Best documentary shows streaming, ranked.
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- #1391

Long Way Round
2004–2010 · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Action
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embark on a grueling quest to motorbike from London to New York. Going east through Europe, Asia and then to Alaska, they experience different cultures and have to overcome the elements and advers...
Apple TV+ - #1790
Beastie Boys Story
2020 · Movie · 1h 59mDocumentary · Biography
Here's a little story they're about to tell... Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of the band, Beastie Boys, and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary experience directed by friend and collaborator, Spike Jonze.
Apple TV+ - #4983

Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough
2015–2016 · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
David Attenborough revisits the Great Barrier Reef after nearly 60 years. His visit takes him from the most exposed part of the reef as well as down to 300m below the surface discovering corals never seen before.
Paramount+ - #5282

The Dynasty: New England Patriots
2024– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Sport
A 10-part series featuring never-before-seen footage of the New England Patriots' 20-year journey from struggling franchise to football dynasty. In the process, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft reveal the cost of greatn...
Apple TV+ - #6280
The Elephant Queen
2019 · Movie · 1h 36mDocumentary · Family
Athena is a mother who will do everything in her power to protect her herd when they are forced to leave their waterhole. This epic journey, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, takes audiences across the African savannah, and into the h...
Apple TV+ - #6579
We Need to Talk About Cosby
2022– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Biography · Crime
Writer/director W. Kamau Bell's exploration of Bill Cosby's descent from "America's Dad" to convicted sexual predator. Comedians, journalists and survivors have a candid, first of its kind conversation about the man, his career an...
Paramount+ - #7079
Vietnam: The War That Changed America
2025– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
A raw, intimate look at the Vietnam War's impact on America. Through personal stories, the series examines the conflict's far-reaching consequences and lasting influence on society as the 50th anniversary of Saigon's fall approaches.
Apple TV+ - #9076
The Line
2021– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Crime · War
In covert modern warfare, the line between right and wrong has blurred. This docuseries examines the moral ambiguities of war as embodied by the 2018 case in which a US Navy SEAL platoon accused its chief, Eddie Gallagher, of war ...
Apple TV+ - #10573
Sid & Judy
2019 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary · Biography · History
Revealing new look at Judy Garland fifty years after her tragic, untimely death. Fusing the unpublished recollections of producer, manager and third husband, Sid Luft, with film clips, rare concert footage and Judy's own inimitabl...
Paramount+ - #11073
Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal
2024– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
Follow the wild, excessive '80s hard rock scene's insanity and ambition that enthralled generations. Uncensored behind-the-scenes look at an iconic musical era's influence on culture through candid insights from renowned rock jour...
Paramount+ - #11672
Kyle Kinane: Whiskey Icarus
2012 · Movie · 1hDocumentary · Comedy
In his first hour-long Comedy Central special, Kyle Kinane contemplates the existence of God, and the true meaning of being delivered an unsliced pizza. This special is extended and uncensored with all sorts of extra Kyle.
Paramount+ - #11772
Inside the Factory
2015– · Series · 10 seasonsDocumentary · History
How our favorite foods and products are made? Cherry Healey and Gregg Wallace go into the factories to figure out, while Ruth Goodman tell us about the historical development of the manufacturing process of these products.
Paramount+ - #11872
The Day Kennedy Died
2013 · Movie · 1h 32mDocumentary · History
Captures the frantic rush to the local hospital, the public chaos that ensued, the quickly mobilized manhunt by law enforcement looking for a suspect after witnesses identified the source of the gunshots as the Texas Book Deposito...
Paramount+ - #12072
The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs
2015 · Movie · 2hDocumentary · Drama · War
Documentary revealing the inner workings of the world's most powerful intelligence organization, with unprecedented access to America's spy network, all 12 living CIA directors and top agency operatives, who talk candidly about to...
Paramount+ - #12471
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021 · Movie · 15mDocumentary
During 1880-1968 over 4,000 African Americans were lynched at the hands of white mobs. These lynchings were commemorated through souvenir postcards that would ultimately be subverted by Black activists to expose racist violence in...
Paramount+ - #13970
The Last Expedition
2024 · Movie · Polish · 1h 20mDocumentary
The true story of Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb the highest peaks on earth - told by herself. Wanda entered the men's world of high-mountain expeditions without an invitat...
Paramount+ - #14469
The Mountain Lion and Me
2018 · Movie · 51mDocumentary
On the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park is Paradise Valley, Montana, home to bears, wolves, elk, and an animal so secretive, few ever get to see it: the mountain lion. Wildlife filmmaker Casey Anderson became one of those lu...
Paramount+ - #14869
Mystery in Yellowstone
2015 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
Yellowstone National Park is home to a vast array of landscapes and a huge diversity of animals, united in a fascinating ecosystem, one that is currently in severe trouble. The area once contained over 19,000 elk, but its numbers ...
Paramount+ - #14969
Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI
2017 · Movie · 44mDocumentary
An amazing discovery has been made beneath a farm field in Northern France: a vast underground city where World War I soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, took refuge a century ago. Even more remarkable, it is one of hundreds ...
Paramount+ - #15069
Madagascar: Africa's Galapagos
2019 · Movie · 50mDocumentary
It's the 10th of May 1836, Charles Darwin leans on the beaten wooden gunwale of The Beagle. He's yet to start writing his "Origin of the Species", but he's already forming his theories about evolution. Locations like the Galapagos...
Paramount+ - #15469
Miles To Go Before I Sleep
2016 · Movie · 35mDocumentary
35 minute documentary about musicians and the relationships they have with their roadies. Features Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and Jim James (My Morning Jacket), who talk about their time on t...
Paramount+ - #15669
Unbelievable Flying Objects
2007 · Movie · 52mDocumentary
In the history of aviation, there were some ideas that didn't quite...fly. From the bizarre vertical "Pogo" plane to the disastrous Goblin, nicknamed the "Flying Egg," we take an in-depth probe of some magnificent men and their no...
Paramount+ - #15869
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
2021 · Movie · 27mDocumentary
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison gives us a window into playwright Liza Jessie Peterson's performance in 2020 of her acclaimed play The Peculiar Patriot performed at Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, ...
Paramount+ - #16169

Out of the Rubble
2016 · Movie · 17mDocumentary
This is a fine short film neatly pulling together post-war archive to tell a story of the modernisation of Britain through architectural change, town planning, immigration and attitudes towards all this. All done in less than 20 minutes. There's such a good flow to the editing that it probably won't even feel its running length. There's a few contemporary additions including interviews with some of the subjects from the archive, which help to pull of the social commentaries together, but none detract from the flow or style of this piece of documentary cinema. All in all it's a good use of the BFI's archive so hopefully there'll be more similar efforts like this in the future.
Paramount+ - #16269
Hunting the Hammerhead
2016 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
The tropical waters of Bimini in the Bahamas are the hunting grounds for a large, yet elusive predator - the Great Hammerhead Shark. After 7 years research into the hunting senses of the Great White Shark, sensory biologist Dr. Cr...
Paramount+ - #16669
Ari Shaffir: Paid Regular
2015 · Movie · 1h 13mDocumentary · Comedy
Stand-up comic Ari Shaffir discusses inappropriate subjects like taking shrooms while camping, unusual new racial stereotypes, morning blowjobs, oddities of some of the ten commandments, and his profound hatred towards TSA.
Paramount+ - #16769
China's Emperor of Evil
2016 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
In China's Valley of the Kings, there stands a tall, carved stone. It honors the resting place of a woman named Wu Zetian, who rose from concubine to become China's only female emperor. For more than a millennia, history claimed s...
Paramount+ - #17269
Battle of Little Bighorn
2020 · Movie · 45mDocumentary · Action · Biography
The U.S. expands westward after the Civil War displacing the last of the free-roaming Native Americans onto Reservations. This show focuses special attention on General George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Buf...
Paramount+ - #18567

Gabrielle Union: My Journey to 50
2023– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
Celebrated actress Gabrielle Union is turning 50, and she's embarking on an adventure through four countries in Africa with her closest loved ones. On this journey she will experience the birthday bash of a lifetime.
Paramount+ - #19067

Twisted Yoga
2026– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Crime
Ex-members of a tantric yoga school speak out about how they went from searching for wellness and community to fearing they'd joined a cult, and seeking justice for alleged abuse and manipulation at the hands of a self-styled guru.
Apple TV+
End of the list — 197 titles ranked.


























