We, as audiences, thrive on getting shocked, scared, and disturbed when watching a movie or TV show. There is something incredibly authentic to the watching experience that surrounds the goosebumps-inducing reaction to some great horror. However, as much as we love a bloody slasher or a zombie classic, what happens when the horror we see on the screen translates to real life? Disturbingdocumentariesand docuseries have made their presence known across streaming platforms and continue to dominate viewer interest.
Netflixis the kind of streaming platform that really knows how to make a good documentary. When the subject for the documentary/docuseries highlights the true horrors that exist in our world, the more we as an audience are drawn to it with our own affinity for curiosity. FromThe Ted Bundy TapestoDon’t F**k With Cats, here is our list of the most disturbing documentaries and docuseries that you can watch on Netflix.
10Our Father (2022)
One of the most unique, unnerving, andcompelling documentaries on Netflix,Our Fatheris one you cannot miss. In this documentary, a woman’s DNA test turns into a grueling search for answers. When countless hits come up for siblings, the disastrous truth starts to come to light. The popular fertility specialist and doctor, Donald Cline, is found to have been involved in a donor sperm scheme, where he used his own sperm to impregnate these women.
What Makes It Disturbing
Dr. Cline’s actions have left all of these half-siblings with a boat-load of questions and the horrors of what their familial relationships mean, such as: did they get involved with someone they’re related to?Our Fatheris a horrific film that documents a man’s abuse of power and the ripple effects of the secrets it causes. The complications of such a unique case and the police’s inability to find how to charge the man for his crimes makes this documentary just as infuriating as it is terrifying.
9Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022)
What is a list of disturbing documentaries without a cult?Keep Sweet: Pray and Obeyis a documentary series that follows the rise of a man named Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The series focuses on interviews with the victims of this destructive and polygamous practice and the man who found power within the religion. Especially when someone, in this case, Warren Jeffs, holds such influence and power over an oftentimes vulnerable group of people, all sense and reason go out the window, as members of this cult begin to see Jeff as a prophet, an entity above any human authority on the planet.
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obeyis a tale as old as time. However, it does not make it any less easy to swallow. The docuseries dives deeply into the darkest abyss that cults masked as religion can get. If the extreme sense of mental manipulation and an addiction to power, money, sex, and authority gives you goosebumps, makeKeep Sweet: Pray and Obeyyour next watch.
8Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
Abducted in Plain Sightis a 2017 documentary that follows Robert Berchtold’s meticulous infiltration and destruction of the Broberg family in order to fuel his own dark and twisted fantasies involving Jan Broberg. From an alien abduction to mind-blowing affairs, Berchtold’s scheme grows more and more sinister as the layers of this complicated situation came into light.
Abducted in Plain Sightis structured to absolutely shock you until your jaw is on the floor. If you think you can guess what happens in this documentary, you won’t. This documentary delivers a dark reality check to the Broberg family that left them picking up the pieces of their broken family after being torn down by the man they trusted the most. Afilm that breeds paranoia, it’ll also leave you questioning who you can trust in your own life.
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7Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019)
Netflix has featured a lot of content surrounding serial killers from theDahmerseries in 2022 toExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vilein 2019. There is no doubt that the exploration into Ted Bundy’s history will send chills down your spine. In 2019, Netflix releasedConversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, where director Joe Berlinger pieces together footage and audio recordings of Bundy while he was on death row. In the documentary, you get to hear Bundy describe his motivations, his tactics, and his mindset.
Tthis documentary gives you a glimpse into the mind of America’s most notorious serial killer with the words from his own mouth. On the surface, you could just see this documentary as pretty straight forward and not too jarring. However, taking any time at all to really process what you are hearing — and who you are hearing it from — changes your perception entirely. As an audience, we tend to feel a disconnect to figures like Bundy due to how sensationalized they have been in popular media.Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapesis a reminder that he was, in fact, very real and not unlike many people we’ve met in our own lives.
6Don’t F**k With Cats (2019)
The internet is a scary place. In the digital age, people feel a sense of power by being able to post anything, anytime, and anywhere. When the worst of the worst do it, there is no going back. As you’re able to tell fromits profane title,Don’t F**k With Catsis one of the most messed-up documentaries on Netflix. What started with a disturbing video of a man abusing two kittens turns in an internet witch hunt, where countless people from across the country, and even the world, try to find the man responsible before he can do more damage.
Don’t F**k With Catsexposes the consequences of leaving a digital footprint and how the internet can be used as a tool to take down evil. However, what’s chilling is how it can equally be a place for evil to grow. The documentary series will have you at the edge of the seat as more horrors are unveiled and the seriousness of what these internet dwellers are truly dealing with.
Related:15 Best Music Documentaries on Netflix to Watch Right Now
5Worst Roommate Ever (2022)
Worst Roommate Everis a Netflix docuseries that exposes a fear we forgot we had. Looking for a roommate on the internet sounds harmless enough; you do it in college, at camp, and even as young professionals all the time. However, in the real world, the people you may come across could be the end of you.Worst Roommate Evershows unsuspecting eveyrday people trying to navigate their new nightmarish lives caused by their new roommates.
Worst Roommate Everis the kind of documentary that exposes how the most frightening thing in the world today is not anything paranormal or a deadly animal — it is, in fact, other people.Worst Roommate Everwill make you second-guess trusting a stranger ever again, as you watch people’s true accounts of how scams and threats can come in all shapes and sizes.
4Amanda Knox (2016)
TheAmanda Knoxdocumentary on Netflix is one that you have probably heard of. This infamous case follows the aftermath of the murder of an exchange student in Italy. Amanda Knox was charged, trialed, convicted, and eventually acquitted of the crime. However, the question whether or not she is responsible remains in the air for some. This documentary is meant to try and answer those questions and get audiences to think about what her guilt or innocence could mean.
Amanda Knoxis the kind of case and documentary that exposes all of us. It shows that killers and suspected killers do not have to fit a mold in order to do evil. There is something unnerving about how normal and put-together Knox is throughout the doc that makes you wonder if she is just a really convincing and well-functioning psychopath, or if she is just one of us.
3Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)
This documentary is perhaps the weirdest on this list, though no less disturbing. The reputation of the infamous Cecil Hotel is known throughout the world. Since it has rebranded, many of us still remain interested in the hotel’s history. One of the most compelling and disturbing incidents surrounds the young Elisa Lam.Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotelfocuses on the tragic case of Lam’s death, where she fell off the face of the earth until her body was found in the roof’s water tank — and the last time she was seen was in some chilling footage of her in the elevator.
Any fan of true crime knows the case of Elisa Lam. Unlike many copy-and-paste murder-disappearance cases, Lam’s death pointed to a lack of foul play. The footage of her in the elevator was like a scene out of asupernatural thriller moviethat left everyone watching wondering what exactly could have happened to her. The story itself is what drives this Netflix documentary and how disturbing it is. From the paranormal activity theories to speculation over the side effects of drugs, the case of Elisa Lam will have you glued to your screens.
2Dark Tourist (2018)
Masked by the light-hearted energy of David Farrier, the host of the documentary,Dark Touristis still one of the most disturbing documentaries on Netflix. In it, Farrier travels across the world as a tourist interested in seeing the sites where death and horrific tragedy occurred. Instead of a stunning beach or a museum, try a warzone or an actual former crime scene.
Dark Touristis chilling because it is holding a mirror to the face of humanity. Curiosity can be a good thing — that’s how humans have innovated and evolved over the years — but it can also lead us down some dark paths. Why else would we make a list like this in the first place? This Netflix documentary forces us to confront our dark curiosities by literally taking us around the world to visit the scenes of some of the most horrific crime scenes and places of death and tragedy. We can’t help but watch — and that’s a scary truth to admit sometimes.
1The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (2020)
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandezwill break your heart, soul, and spirit. The Netflix docuseries follows the case of Gabriel Fernandez following his death. The documentary focuses on the child’s abuse in the hands of his parents, guardians, and the incompetence of the social care system that failed to protect him.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandezexpose the harsh realities of the American social care system. The people who are trained and instructed to protect the most vulnerable in our society are built upon a system that is full of corruption and laziness that led to the suffering and death of an innocent eight-year-old boy. Cases like Fernandez’s could have happened to any child, and this documentary is certain to show you exactly how society can easily fail at protecting children.
