Biographical Documentaries on Netflix
Last updated April 19, 2025
Right to Exit: Kevorkian
2004 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsDetermined to help people die with dignity, Dr. Jack Kevorkian refused to conceal or halt his participation in assisted suicides until the government stopped him with a 1999 murder conviction. This film chronicles his struggles. Through interviews with key players in the trial as well as a prison phone chat with Kevorkian himself, director Anna Terean provides an illuminating study of both the doctor and the politics of euthanasia.
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Sins of My Father
2009 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsNicolas Entel's searing documentary tells the story of Pablo Escobar -- Colombian drug kingpin, murderer and family man -- through the eyes of his son, Sebastian, as well as the sons of two of Escobar's most prominent victims.
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Catfish
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsWhen gifted 8-year-old artist Abby contacts young photographer Nev through Facebook, he's intrigued. He gradually becomes involved with her family, even falling for her older sister -- until he realizes something's not quite right.
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War Don Don
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsFilmmaker Rebecca Richman Cohen offers this gripping documentary that follows the sensational trial of Issa Sesay, a controversial leader in Sierra Leone's bloody civil war who stands accused of heinous crimes against humanity.
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Return to Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story
2009 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsSome 65 years after leaving the Pacific, former Navy Ens. Leon Cooper returns to the site of the bloody battle at Tarawa to investigate a disturbing rumor: that trash and debris now decorate the shores where thousands of men fell dead or wounded. Out of respect for the sacrifices his countrymen made there in the fall of 1943, Cooper is determined to clean up the area and restore honor to once hallowed ground. Oscar-nominated actor Ed Harris narrates.
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Whistling Smith
1975 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsHere is a revealing insight into one side of big-city life and a tough cop with a big heart.
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Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
2012 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsRude, crude and polarizing, Morton Downey Jr. was the profane right-wing prince of talk show hosts during his brief heyday in the late 1980s. This colorful documentary includes archival footage of Downey's riotous show with revealing interviews.
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Our Nixon
2013 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsNixon himself wasn't the only one obsessively recording his presidency; three of his top aides were filming it, too, with Super 8 cameras. These home movies -- from H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dwight Chapin -- form the basis of this portrait.
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Poster Girl
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsRobynn Murray was a high school cheerleader who became the poster girl for women in combat. This documentary short follows Murray over the course of two years as she battles post-traumatic stress disorder and embarks on journey of self-discovery.
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Cowboy del Amor
2005 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIf you're looking for a wife and have $3,000, look no further than "Cowboy Cupid" Ivan Thompson, who makes a living as a matchmaker to lonely American men, driving them deep into Mexico in search of the perfect woman. One client is Rick, a truck driver who finds U.S. women "too hard to please," and Ivan gives him lots of pointers that come in handy during the courtship. Michele Ohayon, a previous Oscar nominee, directs this quirky documentary.
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LIFE 2.0
2010 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsEvery day, computer users across the globe log onto Second Life, a virtual world populated by life-like avatars. For a few people, their everyday lives are dramatically consumed by this alternate reality, affecting their relationships on and offline.
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Dragonslayer
2011 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn this unconventional portrait, filmmaker Tristan Patterson profiles palpably lost twentysomething Josh Sandoval, a drug-dabbling skateboarder trying to make sense of life -- or not -- in suburban Southern California.
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Neil Young Journeys
2011 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsFollowing rocker Neil Young to his Toronto hometown, Jonathan Demme captures the artist live in concert at Massey Hall and on the road in Ontario. This film is the third in Demme's Neil Young concert trilogy, following Heart of Gold and Trunk Show.
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Mighty Jerome
2010 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsThis biographical documentary tells the inspiring story of the rise, fall and redemption of Harry Jerome, a legendary track and field star and considered one of Canada's greatest athletes of all time.
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Gene Boy Came Home
2007 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsGene Boy Came Home is the harrowing and deeply moving story of his two years of service in Vietnam and his long journey back to Odanak afterwards.
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The Jeffrey Dahmer Files
2012 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsStripping away the headlines and hype, this documentary spotlights the people who surrounded serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer during and after his arrest. Comments by neighbors and police create a portrait of Dahmer that's disturbingly normal.
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Decoding Deepak
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsIn this documentary, filmmaker and journalist Gotham Chopra embarks on a year-long road trip with his father, Deepak Chopra, to reconcile the spiritual icon with the real man known to his family.
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G-Dog
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsThis documentary highlights the work of Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest who created Homeboy Industries -- a revolutionary program for at-risk youth which has become the most successful gang intervention program in the U.S.
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Reveal the Path
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsReveal the Path is a genre-defying adventure film that contemplates what it means to live an inspired life using the bicycle as a mechanism to explore, dream and discover.
Reveal the Path is a genre-defying adventure film that contemplates what it means to live an inspired life using the bicycle as a mechanism to explore, dream and discover.
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Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
2000 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn 1955, Tobias Schneebaum disappeared into the Peruvian Amazon and emerged a year later as a modern-day cannibal. Now, follow the stranger-than-fiction tale of Schneebaum's return to the jungle in 1999, 45 years after his original visit.
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James Ellroy's Feast of Death
2001 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsBest-selling author James Ellroy takes viewers on a dark journey through the grisly underworld of American murder in this fascinating documentary. Ellroy survived his own childhood tragedy when his mother was murdered in a mysterious attack, an event that ignited his obsession with unsolved homicides and shaped his future writing. Here, he visits notorious crime scenes and discusses historic cases, including the infamous Black Dahlia murder.
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The Outsider
2006 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsFollowing maverick writer-director James Toback through the process of making his 2004 drama When Will I Be Loved, this documentary provides a fascinating look inside the world of filmmaking. Toback, whose previous screenplays include The Gambler and Bugsy, shot the movie in 12 days without a script and battled to get it released. Woody Allen, Robert Downey Jr., Harvey Keitel, Brooke Shields, Roger Ebert and many others discuss Toback and his work.
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A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory
2006 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn this Tribeca Film Festival selection, director Esther Robinson paints an affecting portrait of her uncle, Danny Williams -- a talented young artist and former lover of pop-culture icon Andy Warhol -- who inexplicably vanished at age 27. Highlights include footage from Williams' 16mm films and interviews with colorful Factory personalities such as Brigid Berlin, John Cale, Gerard Malanga, Paul Morrissey and Billy Name.
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A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
2008 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsAfter failing to find true love in any of his past relationships, Chris Waitt resolves to discover exactly what is wrong with him. Thinking that others have a better idea of his faults than he does, he sets out to find and question old girlfriends.
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A Sea Change
2009 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsAward-winning filmmaker Barbara Ettinger puts a human face on the realities of global warming and ocean acidification in this eye-opening document of one man's quest to learn more about his generation's environmental legacy. Although he's an environmentalist, native Norwegian Sven Huseby is a grandfather, too. And he's increasingly concerned about the kind of world his 5-year-old grandson, Elias, will inherit.
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