It's true-crime marathon time! These highly rated documentaries on Netflix will make you really think about some of the darkest secrets of the past. The dozens of true and horrific stories will get into your head and might just make you wary of everyone you meet.

You can count on the streaming platform to serve the greatest comedies and horror flicks, but there's a whole other side of documentaries that must be explored.

The genres on this list include the darkest and most controversial topics, heartbreaking stories, and some of the juiciest true crime films with high ratings from satisfied fans. 

Mysterious murders and disappearances, innocent individuals framed for crimes they didn't commit, and even exploring the unknown in our universe are key factors that will send tingly shivers down your spine. 

Documentary lovers can also get their fill of mind-blowing stories, highly rated docu-series, and true-crime flicks that will bring out your inner sleuth. 

ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads 

Rating: 7/10 on IMDb

Robert Johnson was a blues legend who lived a tragically short life and this 2019 documentary explores the theory that he ran off to make a deal with the devil in order to amp up his musical skills.

The Great Hack

Rating: 7/10 on IMDb

The dark world of data exploitation is exposed in this doc that follows people on opposite sides of the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook battle.

Amanda Knox

Rating: 71% on Rotten Tomatoes

Amanda Knox was an exchange student in Italy who got sentenced to four years in prison for killing her roommate. Though she was eventually acquitted, this doc uncovers whether she was innocent or the person who committed the crime.

Survivor's Guide to Prison 

Rating: 7.1/10 on IMDb

At one hour and 42 minutes long, you'll learn the ins and out of how to survive a brutal life of prison in America but hopefully, you won't need to use this advice.

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

Rating: 7.2/10 on IMDb

Artist and activist Sam Cooke was murdered in 1964 by a motel manager and a series of interviews and archived footage explore the circumstances surrounding his untimely death.

Roll Red Roll

Rating: 73% on Rotten Tomatoes

A high school football party in Ohio ended with a young woman getting raped by players and this doc uncovers the two key suspects who irresponsibly exposed their crime on social media.

Audrie & Daisy

Rating: 73% on Rotten Tomatoes

Audrie and Daisy were a pair of teenage girls who got sexually assaulted while passed out at a high school party. The bullying and trauma ended with one of the girls committing suicide, and this doc explores the harsh effects of online harassment and shaming.

Into the Inferno

Rating: 73% on Rotten Tomatoes

Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer goes around the world to explore some of the most violent wonders of the world in an attempt to understand how we can safely live among them.

ReMastered: Massacre at the Stadium

Rating: 7.3/10 on IMDb

Chilean singer Victor Jara was murdered in 1973 and this hour-long documentary examines how he became a symbol as a martyr for his country decades ago.

The Animal People

Rating: 7.3/10 on IMDb

This bone-chilling doc was executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix. It explores animal activists who upset the government that in turn went to extremes to change the law in order to silence them.

The Ivory Game

Rating: 74% on Rotten Tomatoes

At nearly two hours long, this doc follows filmmakers who went undercover for 16 months to expose the dark world of ivory trafficking.

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

Rating: 74% on Rotten Tomatoes

Marsha P. Johnson's dead body was found floating in a river in 1992 and for years, authorities immediately ruled it as a suicide. Now, an old friend of Johnson wants to uncover what really happened that night, exploring discrimination and unfair treatment against transgendered individuals.

Reversing Roe

Rating: 7.4/10 on IMDb

Decades after abortion laws were enacted in America, women are fighting back for freedom over their own bodies, resulting in one of the most controversial topics of our time.


Rating: 74% on Rotten Tomatoes

At just under half an hour-long, this heartbreaking doc follows a team of doctors who work in the intensive care unit and must make difficult decisions to end the lives of terminally ill patients.


Rating: 7.5/10 on IMDb

Ryan Ferguson was a 20-year-old boy sentenced to 40 years in jail for a murder he did not commit. His father embarks on a decade long battle to prove his son's innocence and set him free.


Rating: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes

Aliens! For years, deep black programs have been unacknowledged by the government in an attempt to hide evidence of extraterrestrial contact and UFO footage. Now, you can take a look into the secrecy that hides behind the unknown.

City of Joy

Rating: 7.6/10 on IMDb

After a two-decade-long war, the women living in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo come together to discuss their heartbreaking experiences and get to the other side of healing through their community.

I Am Jane Doe

Rating: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes

A sex trafficking website called was the source of dozens of middle-school-aged girls who were sold on the website. After a series of legal cases, their mothers fight back to end online human trafficking.

Forks Over Knives

Rating: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes

This investigative documentary explores the food industry which consists of cancer and diabetes causing chemicals, encouraging people to shift their diet in order to avoid chronic and deathly illnesses.

Tyke Elephant Outlaw 

Rating: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes

In 1994, Tyke the circus elephant escaped her cage in Honolulu and was shot in an attempt to stop her rampage. Her story sparked this doc to explore the use of animals in the entertainment industry.

Only The Dead

Rating: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes

Time Magazine war correspondent Michael Ware travelled to Baghdad during a 2003 invasion and was given a tape from terrorists that revealed incredibly shocking secrets.

Miss Representation

Rating: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes

This hour-and-a-half film explores the representation of women in the entertainment industry which is fueled by provocative images and sexism against females.

Lessons From A School Shooting: Notes From Dunblane 

Rating: 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

The 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre took the lives of 26 people and Father Bob Weiss had the gut-wrenching task of disposing of the bodies. He was contacted by a priest from Scotland who sent his own words of advice and hope following a shooting in his community that killed 16 children.

I Called Him Morgan

Rating: 81% on Rotten Tomatoes

Jazz singer Lee Morgan was shot dead by his wife in 1972 while playing a gig on stage when she arrived at the night club with a gun in her purse, though many can't understand her horrendous crime.

Armed to the Teeth (Hasta Los Dientes)

Rating: 8.2/10 on IMDb

In 2010, two university students in Mexico were framed as criminals and murdered by the military, and the controversial case is explored in this true-crime doc.

ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?

Rating: 83% on Rotten Tomatoes

Thirty-seven-year-old DJ Jam Master Jay was gunned down in a Jamaica recording studio in 2002. His friends and family set out to find who took the DJ's life.

The Bleeding Edge

Rating: 83% on Rotten Tomatoes

This nerve-wracking doc takes a deep look into the $400 billion medical device industry and reveals how coverups and relaxed regulations put patients' lives at risk every day.


Rating: 83% on Rotten Tomatoes

This short but heart-breaking documentary follows a judge, fire chief, and social worker who team up to battle the opioid crisis in their community.

Long Shot

Rating: 85% on Rotten Tomatoes

Dodgers fan Juan Catalan was falsely accused of killing a woman and had an unlikely alibi. Video footage taken by production crew for the series Curb Your Enthusiasm caught him on tape at the game on the day of the murder.

The Fear of 13 

Rating: 87% on Rotten Tomatoes

Nick Yarris was convicted of murder and spent 21 years on Death Row before DNA evidence revealed that he was innocent and set him free.

God Knows Where I Am

Rating: 87% on Rotten Tomatoes

Linda Bishop's abandoned body was found in a farmhouse and revealed that she had been living alone surviving off of apples and rainwater, intent that God would find and save her from death.

Team Foxcatcher

Rating: 88% on Rotten Tomatoes

Billionaire John du Pont owned a property where he helped train members of the USA's Olympic Wrestling Team, but his disturbing obsession with one athlete resulted in a tragic end.

Let It Fall: LA 1982-1992

Rating: 88% on Rotten Tomatoes

A decade of tension between law enforcement and the black community in the city of Los Angeles eventually led to a violent riot in 1992 that came after the Rodney King verdict.

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret 

Rating: 89% on Rotten Tomatoes

This 2014 doc delves into animal agriculture that leads to issues such as global warming and deforestation, pointing at the industry as the main cause of environmental destruction worldwide.


Rating: 91% on Rotten Tomatoes

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay uncovers the disturbingly high numbers of incarcerated African-Americans inmates in the US.

The Devil We Know

Rating: 91% on Rotten Tomatoes

This one's a jaw-dropper. Individuals living in West Virginia expose a corporation that has been dumping toxic chemicals in their water supply for years. As a result, those chemicals are now found in the blood of millions of Americans.


Rating: 92% on Rotten Tomatoes

Major League Baseball went through a doping scandal in 2013 and key steroid peddler Anthony Bosch exposes some of the high profile players that he used to sell drugs to.

Sour Grapes

Rating: 94% on Rotten Tomatoes

Rudy Kurniawan was an expert wine savant who made millions of dollars selling his product at wine auctions. Two years later, a fellow wine producer discovered that Kurniawan was a fraud who conned investors out of $35 million.

The Dawn Wall

Rating: 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

Don't look down. This hour-and-40-minute doc follows two free climbers who sent out with the goal of scaling the Dawn Wall of El Capitan that's located in Yosemite National Park.