3 engrossing Netflix documentaries to watch this weekend (August 21-23)

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Aug 21, 2026, 1:01 PM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account If the last couple of weeks have been any indication, Netflix subscribers in the U.S. are definitely into documentaries—Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes and The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare are still holding court in the streamer's top 10. But don't be surprised if one of this week's newest releases (and my top pick this weekend) might just muscle its way into the mix as well. The list below is a nice mix of new and old: a remarkably touching Oscar winner, some fascinating snack-sized little slices of life, and a harrowing new film about a big-boy of the skies and the death of a whistleblower. 3 My Octopus Teacher The unlikely undersea friendship that scored Oscar gold With the barrage of new Netflix docs slowing a bit, I went back to one of my all-time favorites—the Oscar-winning delight that is 2020's My Octopus Teacher. The Best Documentary Feature winner (it also took the BAFTA, for good measure) remains one of Netflix's most beloved originals, and you should check it out if you haven't already. The film follows South African filmmaker Craig Foster, burnt out and creatively adrift, who takes some time off and starts a daily regimen of diving in the underwater wonderland of the kelp forest near his home, close to the Cape of Good Hope. Foster narrates his near-spiritual experience of meeting and developing a bond with a young, curious octopus. Over the course of a year, Foster interacts with her, watches her hunt, outsmart sharks, and recover from a near-fatal attack that cost her an arm. Directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed build the doc around a candid sit-down interview with Foster, interspersed with some gorgeous underwater footage, as the story shifts into one about Foster's own recovery and about fatherhood. My Octopus Teacher Release Date September 7, 2020 Cast Craig Foster, Tom Foster Runtime 85 Minutes Director James Reed, Pippa Ehrlich Producers James Reed, Philippa Ehrlich Main Genre Documentary 2 Obsessed Snack-sized profiles of some of the world's neatest pastimes I have been absolutely enjoying the fruits of Netflix's new content deals with publishers such as Condé Nast, America's Test Kitchen, and more, which have been offering all kinds of short-form shows that you can find on the Netflix home page, as of August 3. I've been including them in my last few Netflix docs roundups, and this weekend I've found another one—Wired's long-running series Obsessed, an incredible collection of highly bingeable, compact profiles of people who've taken their unique hobbies to extremes. Twenty-two fascinating "Greatest Hits" shorts, all between seven and ten minutes each, are collected for you to binge, giving you a snapshot into the lives of some one-of-a-kind people, including Aaron Yoder, the world's fastest backwards runner; Canadian Lego artist Ekow Nimako, who creates incredible works out of black bricks only; 3D pavement artist Kurt Wenner and his vertigo-inducing optical illusion drawings; and the delightful Joanna Fang, a Foley artist at PlayStation Studios who's having the best time smashing, crinkling, and stomping things to make sounds for video games like God of War: Ragnarök. The episodes blend short interviews with the subjects, mixed with footage and demonstrations of their hobbies and work. Obsessed is the literal definition of bingeable programming. You don't have to watch them in any order, and you can crush a bunch for a cool fascination-infusion. Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeSummer 2026's hottest new documentariesTrivia challenge From Wall Street scandals to pop legends — how much do you know about this summer's must-watch docs? True CrimeMusicSportsHollywoodFinance Begin Paramount+'s The Real Wolf of Wall Street focuses on which convicted fraudster at the center of the Stratton Oakmont scandal? ABernie MadoffBJordan BelfortCIvan BoeskyDFrank DiPascali Correct! Jordan Belfort, the self-styled 'Wolf of Wall Street,' ran Stratton Oakmont and was convicted of fraud and money laundering. The Paramount+ documentary revisits his story beyond what was depicted in Martin Scorsese's famous 2013 film. Not quite. The documentary centers on Jordan Belfort, the notorious stockbroker whose Stratton Oakmont firm bilked investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Bernie Madoff and Ivan Boesky were separate high-profile Wall Street criminals. Continue In The Real Wolf of Wall Street, Stratton Oakmont was notorious for using which illegal sales practice to inflate stock prices? AInsider tradingBPonzi schemingCPump and dumpDFront running Correct! Stratton Oakmont used a classic pump-and-dump scheme, artificially inflating the price of penny stocks through aggressive sales tactics before selling their own shares at the peak, leaving investors with near-worthless holdings. Not quite. The firm's signature crime was the pump-and-dump scheme, in which brokers hyped up cheap penny stocks to unsuspecting investors, drove the price up, then sold their own shares for enormous profit. Ponzi schemes and insider trading are distinct types of securities fraud. Continue The Real Wolf of Wall Street documentary on Paramount+ includes testimony from which type of key sources to help reexamine the Stratton Oakmont story? AFictional dramatizations and actorsBSurviving victims, former brokers, and investigatorsCOnly journalists and academicsDExclusively Jordan Belfort himself Correct! The documentary draws on accounts from surviving victims of the fraud, former Stratton Oakmont brokers, and law enforcement investigators, giving a fuller and more grounded picture of the scheme than Belfort's own self-promotional memoir. Not quite. The film incorporates perspectives from victims who lost money, former brokers who worked at the firm, and the investigators who brought it down — offering a counterpoint to the glamorized version of events that Belfort himself has often promoted. Continue HBO Max's Marc by Sofia is a documentary about fashion designer Marc Jacobs directed by which filmmaker? ASofia CoppolaBSofia VergaraCSofia AlaouiDSofia Bohdanowicz Correct! Sofia Coppola, the acclaimed director behind films like Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides, directed Marc by Sofia, offering an intimate portrait of her longtime friend and fashion icon Marc Jacobs. Not quite. The documentary is directed by Sofia Coppola, the Oscar-winning filmmaker known for her visually lyrical style. Her personal friendship with Marc Jacobs gave the film an unusually candid, behind-the-scenes quality. Continue Marc by Sofia on HBO Max primarily explores Marc Jacobs through which lens? AA courtroom drama about his legal battlesBAn intimate portrait of his creative process and personal evolutionCA financial history of his fashion empireDA retrospective narrated entirely by celebrity clients Correct! The documentary offers an intimate look at Marc Jacobs' creative process and personal journey, including his struggles with addiction and recovery, his identity, and what drives his singular artistic vision in fashion. Not quite. Rather than focusing on business or legal matters, Marc by Sofia takes a deeply personal approach, exploring Jacobs' inner world, his sobriety journey, and the emotional fuel behind his influential career in fashion. Continue Netflix's Chris & Martina: The Final Set documents the legendary rivalry between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. How many times did the two face each other in their careers? A37 timesB60 timesC80 timesD53 times Correct! Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova faced each other an extraordinary 80 times over their careers, making it one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history. The Netflix documentary revisits their competitive and personal relationship as both faced serious health challenges. Not quite. The two icons met a remarkable 80 times in their careers, with Navratilova holding the edge in their head-to-head record. The Netflix doc frames their rivalry through the lens of friendship and mutual support as both women confronted cancer diagnoses. Continue Netflix's Michael Jackson: The Verdict examines public and legal reactions to the allegations against Jackson. What major legal moment does the documentary reference as a turning point in his legacy? AHis 1993 civil settlementBHis 2005 criminal trial acquittalCThe posthumous 2019 release of Leaving NeverlandDA 2001 congressional inquiry into his finances Correct! Jackson's 2005 criminal trial, in which he was acquitted on all counts of child molestation, is a central legal moment the documentary examines. The film explores how that verdict shaped public perception and the ongoing debate about his legacy. Not quite. The documentary focuses heavily on the 2005 criminal trial acquittal as a defining legal moment, while also weighing it against the renewed allegations brought by the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland and the court of public opinion. Continue Peacock's documentary Lorne is a profile of which legendary television producer? ALorne GreeneBLorne MichaelsCLorne BalfeDLorne Cardinal Correct! Lorne Michaels, the Canadian producer who created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and has shepherded it for nearly five decades, is the subject of Peacock's documentary simply titled Lorne. The film digs into the enigmatic figure behind one of TV's most enduring institutions. Not quite. The Peacock documentary profiles Lorne Michaels, the famously private and influential creator of Saturday Night Live. Despite shaping American comedy for generations, Michaels has rarely spoken openly about himself — making this documentary a rare glimpse behind the curtain. See My Score Challenge CompleteYour Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again 1 Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing The Boeing mess shifts focus to the death of a whistleblower If you're a frequent flyer who actually pays attention to the make and model of the aircraft you're on, then you may be watching this through your fingers. My top pick this weekend just, er, landed on Netflix. Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing is the sequel to director Rory Kennedy's 2022 Netflix doc Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (also streaming), but where Downfall's focus was on two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, Freefall shifts to the fallout that followed, and the 2024 suicide of whistleblower John Barnett, a veteran Boeing quality control manager. The enlightening feature-length documentary opens with footage from Barnett's video deposition, and his lawyers detailing how he was found dead in his truck in a hotel parking lot after only the second day. The film moves forward, tracing Barnett's career, then widening its scope as other insiders join the conversation in candid, revealing interviews—including high-profile whistleblower Santiago Paredes, a quality control inspector at Boeing fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems, nicknamed "Showstopper" for holding up deliveries over defects. Built largely on those interviews and archival news footage, the mind-boggling 93-minute, R-rated movie argues that Boeing's cost-cutting culture and cover-ups led to safety failures, putting passengers at risk for years—and that nothing has really changed. Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing Release Date June 14, 2026 Runtime 93 minutes Director Rory Kennedy Writers Keven McAlester, Mark Bailey Producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Viva Van Loock Main Genre Documentary Fill your heart and your brain Wonder, obsession, and accountability are the themes you can expect from this weekend's documentary picks—not bad for not having to leave the couch. And whenever your watchlist runs dry, How-To Geek's streaming coverage is there to help you restock it. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four Live TV No Price Starting at $8/month