20 chilling true-crime documentaries on Netflix to watch right now

There has never been a time in recorded history when people were not fascinated by stories about the very bad (and very real) things that people do to one another. But interest in true-crime documentaries tends to spike at times when society feels the most “vulnerable,” according to true-crime expert and author Diane Fanning, who helped walk Reader’s Digest through the current true-crime zeitgeist. So it’s not surprising that the pandemic has seen an apparent “revving up” of our collective cultural craving for true-crime documentary programming.

Moreover, the pandemic has landed many people who never before identified as “television watchers” at home in front of their TVs. True-crime expert M. William Phelps, who has authored 45 true-crime books and produced and hosted numerous true-crime television and podcast programs, explains to Reader’s Digest that streaming services such as Netflix have been doing everything they can to satisfy the increased demand for programming.

In fact, with the veritable glut of true-crime documentaries that have been streaming of late, it can be tough to know which are worth watching, let alone rise to can’t-miss status. That’s why we decided to investigate which are the best true-crime documentaries on Netflix, the streaming service that currently dominates the true-crime documentary genre.

Because we wanted to base our study of the best true-crime documentaries on Netflix on as broad a swath of empirical evidence as possible, we started off by using Rotten Tomatoes’ ‘freshness’ algorithm to eliminate any program for whom the critical reception amounted to a freshness score below 70. Then we narrowed these down to the top 30 using a combination of professional reviews and viewer comments. Finally, we went back through the list and added in a few that missed the official cut but have, for one reason or another, captivated the public interest. Read on for the best of the best true-crime documentaries on Netflix.

Release date: 2019

In 1964, the Black singer-songwriter, Sam Cooke, who is sometimes referred to as the ‘father of modern soul music,’ was shot to death at the age of 33. With responsible and thoughtful storytelling that includes generous time and energy spent celebrating Cooke’s life, talents, and unfulfilled aspirations, Remastered is much more than your average documentary about a tragic, inexplicable act of violence. Sam Cooke was more than just a talented musician; he also stood morally opposed to segregation and took issue with performing in segregated venues.

Cooke’s murder has never been solved, and the circumstances surrounding it shine a bright light on a number of racial and civil rights issues that have been coming into clearer focus since the murder of George Floyd. Even its title (Two Killings) is thought-provoking since it refers to the fact that Cooke lost more than just his life and promising future; he also lost his reputation, thanks to victim-blaming, much of which appears to have been racially motivated.

Release date: 2022

Fair warning: The Tinder Swindler will make you eye your dating app matches with serious caution. It’s about three women trying to find the person who conned them out of money while posing as a wealthy mogul’s son online.

The Tinder Swindler, a hit true-crime documentary for Netflix, has kept the Internet buzzing since its release in February 2022. There’s a wealth of content about it already, from follow-ups with the victims to in-depth discussions about avoiding romance scams. Part of the reason the show is stealing the spotlight is that it’s so compelling. Anyone who’s on a dating app can put themselves in the victims’ shoes as they talk about the love – and betrayal – they felt with this scammer. It’s a cautionary tale of dating in the age of apps that’ll hook you from the very beginning.

Release date: 2017

This docuseries is a must-see for fans of historic true crime and anyone with an interest in church-related corruption. On November 7, 1969, Cathy Cesnik, a nun who taught Catholic high school in Baltimore, disappeared on her way home from work. Her body was discovered two months later; Cesnik’s killer was never identified. The story faded from the public consciousness almost entirely until the 1990s, when one of Cesnik’s former students came forward to accuse one of the high school’s most influential leaders of sexual abuse, dating back to the time of Cesnik’s murder. Of course, sexual abuse is just the tip of the iceberg in this seven-part true-crime documentary series.

Check out these bizarre crime scene professions you haven’t heard of before.

Release date: 2019

This documentary about Bikram Choudhury of hot yoga fame tells the tale of an idol with clay feet. Through interviews with Choudhury’s former students, it becomes apparent that he was a master manipulator whose abuses varied depending on who he had in his crosshairs at any given moment and what he was trying to separate them from: their money, their physical safety, or their dignity. Bikram exposes the corrupt systems that enabled Choudhury to exploit his position as both spiritual leader and boss of a multimillion-dollar business (in its heyday) that churned out yoga teachers while crushing souls.

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While R. Kelly was winning over the music world and selling 75 million-plus records throughout his career, he was also apparently engaged in an ongoing pattern of sexually abusive behaviour – including having sex with underage girls and keeping some of them prisoner in an alleged ‘sex cult.’ This six-part docuseries examines allegations against Kelly dating back to the 1990s through the eyes of more than 50 people – victims and family members alike. What ultimately emerges is an indictment not only of Kelly’s crimes but also of the music industry that enabled them.

Release date: 2018

When Kathleen Peterson, wife of novelist Michael Peterson, died in 2001 as a result of a fall down a staircase in the home the couple shared, it quickly became apparent that this was not a freak accident. In fact, it looked an awful lot like Kathleen had died of blunt force trauma administered by none other than her husband. The first eight episodes of the true-crime documentary The Staircase, which first aired in 2005, follow Peterson’s arrest, trial and conviction. The story picks back up with five new episodes, shot between 2013 and 2018, that examine new evidence that came to light.

It was December 1996 when Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a 39-year-old French film producer, was found bludgeoned to death, clad only in pyjamas, outside her holiday home in a remote, picturesque village in West Cork, Ireland. The murder was only resolved in 2019 – or not, depending on whether you abide by the laws of Ireland or France. It’s not the only documentary delving into the du Plantier case, but it is the only one that was made with the cooperation of du Plantier’s family, which gives it an enormous amount of credibility.

Interested in true crime? Listen to our podcast, Tracking the Backpacker Murderer.

Release date: 2019

Born in 1920, John Demjanjuk was raised in Soviet Russia before becoming a German POW in the 1940s and emigrating to the United States in 1952. All seemed copacetic until 1977, when the US Justice Department launched an investigation into allegations that, while in Germany, Demjanjuk had been a Nazi known as Ivan the Terrible, who supplied lethal gas to Nazi death camps. Demjanjuk spent the rest of his life fighting the allegations, sometimes winning and sometimes losing, until his death in prison in 2012, while awaiting an appeal.

The Devil Next Door cannot say for sure whether Demjanjuk was a heinous war criminal with any greater authority than 35 years of international legal battles could. But with extensive archival footage from Demjanjuk’s trials as well as from concentration camps, and numerous interviews with prosecutors, academics and Demjanjuk’s family, this gripping documentary challenges viewers to ask some even bigger questions.