject of scientific experiments. She develops telekinetic powers, which she uses to fend off monsters who invade from a frightening alternative dimension. The world of Indiana, Hawkins, is lovingly detailed for anyone in need of an '80s nostalgia hit and the misfit characters, played by a stellar young cast, are part of everything that makes this show a tour de force.
Netflix
Travelers (2016-2018)
Full disclosure: Netflix sadly canceled Travelers after its third season, but this tightly plotted sci-fi out of Canada does manage to end with an ambitious bang. We start with Marcy, a disabled woman who's beaten up after helping a friend escape thugs. She dies -- then comes back to life. This strong character-driven sci-fi reveals its secrets in clever ways, following operatives from the future tasked with preventing the collapse of society but also navigating the tricky territory of living a double life.
Laurie Sparham/Netflix
Black Mirror (2011—)
While Charlie Brooker's bleak tech anthology series can be hit and miss, at its best, Black Mirror packs its mini-movies with an exploration of futuristic technological ideas through painfully human stories. One of those is San Junipero, following two women in the '80s (cue banging soundtrack) as they fall for each other in ways they couldn't do in their "real" lives outside the beach city. The tech aspect is revealed with genius timing and, in general, the show explores the consequences of our plugged-in lives in disturbing and occasionally uplifting ways.
Netflix
Away (2020)
Hilary Swank is the big star at the heart of Away's space drama. She plays Emma Green, a NASA astronaut and commander of an expedition to Mars. Things get off to a rocky start, and Emma's international crew fill her with doubt over her ability to command. With time split between Earthbound drama and reliable entertainment above the stratosphere, Away is mostly successful in landing an all-rounded journey.
JoJo Whilden/Netflix
The OA (2016-2019)
Netflix cancellations don't get more criminal than the axing of The OA. This wildly unique story follows Prairie Johnson, a young blind woman who returns after being missing for years, now with the ability to see. She claims to be the "original angel" and convinces a small group of locals to listen to her impossible story, involving abductions and great escapes. The OA is the kind of grounded sci-fi that catches you and its heroes completely off guard when it introduces its fantastic concepts. Watch the first two impeccable seasons on Netflix and cross your fingers the third is picked up elsewhere.
Netflix
Into the Night (2020—)
This apocalyptic sci-fi from Belgium will probably turn you off from flying any time soon. Set on a plane, Into the Night sees a red-eye hijacked by a soldier who, along with the rest of the passengers, ends up surviving a deadly global event down on the ground. Can they keep the plane going long enough to take them to safety? That premise alone should be enough to entice you to catch this excellent, tense thriller.
Netflix
The One (2021)
A DNA researcher claims that it's possible to match people based on genetics, and founds a matchmaking service. A murder investigation takes things for a turn. The One is based on a book of the same name by John Marrs, published in 2016.
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You Need to Watch the Most Underrated Superhero Show on HBO Max
You Need to Watch the Most Underrated Superhero Show on HBO Max
Superman has never been an easy character to relate to. He is, essentially, a perfect being. Because he's the most powerful and morally pure character in the DC universe, there's not a lot of drama or internal conflict to mine from the Man of Steel. Contrast this with Batman, whose dark and flawed character makes him a fan favorite.
Of course, in the Marvel universe you have complex characters like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and the current run of She-Hulk, who headline their respective hit shows on Disney Plus. In comparison, Superman & Lois, which aired on The CW network and is now streaming both of its seasons on HBO Max, has flown under the radar. But it may be more impressive because it achieved a seemingly impossible goal: create a version of Superman that retains his Boy Scout personality but still makes him relatable.
The show does so by focusing on the theme of family, breathing new life into the franchise.
As a result, Superman & Lois may be the best iteration of Superman in TV or film. And this is coming from someone who watched Christopher Reeve's pitch-perfect performance at just the right age for it to leave a permanent impression.
The Reeve portrayal is one to be placed on a pedestal. But this new version speaks to me to an almost frighteningly personal degree. The new version of Clark Kent, played by Tyler Hoechlin, has been married to Lois for a while, and has two teenage boys. I'm also a father of two young boys. As amazing as Superman is at averting nuclear meltdowns or fending off rogue Kryptonians, he struggles to be a good father and makes bad decisions with the best of intentions. I can relate. (To the fatherhood bits anyway.)
That's not to say you need to be a father of two to appreciate the show. While it's technically part of the CW's "Arrowverse" universe of DC comic shows like The Flash and Supergirl (sort of... you get more indications at the end of the second season), it stands apart and feels different from everything that's come before it. The budget and production values are markedly higher, and the show is structured differently.
Where The Flash and Supergirl feature a group of do-gooders fighting off a threat of the week, Superman & Lois is a fascinating mashup of a typical comic book show and something grounded, like Friday Night Lights. There's a healthy amount of time spent on developing characters, who act like they're real people and not figures in some drama.
Hoechlin's Superman (or Kent) isn't the only character to root for in this show. Bitsie Tulloch is a force of nature as Lois Lane, showing her strength not just as a hard-nosed investigative journalist but as a protective mother. A large chunk of season 1 sees Lois working with local reporter Chrissy Beppo (Sofia Hasmik) to investigate a story, with discussions of actual journalism work, which again hits near and dear to my heart. Hitting upon the family theme further, season 2 has Lois working to free her sister from the clutches of a cult leader who's more than she seems.
Perhaps the most surprising elements are Lois and Clark's teenage sons, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alex Garfin). These characters could've easily been annoying or gotten wrapped up in the kind of melodrama that typical TV teenagers get into. The show airs on the CW, after all. And at first blush, Jonathan, a quarterback, and Jordan, an awkward brooder, fall into the usual cliches.
But instead, the link between these two brothers, one of whom -- light spoilers! -- develops superpowers, serves as a centerpiece of the show. Yes, they get into conflicts, and there are misunderstandings. There's jealousy and teenage gripes. But at the end of the day, the two talk like actual people and display an enduring level of support for each other.
The core family, flanked by a host of supporting characters who refuse to be typecast or go the obvious route, make for a show that's as enjoyable when they're hanging out at a local cafe as it is when Superman takes on an Iron Man-esque armored adversary. Emmanuelle Chriqui is a Lana Lang who's more world-weary than we remember, while Adam Rayner is deliciously devious as villain Morgan Edge, who gets a more complex arc in the second half that again ties into the idea of family. Wolé Parks, who plays the mysterious "Stranger" (who's definitely more than he seems) has one of the most satisfying character arcs in the show.
That's not to say there isn't loads of action. Superman & Lois takes its time with setting up its plot points, but that expanded budget ensured there are a number of set pieces that displayed the Man of Steel's power. From the cinematography to the special effects, the show is a big step up from the standard CW show and rightfully belongs on HBO Max.
The first season starts slow, but the arcs pick up the pace near the end, with twists and epic battles between superpowered figures, and all the stakes of any major comic book franchise. Plot points and clues buried early in the season pay off with almost overwhelming speed, and you're left with a satisfied conclusion.
It's telling that the final scene of the first season, which created a huge cliffhanger for the following season, isn't about some world-ending threat or new villain. It's about how the dynamics of the Kent family will change in interesting and even awkward ways.
Without any spoilers, the second season takes things up a notch, putting a disturbing mirror to the show and its characters that open up a ton of storytelling opportunities.
Superman & Lois has been green-lit for a third season. So you're safe knowing that your commitment to this first season will get some payoff.
Even for die-hard Marvel fan, this is a refreshing take on the superhero genre that's worth your time.
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
Netflix has the best documentaries in the business. Hands down. It might be the best part of the service. But the choice is almost overwhelming. That's why we've made this list: our picks for the best documentaries on Netflix.
Here's how we're breaking things down. We're starting with the latest and best up top, then the rest listed by genre.
Good luck and happy watching!
The Best Documentaries on Netflix
Netflix
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
Following in the very promising footsteps of Netflix documentaries being leaner, tighter and... better, Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 is a truly horrifying look at what really went on at the notorious Woodstock '99 festival. Quick content warning: Expect to see some truly grotesque discussion of human behavior including rape, looting and arson. This is a truly terrifying watch.
Netflix
Untold (2021)
Untold is the latest from the folks behind Wild Wild Country.
It's a sports documentary series, with each episode going in-depth on controversial sports topics. The first episode focuses on Malice at the Palace, the notorious basketball match where Ron Artest waded into the crowd and wailed on fans back in 2004.
Untold is now in its second season and it is absolute must watch stuff. The new episodes are arguably better than the stellar first season. Maybe the best sports documentary series on Netflix
Netflix
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix has been on fire with its documentaries lately, and The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the latest. From the producers of Tinder Swindler and Dont F**k with Cats, it's a three-part documentary that tells the story of Hunter Moore, one of the most notorious purveyors of "revenge porn." Definitely worth watching this one.
Netflix
The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture is the latest true crime documentary from Netflix. It's up there with the service's absolute best work.
It feels like, after a period of needlessly bloated multiepisode documentaries, Netflix has started trimming the fat, releasing lean, incredibly compelling documentaries again. First Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and Our Father, now this.
The Girl in the Picture tells the story of a young girl, murdered at age 20. To say too much would spoil the impact, but this is a layered, brutal documentary with endless twists. It needs to be seen to be believed.
Netflix
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
There are a lot of Netflix documentaries about cults gone mad, but Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey might be the most disturbing of the lot. Unlike Murder Among the Mormons, which almost treated its topic like a screwball comedy, Keep Sweet is a very grim story about a grim human being in Warren Jeffs. It's a fantastic documentary, and among the best Netflix has produced, but it comes with a very hefty content warning.
Netflix
Our Father
As good as Netflix documentaries are, there's been a tendency to drag out true crime into these bloated multiepisode series. Thankfully Our Father is the opposite of that. It's a lean, perfectly executed documentary focused on Donald Cline, an Indiana fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate a ridiculous number of women against their will.
This is an incredible piece, one of those stories that just escalates and escalates to the point where your jaw drops in disbelief.
Netflix
The Staircase (2018)
The true crime documentary genre is utterly saturated at this point, but The Staircase stands out.
Focusing on Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen, The Staircase is more than just a murder mystery. It's a drawn-out epic that takes place over literal decades, a documentary that follows Peterson and examines his every move, but somehow still remains objective.
It's a good time to watch or revisit this one, since HBO Max has just launched a drama miniseries based on it.
Netflix
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
The absolute gold standard for long-running sports documentaries. Drive to Survive is so good, and so popular, that it's inspired a whole new level of interest in Formula 1, especially in the US. This show is great at elevating the characters that occupy the sport. More shows like this, please.
Netflix
Icarus (2017)
This Oscar-winning documentary is an absolute belter.
Icarus starts out as an expose on the impact performance-enhancing drugs have on sports performance, but a sequence of events drags director Bryan Fogel into a web of geopolitics and conspiracies. To say more would spoil it, but Fogel ultimately has created a documentary that had a very real impact on our perception of sports as a whole. In that respect, Icarus is a literal game changer.
Netflix
Who Killed Little Gregory (2019)
Who Killed Little Gregory is a documentary focused on the horrific murder of Grégory Villemin. It's arguably the best true crime documentary on Netflix. It's about a murder, and attempts to solve that murder, but it's also a lesson in media representation and the horrific sexism Grégory's mother had to face in the wake of her son's murder.
Netflix
The Last Dance (2020)
In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Netflix dropped this piece of sports doc perfection.
The Last Dance focuses on the Chicago Bulls during their '97-'98 NBA title-winning season, but really it's a jumping off point for a documentary that tells the life story of its central star, Michael Jordan.
As a result, many criticized it for being a little too Jordan-focused, but The Last Dance was an event documentary that lived up to the hype.
True crime
Netflix
The Keepers (2017)
I've watched plenty of true crime documentaries on Netflix, but nothing has come close to The Keepers. A staggering story, told across generations, that's respectful of the victims, yet compelling throughout.
It's a story about the unsolved murder of Catherine Cesnik, a nun who taught at a Catholic school in Baltimore, but The Keepers goes further than you might expect and exposes a potential coverup of sex abuse allegations.
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
It's almost impossible to overstate how famous Jimmy Savile was in the UK -- particularly in the 1980s. He was beyond a household name, in many ways he felt like an eccentric uncle to the nation.
Which made revelations that he had sexually assaulted hundreds of underage girls and boys all the more horrific. This was a person the whole of Britain had invited into their homes.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story does a great job of going through the archives, combining footage that is utterly bizarre in hindsight, and adding fantastic interviews with some of the major players in British TV during Savile's heyday. A fascinating, albeit disturbing documentary. Be warned: This is a difficult watch.
Netflix
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
A documentary focused on Shimon Hayut, aka the "Tinder Swindler," a conman who used dating apps to defraud multiple women across Europe to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A slightly different topic compared to most true crime documentaries on Netflix. Definitely worth a gander.
Netflix
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021)
One of the more recent true crime documentaries from Netflix, this is a good one.
Focusing on the bizarre deaths of 11 family members in one house in Burari, Delhi, India in 2018, House of Secrets delves into the theories behind of the strangest suicide/murder cases in recent memory. Unmissable stuff.
Netflix
This Is a Robbery (2021)
This Is a Robbery is about Netflix as it gets. A four-part series focusing on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this is essentially a documentary about an art heist. Remember Evil Genius? (Which is also on this list.) This Is a Robbery is very much in that style. The first episode takes a while to get going, but be patient -- this one has a payoff.
Netflix
Murder Among the Mormons (2021)
Some of Netflix's more recent true crime documentaries have been a bit bloated and... sorta bad?
Thankfully Murder Among the Mormons is a return to form. Definitely watch this one.
Netflix
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
There are a lot of true crime documentaries out there (and on this list) but American Murder: The Family Next Door sticks out.
It tells the story of Chris Watts, a seemingly regular guy who murdered his wife and children. The access to footage is staggering and it's edited and produced in a unique way, using text messages and social media posts to tell the story. It's a horrific reminder of the banal, incredibly common existence of domestic violence.
Netflix
Making a Murderer (2015-2018)
With the swath of true crime documentaries and podcasts that came in its wake, it's easy to forget that the world once lost its collective mind over Making a Murderer. In a lot of ways it created the template that many Netflix documentaries now follow. A real original.
Sports
Netflix
Athlete A (2020)
Athlete A is a great feature length expose on Larry Nassar, the team doctor of USA Gymnastics, who had been sexually abusing female athletes for decades.
Be warned: This one is harrowing.
Netflix
14 Peaks (2021)
14 Peaks tells the story of the Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja and his goal of climbing all 14 mountains above the height of 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) in one year. It's incredible. Must-watch stuff.
Netflix
Bad Sport (2021)
Netflix might have burned the true crime documentary into the ground, but it's on fire when it comes to sports. Bad Sport is the latest entry into this burgeoning subcategory, and it's awesome. Focusing on strange controversies in sports history, Bad Sport is less about major players doing major things, it's about what happens when sport goes bad, gets down in the dirt. All of these episodes are great. Hoping for a season 2.
Netflix
The River Runner (2021)
The River Runner is sorta like Free Solo for kayaking. Consider that a compliment.
Focusing on Scott Lindgren, a kayaking legend who was a pioneer of the sport, this is a traditional story of an extreme sports star overcoming odds, but it runs a little deeper than that. Fighting against a brain tumor and his own personal demons, Lindgren is a compelling case study. Must watch stuff.
Netflix
Naomi Osaka (2021)
Naomi Osaka has become one of the most famous and talked-about athletes on the planet. This fascinating documentary explores different phases of her career and offers incredible access into the life of a young woman struggling with the pressures of sport and fame. A must-watch.
Netflix
The Speed Cubers (2020)
If you're looking for a slightly more uplifting documentary, you could do far worse than The Speed Cubers, a look at the world of competitive... Rubik's Cubers? It's short, but packs an incredible emotional punch. Prepare yourself, this one might break you.
Nature/science
Netflix
Seaspiracy (2021)
Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of multiple documentaries focused on the impact of meat eating on the environment. This time the global fishing industry is in the crosshairs. As expected this one has stirred up a bit of controversy from all stakeholders -- PETA, Greenpeace and conservation groups can't seem to agree if Seaspiracy is accurate or fair. Watch it and make up your own mind.
Netflix
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacher follows Craig Foster, a filmmaker who spent a year snorkeling and interacting with an octopus off the coast of South Africa. It's a nature film, sure, but it's simultaneously a documentary designed to inspire awe in the viewer. In short, octopuses are incredible. Little aliens on Earth, essentially. This is the story of a relationship between humans and nature, but it's also an inspiring call to action: Don't ignore the wonder that exists all around you.
Netflix
Our Great National Parks
Barack Obama is making a beeline for David Attenborough's job. And we don't hate the idea!
Our Great National Parks is a world-class nature documentary in the style of great BBC shows like Planet Earth. They've nailed it here. If you're a fan of that type of show, this is completely unmissable.
Netflix
Our Planet (2019)
David Attenborough nature documentaries are so pervasive, they're vulnerable to self parody, but Our Planet is -- I believe -- the high watermark. Only Planet Earth, another Attenborough doc, comes close. But I prefer this one.
Netflix
Tiger King (2020-21)
Time may dull its impact, but when Tiger King was first released on Netflix, the entire world couldn't stop talking about it.
Tiger King explores the strange underbelly of big cat breeding, focusing on a cast of unforgettable (and ultimately dangerous) characters. It drags its audience to weird places. Season 2 is now available and while the show has lost a lot of its bite, it's intriguing to catch up with this cast of wild human beings doing wild, completely outlandish things.
Politics/history
Netflix
13th (2016)
13th by Ava Duvernay is a staggering documentary that tells the story of American slavery and its long-lasting impacts, many of which still resonate today.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this should be mandatory viewing.
Netflix
The Great Hack (2019)
In the wake of the Capitol siege, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy almost feels like ancient history, but that doesn't make this documentary any less important. If you haven't seen it, then watch it.
Netflix
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
Recently released, Operations Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal has a name as long as some of Netflix's recent documentaries. Thankfully, this isn't as bloated as, say, the recent Cecil Hotel doc, but it could still use some trimming.
Operation Varsity Blues focused on the FBI investigation into college admissions that put actress Felicity Huffman into jail. Its director, Chris Smith, previously worked on the Fyre Festival documentary. This isn't quite as compelling, but is still well worth watching.
Sundance
Knock Down the House (2019)
Regardless of your views on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Knock Down the House is an incredible underdog story that cannot be missed. Focusing on progressive female candidates during the 2018 congressional primary campaigns, it's an insightful look at the democratic process. It's an inspiring reminder that we need to fight in order to make the voices of ordinary people count.
Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not gonna say much here. Nina Simone is a legend and this is maybe one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
Netflix
Wild Wild Country (2018)
Overlong and bloated, Wild Wild Country is nevertheless one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever watched on Netflix.
It tells the story of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who attempted to build a gigantic sprawling commune, for what was essentially a sex cult, in the United States. It's a strange story that somehow becomes stranger with age. Much like Tiger King, the story plumbs depths you won't believe. At times it's a slog, but Wild Wild Country is absolutely worthwhile.
Netflix
Five Came Back (2017)
I absolutely adore this documentary. Five current acclaimed directors (including Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola) help tell the story of five famous movie directors from the '30s and '40s who did frontline work during the Second World War. It wraps their legacies alongside the impact of the war itself into a truly compelling story of Hollywood's golden age.
Netflix
American Factory (2019)
An Oscar winner for Netflix, this documentary is the first produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions team.
American Factory tells the story of Fuyao, a Chinese company that built a factory in Ohio that inhabits a now-closed General Motors plant. You have to watch this movie.
Netflix
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
By this point we all have some sort of understanding of Jeffrey Epstein's story but Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich does itself a great service by focusing on the stories of the survivors of his abuse.
The Cinemart/Hulu
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)
Hulu also has a great Fyre festival documentary, but I prefer this Netflix one. Unlike many Netflix documentaries, which are stretched and bloated into multipart episodes, this documentary is sharp, direct and solid gold the entire way through.
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The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
Netflix has the best documentaries in the business. Hands down. It might be the best part of the service. But the choice is almost overwhelming. That's why we've made this list: our picks for the best documentaries on Netflix.
Here's how we're breaking things down. We're starting with the latest and best up top, then the rest listed by genre.
Good luck and happy watching!
The Best Documentaries on Netflix
Netflix
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
Following in the very promising footsteps of Netflix documentaries being leaner, tighter and... better, Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 is a truly horrifying look at what really went on at the notorious Woodstock '99 festival. Quick content warning: Expect to see some truly grotesque discussion of human behavior including rape, looting and arson. This is a truly terrifying watch.
Netflix
Untold (2021)
Untold is the latest from the folks behind Wild Wild Country.
It's a sports documentary series, with each episode going in-depth on controversial sports topics. The first episode focuses on Malice at the Palace, the notorious basketball match where Ron Artest waded into the crowd and wailed on fans back in 2004.
Untold is now in its second season and it is absolute must watch stuff. The new episodes are arguably better than the stellar first season. Maybe the best sports documentary series on Netflix
Netflix
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix has been on fire with its documentaries lately, and The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the latest. From the producers of Tinder Swindler and Dont F**k with Cats, it's a three-part documentary that tells the story of Hunter Moore, one of the most notorious purveyors of "revenge porn." Definitely worth watching this one.
Netflix
The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture is the latest true crime documentary from Netflix. It's up there with the service's absolute best work.
It feels like, after a period of needlessly bloated multiepisode documentaries, Netflix has started trimming the fat, releasing lean, incredibly compelling documentaries again. First Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and Our Father, now this.
The Girl in the Picture tells the story of a young girl, murdered at age 20. To say too much would spoil the impact, but this is a layered, brutal documentary with endless twists. It needs to be seen to be believed.
Netflix
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
There are a lot of Netflix documentaries about cults gone mad, but Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey might be the most disturbing of the lot. Unlike Murder Among the Mormons, which almost treated its topic like a screwball comedy, Keep Sweet is a very grim story about a grim human being in Warren Jeffs. It's a fantastic documentary, and among the best Netflix has produced, but it comes with a very hefty content warning.
Netflix
Our Father
As good as Netflix documentaries are, there's been a tendency to drag out true crime into these bloated multiepisode series. Thankfully Our Father is the opposite of that. It's a lean, perfectly executed documentary focused on Donald Cline, an Indiana fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate a ridiculous number of women against their will.
This is an incredible piece, one of those stories that just escalates and escalates to the point where your jaw drops in disbelief.
Netflix
The Staircase (2018)
The true crime documentary genre is utterly saturated at this point, but The Staircase stands out.
Focusing on Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen, The Staircase is more than just a murder mystery. It's a drawn-out epic that takes place over literal decades, a documentary that follows Peterson and examines his every move, but somehow still remains objective.
It's a good time to watch or revisit this one, since HBO Max has just launched a drama miniseries based on it.
Netflix
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
The absolute gold standard for long-running sports documentaries. Drive to Survive is so good, and so popular, that it's inspired a whole new level of interest in Formula 1, especially in the US. This show is great at elevating the characters that occupy the sport. More shows like this, please.
Netflix
Icarus (2017)
This Oscar-winning documentary is an absolute belter.
Icarus starts out as an expose on the impact performance-enhancing drugs have on sports performance, but a sequence of events drags director Bryan Fogel into a web of geopolitics and conspiracies. To say more would spoil it, but Fogel ultimately has created a documentary that had a very real impact on our perception of sports as a whole. In that respect, Icarus is a literal game changer.
Netflix
Who Killed Little Gregory (2019)
Who Killed Little Gregory is a documentary focused on the horrific murder of Grégory Villemin. It's arguably the best true crime documentary on Netflix. It's about a murder, and attempts to solve that murder, but it's also a lesson in media representation and the horrific sexism Grégory's mother had to face in the wake of her son's murder.
Netflix
The Last Dance (2020)
In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Netflix dropped this piece of sports doc perfection.
The Last Dance focuses on the Chicago Bulls during their '97-'98 NBA title-winning season, but really it's a jumping off point for a documentary that tells the life story of its central star, Michael Jordan.
As a result, many criticized it for being a little too Jordan-focused, but The Last Dance was an event documentary that lived up to the hype.
True crime
Netflix
The Keepers (2017)
I've watched plenty of true crime documentaries on Netflix, but nothing has come close to The Keepers. A staggering story, told across generations, that's respectful of the victims, yet compelling throughout.
It's a story about the unsolved murder of Catherine Cesnik, a nun who taught at a Catholic school in Baltimore, but The Keepers goes further than you might expect and exposes a potential coverup of sex abuse allegations.
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
It's almost impossible to overstate how famous Jimmy Savile was in the UK -- particularly in the 1980s. He was beyond a household name, in many ways he felt like an eccentric uncle to the nation.
Which made revelations that he had sexually assaulted hundreds of underage girls and boys all the more horrific. This was a person the whole of Britain had invited into their homes.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story does a great job of going through the archives, combining footage that is utterly bizarre in hindsight, and adding fantastic interviews with some of the major players in British TV during Savile's heyday. A fascinating, albeit disturbing documentary. Be warned: This is a difficult watch.
Netflix
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
A documentary focused on Shimon Hayut, aka the "Tinder Swindler," a conman who used dating apps to defraud multiple women across Europe to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A slightly different topic compared to most true crime documentaries on Netflix. Definitely worth a gander.
Netflix
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021)
One of the more recent true crime documentaries from Netflix, this is a good one.
Focusing on the bizarre deaths of 11 family members in one house in Burari, Delhi, India in 2018, House of Secrets delves into the theories behind of the strangest suicide/murder cases in recent memory. Unmissable stuff.
Netflix
This Is a Robbery (2021)
This Is a Robbery is about Netflix as it gets. A four-part series focusing on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this is essentially a documentary about an art heist. Remember Evil Genius? (Which is also on this list.) This Is a Robbery is very much in that style. The first episode takes a while to get going, but be patient -- this one has a payoff.
Netflix
Murder Among the Mormons (2021)
Some of Netflix's more recent true crime documentaries have been a bit bloated and... sorta bad?
Thankfully Murder Among the Mormons is a return to form. Definitely watch this one.
Netflix
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
There are a lot of true crime documentaries out there (and on this list) but American Murder: The Family Next Door sticks out.
It tells the story of Chris Watts, a seemingly regular guy who murdered his wife and children. The access to footage is staggering and it's edited and produced in a unique way, using text messages and social media posts to tell the story. It's a horrific reminder of the banal, incredibly common existence of domestic violence.
Netflix
Making a Murderer (2015-2018)
With the swath of true crime documentaries and podcasts that came in its wake, it's easy to forget that the world once lost its collective mind over Making a Murderer. In a lot of ways it created the template that many Netflix documentaries now follow. A real original.
Sports
Netflix
Athlete A (2020)
Athlete A is a great feature length expose on Larry Nassar, the team doctor of USA Gymnastics, who had been sexually abusing female athletes for decades.
Be warned: This one is harrowing.
Netflix
14 Peaks (2021)
14 Peaks tells the story of the Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja and his goal of climbing all 14 mountains above the height of 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) in one year. It's incredible. Must-watch stuff.
Netflix
Bad Sport (2021)
Netflix might have burned the true crime documentary into the ground, but it's on fire when it comes to sports. Bad Sport is the latest entry into this burgeoning subcategory, and it's awesome. Focusing on strange controversies in sports history, Bad Sport is less about major players doing major things, it's about what happens when sport goes bad, gets down in the dirt. All of these episodes are great. Hoping for a season 2.
Netflix
The River Runner (2021)
The River Runner is sorta like Free Solo for kayaking. Consider that a compliment.
Focusing on Scott Lindgren, a kayaking legend who was a pioneer of the sport, this is a traditional story of an extreme sports star overcoming odds, but it runs a little deeper than that. Fighting against a brain tumor and his own personal demons, Lindgren is a compelling case study. Must watch stuff.
Netflix
Naomi Osaka (2021)
Naomi Osaka has become one of the most famous and talked-about athletes on the planet. This fascinating documentary explores different phases of her career and offers incredible access into the life of a young woman struggling with the pressures of sport and fame. A must-watch.
Netflix
The Speed Cubers (2020)
If you're looking for a slightly more uplifting documentary, you could do far worse than The Speed Cubers, a look at the world of competitive... Rubik's Cubers? It's short, but packs an incredible emotional punch. Prepare yourself, this one might break you.
Nature/science
Netflix
Seaspiracy (2021)
Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of multiple documentaries focused on the impact of meat eating on the environment. This time the global fishing industry is in the crosshairs. As expected this one has stirred up a bit of controversy from all stakeholders -- PETA, Greenpeace and conservation groups can't seem to agree if Seaspiracy is accurate or fair. Watch it and make up your own mind.
Netflix
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacher follows Craig Foster, a filmmaker who spent a year snorkeling and interacting with an octopus off the coast of South Africa. It's a nature film, sure, but it's simultaneously a documentary designed to inspire awe in the viewer. In short, octopuses are incredible. Little aliens on Earth, essentially. This is the story of a relationship between humans and nature, but it's also an inspiring call to action: Don't ignore the wonder that exists all around you.
Netflix
Our Great National Parks
Barack Obama is making a beeline for David Attenborough's job. And we don't hate the idea!
Our Great National Parks is a world-class nature documentary in the style of great BBC shows like Planet Earth. They've nailed it here. If you're a fan of that type of show, this is completely unmissable.
Netflix
Our Planet (2019)
David Attenborough nature documentaries are so pervasive, they're vulnerable to self parody, but Our Planet is -- I believe -- the high watermark. Only Planet Earth, another Attenborough doc, comes close. But I prefer this one.
Netflix
Tiger King (2020-21)
Time may dull its impact, but when Tiger King was first released on Netflix, the entire world couldn't stop talking about it.
Tiger King explores the strange underbelly of big cat breeding, focusing on a cast of unforgettable (and ultimately dangerous) characters. It drags its audience to weird places. Season 2 is now available and while the show has lost a lot of its bite, it's intriguing to catch up with this cast of wild human beings doing wild, completely outlandish things.
Politics/history
Netflix
13th (2016)
13th by Ava Duvernay is a staggering documentary that tells the story of American slavery and its long-lasting impacts, many of which still resonate today.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this should be mandatory viewing.
Netflix
The Great Hack (2019)
In the wake of the Capitol siege, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy almost feels like ancient history, but that doesn't make this documentary any less important. If you haven't seen it, then watch it.
Netflix
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
Recently released, Operations Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal has a name as long as some of Netflix's recent documentaries. Thankfully, this isn't as bloated as, say, the recent Cecil Hotel doc, but it could still use some trimming.
Operation Varsity Blues focused on the FBI investigation into college admissions that put actress Felicity Huffman into jail. Its director, Chris Smith, previously worked on the Fyre Festival documentary. This isn't quite as compelling, but is still well worth watching.
Sundance
Knock Down the House (2019)
Regardless of your views on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Knock Down the House is an incredible underdog story that cannot be missed. Focusing on progressive female candidates during the 2018 congressional primary campaigns, it's an insightful look at the democratic process. It's an inspiring reminder that we need to fight in order to make the voices of ordinary people count.
Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not gonna say much here. Nina Simone is a legend and this is maybe one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
Netflix
Wild Wild Country (2018)
Overlong and bloated, Wild Wild Country is nevertheless one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever watched on Netflix.
It tells the story of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who attempted to build a gigantic sprawling commune, for what was essentially a sex cult, in the United States. It's a strange story that somehow becomes stranger with age. Much like Tiger King, the story plumbs depths you won't believe. At times it's a slog, but Wild Wild Country is absolutely worthwhile.
Netflix
Five Came Back (2017)
I absolutely adore this documentary. Five current acclaimed directors (including Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola) help tell the story of five famous movie directors from the '30s and '40s who did frontline work during the Second World War. It wraps their legacies alongside the impact of the war itself into a truly compelling story of Hollywood's golden age.
Netflix
American Factory (2019)
An Oscar winner for Netflix, this documentary is the first produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions team.
American Factory tells the story of Fuyao, a Chinese company that built a factory in Ohio that inhabits a now-closed General Motors plant. You have to watch this movie.
Netflix
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
By this point we all have some sort of understanding of Jeffrey Epstein's story but Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich does itself a great service by focusing on the stories of the survivors of his abuse.
The Cinemart/Hulu
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)
Hulu also has a great Fyre festival documentary, but I prefer this Netflix one. Unlike many Netflix documentaries, which are stretched and bloated into multipart episodes, this documentary is sharp, direct and solid gold the entire way through.
