Netflix has a raving list of documentaries covering a wide spectrum of topics and we cannot stop going gaga over ‘em!
Be it nature documentaries, original crime miniseries, political conundrums, cult stories, unravelling mysteries, or sports extravaganza, the streaming channel has no dearth of fascinating narratives and none are with a hackneyed plot or cliched storytelling. Netflix’s expanding list of documentaries and docu-series has subscribers hooked and how! Bringing together the comic, polemic, comedy, thriller, romance, and memoir into one platform, Netflix has its subscribers digging for more.
Long gone are the days when the app would churn documentaries merely on nature and true crime. Today, practically any topic on the blooming wide earth gets an amazing visual rendition in the documentary style. No wonder the app is the saviour—a go-to destination for those who crave documentaries for a quick escape from the mundane.
An apotheosis of storytelling via documentary, The Tiger King took television by storm with its ethically vexing and unfathomable nature which added depth to the plot. Joe Exotic is a polygamous zoo owner in Oklahoma who breeds exotic wild animals to star in his country music videos. Presently serving a prison sentence for conspiring the murder of archnemesis Carole Baskin, Joe loved paparazzi. The insidious twists and tweaks of the documentary with a dark moral conundrum at the heart of it allure viewers. It is a story of a barren yet eccentric life dotted with horrifying incidences, and these peculiarities never let The Tiger King go off the radar.
Crip Camp chronicles an underrepresented minority group whose existence is perhaps at the very fringes of collective consciousness. The documentary not only does an amazing work of representing this community but also provides nuance and specificity to their experience reaching out to millions. It cinematises the metamorphosis of a summer camp of teens with disabilities into a movement – a howl for equality, of the late-20th century. Audiences are startled by the political and three-dimensional view of this community as the documentary never flinches to rave against alienation, and discrimination against the marginalised and differently-abled.
Cliched it may be, but The Last Dance is a petition to rekindle the fire and passion for sports. There is no qualm in agreeing that the work is a wholesome entertainment that elicits chills from every viewer. The documentary has a strong allure of nostalgia as it centres around the career trajectory of Michael Jordan who goes on to become a larger-than-life-presence in American sports and beyond. The work juggles two timelines, the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season and the major anecdotes leading to the significant season. The Last Dance does not have the objectivity of a journalistic narrative. It is rather sewn with multiple narratives and shines in all its splendour.
American Factory has a sombre realist theme with the key focus on a Chinese company in Dayton, Ohio, that springs up following the closure of the GM plant. The documentary has a distinct tragicomic glamour with some toe-curling culture clash episodes and since it was released during a monumental time in US politics, it has garnered quite some buzz. The work navigates through the struggles of American and Chinese workers during a rather turbulent period lending some insightful peep into labour practices, globalisation, and corporate tyranny. The light-hearted humour takes a morbid turn as it progresses delivering a heart-wrenching work of art and bagging an Oscar and Emmy.
