Netflix Documentaries to Binge on This Weekend

Without a doubt, Netflix is the best thing to have ever happened to television. A near endless list of movies, TV series and documentaries, you’ll be spoilt for choice. If you’ve had a long work week and want to do nothing but just Netflix this weekend, check out these documentaries that are worth bingeing on for the drama, suspense and entertainment value. You’ll definitely have loads to talk about with your colleagues come Monday morning.

Icarus
Named after the Greek legend that flew too close to the sun is this story of the biggest doping scandal in the history of sports. Director Brian Fogel, who is also an amateur cyclist, took the courtesy of throwing himself right into the middle of the Russian doping scandal that claims that 99 per cent of Russian athletes to be using illegal substances to achieve their hundreds of gold medals. This documentary would later go on to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2018.

Quincy
Got the soul in you? Then this documentary will hit all the right notes. Highlighting the life of Quincy Jones, famous American record producer, musician, composer and film producer, the documentary spans through Jones’s stellar career through six decades where he worked with the likes of Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Will Smith among many others. Jones holds the record for the most Grammy nominees at 80, winning 27 Grammys and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992.

Trump: An American Dream
Follow the story of Donald Trump in this four-part docuseries that covers different parts of the U.S. President’s life from the beginning of his career through his TV reality show and to the White House. Forbes calls it “a supervillain origin series”. By the end of the series, you’ll find yourself questioning the American Dream.

Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons
What’s life like in a Colombian prison? This docuseries first aired in 2016 and recently aired its third season in 2018. It follows the path of two investigative journalists turn voluntary inmates as they visit some of the most unforgiving and intimidating prisons in the world. Hard-hitting and thought provoking.

13th
This Academy Award nominee documentary was described by NY Times as “powerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming.” Named after the 13th amendment of the U.S Constitution which states that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…”, the documentary brings us through the American criminal justice system as it questions whether the 13th amendment has a loophole.

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash