Social & Cultural Documentaries on Netflix
Last updated April 22, 2024
Buck
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsBuck Brannaman, inspiration for "The Horse Whisperer," is revealed as a complex figure in this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary by Cindy Meehl. The master horseman reveals details of his troubled childhood and his dawning awareness of new ways that humans and horses might work with one another. As Buck learns more about horses, he finds that the ways we communicate with our animal companions offer lessons on how we relate to fellow human beings.
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Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
2010 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsFocusing on two men whose bodies have been trashed by steroids, obesity and illness, this documentary chronicles the rigorous healing path -- including a two-month diet of fruits and vegetables -- that both attempt in a bid to rescue their health.
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Mitt (Trailer)
2013 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsWith unprecedented access, this documentary captures Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, revealing a side of the candidate the public never saw.
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Ken Burns: Baseball
1994 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsDocumentarian Ken Burns takes a swing at baseball, chronicling the sport's signature people, places and events and its deep-rooted relationship to American culture. The pastime's history unfolds over nostalgic, informative "innings."
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Ken Burns: Prohibition
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsKen Burns's fascinating multipart documentary examines the history of alcohol in America, including the events leading up to the passage of the 18th Amendment, the social and legal effects of prohibiting alcohol, and the repeal of Prohibition.
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Global Metal
2008 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsTaking their cameras to far-flung locales in Asia, the Middle East and South America, filmmakers Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen chronicle the continuing evolution of heavy metal and chart its influence on cultures around the world. The result is a revealing portrait of an often misunderstood genre that's found new artistic expression in Chinese black metal, Iranian thrash metal and Indonesian death metal.
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Ken Burns: Baseball
1994 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsAward-winning documentarian Ken Burns takes a swing at a unique and much-loved aspect of life in the United States: baseball. Burns chronicles the sport's signature people, places and events as well as a deep-rooted relationship to American culture.
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Crime After Crime
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsConvicted of killing her brutally abusive boyfriend in 1983, Deborah Peagler languished in prison for 20 years. When California legislation allowing incarcerated domestic-violence survivors to reopen their cases becomes law, a pair of novice attorneys agree to take on her case. Armed with evidence of their client's innocence, the two encounter a bewildering maze of bureaucratic procedures and political corruption as they seek justice.
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Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsBeloved by millions of children, Elmo is a global icon. However, few people know the soft-spoken man behind the furry red monster: Kevin Clash. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary follows Clash's remarkable career as a puppeteer.
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Craigslist Joe
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsSetting out to explore whether America still has a sense of community where people help each other through hard times, 29-year-old Joseph Garner spends a month depending on the goodness of Craigslist posters for his survival.
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Inside Job
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis sobering, Oscar-winning documentary presents in comprehensive, cogent detail the pervasive and deep-rooted Wall Street corruption that led to the global economic meltdown of 2008.
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Ken Burns: The West
1996 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsHistorian and Oscar nominee Ken Burns and his talented team mine vintage photographs, music, maps, letters, newspapers and more to bring to life the struggles and challenges Americans faced in the 19th century as they embarked on westward expansion.
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How To Survive a Plague
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis passionate documentary focuses on the grass-roots crusade in the 1980s and '90s to speed up efforts at developing treatments for the HIV virus. The film follows AIDS activists to Washington, where they challenge the government to act.
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All.I.Can.
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsBreathtaking cinematography and astonishing feats of skiing come together in this visual essay on climate change and the fragility of the Earth. The film captures the world's great skiiers amongst the natural majesty of Morocco, Greenland and more.
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The Central Park Five
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis piercing documentary examines the case of five teenagers, all African-American or Latino, who were convicted of the brutal rape of a white woman in Central Park in 1989. Years later, the confession of the real rapist set the jailed men free.
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The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsFrom 1967 to '75, a film crew aimed cameras at major figures in the Black Power movement, creating hours of footage that remained unreleased for decades. In clips, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P. Newton and Angela Davis discuss the movement's evolution.
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Ken Burns: The West
1996 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsHistorian and Oscar nominee Ken Burns and his talented team mine vintage photographs, music, maps, letters, newspapers and more to bring to life the struggles and challenges Americans faced in the 19th century as they embarked on westward expansion.
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Terms And Conditions May Apply
2013 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThrough interviews with technology thought leaders and futurists -- including Mark Zuckerberg, Orson Scott Card and Margaret Atwood -- this timely documentary examines the erosion of privacy in the digital age.
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Zeitgeist: The Movie
2007 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsPeter Joseph explores the controversial links between organized religion, the global financial markets and the international power structure in this thought-provoking documentary that probes several well-known conspiracy theories.
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Brooklyn Castle
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsBrooklyn's I.S. 318 is home to America's best junior high school chess team, but budget cuts are threatening to undermine the team's success. This inspiring documentary goes inside the fight to keep chess alive and well at the struggling school.
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Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis film documents the surprising importance of the lowly honeybee, describing how bees' pollinating activities play a crucial role in the food chain and how recent catastrophic "colony collapses" could interrupt global food production.
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The Other F Word
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis insightful documentary examines the mid-life evolution of a generation of punk rockers, including Jim Lindberg, Art Alexakis and Flea, who must reconcile fatherhood and responsible family life with their status as legendary anti-authoritarians.
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The Big Fix
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhile turning their cameras on the devastating 2010 oil spill that pumped 779,037,744 liters of crude oil and other contaminants into the Gulf of Mexico, filmmakers Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell unearth a stunning stream of corruption.
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Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsIn his directorial debut, Ice-T interviews dozens of other rap and hip-hop artists, including Mos Def, Eminem and Dr. Dre, about their creative processes. Focusing on the craft rather than the bling, Ice-T also documents the music's history.
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The Electric Daisy Carnival Experience
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsMore than 150 of the world's top electronic music artists and 200,000 festival-goers gathered for two amazing nights in Southern California. Experience this extraordinary musical and visual feast for yourself through this electrifying program.
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