
The five best documentaries to watch on Netflix this weekend
Netflix has officially become the one-stop solution for all things entertainment. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the lookout for something that makes you feel light or something that makes your blood run dry; Netflix’s library is full of titles that will fulfil your cravings whenever you need them to pitch in.
While with Best of Netflix, weekends are never short on movie and series suggestions. For a change of pace, this time, we are back with the five best documentaries to watch this weekend.
Although Netflix is home to all types of documentaries, whether they concern nature, animals, sports, or celebrities, the upcoming horror season has made us count on a different pedigree of terror: true crime. However, make no mistake, this watchlist is definitely not for the fainthearted.
So, if you’re fascinated by the world of crime that crawls on your skin, we promise you, this list will have you seated throughout the weekend.
The five best documentaries to binge on Netflix this weekend
My Father, the BTK Killer (Skye Borgman, 2025)
It is one thing to see crimes unfold in televised headlines. It’s completely another thing to grow up with a criminal in the same household and only getting to know their true identity once they’re arrested. My Father, the BTK Killer is a recently released Netflix documentary which tells the story of one of America’s most notorious serial killers, Dennis Rader, who adopted the name BTK, from the perspective of his daughter, Keri Rawson.
My Father, the BTK Killer, touches upon the far-reaching impact of Rader’s crimes on his family and residential community as Rawson recounts a childhood engraved in unimaginable trauma.
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (Skye Borgman, 2025)
Many documentaries on Netflix have explored the dangers of online presence. But Skye Borgman’s Unknown Number: The High School Catfish unpacks a never-heard-before case of online bullying where the culprit was one of the closest ones to the victim. The Netflix documentary takes viewers back to the fall of 2020, when 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen started receiving suspicious and threatening texts from an unknown number.
But the investigation revealed something the teenager could barely wrap her head around. As is revealed in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, the mysterious entity in question was none other than Lauryn’s mother, Kendra Licari. And the revelation was alone enough to turn her life upside down.
Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes (Joe Berlinger, 2025)
The Son of Sam Tapes is the fourth chapter in Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer series that recounts the terrorising era of David Berkowitz, AKA the .44 Calibre Killer. He later came to be known as the “Son of Sam” serial killer, which is the pen name with which he signed the letters and mail he left for the cops and journalists at the scene of the crime.
Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes is a three-part docu-series that features interviews with investigators, media spokespersons and survivors of Berkowitz’s carnage. It also contains newfound insights into the impact of his bloody massacre in 1970s New York City.
Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (Joe Berlinger, 2022)
The John Wayne Gacy Tapes succeeds The Ted Bundy Tapes as the second entry in Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer series. This instalment revisits the bloodbath at the hands of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who allegedly murdered at least 33 young boys and men between 1972 and 1978, causing Chicago to go on high alert.
Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes features archival video footage and interviews with investigators and people who were in close proximity to the spine-chilling case. It also features conversations with one survivor who made it alive from the decimation caused by the “Killer Clown.”
Amanda Knox (Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn, 2016)
Amanda Knox on Netflix is one of those documentaries that leaves you jaw-dropped for all the wrong reasons. The Netflix documentary tells the story of Amanda Knox, who was the prime suspect in her roommate’s murder in 2007 in Perugia, Italy. Although Knox, along with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was convicted of her roommate’s murder, they were actually innocent.
Amanda Knox on Netflix recounts the horrifying event with interviews by Knox and Sollecito, offering insights into the investigation and trial that followed. The documentary also features conversations with Italian prosecutors, forensic experts, and journalists who initially broke the story to the world, garnering major public attention.