Lockdown Reviews: Netflix Documentaries

We’re all finding ways of entertaining ourselves during lockdown and for me one of the things I’ve been binging on are Netflx documentaries. A friend asked me to send her a list of ones I’d recommend so I figured, why not write it out here and share it with everyone else too!

If you have recommendations about what I should watch next, I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The Last Dance - I am not a huge sports fan, or a fan of sports at all really but this is a great docuseries looking at Michael Jordan’s rise in the world of basketball and the Chicago Bull’s team through a number of seasons with particular focus on the years 97-98, a season known as the last dance.

Trial by Media - A different story in each episode, some more interesting to me than others but overall a great series, looking at how the media and individuals with enough power and know how are able to use the media to influence trials.

Wormwood - Another true story that has so many twists, turns and layers you wouldn’t believe it if you read it in a book. For me the mix of dramatisation and real life interviews didn’t work so well here are it had a much slower pace to others I’d watched

Longshot - The shortest of these documentaries and not an overly complex or dark/heavy story to watch unravel., might be just what you need in between some of the more intense shows out there! Quite an incredible story and it really lives up to it’s name, enjoy!

Tiger King - Well what is there to say about this that hasn’t already been said! If you’ve already watched it, don’t forget to see the one-off follow up episode filmed after the series went live where you can see interviews with many of the main cast and hear their thoughts on the documentary and what they are up to now.

Strong Island - A particularly personal documentary told by a member of the family at the core of this story. Very emotional and raw look at racial injustice, grief and loss.

White Boy - White Boy Rick, was he a teenage drug lord or a kid caught up in a nightmare as an FBI agent or both!

Nobody Speak: Trials of The Free Press - Hulk Hogan sex tapes might sound like a bit of a silly topic but the $100m lawsuit against Gawker Media for releasing it leads to an incredible case focussed on freedom of the press, money, power and influence.

The Innocence Files - Great series with the Innocence Project, using real cases to focus on several key aspects of criminal cases including eye witnesses, forensic science and confessions.

The Family - I’m not always a big fan of documentaries that combine real life interviews with dramatisations but this one works well. The Family is a conservative Christian group known to wield strong influence in Washington, D.C., in pursuit of its global ambitions.

The Pharmacist - A story of how a father who loses his son, uses his own knowledge as a pharmacist and his sheer determination to stop this happening again to unravel a corruption bigger than he’d have ever imagined.

How to Fix a Drug Scandal - Unbelievable. More than once in watching this you will be gobsmacked at what was going on and how long it took to be uncovered. Where was this drug scandal? In a police crime lab!

Three Identical Strangers Incredible story that without seeing it you wouldn’t believe it. It is exactly what it says on the tin, there’s three identical strangers and they turn out to be triplets but there’s even more to it than even just that.

LA 92 Footage from the 1992 riots in Los Angeles along with the decades of police brutality, beating of Rodney King and the murder of 15 year old Latasha Harlins.

Trump. An American Dream A look at Donald Trump's personal, professional and political life from the mid 70s onwards with interviews from friends, employees, reporters and analysts who have known him over the last 40+ years.

Roll Red Roll A look at a rape case in Ohio involving high school football students, how it was handled by local police, the school and community and the role of social media in investigating and reporting on the actions of the accused.

13th This documentary looks at the criminalisation of African-Americans and the U.S. prison boom.

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich Interviews with some of Epstein's accusers and a look at the history of his actions and the shocking way this was handled by those in power.

The Staircase Accused of killing his wife, Michael invites a documentary crew to follow him through the preparation for his defence and the case itself.