Netflix’s Tiger King is a documentary series that landed on the streaming platform in 2020 and is about a group of big cat collectors, mostly focused on Joe Exotic. Joe Exotic is the owner of a private zoo and a former political hopeful in Oklahoma. Although a docuseries about a private zoo may not seem appealing to most people, the events in this series had some of the most entertaining twists and turns viewers could have ever imagined.
After watching the series, everything else may feel a little tame to many viewers. Considering how wacky Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Bhagavan Antle, and their employees were, it’s hard for anything else to live up to the entertainment that Tiger King gave us. Luckily, there are a lot of other documentaries and docuseries that have their own unique plot and some unbelievable twists and turns of their own.
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (2014)
Every year, countless people train for marathons and a good number of them actually go through with running these marathons. Many of them finish and feel a sense of accomplishment, regardless of whether or not they won, after simply finishing the marathon.
But, The Barkley Marathons are completely different. This marathon has only seen 10 winners since the owner started it and its gained a cult-like following in the years since it started. Why? This documentary explores this seemingly impossible marathon and the things people put their minds and bodies through to try to reach the end.
Casting JonBenét (2017)
The death of JonBenét Ramsey has been the subject of countless hours of media scrutiny, theorizing, and amateur investigations. The story is one that just about everyone knows, but this documentary takes a completely different approach to discussing her murder.
Casting JonBenét is a documentary that was released in 2017 and follows a casting call for the entire Ramsey family. Instead of simply trying to solve this crime, this documentary discusses the cultural impact that it has had on people.
Abducted In Plain Sight (2017)
Abducted in Plain Sight is a documentary that explores the 1974 abduction of Jan Broberg by her neighbor and family friend. This documentary was released on Netflix in 2017 and although true crime documentaries are popular right now, this one is completely different than the others.
The story of the way that Jan’s family became close to the person that abducted her and the details of this 12-year-old being taken are full of twists and turns that no viewer will be able to see coming.
There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane (2011)
There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane was released in 2011 and is a documentary that follows an infamous car crash that took place on the Taconic Parkway. It follows as a woman named Diane Schuler drove her SUV the wrong way into head-on traffic and killed herself and seven other people.
This documentary explores both the unusual case as well as the events that lead up to it and the aftermath. What was going through Schuler’s mind? What caused this accident? This documentary’s twists will definitely leave viewers scratching their heads.
Crazy Love (2007)
A lot of people have been in relationships that they realize later were no good for them. And then, there are people that just never leave those bad relationships. This documentary follows one of the most unusual, unhealthy relationships of the 20th century.
Crazy Love was released in 2007 and follows Linda Riss and Burt Pugach’s relationship. Pugach was a lawyer in the 1950s who fell in love with Riss and the two of them date until Riss ends their relationship due to divorce drama. What happens after that has to be seen to be believed.
The Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia (2009)
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is a documentary that was released in 2009 and follows the family of Jesco White, an Appalachian folk dancer and infamous West Virginia outlaw.
This quirky documentary follows their way of life in the rural parts of West Virginia and the way that they’re keeping their family together, their culture of dancing alive, and the way that poverty and the area that they live in impacts everything about their lives.
Icarus (2017)
Icarus is a 2017 documentary that follows filmmaker Brian Fogel as he tries to get a look at the dark underworld of doping in the professional sports world. Although this sounds like it may only appeal to people interested in professional sports, the twist that this documentary takes makes it interesting for a broader audience.
After meeting with a scientist in Russia, Fogel’s attempts to learn more about this dark part of the sports world takes an intense and unusual twist and goes from simply an investigative sports documentary to something much more interesting.
Don’t F**k With Cats (2019)
Don’t F**k with Cats is a docuseries that was released on Netflix in 2019. This series follows the way that a group of amateur Internet sleuths hunted down a killer.
The series is definitely a dark one that isn’t for the faint of heart to watch, but seeing the way that this group of Internet investigators tracked down Luka Magnotta after a series of videos he posted and attempted to have him arrested prior to he moved onto more serious crimes is still very interesting.
The Jinx (2015)
The Jinx is a miniseries that aired in 2015 on HBO. This documentary follows the life of real estate heir Robert Durst, a man whose life has been plagued by drama and rumors surrounding the disappearance of his wife and the murders of two of his friends.
This docuseries became particularly interesting to people when Durst was arrested for the murder of his friend shortly before the final episode aired. Because part of this documentary investigates the disappearance of his wife in the early 80s, this is a particularly interesting detail.
Tabloid (2010)
Tabloid is a 2010 documentary that follows Joyce McKinney, a woman who was accused of kidnapping her boyfriend in 1977 after he went on a Mormon mission trip without informing her of where he was going first.
This story was highly covered by tabloid magazines throughout the UK after it happened, leading this story to be fairly well-known and discussed by people living in the area at that time. This documentary follows the bizarre sequence of events that lead up to the infamous case as well as the reaction by the tabloids and the way it started a bitter rivalry between two of them.
