The 5 best documentaries of July 2026—on Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and more

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Jul 28, 2026, 5:00 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 There's a reason we keep going back to documentaries—real life is always way stranger than any writers' room could ever conjure up. July has made that case again (June was pretty solid, too), with some genuinely fascinating docs and series from the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+/Hulu, and Paramount+ that I've watched that have hijacked more than one entire weekend of mine. July's range is wild, too: a look deep inside the history, trials, and tribulations of an iconic desert festival, a Titanic-like cruise ship catastrophe recreated minute-by-minute, an unhinged neighbor, and the (if you can believe it) even crazier truth behind Wall Street's most notorious hustler. Tom Hiddleston's time-traveling trip through Pompeii tops the list, but none of this month's selections are filler. 5 The Man Will Burn (HBO Max) The iconic desert festival's history and inner workings Five years in the making and built from three decades of archive materials, this eye-watering four-part HBO Max series is a must-watch, largely because it had the festival's full cooperation—the most access-rich Burning Man doc yet. As the radical desert gathering approaches its 40th year next month, The Man Will Burn is the perfect lead-up that paints a complete picture. Directors Jehane Noujaim (The Vow, The Great Hack) and Vikram Gandhi were embedded with organizers and diehards for five years, as the festival weathered its rockiest stretches: the pandemic shutdowns, 2021's rogue burn, and the 2023 mud that stranded thousands. Expect candid interviews with co-founder John Law and current CEO Marian Goodell, archival glimpses of late founder Larry Harvey, and famous faces like Sergey Brin. Critics have split over whether it scrutinizes the Burning Man festival or just pats it on the back, but no one can argue with the cinematography—or the incredible temple-burn finale. All episodes will be available for streaming come its finale on July 30. The Man Will Burn Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network HBO Directors Jehane Noujaim Main Genre Documentary Producers Geralyn White Dreyfous, Dana O'Keefe, Teddy Schwarzman, Nina Sing Fialkow, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Michael Heimler, David Fialkow, Paul McGuire, Karim Amer, Lyn Davis Lear, Muriel Soenens, Yariv Milchan, Sara Rodriguez, Natalie Lehmann, Eric Forman, Kristín Ólafsdóttir, Jillian Li Seasons 1 4 Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (Netflix) A Titanic-sized screw-up flips a cruise ship on its head Director Chiara Messineo (Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy) trades her usual Italian sunshine for something far grimmer in Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, one of July’s most watchable (through your fingers, mind you) docs. Fourteen years on, this 90-minute Netflix Original revisits the Costa Concordia cruise ship catastrophe, using survivor interviews, nauseating phone footage shot in the dark, and translated black-box audio that exposes the fatal missteps of those at the helm. The 2012 wreck began as vanity when Captain Francesco Schettino steered the 114,000-ton liner close to Italy’s Giglio Island for a salute, clipped a reef, and capsized. Thirty-two people died, and Schettino got 16 years for manslaughter and other crimes. Terrifying doesn't begin to cover it. 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 3 Worst Neighbor Ever (Netflix) Four true-crime tales of neighborly feuds turned deadly In July, Netflix’s Worst Ever machine, which has so far given us devilishly good roommates and exes, turned to the person whose mailbox sits 10 feet from yours, and it's made for primo binge material. Produced by Jason Blum's Blumhouse Television, Worst Neighbor Ever consists of four self-contained neighborhood nightmares, all directed by Cynthia Childs (Worst Ex Ever, Worst Roommate Ever). Each story is built from bodycam footage, court records, raw 911 audio, animated recreations, and compelling interviews with those involved. And the cases will have you shaking your head, including a Kentucky woman's obsessive vendetta against the family next door, a suburban standoff with an explosive ending, a fatal Oakland harassment campaign, and a con artist quietly looting a dead man's estate in Sherman Oaks. With a solid 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, it more than lives up to its title. Worst Neighbor Ever Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network Netflix Directors Cynthia Childs Main Genre Documentary Producers Jason Blum, Jordana Hochman, Natalee Watts Seasons 1 2 The Real Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount+) Jordan Belfort's real story was even crazier than Scorsese could capture If you thought Martin Scorsese's 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street was a wild depiction of the life and crimes of crooked pump-and-dump stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), then you ain’t seen nothing yet. The electric Paramount+ documentary The Real Wolf of Wall Street tells the real story of how Belfort became pop culture's go-to symbol of unchecked greed. The three-part series traces Belfort’s orchestration of a con scheme that swindled everyday investors out of hundreds of millions, all the way through to the 1999 guilty plea that landed him in prison. The series stitches together outrageous unseen footage, damning FBI files, and archival interviews with ex-associates—among them former wife Nadine Macaluso, the inspiration for the Naomi Lapaglia character that Margot Robbie played. All episodes are available to stream. The Real Wolf of Wall Street Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network Paramount+ Cast Jordan Belfort Main Genre Documentary Producers Jesse Sweet, Mary Robertson, Michael Bloom, Amy Palmer Seasons 1 Executive Producer(s) Amy Palmer, Anneka Jones, Cassie Thornton, Jason Leopold, Jesse Sweet, Mary Robertson, Michael Bloom 1 Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston (Disney+/Hulu) Tom Hiddleston hunts for Pompeii's forgotten survivors I cover a ton of docs, but this one stood out to me because it approaches documentary storytelling with a fun and dramatic scripted-investigation fusion that I couldn’t get enough of. And with charming and enigmatic Loki star Tom Hiddleston as its host (it’s also executive produced by Loki’s Kevin R. Wright), Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston is my pick as the best doc of July. Brilliantly reframed as a survival story rather than an ancient tragedy, instead of mourning Vesuvius's 79 AD eruption, Hiddleston asks whether any residents escaped at all, teaming with Greco-Roman academic Steven Tuck and his Pompeii Survivors Project. He traces three real Romans—a teenager, businesswoman Julia Felix, and a Roman guard—through the city's final 24 hours. The National Geographic series pairs expert interviews with archaeologists, geologists, and disaster specialists with scripted reenactments that were shot on Hollywood drama-style anamorphic lenses that help blur the lines between past and present. Across three back-to-back episodes, Pompeii builds from first tremors through the eruption to the aftermath. All three episodes are available to stream. Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network National Geographic Cast Lubna Azabal, Tom Hiddleston, Barry Aird, Buket Komur, Robert Bowman, Theo Ogundipe, Madeleine Walker, Angelina Chudi, Christina Cole, Frankie Treadaway, Bernard Satariano Directors Tom Barbor-Might Writers Tom Barbor-Might, Mark Ravenhill, Jessica Ruston, Kevin R. Wright Main Genre Documentary Creator(s) Jessica Ruston, Tom Barbor-Might, Mark Ravenhill, Kevin R. Wright Producers Hannah Joy Cooney Seasons 1 Executive Producer(s) Alan Eyres, Carolyn Payne, Grant Mansfield, Helen Flint, Kevin R. Wright, Tom Barbor-Might, Tom Hiddleston July's documentary lineup didn't disappoint These mid-summer documentaries made for some great excuses to stay cool inside, with some incredible stories about real people in some unreal situations, and others who love to go down some fascinating rabbit holes. If nonfiction is your comfort zone, our streaming guides at How-To Geek keep the recommendations coming all summer long. For more docs, check out my roundup of the best docs of 2026 so far, too. Fire TV Stick 4K $24.99 $50 Save $25.01 Operating System FireOS Resolution 4K RAM/storage 8GB Connectivity Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 Dimensions 108 mm x 30 mm x 14 mm A step up from the Fire Stick TV Lite is the Fire Stick TV 4K. It offers a Dolby Vision upgrade and TV controls on the Alexa remote. Integrations Amazon Alexa