{"id":465701,"date":"2026-05-02T23:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T23:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/465701\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T23:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T23:54:16","slug":"7-underrated-netflix-documentaries-to-watch-in-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/465701\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Underrated Netflix Documentaries to Watch in May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Netflix is a haven for documentaries, but let\u2019s face it, there are so many to. choose from that sometimes it\u2019s hard to decide which ones are worth your time. Well, you\u2019re in luck. We\u2019ve seen a lot of them, and now we\u2019ve put together a list of some of the best underrated Netflix<\/a> documentaries you may not have heard of.<\/p>\n

These range from shocking true crime docs to music docs to even a film all about movies from the 1970s. They\u2019re disparate in nature and tone, but all well worth checking out. <\/p>\n

See our list of seven underrated documentaries to watch on Netflix this month below.<\/p>\n

Breakdown: 1975<\/p>\n

\"Breakdown:Breakdown: 1975. Pictured: Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. Cr: mptvimages.com \/ Courtesy of Netflix \u00a9 2025<\/p>\n

The 1970s are considered by many to be the greatest decade in American cinematic history, so Morgan Neville \u2013 the filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning \u201c20 Feet From Stardom\u201d \u2014 made a documentary about that. \u201cBreakdown: 1975\u201d focuses on how films like \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d \u201cChinatown,\u201d \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men,\u201d \u201cDog Day Afternoon\u201d and more channeled the anxiety and distrust in the American public through the lens of independent film, with some of history\u2019s greatest directors capturing the national mood through art. It\u2019s a fascinating and wildly enjoyable doc.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Peacock\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Victim\/Suspect<\/p>\n

\"Victim\u201cVictim\/Suspect\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

What happens when a victim finally speaks out and is then treated like a suspect? That\u2019s the premise of the 2023 doc \u201cVictim\/Suspect,\u201d which follows a journalist who discovers several legal cases across the U.S. where young women are charged by police for making false sexual assault accusations, despite being truthful. It\u2019s a harrowing but essential doc, with voices across the spectrum speaking to the troubling trend of women not being believed when they go to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Girl in the Picture<\/p>\n

\"girl-in-the-picture\"\u201cGirl in the Picture\u201d<\/p>\n

The less said about \u201cGirl in the Picture,\u201d the better, but if you\u2019re a fan of true crime documentaries, put it on your list. The documentary film goes to some truly shocking places as it follows the story of a woman who dies in Tulsa after a suspicious hit-and-run accident, only for her co-workers to discover she wasn\u2019t really who she said she was. The story unravels further when a reporter\u2019s interest is piqued by a photograph of the woman as a young girl.<\/p>\n

The Greatest Night in Pop<\/p>\n

\""The\u201cThe Greatest Night in Pop\u201d (Credit: Courtesy of Netflix)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s strange to call \u201cThe Greatest Night in Pop\u201d underrated, but it still feels like too few people saw this one. The 2024 film chronicles the making of the 1980s hit \u201cWe Are the World,\u201d which brought the most famous pop superstars together for one night \u2013 after an awards show, no less \u2013 to record the song. The archival footage is spectacular as we witness Michael Jackson struggling with stage fright, Bob Dylan trying to figure out how to fit in and other A-listers get agitated as the night wears on and Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are racing against the clock to get this song in the can.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dylan\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Keepers<\/p>\n

\"the-keepers-cathy\"\u201cThe Keepers\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the best documentary series Netflix has ever made, \u201cThe Keepers\u201d tells the story of the unsolved murder of nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Cesnik was a teacher at a high school, and in contemporary footage, her students believe there was a cover-up involved in identifying her killer. The series spans seven episodes and takes great care to humanize Cesnik while also ratcheting up the tension as new theories are explored.<\/p>\n

Pretend It\u2019s a City<\/p>\n

\"FranFran Lebowitz in Pretend It\u2019s a City (Courtesy of Netflix)<\/p>\n

This Martin Scorsese-directed documentary is a little hard to describe, but it\u2019s unendingly charming. \u201cPretend It\u2019s a City\u201d is ostensibly about renowned author and cultural critic Fran Lebowitz, but the conceit of the film is a series of frank and hilarious conversations between Lebowitz and Scorsese. It\u2019s very New York and an absolute delight.<\/p>\n

Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter<\/p>\n

\"into-the-fire-the-lost-daughter\"\u201cInto the Fire: The Lost Daughter\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

From Ryan White, the same director as \u201cThe Keepers,\u201d comes \u201cInto the Fire: The Lost Daughter.\u201d While a lot of true crime struggles to find a satisfying conclusion due to a lack of clear answers, \u201cInto the Fire\u201d builds to a shocking and cathartic ending as it twists and turns through the story of Aundria Bowman, who went missing in 1989. The search for answers is anchored by Aundria\u2019s birth mother, who gave her up for adoption as a baby and seeks justice. This film is divided into two parts.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"coded-bias\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix is a haven for documentaries, but let\u2019s face it, there are so many to. choose from that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[18,117,19,17,327,127,4181],"class_list":{"0":"post-465701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-netflix","14":"tag-what-to-watch"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116507683817256419","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}