Describing the diverse roster of Netflix documentary films and series is tough to do in a sentence, but that’s kind of the point: The genre has serious range. Each doc offers a new perspective on the human experience, the creative actualization of the countless lives being lived outside the screen.

This fall, Netflix documentary film fans can look out for intimate portraits of life, from an emotional and humorous roadtrip between best friends Will Ferrell and Harper Steele in Will & Harper to a dive into a late gamer’s secret world in The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. Martha invites you into the home of Martha Stewart, while Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter follows a quest for a missing child. In new and returning documentary series, it’s all about sports: from chronicling elite athletes’ Olympic journeys in Simone Biles Rising and SPRINT to a brand new docuseries about the Boston Red Sox. Doc series fans can also venture into the briny deep with Our Oceans, and far into the future in What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates.

Below, you’ll find all the information you need about the brand-new and returning documentaries hitting Netflix in the next few months. Keep checking back for new titles, trailers, and more — because when it comes to documentaries, the next great true story is always coming soon. 

New and Returning Documentary Series

Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer

Resilient. Defiant. Triumphant. After two tumultuous decades in the public eye, two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion goalkeeper Hope Solo is ready to tell her story. Across several unflinching interviews, Solo unpacks the unique mix of glory and defeat that accompanied her rise to a level of fame that transcended her sport. Despite giving everything to soccer, Solo’s competitive obsession and radical candor made her into a lightning rod of criticism, often forcing her to go it alone in her quest for the most elusive of prizes: equity, recognition, and respect. Illuminating the human struggle behind the headlines, UNTOLD: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer charts Solo’s life and career from a complicated upbringing in rural Washington to the pinnacle of sports stardom as she became the greatest national team goalkeeper in soccer history. 

Hope Solo

Nina Meredith

Read more about Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer.

What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates

 With What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, the tech visionary and philanthropist explores the crucial challenges and potential groundbreaking solutions that will shape our world in the coming years. Across five episodes, Gates explores the transformative potential and ethical considerations of artificial intelligence, the pervasive threat of misinformation and the complexity of defining truth, the fight against climate change with cutting-edge technologies, the need to bridge economic divides and combat poverty, and the ongoing battle against deadly diseases with innovative scientific techniques. Featuring expert insights and commentary from leading scientists, thinkers, journalists, medical professionals, artists and others, and executive produced by Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), What’s Next? offers a glimpse into a more promising and sustainable future. 

Bill Gates

Morgan Neville

Read more about What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates.

Unsolved Mysteries

The iconic and gripping series returns featuring more unexplained deaths, baffling disappearances, and bizarre paranormal activity. Unsolved Mysteries is from the creators of the original docuseries, Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, and 21 Laps Entertainment, the producers of Stranger Things.

Read more about Unsolved Mysteries.

Starting 5

The 10-part Netflix sports series provides an intense, behind-the-scenes look at the 2023-24 NBA season through the eyes of five of the league’s biggest players - Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics). The series captures their battles on and off the court as they chase greatness, push through injuries, and balance the demands of family and legacy. James pushes himself harder than ever to stay healthy — and dominant — in his 21st season, while Edwards electrifies with his rapid rise. Butler’s relentless drive propels the Heat, Sabonis anchors the Kings with his versatile play, and Tatum leads the Celtics in their quest for a record 18th championship. Starting 5 delivers an unfiltered view of life at the pinnacle of professional basketball.

Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis, Jayson Tatum

Susan Ansman, Trishtan Williams, Peter J. Scalettar

Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Philip Byron and Randy Mims (for UNINTERRUPTED); President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vinnie Malhotra and Ethan Lewis (for Higher Ground); Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz and Sam Pepper (for Omaha)

Read more about Starting 5.

Simone Biles Rising

Part 2 of Simone Biles Rising follows along as she competes at the 2024 U.S. Gymnastics Trials and officially qualifies for the U.S. Olympic Team to her incredible performances in Paris, all the while sharing personal thoughts and moments of her incredible journey to become the most decorated gymnast in history. The episodes provide intimate access to Biles as she captures three gold medals and one silver medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Produced by Religion of Sports in association with the Olympic Channel.

Simone Biles

Katie Walsh

Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets, Janey Miller, JT Taylor, Yiannis Exarchos, Jérôme Parmentier and David Herren

SPRINT

Following athletes from all over the world, this series delves deep into the psyches of those elite competitors who train to be the fastest person on the planet. We take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the high stakes, and mental toughness of the sprinters who devote their entire lives to crossing the finish line in record time, where their professional futures are decided in just fractions of a second. 

Episodes will feature Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas, Fred Kerley,  Kishane Thompson, Julien Alfred, Letsile Tebogo, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Marcell Jacobs, Kenny Bednarek, Shericka Jackson, Oblique Seville, and other elite athletes as they compete at the pinnacle of their sport at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, striving for gold with the world watching.

Box to Box Films (Full Swing, F1: Drive to Survive, Tour De France: Unchained) in association with World Athletics and the Olympic Channel

Paul Martin, James Gay-Rees and Warren Smith of Box to Box Films; JT Taylor and Yiannis Exarchos of the Olympic Channel, and Jérôme Parmentier and David Herren of the IOC

Untitled 2004 Boston Red Sox Doc Series

Coming this fall is the definitive documentary looking back at the greatest comeback in American professional sports: the 2004 Red Sox World Series run. The wildly improbable season ended in the team’s first championship in 86 years — and sparked a chapter of new life for the team. Since then, the Red Sox have gone on to win more World Series in the last 20 years than any club in baseball. The doc series will feature new, exclusive interviews with key players and memorable figures from the team — and take a deep dive into the two-year, high-stakes war on and off the field with the New York Yankees. Executive Producers: Nick Barnicle, Colin Barnicle, John Skipper, Deirdre Fenton, Howard Bryant, Melody Shaffir, Nick Davis, and Nick Trotta.

Directed By
Colin Barnicle

Produced By
Meadowlark Media

Our Oceans

Oceans are the beating heart of our planet yet so much remains unknown, unexplored and undiscovered. From the tropical warm waters of the Indian Ocean, to the fiery depths of the Atlantic, from the unpredictable waters of the Pacific that are surrounded by a ring of fire, to the freezing isolation of the Southern and Arctic Oceans, Our Oceans explores the magical world of wonders that lies beneath the waves.

New Documentary Films

 

Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter

A mother finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of unanswered questions when she discovers the daughter she gave up for adoption many years ago has disappeared. 

Ryan White

Read more about Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter.

Jailbreak: Love on the Run

When Vicky White, a highly respected corrections officer, aids the escape of a violent felon nearly 20 years her junior, it reveals an unexpected love story that unfolds amid the ensuing high-profile manhunt and media frenzy.

Will & Harper

When Will Ferrell’s good friend of 30 years, Harper Steele, comes out as a trans woman, the pair embark on a road trip to process this new stage in their friendship and reintroduce Harper to the country she loves as her authentic self.

Will Ferrell, Harper Steele

Josh Greenbaum

The Menendez Brothers

In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of the murders of their parents in what became one of the most famous criminal cases of the late 20th century. For the first time in 30 years, and in their own words, both brothers revisit the trial that shocked the nation.

Alejandro Hartmann

Bjorg Engdahl Medieop/Netflix

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer, died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely and isolated life, when they started receiving messages from online friends around the world.

Benjamin Ree

Read more about The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.

Martha

Through intimate and revealing interviews with the icon herself and those from her inner circle, R.J. Cutler’s definitive documentary on Martha Stewart traces her rise from teenage model to her reign as the original influencer and America’s first self-made female billionaire.

Martha Stewart

R.J. Cutler

Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy

The lies you’ve been sold will cost you. This unpredictable and revelatory documentary special from a two-time Oscar-winning team pulls back the curtain on the secretive world of the most influential brands, as insiders and whistleblowers expose the covert manipulation tricks to keep you buying, no matter the cost. This is the story big business doesn’t want you to know.

Nic Stacey