Best documentary & biography shows streaming, ranked.
Your next watch, decided. Every show ranked by quality — not popularity. No more arguing about what to watch tonight — share a WatchList with your partner.
- #298#298
Disney+HuluOcean with David Attenborough
2025 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary
Attenborough explores the planet's undersea habitats, revealing the greatest age of ocean discovery and emphasizing the ocean's vital importance while exposing its problems and highlighting opportunities for marine life recovery.
Disney+Hulu - #896#896
NetflixDavid Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
2020 · Movie · 1h 23mDocumentary · Biography
3 EmmysThe story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
Netflix - #1196#1196
NetflixPrime VideoMan on Wire
2008 · Movie · 1h 34mDocumentary · Biography · Crime
1 OscarA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
NetflixPrime Video - #1395#1395
Apple TV+Black Bird
2022– · Series · 1 seasonBiography · Crime · Drama
2 EmmysJimmy Keene is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison but he cuts a deal with the FBI to befriend a suspected serial killer. Keene has to elicit a confession from Larry Hall to find the bodies of as many as eighteen wo...
Apple TV+ - #2094#2094
Apple TV+STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
2023 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary · Biography
4 EmmysFollows the life of beloved actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, exploring his personal and professional triumphs and travails, and what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.
Apple TV+ - #2694#2694
NetflixTo Kill a Tiger
2023 · Movie · 2h 8mDocumentary
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Netflix - #2893#2893
Disney+Music by John Williams
2024 · Movie · 1h 45mDocumentary · Biography
1 EmmyHis unforgettable scores are an essential part of some of the most beloved movies of our time, over a career that spans decades. See and hear maestro John Williams' own story, with insights from filmmakers, musicians, and others he has inspired, complete with rare behind-the-scenes looks at the making of movie history.
Disney+ - #3393#3393
Disney+Fire of Love
2022 · Movie · 1h 38mDocumentary · Biography
Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded.
Disney+ - #3493#3493
NetflixThe Elephant Whisperers
2022 · Movie · Tamil · 41mDocumentary
1 OscarBomman and Bellie, a couple in South India, devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu, forging a family like no other that tests the barrier between the human and the animal world.
Netflix - #4092#4092
NetflixWinter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
2015 · Movie · 1h 42mDocumentary · History
A documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
Netflix - #4691#4691
NetflixAmerican Factory
2019 · Movie · 1h 50mDocumentary
1 OscarIn post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class...
Netflix - #5191#5191
NetflixJim Gaffigan: Obsessed
2014 · Movie · 1hDocumentary · Comedy
Jim Gaffigan bursts back on the scene with this eagerly anticipated fourth comedy special. Dubbed the "King of Clean Comedy" by The Wall Street Journal, Jim's obsession with all things food comes to fruition on "Obsessed" as he ta...
Netflix - #6091#6091
Apple TV+Long Way Round
2004–2010 · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Action
In 2004 Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embarked on an epic challenge to bike 20,000-miles across 12 countries and 19 time zones in just 115 days. Watch as two friends ride around the world together and, against all the odds, realize their dream.
Apple TV+ - #7190#7190
Apple TV+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+ - #7490#7490
NetflixChef's Table
2015–2024 · Series · 7 seasonsDocumentary · Biography
Chef's Table goes inside the lives and kitchens of six of the world's most renowned international chefs. Each episode focuses on a single chef and their unique look at their lives, talents and passion from their piece of culinary ...
Netflix - #7590#7590
Disney+The Territory
2022 · Movie · Portuguese · 1h 25mDocumentary
1 EmmyWhen a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.
Disney+ - #8689#8689
NetflixCity of Joy
2016 · Movie · 1h 14mDocumentary · Crime · Drama
This film follows the first class of students at a remarkable leadership center in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region often referred to as "the worst place in the world to be a woman." These women have been through...
Netflix - #9089#9089
Disney+HuluWu-Tang: An American Saga
2019–2023 · Series · 3 seasonsBiography · Drama
The show tracks the Wu Tang Clan's formation, a vision of Bobby Diggs, who strives to unite a dozen young Black men who are torn between music and crime but eventually rise to become the unlikeliest of American success stories.
Disney+Hulu - #9389#9389
NetflixFound
2021 · Movie · 1h 37mDocumentary · Drama
The story of three American teenage girls-each adopted from China-who discover they are blood-related cousins on 23andMe. Their online meeting inspires the young women to confront the burning questions they have about their lost h...
Netflix - #9588#9588
NetflixPrime VideoThe Queen of Versailles
2012 · Movie · 1h 40mDocumentary
A documentary that follows a billionaire couple as they begin construction on a mansion inspired by Versailles. During the next two years, their empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic...
NetflixPrime Video - #9788#9788
Disney+MAXHuluMythBusters
2003–2018 · Series · 15 seasonsDocumentary · Mystery · Reality
The Mythbusters use science (and explosions) to answer every shower thought ever. From testing the myth that coke and pop rocks can explode your stomach, to recreating historical weapons to see how they worked.
Disney+MAXHulu - #10288#10288
NetflixSecret Mall Apartment
2025 · Movie · 1h 31mDocumentary
In 2003, eight Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment inside a busy mall and lived there for four years, filming everything along the way. Far more than a prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all in...
Netflix - #11388#11388
Disney+LIGHT & MAGIC
2022–2025 · Series · 2 seasonsDocumentary · History
Showcasing the people of Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects division of Lucasfilm, this series takes us back in time as they create the effects for some of the biggest and most successful films of the last 45 years.
Disney+ - #11988#11988
Disney+MAXHuluHomicide Hunter: Lt Joe Kenda
2011–2023 · Series · 9 seasonsDocumentary · Crime
Through re-enactments, discussions with investigation teams, and interviews with victims' families and other involved persons, the show highlights Lt. Joe Kenda's successes with his 387 homicide case history and 92% solution rate.
Disney+MAXHulu - #12788#12788
NetflixThey'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2018 · Movie · 1h 38mDocumentary · Biography
In the final fifteen years of the life of legendary director Orson Welles, he pins his Hollywood comeback hopes on a film, The Other Side of the Wind (2018), in itself a film about an aging film director trying to finish his last ...
Netflix - #13187#13187
NetflixUnknown: The Lost Pyramid
2023 · Movie · 1h 23mDocumentary · History
In the sands of Saqqara, two of the world's most famous Egyptologists, Dr. Zahi Hawass and his protege and rival, Dr. Mostafa Waziri race with their teams against the clock to see who will make the biggest discovery.
Netflix - #13587#13587
Apple TV+The Pigeon Tunnel
2023 · Movie · 1h 32mDocumentary · Biography
Spans six decades as le Carré gives his final and most personal interview, interrupted with rare archival footage and dramatic anecdotes. It is set against the stormy Cold War backdrop that extends into the present day.
Apple TV+ - #14087#14087
NetflixThe Wrecking Crew
2008 · Movie · 1h 41mDocumentary · History
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew", a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.
Netflix - #14587#14587
NetflixPrime VideoRaise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
2019 · Movie · 1h 33mDocumentary
RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS tells the story of media firebrand Molly Ivins, six feet of Texas trouble who took on the Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it.
NetflixPrime Video - #14887#14887
Disney+HuluPrime VideoThe Men Who Built America
2012– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Biography · History
2 EmmysRockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford and Morgan. Their names are part of history and synonymous with the American dream. These men transformed every industry they touched: oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobiles, and fin...
Disney+HuluPrime Video - #15187#15187
NetflixTurning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War
2024– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
The series chronicles the creation of the atomic bomb and the spread of nuclear arms over the following decades. It continues past the dissolution of the Soviet Union to Vladimir Putin's ascent and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Netflix - #15787#15787
Disney+The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
2009 · Movie · 1h 41mDocumentary
Their music is unforgettable. Their name is legend. Delve into the lives and cinematic legacy of the prolific songwriting duo whose music has been featured in classic movies such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967).
Disney+ - #15987#15987
NetflixCamp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis
2021 · Movie · 36mDocumentary · Animation
At the height of WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees are sent to a secret POW camp near Washington, D.C. The recent refugees soon discover that the prisoners are no other than Hitler's top scientists.
Netflix - #16486#16486
NetflixDolemite Is My Name
2019 · Movie · 1h 58mBiography · Comedy · Drama
Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.
Netflix - #16986#16986
Disney+The End of an Era
2025– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
A behind-the-scenes docuseries event chronicling the development, impact, and inner workings that created the phenomenon that was Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, as well as providing an intimate look at Taylor's life as her tour made headlines and thrilled fans around the world. The series also spotlights performers, family members, and friends — including Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran, and Florence Welch — offering never-before-seen insight into what it took to create a phenomenon.
Disney+ - #17286#17286
NetflixStay on Board: The Leo Baker Story
2022 · Movie · 1h 12mDocumentary
Follows celebrated competitive skating icon Leo Baker as they try to make space for themselves in the gendered world of pro sports and build a more inclusive skate culture, which leads them to doing the punkest thing imaginable.
Netflix - #17786#17786
Apple TV+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+ - #18086#18086
NetflixLead Me Home
2021 · Movie · 39mDocumentary
More than 500,000 people are homeless in the US. A few of these real-life stories give the audience a rare, in-depth look at the scale, scope, and diversity of the problem while questioning uninformed attitudes and outmoded policies.
Netflix - #18386#18386
NetflixLenox Hill
2020– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Biography
An intimate look at the lives of four doctors - two brain surgeons, an emergency room physician, and a Chief Resident OBGYN - as they navigate the highs and lows of working at the renowned Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Netflix - #18986#18986
Apple TV+'Twas the Fight Before Christmas
2021 · Movie · 1h 31mDocumentary
A Christmas-loving lawyer's obsession with bringing Christmas cheer to all sparks a conflict with the local Homeowners' Association who believe his planned holiday extravaganza violates their neighborhood rules.
Apple TV+ - #19485#19485
NetflixThe Trials of Gabriel Fernandez
2020– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Crime
Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger investigates the tragic death of an 8-year-old California boy who endured horrific abuse by his mother and her boyfriend, along with the fractured and complex systems that failed to protect him.
Netflix - #19585#19585
Disney+Queen of Katwe
2016 · Movie · 2h 4mBiography · Documentary · Drama
Living in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona and her family. Her world changes one day when she meets Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches children how to play chess.
Disney+ - #19985#19985
NetflixJoshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
2017 · Movie · 1h 19mDocumentary
When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents.
Netflix - #20285#20285
NetflixEl Chapo
2017–2018 · Series · Spanish · 3 seasonsBiography · Crime · Drama
A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power during the '90s as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel and his ultimate downfall in 2016.
Netflix - #20685#20685
Disney+Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
2024 · Movie · 1h 39mDocumentary · Biography
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band showcase the process of creating their live performances, sharing footage from band rehearsals, behind-the-scenes moments, rare clips, and personal reflections from Springsteen himself.
Disney+ - #21185#21185
NetflixSunderland 'Til I Die
2018–2024 · Series · 3 seasonsDocumentary
Highlights the unfailing passion Sunderland residents have for their beloved football club, taking viewers through the highs and lows of SAFC's 2017-18 season in the Championship following its relegation the previous year.
Netflix - #21685#21685
Apple TV+Girls State
2024 · Movie · 1h 37mDocumentary
2 EmmysFollows 500 adolescent girls from all across Missouri as they come together for a week-long immersion in a sophisticated democratic laboratory, where they organize a Supreme Court to consider the most contentious issues of the day.
Apple TV+ - #21785#21785
Disney+Sea of Shadows
2019 · Movie · 1h 45mDocumentary · Crime · History
The vaquita, the world's smallest whale, is near extinction as its habitat is destroyed by Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia, who harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, the "cocaine of the sea." Environmental activists, Mex...
Disney+ - #21885#21885
NetflixRather
2023 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary · Biography
For decades, Dan Rather delivered the news with authenticity, integrity and courage. RATHER chronicles his rise to prominence, sudden and dramatic public downfall, and redemption and re-emergence as a voice of reason to a new gene...
Netflix - #22384#22384
Disney+HuluThe Incredible Dr. Pol
2011–2024 · Series · 24 seasonsDocumentary · Reality
With more than 20,000 patients, Dr. Pol has seen it all. Specializing in large farm animals, this senior is anything but retiring as he takes an old school, no-nonsense approach to veterinary medicine.
Disney+Hulu - #22884#22884
Disney+Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show
2025 · Movie · 3h 27mDocumentary
Taylor Swift's Vancouver Eras Tour finale features 45 songs, including a new "Female Rage" segment and special medleys. The concert marked the end of her record-breaking global tour at BC Place Stadium.
Disney+ - #23284#23284
Disney+HuluGangland Undercover
2015–2016 · Series · 2 seasonsBiography · Crime · Drama
Charles Falco, an ex-confidential informant of a US law enforcement unit, infiltrates Vagos, a notorious motorcycle gang, as an undercover agent. He faces obstacles galore over three years with Vagos.
Disney+Hulu - #23684#23684
Apple TV+Real Madrid: Until the End
2023– · Series · Spanish · 1 seasonDocumentary
On their path to one of the most remarkable endings in football history, which resulted in a record 14th Champions League triumph, they overcome the odds and doubters with the support of their ardent fans.
Apple TV+ - #25084#25084
NetflixJamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was...
2024 · Movie · 1h 8mDocumentary · Comedy
A stand-up special with Jamie Foxx performing before an Atlanta crowd. Containing songs and anecdotes, the main topic is his time away from the limelight while undergoing a medical emergency in 2023.
Netflix - #29382#29382
NetflixStruggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
2018 · Movie · 1h 55mDocumentary · Biography
This documentary chronicles the life of Polish-American artist Stanislav Szukalski (1893-1987) from his early years in Chicago, to his time in Poland and Los Angeles, and his artistic and political contributions to the world.
Netflix - #29482#29482
NetflixHeadspace Guide to Meditation
2021– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Animation
Over the course of eight animated episodes, Andy Puddicombe—former Buddhist monk and co-founder of the globally beloved Headspace meditation app—takes viewers through the benefits and science behind meditation.
Netflix - #29882#29882
Apple TV+The Dynasty: New England Patriots
2024– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
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+


















































































































































































































































