Biographical Documentaries on Netflix
Last updated April 19, 2025
Lakey Peterson: Zero to 100
2013 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsFeaturing footage from professional surfer Lakey Peterson's early years through her victory at the 2012 U.S Open, this in-depth documentary charts her meteoric rise in the sport and offers a glimpse into her drive to win.
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Legend of a Warrior
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis deeply personal documentary follows filmmaker Corey Lee's efforts to reconnect with his father, Frank, a high-kicking martial arts legend whose style of full-contact fighting made him famous -- but largely kept him from father-son bonding.
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Super Size Me
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDirector Morgan Spurlock takes a hilarious and often terrifying look at the effects of fast food on the human body, using himself as the proverbial guinea pig. For one month, Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's fare.
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil
2008 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsFormed by two 14-year-olds in the 1970s, heavy metal band Anvil influenced other acts, such as Anthrax and Metallica. This documentary joins Anvil's now middle-aged founders as they cope with obsoleteness and try to end their careers on a high note.
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Pregnant in America
2008 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen his wife became pregnant with their first child, Steve Buonaugurio was prompted to make this, his first film, which documents the couple's experience with the American maternity system. It reveals the cabal of hospital, insurance and health organizations that puts profits before a pregnant woman's safety and health. Buonaugurio also records the couple's plans for a home birth, their ultimate defiance of the system.
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No Impact Man
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsIn this engaging documentary, a Fifth Avenue family goes green when writer Colin Beavan leads his wife, Michelle Conlin, and their baby daughter on a yearlong crusade to generate no trash and otherwise make no net impact on the environment.
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Big River Man
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTo underscore the effects of pollution, endurance swimmer Martin Strel attempts to swim the Amazon, Mississippi, Danube and Yangtze Rivers in a 3,375-mile, 66-day expedition that brings him face-to-face with predators and toxic contamination.
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Teenage Paparazzo
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsActor Adrian Grenier ("Entourage") writes, directs and produces this documentary that examines his connection to a 14-year-old paparazzo and explores the concept of celebrity in America by interviewing famous entertainers about fame.
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Bananas!*
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsNicaraguan laborers are paying a high price to get cheap bananas onto the world's tables, and Southern California personal injury lawyer Juan Dominguez has decided to do something about it. This film tells his story. Director Fredrik Gertten follows Dominguez as he takes on corporate giants Dole Food and Dow Chemical on behalf of 10,000 banana workers made ill by a pesticide used in Nicaraguan plantations years after it was banned in the States.
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Beautiful Darling
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWith dreams of film stardom, transsexual actress Candy Darling took the 1970s New York art scene by storm and became Andy Warhol's muse. This documentary paints a colorful portrait of her fascinating yet tragically short life.
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Smash His Camera
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhile profiling the controversial life and career of pioneering paparazzo Ron Galella, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Leon Gast raises intriguing questions about the freedom of the press, the right to privacy and our celebrity-obsessed culture. A great risk taker who never backed down, Galella suffered a broken jaw at the hands of Marlon Brando and fought two major lawsuits filed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
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And Everything Is Going Fine
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsSpalding Gray, known for his radically minimal solo shows staged on equally spare sets, is the focus of this unconventional documentary that compiles rare footage of what amounts to a posthumous monologue by the writer and actor.
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Thieves by Law
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsFormer heads of the Russian Mafia who have shrewdly transformed themselves into reputable businessmen reveal their past experiences influencing their nation's economy, building up immense wealth and strictly adhering to a private code of thieves. Granted unprecedented access and cooperation, director Alexander Gentelev presents an intriguing documentary that exposes a chilling chapter of Russia's hidden history.
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Life with Murder
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen 18-year-old Jennifer Jenkins is shot dead at home, all evidence points to the guilt of her 20-year-old brother, Mason -- but the siblings' parents maintain an unwavering belief in their son's innocence. Director John Kastner's unflinching documentary chronicles Mason's 11-year march through the Canadian court system, from first interrogation to appeal attempts, and culminates in an unforeseen revelation.
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Precious Life
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsMohammad Abu Mustafa, a 4-month-old Palestinian boy living in the barricaded Gaza Strip, was born without an immune system and faces certain death if he does not receive a bone marrow transplant at an Israeli hospital -- an unlikely prospect.
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Becoming Chaz
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis gripping documentary from directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato follows the deeply emotional journey of Chastity Bono, daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, as she embarks on a program of gender reassignment to become a man. Focusing on the emotional ramifications of her decision as much as the hormone shots, surgery and other changes to her body, this film chroncles one person's odyssey to become the man he always knew he was.
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Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death and Technology
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsIn this funny, eye-opening, and inspiring film, Director and Webby Awards Founder Tiffany Shlain takes audiences on an exhilarating rollercoaster ride to discover what it means to be connected in the 21st century.
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Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsIn 1987, Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitch Deprey recorded the nightly squabbles of their over-the-top neighbors, homophobic Raymond Huffman and proudly gay Peter Haskett, and the chronicle of the pair's bizarre existence soon took on a life of its own. This darkly funny documentary checks in with former punks Eddie and Mitch, who detail their late-'80s Lower Haight surroundings, and surveys the tapes' influence on an array of underground artists.
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Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDiscover the man behind the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" in this biography of Sholem Aleichem. Vintage photographs, film clips and interviews with historians reveal Aleichem's world and how he parlayed turmoil into a new Jewish cultural identity.
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My Name is Kahentiiosta
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsKahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman who was arrested during the Oka crisis and detained for defending her choice to provide her Aboriginal name.
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Wild Eyes: The Abby Sunderland Story
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTeen Abby Sunderland dares try to become the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, but her journey -- and survival -- are put to the test. Thrust into danger, Abby is forced to think fast when the sea turns on her and her childhood dream.
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Cocalero
2007 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsThis 2007 Sundance Film Festival competition entry from director Alejandro Landes documents Aymara Indian Evo Morales's grassroots political campaign to become the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Morales, former president of the Chapare coca growers union, solicited a groundswell of native political support during the 2002 elections, a telling response to the incumbent administration's attempts to eradicate the crop.
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Confessions of a Superhero
2007 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsOn Hollywood Boulevard, wannabe movie stars dress up as superheroes and pose for photos with tourists. Matt Ogens's documentary follows four of these quirky dreamers, who are just killing time until they're discovered. You'll get to know a Superman who takes his role to heart, an Incredible Hulk who sold his prized video game system for a ticket to Tinseltown, a Midwestern beauty queen-turned-Wonder Woman and a Batman in need of a little therapy.
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Fall from Grace
2007 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsFor years, the Rev. Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church have preached a message of intolerance and hatred, aimed at homosexuals. This compelling documentary shines a spotlight on Phelps and his followers, widely condemned as a hate group. K. Ryan Jones's debut takes a hard look a church that claims that everything from the poor economy to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can be tied to God's wrath over so-called sexual deviance.
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Wake Up
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsJonas Elrod woke up one day with the ability to see and hear angels, demons and ghosts. Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary follows Jonas and his girlfriend as they try to understand the phenomenon.
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