Back in the day, nature documentaries used to feel like classroom field trips: voiceover, facts, rinse, repeat. But something shifted. Now, Netflix and other companies are building them like cinematic epics: stranger, more intimate, more emotionally alive. These movies and shows wind up being not just films about the planet but portraits of wonder, grief, and survival.
Some feel like dreams. Others hit like eulogies. A few are strikingly dramatic. But they usually hint at the same question: look at what we have. Isn’t it worth keeping? With this in mind, here are 10 of the best nature documentaries Netflix has produced, ranked not just by their visual polish, but by how deeply they make you feel it.
10
‘Night on Earth’ (2020)
Directed by Sam Hodgson
“Discover the hidden night world as the planet goes dark.” Night on Earth is a simple premise, wonderfully executed. It’s an up-close look at what animals get up to when the sun goes down. Normally, this world would be invisible to us, but thanks to next-level thermal cameras and light-sensitive tech, Night on Earth reveals it in all its glory. Elephants walking under starlight. Cities pulsing with nocturnal life. Bioluminescence lighting up the sea like a hallucination.
The tone here is hushed, not bombastic, like you’re eavesdropping on nature, not studying it. It’s more like a slow burn of awe. There’s a stillness to it, even when things get tense. Plus, there’s simply something uncanny about watching certain animals move in the dark. Samira Wiley‘s narration stays out of the way, letting the images do most of the work. A moonlit gem. The best scenes involve packs of leopards, black rhinos drinking from an oasis, and scorpions locked in midnight mating rituals.
Night on Earth
- Release Date
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2020 – 2019
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Ingrid Kvale, Mateo Willis, Bill Markham, Hannah Hoare, Peter Fison, Alex Minton
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Samira Wiley
Self – Narrator (voice)
9
‘Life in Color with David Attenborough’ (2021)
Directed by Adam Geiger
“Color is not just decorative. For many animals, it’s absolutely essential.” David Attenborough’s been around the planet a hundred times, but this series still found something new. The hook? Color. Specifically, how animals use it, and how often we miss it. With help from custom-made cameras that capture ultraviolet and polarized light, Life in Color reveals what creatures like mantis shrimp or butterflies are actually seeing, and it’s not always what you’d expect.
The visuals pop, but the ideas stay grounded. Attenborough remains the perfect guide: calm, curious, and gently urgent. Each episode cracks open a theme, whether camouflage, communication, or courtship, and then lets the footage do the persuading. The trademark Attenborough sense of wonder is on display. In its best moments, it feels like he’s showing you a world you barely knew existed. As natural habits and untouched terrain shrink globally, the places and animals on offer here seem increasingly fantastical and magic.
8
‘Animal’ (2021–2022)
Narrated by Bryan Cranston, Rashida Jones, Rebel Wilson, and Pedro Pascal
“Step inside the mind and body of the planet’s most majestic creatures.” This one feels tailor-made for the binge era. Animal is sleek, fast, and cinematic; less about hard science, more about storytelling. Think predator-vs-prey showdowns, slow-motion escapes, and family bonds that hit harder than expected. Each episode zooms in on a group, like big cats, primates, or dogs, and keeps the focus personal. The episodes on marsupials and octopuses are particularly interesting.
Refreshingly, the show isn’t trying to simply catalog these species. It wants to tell a few good stories. The rotating celebrity narrators add flair (including Anthony Mackie, Andy Serkis, and Rashida Jones), but the real stars are the creatures, of course: a cheetah teaching her cubs to hunt, a chimp grieving a friend. Some of the drama feels heightened, sure. But that doesn’t make it less real. Sometimes, what you need isn’t more information, it’s a reminder that animals live.
7
‘Tiny Creatures’ (2020)
Created by Jonathan Jones
“Little lives. Big drama.” This one catches people off guard. It looks like a straightforward nature doc, but it’s really something stranger: part wildlife footage, part miniature action movie. Tiny Creatures sets up cinematic scenarios like hamsters running from hawks and frogs navigating storm drains, and shoots them like thrillers. It’s stylized, yes, and mostly fictional (despite Netflix marketing it as a documentary). But the show still manages to be weirdly emotional, and the cuteness is off the charts. At the very least, it’s a commendably inventive concept.
Not everyone loved how staged it felt, and that’s fair. But if you watch it less like a documentary and more like a nature-inspired fable? It’s fun, fast, and kind of enchanting. There’s tension, triumph, and the occasional ridiculous twist. You find yourself rooting for a gerbil like it’s the protagonist in a Pixar short. Perfect for fans of Watership Down and Redwall.
6
‘Predators’ (2023)
Narrated by Tom Hardy
“Not just hunters. Survivors. Competitors. Parents.” This one keeps it simple and sharp. Five episodes. Five predators. Each one balancing instinct with struggle, territory with family. What sets Predators apart isn’t just the footage (which is, as expected, stunning) but the focus. It zeroes in on a few key animals, follows them like characters, and lets the tension build. People who only think of nature as peace and harmony should check it out.
Tom Hardy‘s narration adds a bit of grit, but the series doesn’t rely on flair. It’s more about clarity and unvarnished depictions of nature red in tooth and claw. These animals aren’t just killing machines. They’re strategists, caretakers, sometimes victims of the very ecosystems they rule. The polar bear episode, in particular, feels more like a climate story than a hunting one. This is survival, but not in the blockbuster, popcorn movie sense. It’s survival with real weight, matters of genuine life and death.
Predators
- Release Date
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December 11, 2022
- Network
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Sky Nature
5
‘Chimp Empire’ (2023)
Directed by James Reed
“War. Power. Family. This is the jungle’s greatest drama.” It’s not hyperbole, Chimp Empire really does feel like Shakespeare in the jungle. Set in Uganda’s Ngogo forest, it tracks rival chimp factions as they wrestle for dominance, deal with betrayal, grieve their dead, and raise the next generation. The apes here are personalities, leaders, schemers. Director James Reed and his crew spent years embedded in this community, and it shows.
The social dynamics here are fascinating, with obvious parallels to our own. There’s competition, cooperation, affection, and violence. What’s heartening to see is that chimp hierarchies aren’t solely based on muscle and power. Reciprocity and generosity play key roles, too. Mahershala Ali narrates all this with understated grace, letting the images and relationships carry the emotion. Ultimately, the show doesn’t tell you what to think. It shows you how complex non-human lives really are. And once you start tracking who’s rising, who’s plotting, and who’s mourning, you won’t stop.
Chimp Empire
- Release Date
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2023 – 2023-00-00
- Showrunner
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James Reed
- Directors
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James Reed
4
‘The Elephant Whisperers’ (2022)
Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves
“When you love an elephant, it’s like loving the whole forest.” This short film (it clocks in at just 39 minutes) doesn’t try to impress you. It just shows up quietly and stays in your heart. The Elephant Whisperers follows a South Indian couple, Bomman and Bellie, who care for orphaned baby elephants in a forest reserve. The bond between them and the animals, especially the calf Raghu, is gentle, lived-in, and deeply moving. The great, lumbering creatures are endlessly fascinating, with touchingly complex emotions and relationships.
There’s no flashy voiceover, no sweeping orchestral score. Just life, and love, and mud. Lots of mud. The film moves slowly, which is the point. It wants you to sit still and witness the rhythm of care. When Raghu runs up to Bomman like a toddler sprinting into a parent’s arms, you might feel some tears welling up. Not for nothing, The Elephant Whisperers won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
- Run Time
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39 min
- Director
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Kartiki Gonsalves
- Release Date
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December 8, 2022
- Actors
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Bomman, Bellie
3
‘Dancing with the Birds’ (2019)
Narrated by Stephen Fry
“To attract a mate, one must strut one’s stuff.” This one’s pure joy. Dancing with the Birds zooms in on tropical birds performing courtship dances that range from elegant to flat-out absurd. Plumage flares. Feet stomp. Nests are decorated with bottle caps and candy wrappers. Some of the dances are proposals, others are displays of dominance. Stephen Fry narrates the whole thing like a dry British sitcom, and it’s perfect.
You’ll probably laugh out loud. You’ll sometimes gasp. You might even cry a little when a particularly enthusiastic suitor gets rejected. But beneath the comedy, there’s something touching here. These birds are doing their absolute best, with color, rhythm, creativity. Nature, it turns out, is full of romantics. And watching them try, fail, and try again is weirdly human. Not to mention, some of the birds are simply ridiculously beautiful, like the birds of paradise and the wonderfully named flame bowerbird.
2
‘Our Great National Parks’ (2022)
Narrated by Barack Obama
“Every park has a story. This is mine.” Barack Obama lent his mellifluous voice to Our Great National Parks, which already elevates it above most other nature docs. But the show as a whole is impressive, managing to be both intimate and sweeping. The former president doesn’t just narrate, he reflects. On nature, but also on responsibility, legacy, and how much space we don’t occupy. Each episode explores a protected region, from Kenya to Monterey Bay, and focuses less on species lists and more on connection. As one might expect, there’s sometimes a social or almost political dimension to it.
What makes it memorable isn’t just the cinematography (though it’s gorgeous), but the tone. It’s quiet, meditative. There’s real joy in watching surfing monkeys or sneaky armadillos, but there’s also an undercurrent of mourning. This series feels like a thank-you letter. To the wild. To the people preserving it. And to the generations who might not get to see it the same way.
1
‘Our Planet’ (2019)
Narrated by David Attenborough
“What we do in the next twenty years will determine the future for all life on Earth.” The best of Netflix’s nature documentaries is without a doubt Our Planet. It doesn’t just dazzle but confronts. There’s beauty and majesty, but also danger and urgency. The ice caps melt as you watch. Coral reefs fade to bone. Animal migrations collapse in real time. And through it all, David Attenborough’s voice—calm, grave, resolute—never flinches.
The series spans the globe, from deserts to deep oceans, but every shot circles back to the same truth: we’re out of time. The visuals are astonishing (this is Netflix’s most cinematic doc by far), but they’re not just pretty. They’re evidence. Of what we have. And what we’re losing. This isn’t background TV. It’s a wake-up call dressed in beauty. You come for the spectacle. You stay for the heartbreak. Some of the scenes are incredibly poignant, easily beating out anything you’d find in a prestige drama.
Our Planet
- Release Date
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2019 – 2022
- Showrunner
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Alastair Fothergill, Keith Scholey
- Directors
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Adam Chapman, Hugh Pearson