The 30 best documentaries you can watch right now

The world is a weird and wonderful place full of weird and wonderful people, stories and things. And, thanks to some of the best documentaries out there, we get a chance to grab a peek at them all.

Documentaries come in all shapes and sizes, from bite-sized short films to multi-episode arcs full of twists and turns. Whether you're into pop cultural insights like Asif Kapadia's Amy or Pamela Anderson's very own Pamela: A Love Story, or grisly true crime mysteries like American Nightmare and The Staircase, there's something for us all. It's true what they say: if anything interesting has ever happened, there's probably a film about it somewhere.

Picking one to watch can be tricky and overwhelming. But across the likes of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and more, here are just a few of the best documentaries and docuseries out there that we think are worth investing an hour or multiple nights in.

If you want to skip to the best documentaries on your preferred streaming platform, hit the links here: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney +, BBC iPlayer

The Greatest Night in Pop

In 1985, the biggest names in music all gathered in one room with a single goal in mind – record a song to end hunger in Africa. If you think it sounds similar to Band Aid here in the UK, you're right. Producer Harry Belafonte took inspo from Midge Ure and Bob Geldof's ambitious supergroup anthem to create “We Are the World” with a line-up that included Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan amongst many, many others. The Greatest Night in Pop takes us behind the scenes of that ambitious idea (and no doubt scheduling nightmare!), with interviews from some of the stars who took part. You can watch The Greatest Night in Pop on Netflix.

Three Identical Strangers

Scooping up a BAFTA nomination for Best Documentary, Three Identical Strangers tells of a group of identical triplets who, by chance, discover they are one of three siblings after being separated during childhood. Their stranger-than-fiction story becomes a media sensation, and the brothers make the most of their fortune. But as the truth behind their disparate upbringings comes to light, a wholesome tale of family reunions and happenstance descends into an unsettling account of injustice and exploitation happening behind closed doors. You can watch Three Identical Strangers on Netflix.

Pamela: A Love Story

After her public disgust at the story of her sex tape being made into a drama with Pam & Tommy, Pamela Anderson uses this documentary to finally address her own life in her own words, from her Baywatch origins to her tumultuous romances and, of course, the tape that upended everything and still follows her around to this day. It's a startling, empowering and personal look at misogyny and fame through the eyes of someone rebuilding themselves after years 30 years of being tabloid fodder. You can watch Pamela: A Love Story on Netflix.

The Staircase

The Staircase tells a true crime story so gripping the machine had no choice but to make it into a wildly popular drama series of the same name starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette. The 13-part docuseries (yes, 13 episodes. It's a meaty case!) dives into the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson and the subsequent murder trial of her husband Michael Peterson.

After being found dead at the bottom of the stairs of their house, suspicion naturally falls on Michael, though he maintains his innocence throughout. The docuseries delves into the trial, from the twists and turns deep in the Petersons' marriage, the bizarre but weirdly compelling alternative version of events around the tragic death which involves an owl and the revelation that Kathleen wasn't the only person in Michael's life to meet their end at the bottom of a staircase. You can watch The Staircase on Netflix.

Disclosure

If you're in any doubt as to why trans representation is so important, then watch Disclosure immediately. Featuring interviews with the likes of Laverne Cox and Jen Richards, this documentary dives deep into the history of transgender people in film and TV, revealing the disturbing stereotypes that the industry continues to perpetuate to this day. But it's not all negative. Disclosure also does a brilliant job of highlighting the trailblazers who have paved the way for others, as well as the influence that the trans community has had on every aspect of our culture. At a time when trans rights are far too often the centre of debate, Disclosure could not be more necessary. You can watch Disclosure on Netflix.

The Speed Cubers

The world of competitive Rubik's Cube solving doesn't sound like it should make you cry and fill you with warmth, but Netflix's The Speed Cubers shows the beating heart within a community of niche interest lovers. Focusing on the lives of two speedcubing champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs, the documentary shows that beyond, quite frankly, superhuman levels of skill and competition (literally seven seconds to solve a whole cube), the power of strong and supportive friendships reign supreme. You can watch The Speed Cubers on Netflix.

American Nightmare

The team behind The Tinder Swindler (which is also worth checking out on Netflix!) returned in 2024 with American Nightmare, a look into what was, at first, dubbed the ‘real-life Gone Girl’ case. In 2015, couple Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were awoken in the middle of the night by a masked figure (possibly multiple). After that, Huskins was kidnapped for ransom before being released 48 hours later. This three-part Netflix series is essentially the story of what actually happened. More than just a retelling of Wikipedia, the doc includes plenty of new interviews and interrogation footage, all the while unpacking the consequences of a cultural voraciousness of true crime and our desire for a villain. You can watch American Nightmare on Netflix.

Trainwreck: Woodstock '99

One of the most infamous music festivals in history, Woodstock attempted to recreate the hippie magic of its 1969 edition and instead unleashed a logistical bloodbath. Suffering from astronomical pricing, an unaccommodating location, and extreme heat, the festival was a weekend straight from hell, and attendees retaliated in destructive and dangerous ways. Featuring footage from Woodstock’s out-of-the-ordinary pay-per-view coverage, Trainwreck dives straight into the mess behind the scenes and on the grounds. You can watch Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 on Netflix.

Icarus

It starts with an experiment: can director Bryan Fogel win an amateur cycling race with the help of performance-enhancing drugs, but without being detected by drug testing? Things take a turn when he enlists the help of the director of Russia’s anti-doping agency, as Fogel happens to discover the country’s state-sponsored doping program. Elevated by the fascinating characters who populate the film, this Oscar-winner begins as a thrilling exploration of sport’s illicit practices but spirals into a cautionary tale of a whistleblower. You can watch Icarus on Netflix.

Amy

When a young pop culture icon dies before their time, their memory is often reduced to spectacle or serves only as a cautionary tale. In the case of Amy Winehouse, so many of her personal struggles with drug and alcohol abuse had been documented by the press that by the time she died at the age of 27, little is preserved in the collective memory of the artistry that made her famous in the first place. Amy uses never-before-seen archival footage, performance footage and testimonials from the people who knew her to recreate the image of a once-in-a-lifetime singer gone too soon. The heartbreaking reality behind the circus of her celebrity will make even the harshest naysayers reconsider her tragedy. You can watch Amy on Amazon.

Pumping Iron

Of course, the documentary that unleashed Arnold Schwarzenegger firmly into our lives and cinemas for decades to come would make the list. While he was a middling B-movie actor, Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilding pro, and Pumping Iron primarily follows his rivalry with fellow beefcake and future Hulk Lou Ferrigno as they prepare for the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and 1975 Mr. Olympia competitions. A huge box office hit at the time, the documentary made Schwarzenegger a household name and brought bodybuilding to the mainstream. You can watch Pumping Iron on Amazon.

The Sound Of 007

After the guns and the girls, probably the most enduring element of James Bond is its sound. From its epic score to the theme tunes that garner almost as much press as the films themselves, this documentary by Matt Whitecross takes you behind the scenes of what makes a definitive Bond sound. It includes interviews with the likes of Billi Eilish, Daniel Craig, Sam Smith and Michael Caine. It truly brings out all the big guns, so to speak. You can watch The Sound of 007 on Amazon.

Capturing The Friedmans

True crime has become such an endemic form of entertainment that it's hard to imagine a time when the secret lives of friends and neighbours could still genuinely shock us. But Capturing the Friedmans was a seminal and introductory step into that genre, as it explores the hidden lives of a ‘normal family’ through extensive archival footage captured through the home video boom. Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki had planned to make a movie about professional clowns but shifted gear in real-time when he found out one of his subjects was the son and brother of two men who had been convicted of child sexual abuse in a high-profile case in the 80s. You can watch Capturing the Friedmans on Amazon.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Once the highest-grossing documentary of all time (usurped only by the posthumous Michael Jackson's This Is It), it's not hyperbole to say Michael Moore made documentaries bankable with Fahrenheit 9/11. As the title suggests, the film explores George W. Bush's presidency through a liberal and critical view. Taking aim specifically at the administration's decision to go to war with Iraq, Moore posits a now-widely-held but at-the-time shockingly controversial opinion that corporate mass media acted as a shill for an illegal war. The film took the Palme d'Or in 2004, one of the few documentaries to ever even be selected for competition. You can watch Fahrenheit 9/11 on Amazon.

The Act Of Killing

It does not feel hyperbolic to say The Act Of Killing is the kind of documentary that will truly never happen ever, ever again. Joshua Oppenheimer’s film follows the perpetrators of a genocide in Indonesia in the mid-1960s, which has led to a political situation in which gangsters who slaughtered civilians are darlings of the country’s right wing. Oppenheimer invites these perpetrators to reimagine their killings in the style of cinematic genres, an absurd premise that leads to horrifying reckonings for men who have never faced true punishment for their sins. Watch it once, remember it forever. You can watch The Act Of Killing on Amazon.

Stop Making Sense

This concert film, which captures Talking Heads’ stint at the Pantages Theatre in December 1983, is probably the greatest concert film ever made. Not because it does anything deep or unusual in how it explores the show, or the band’s process in getting there, but simply in how it presents one of the greatest rock bands ever doing their incredibly idiosyncratic thing. Even if you aren’t already a David Byrne fan, give this a go; you’ll be smiling ear to ear by the end. You can watch Stop Making Sense on Amazon.

Jiro Dreams Of Sushi

Jiro Ono owns a ten-seat Tokyo restaurant that was the first sushi restaurant to get three Michelin stars. This documentary by David Gelb studies how Ono became possibly the greatest itamae in Japan and how his two sons – also chefs – relate to their father’s success. It's as much a story about a unique family structure as it is about the relentless and neverending pursuit of perfection. Nobody has ever seen Jiro Dreams Of Sushi and not been left charmed, hungry or both. You can watch Jiro Dreams Of Sushi on Amazon.

I Am Not Your Negro

This 2016 documentary, based on James Baldwin’s unfinished Remember This House, is one of the most concise and comprehensive guides to the depths of American racism. A study of civil rights leaders via archived interviews and observations by Baldwin himself, narrated by Samuel L Jackson, I Am Not Your Negro takes deniers of bigotry by the hand and refuses to let them turn away. You can watch I Am Not Your Negro on Amazon.

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

The tragedy of Rock Hudson still remains largely unspoken. His death from AIDS early on in the crisis landed at a time when Hollywood and the general public didn't want to grapple with the reality of a gay movie star. But now, with Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, we get to take a closer look at the screen icon through archival footage and personal testimony. It's as much a much-needed exploration of a golden age legend as it is a peak into the lavender haze of the 50s and 60s where queer stars hid in plain sight. You can watch Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed on Amazon.

The Times Of Harvey Milk

Long before Sean Penn fictionalised the historic life and tragic death of San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor in 2008, his legacy was immortalised in this documentary narrated by Harvey Fierstein. Dubbed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Congress, The Times of Harvey Milk documents Milk's rise to political success in an era of blatant homophobia and his devastating murder at the hands of a colleague that caused ripples throughout the country. A thoughtful look at a figure whose impact, had it been allowed to go on, could have been an untold force for good. You can watch The Times of Harvey Milk on Amazon.

For Sama

Documentaries often come from the point of view of hindsight, of examining past truths through a new and exploratory lens. For Sama lands us directly in the Syrian warzone as it's happening and as we, the rest of the world, were looking on. For Sama tells the all-too-normal human story of falling in love, getting pregnant and giving birth but all against the backdrop of the uprising in Aleppo. As cataclysmic horrors rain down across Syria, Waad Al-Kateab narrates a love letter to her daughter, Sama, about the internal debate over whether to flee to save their lives or stay and protect the freedom of the country she loves. For Sama forces us to confront the humanity that exists in conflict. You can watch For Sama on Amazon.

Hoop Dreams

We often get documentaries about sportspeople after they've hit the big time, but Hoop Dreams takes us on the journey of trying to get there. Following two inner-city high school students with hopes of making it big in the world of professional basketball, we watch as the pair battle expectations, overcome injury and push themselves to be scouted for college. The film also shows the reality of how different home situations and opportunities for financial support can impact someone's ability to succeed. Hoop Dreams says a lot about social mobility at large through the lens of two boys who love playing basketball. You can watch Hoop Dreams on Amazon.

Flee

Nominated for the Oscars for Best International Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary, Flee documents the harrowing journey of the pseudonymous Amin Nawabi, who travelled as a child refugee from Afghanistan to Denmark, where he now lives with his fiancé. Harbouring a painful secret ready to be revealed after 20 years, Amin's story, told through animation to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, is one of deep emotion, vivid memory, and ultimately uplifting celebration despite all odds. You can watch Flee on Amazon.

Howard

When it was announced that Disney+ would be removing some of its output from its streaming service, one of the films people were most incensed by was Howard, the story of Howard Ashman, a songwriter responsible for songs in Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Considered one of the pioneers of the Disney musical renaissance, Ashman lost a battle with AIDs when he was just 40 years old. Disney has since announced that the film will stay on its platform, so go and watch the history of one of the silent figureheads of cinema as we know it. You can watch Howard on Disney+.

The Beatles: Get Back

Compiled by Sir Peter Jackson from more than 60 hours of unseen video and 150 hours of unheard audio, The Beatles: Get Back shows us John, Paul, George and Ringo in 1969, as they prepare for their first live show in two years and attempt to record an accompanying album. Creative and personal tension is interweaved with moments of musical joy and genius, including footage of the famous Savile Row rooftop concert – their last live performance as a group – in its entirety. It's a fascinating study of musical creativity and the balance between writing the perfect song and getting the job done. No matter your opinion of The Beatles, watching Sir Paul McCartney's brain compose “Get Back” from scratch in real time is one of the most magical moments in documented music history. You can watch The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+.

Summer Of Soul

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut bagged two awards at Sundance earlier this year and has since been dubbed the “best concert film of all time”. It stitches together footage from the forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, featuring electric performances from Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Set against the backdrop of civil unrest in the US, Thompson’s film is a much-needed ode to Black consciousness, artistry and joy in the 1960s. You can watch Summer of Soul on Disney+.

Best documentaries to watch on Apple TV+:

Paris is Burning

Filmed in the late 1980's Paris is Burning offers us a completely one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of drag and ballroom culture at a time just before its ‘golden age’ was considered over. Paris is Burning does what all great documentaries of its kind should, which is to teach us about a subculture know little about while also humanising the people who inhabit it. Focused around the annual ‘Paris Is Burning ball’, a vogueing competition, we get insights into the day-to-day lives of LGBTQ+ at a time that has never been more threatening, with a special, thoughtful lens on African-American and Latino members of the community. With drag culture pretty mainstream at this point, Paris is Burning is a seminal text. You can watch Paris is Burning on Apple TV+.

Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You

To coincide with his 20th(!!) studio album, Letter to You, Bruce Springsteen released this 2020 film to document its production with his longtime collaborators the E Street Band. It's part insight into the professional grind of one of our most enduring (and still touring!) musicians, part concert film in its own right. There are full songs performed by The Boss along with a behind-the-scenes look at him tinkering at the forthcoming album. If there's one thing about Bruce Springsteen, he just really digs this whole music thing: he approaches it like the hardened New Jersey labourers he gruffs about, and Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You reveals the heart and soul that goes into that grind. You can watch Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You on Apple TV+.

Louis Theroux's Forbidden America

Louis is back in the USA and delving deeper into the underbelly of a nation in flux. This three-part series sees Louis at his probing, off-guard best, exploring how the internet and social media have impacted some of the most controversial subcultures in American society. From the young online extremists of the American far right to Florida's rap scene and the US porn industry's #MeToo reckoning, Forbidden America is as fascinating as you'd expect from one of the UK's greatest documentarians. You can watch Louis Theroux's Forbidden America on BBC iPlayer.

The Post Office Scandal

In this hour-long documentary, the Panorama team dig into one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history – the Horizon Scandal, better known as the Post Office scandal. Between 1999 and 2015, over 900 subpostmasters were convicted of theft and fraud as a result of faulty accounting software called Horizon. In many cases, the criminal proceedings led to imprisonments and complete loss of livelihoods and, before they could get justice, some even committed suicide because of the shame and stress. There's no bells and whistles to this doc, just pure facts on how such an enormous blunder could go on for so long and how, even now, victims don't feel like justice has been served. You can watch The Post Office Scandal on BBC iPlayer.