Every month, there are some popular TV shows on Netflix. Whether you’re looking for the best documentary series, the best comedy TV shows, the best horror shows, or something for the whole family to enjoy together, Netflix’s giant TV show catalog will have you covered.
Want to find the best documentaries in 2026? Check this Netflix list. And good news, we’ll be updating this list regularly to keep all recommendations fresh.
This high-octane Netflix documentary series provides an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the drivers, managers, and owners during the FIA Formula One World Championship. It transforms technical racing into a character-driven soap opera, focusing on rivalries and job security. Season 8 premiered in February 2026, covering the 2025 World Championship, documenting the massive shake-ups in driver lineups and the technical battles leading into the 2026 engine regulation changes.
In 1997, the Bulls allowed a film crew to follow them everywhere. This footage sat in a vault for over 20 years until Jordan finally agreed to its release. The result is The Last Dance, a ten-part Emmy-winning docuseries that chronicles the rise of the 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty, specifically focusing on the 1997–98 season, the final year the team’s legendary core played together.
For viewers today, the series is a vibrant time capsule of 90s culture, from the fashion and the “Dream Team” era to the global explosion of the Jordan brand.
This 2026 Oscar-winning short is a quiet but powerful meditation on the tragedy of school shootings in America. Directed by Joshua Seftel, the film follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they travel across the United States on a seven-year project to memorialize the untouched bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.
The film contrasts the quiet stillness of the empty rooms with vibrant archival home videos of the children. Many viewers mentioned that this tearjerking documentary “knocks you out of the numb feeling” coming with the frequency of school shooting reports. It is one of the most recommended titles on Netflix.
Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who passed away at 25 from a degenerative muscular disease, lived a secret, expansive second life that defied his physical limitations. Within the universe of World of Warcraft, he transformed into Ibelin: a muscular, charismatic rogue and a cornerstone of the “Starlight” guild. Through his avatar, Mats bypassed the confines of his wheelchair to experience a world where he could run, flirt, lead, and form profound connections.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin won the Directing Award and the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Praised for being “unexpectedly cinematic” and “emotionally overwhelming,” the film set up a landmark in digital storytelling and remains a high-rated favorite in the Netflix documentary catalog.
The Perfect Neighbor documents the June 2023 shooting of Ajike “AJ” Owens, a Black mother of four, by her white neighbor, Susan Lorincz, in Ocala, Florida. It explores the controversial “Stand Your Ground” laws in Florida and follows the case through 2024.
The documentary adopts a unique storytelling method, using almost entirely existing footage, such as police body cameras, security tapes, and 911 calls, to reconstruct a tragic real-life event. It won the Directing Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Critics praise it for moving beyond “true crime” tropes to serve as a profound social commentary, making it a “must-watch” for documentary fans.
The Social Dilemma is a documentary-drama that explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, featuring tech experts who helped build these platforms sounding the alarm on their own creations. It explains how we lost control of our attention before AI began to compete for our reality.
Since its release, the Emmy-winning film has proven to be remarkably prescient. Many of its key warnings, such as the addictive nature of “persuasive design”, are now central to major 2026 legal battles and international tech policy. While the landscape has shifted toward an “AI-first” world, the film’s core message remains a vital foundation for understanding how algorithms influence our behavior.
By following the parallel lives of Alessia Zecchini, a champion Italian freediver, and Stephen Keenan, a renowned Irish safety diver, The Deepest Breath offers a visually stunning and emotionally intense experience. It transcends the typical sports documentary, playing out more like a psychological thriller or a cinematic epic. The film is also acclaimed for its incredible underwater cinematography.
This heartwarming documentary offers an insightful exploration of canine cognition, behavior, and the profound emotional bond between humans and their pets. By balancing cutting-edge scientific research with moving, real-world stories, the film breaks down complex behavioral concepts into accessible insights for the average pet owner.
The documentary reached No. 6 on Netflix’s U.S. Top 10 Movies and top 10 in 25 other countries in its first week of release. Many pet owners have shared that the documentary changed how they look at their own dogs, especially regarding the section on puppy kindergarten and service dog training.
Netflix is adding to its growing arsenal of nature documentaries with the new co-production Predators. Predators is a nature docuseries that goes to different locales and shows how the world’s best predatory species survive.
Per Netflix, here’s what you can expect from the five-episode series: “In this captivating nature documentary series, five predator species around the world work to survive in their environments. Experience life through the eyes of cheetahs, polar bears, wild dogs and more of the planet’s most powerful hunters as they fight to maintain their dominance. Academy Award nominee Tom Hardy narrates this heart-pounding nature documentary series.”
“Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons” is a gripping television documentary series that provides an intimate look into 19 different prisons across the globe. The series predominantly offers insights from the perspective of prisoners but also includes the viewpoints of prison guards and individuals who interact with the penal system.
The inaugural season, hosted by Irish journalist Paul Connolly, originally aired on Channel 5. However, starting from the second season, the series was commissioned by Netflix and was presented by UK journalist Raphael Rowe. Notably, Rowe had previously served 12 years in prison for a crime he was ultimately acquitted of, lending a unique and personal perspective to the show.
The seventh season was released on September 15, 2023. “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons” captivates audiences with its in-depth exploration of the challenging and often harsh realities within correctional facilities around the world.
Related: Best Prison movies on Netflix
If you have a Netflix subscription, you can download Netflix videos on your phone, tablet, and Google Chromebook. How to download shows from Netflix on Mac or Windows? Don’t worry, with Pazu Netflix Video Downloader, you can easily download any Netflix movies, TV shows, and documentaries to watch offline.
Pazu Netflix Video Downloader is a desktop program for Netflix users to download videos without the Netflix app. It can bypass the DRM from Netflix and download movies and TV shows to MP4 and MKV. The converted music can be preserved in high quality as 1080p after a fast download process. Also, subtitles and audio tracks can be kept 100% the same as the original video.
Download Netflix movies & TV shows to MP4 with HD quality.
Click the Netflix icon and log in to your Netflix account. Click the three-line icon > Register and enter your registration code to unlock the full version if you have purchased a registration. If you haven’t, go ahead with the free trial version.
For movies or shows going to leave Netflix, downloading them with Pazu Netflix Video Downloader can save them to MP4 on your local drive and preserve them forever. Click the Search tab on top and enter the title of a movie/TV show in the search field and click the search icon. You will see all shows in the list.
Click on the Settings button in the upper right corner and select “Preferences” to change:
Click Download icon on the right side.
As you can see from the screenshot, all episodes are checked by default. Netflix Video Downloader will help you download them, no need to tap one by one.
Then click Download button in the right bottom corner. The downloading begins.
After downloading, click History and find the video in MP4 format. You can now transfer the downloaded videos to USB drive. Insert the USB drive to your TV’s USB port and watch them whenever you want.
Download Netflix movies and TV shows to MP4/MKV on your PC/Mac