The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix has been on fire with its documentaries lately and The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the latest. From the producers of Tinder Swindler and Dont F**k with Cats, it's a three part docu that tells the story of Hunter Moore, one of the most notorious purveyors of "revenge porn". Definitely worth watching this one.
The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture is the latest true crime documentary from Netflix. It's up there with its absolute best work.It feels like, after a period of needlessly bloated multi-episode documentaries, Netflix has started trimming the fat, releasing lean, incredibly compelling documentaries again. First Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and Our Father, now this.
The Girl in the Picture tells the story of a young girl, murdered aged 20. To say too much would spoil the impact, but this is a layered, brutal documentary with endless twists. It needs to be seen to be believed.
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
There are a lot of Netflix documentaries about cults gone mad, but Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey might be the most disturbing of the lot. Unlike Murder Among the Mormons, which almost treated its topic like a screwball comedy, Keep Sweet is a very grim story about a grim human being in Warren Jeffs. It's a fantastic documentary, and among the best Netflix has produced, but it comes with a very hefty content warning.
Our Father
As good as Netflix documentaries are, there's been a tendency to drag true crime out into these bloated multi episode series. Thankfully Our Father is the opposite of that. It's a lean, perfectly executed documentary focused on Donald Cline, an Indiana fertility Doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate a ridiculous amount of women against their will.This is an incredible piece. One of those stories that just escalates and escalates to the point where you're jaw is dropping in disbelief.
The Staircase (2018)
The true crime documentary genre is utterly saturated at this point, but The Staircase stands out.
Focusing on Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen, The Staircase is more than just a murder mystery. It's a drawn-out epic that takes place over literal decades, a documentary that follows Peterson and examines his every move, but somehow still remains objective. It's a good time to watch or revisit this one, since HBO Max have just launched a drama mini series based on it.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
The absolute gold standard for long running sports documentaries. Drive to Survive is so good, and so popular, that it's inspired a whole new level of interest in Formula 1, especially in the US. This show is great at elevating the characters that occupy the sport. More shows like this please.