5 Best Docuseries Streaming On Netflix Right Now

The documentary series seems to have become even more popular in the streaming era, and no single platform has put more focus on them than Netflix. The streamer has seen plenty of success in this realm over the last decade, from smash hits such as "Tiger King" and "Making a Murderer" to top-tier nature series like "Our Planet" and "The Dinosaurs" to "Alien Worlds," which, while more speculation than actual documentary, is an incredibly fun rundown of what life on other planets might look like.  

Picking the best of the batch to recommend was a tough task, as Netflix simply has way too many to choose, and even a lot of the ones we just named could have made this list. In the end, we went for a bit of variety. With such a rich array of different documentaries on Netflix, whatever your niche interest is, there's bound to be something that piques your interest here.

You can't tell the story of Formula 1's rise in popularity in America without talking about "Drive to Survive." The documentary series debuted in 2019 and has been an annual part of the F1 calendar ever since. Filming takes place behind the scenes of the different racing teams throughout the season, and episodes from the previous year's campaign dropping shortly before the next.

While the show is obviously best enjoyed by those who know a little bit about F1, the appeal of "Drive to Survive" lies in its accessibility. Many newcomers have been drawn to the sport through the documentary series, which focuses more on team drama and the personal stories of the drivers, combined with smoothly produced coverage of some of the more technical aspects. In a global game that walks the line between engineering prowess, high drama, and extreme sports, the shiny look behind the curtain that fans get here is always entertaining.

"Drive to Survive" has been so successful that Netflix has spun the model out to other sports in the years since its first season: "Break Point" (2023) for professional tennis, "NASCAR: Full Speed" for the NASCAR Cup Series, "Full Swing" for the PGA tour, and so on. So if the pitch sounds appealing but cars just really aren't your thing, there's likely a sister series that's more your, uh, speed.

Of all the nature documentaries on Netflix, none are more uniquely compelling in their focus than "Chimp Empire," the 2023 four-part documentary series about chimpanzees in Kibale National Park in Uganda, helmed by James Reed, the Oscar-winning director of 2020's "My Octopus Teacher." Rather than cover a wider range of subjects like many nature docuseries, "Chimp Empire" stays laser-focused on a couple small groups of chimps and their lives — from their group dynamics and rivalries to competition for resources to their social statuses within the group and coming of age.

While there are inevitably some simplifications made for the sake of narrative, the photography in "Chimp Empire" is staggering. The level of proximity and detail captured of chimp life makes the whole show enthralling, no matter what particular focus is in the spotlight at any given time. Mahershala Ali adds a fantastic narration to the mix, making this one of the most compelling nature documentaries of the last several years.

"You tell your governors, you tell your attorney general, and all your bigoted pigs outside, they touch any of our people ... I will have 15 of their heads, and I mean business." That's a direct quote from Ma Anand Sheela, the number-two to Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh. And if neither of those names mean anything to you, then you should really watch "Wild, Wild Country."

Released in 2018, this six-episode series details the rise and fall of the Rajneeshpuram commune in the 1980s — a religious community, or cult, depending on who you ask, that followed spiritual leader Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh from India to rural Oregon. The series uses present-day interviews with former commune members and archival footage to explore the group's spiritual belief, social system, and clashes with surrounding communities. But it's the extensive interviews with an elderly Ma Anand Sheela that elevate "Wild, Wild Country" above other similar docuseries.

At the end of the day, a story of this type is only as compelling as its main character, and Sheela has the kind of presence that may make you binge the whole show in one go. And while the show does primarily focus on the cult at its core, there's a fair amount of nuance here given to the community itself, with questions posed regarding the actual limits of America's self-declared freedom of religion.

Not every documentary has to be about an endangered species, brutal serial killer, or life-and-death sports championship. Some are allowed to be cozy and nostalgic, and that's exactly why we've put "The Toys That Made Us" on this list.

This is one of those face-value kinds of shows: It is exactly what it sounds like. Each episode does a deep dive on the history, production, and cultural impact of a specific toy line, focusing on the likes of Star Wars toys, Barbie, LEGO, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and G.I. Joe.

It's not the most hard-hitting journalism you'll find on Netflix, for sure, but the behind-the-scenes material is fun, and the simple appeal of looking through some of the decades-old classics is undeniable. While the first three seasons came to an end in 2019, the show is supposedly on its way back to Netflix with a new batch of episodes, so it's a perfect time to get caught up.

Ah, drugs. Love 'em or hate 'em, you've certainly heard of 'em. But if you've ever had the thought, "You know what? I'd like to learn more about those dang drugs," then do we have the show for you.

Okay, seriously though, "How to Change Your Mind" is a really cool, largely scientific, and not-at-all illicit docuseries, detailing the existing research on psychedelics and their potential benefit in therapies and other use-cases. LSD, psilocybin (AKA "Magic Mushrooms"), MDMA, and mescaline each get their own episode, with experts, doctors, and scientists weighing in on the history of the drugs, their cultural contexts, and what the data says.

The series, which dropped on Netflix in 2022, is based on a 2018 book by journalist Michael Pollan entitled, "How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence." So, if the show piques your interest, the long version is there for the reading as well.