There’s something fascinating about observing humankind’s response to adversity—andNetflixhas certainly got this covered. From natural disasters to unsolved mysteries, here are five of the best tragedy docs you can digest this week.
Disaster documentaries contain scenes that some may find upsetting. Please refer to the official age ratings and content warnings before watching the documentaries listed in this article.
2022
1
Overall Running Time
1 hour 38 minutes
Picture this: it’s a beautiful early summer’s day in New Zealand in 2019, and dozens of tourists and their guides are enjoying a day out at Whakaari, the country’s most active volcano. Located about 30 miles off the coast of the North Island, it’s a hotspot for day visitors looking to see the volcano’s crater lake, steaming vents, and bubbling mud.
However, at 2:11PM, the unthinkable happens—a sudden, huge explosion of steam, gas, ash, and rocks erupts from Whakaari’s crater complex, its plume reaching as high as 12,000 feet and engulfing all 800 acres of its surface. What happens next is quite remarkable—a spontaneous influx of people willing to risk their lives to save others. But is there really any hope for those trapped under gases and debris reaching temperatures as high as 800°C?
In the aftermath of the disaster, people quickly start asking questions about whether Whakaari should have been open to tourists at all. Indeed, GNS Science—New Zealand’s geological monitoring agency—had raised the volcanic alert level just one month earlier, following increased seismic activity on the island.
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—a wholly immersive and visually stunning documentary—is told from the perspective of those who found themselves right in the middle of this frightening ordeal, from victims and their families to volunteers and emergency workers, with firsthand video and audio footage giving you a true insight into their experiences. If you ever needed reminding not to underestimate the destructive power of nature, this short film does exactly that.
2021
3
4 hours 34 minutes
For most, being trapped in an unfamiliar building engulfed in flames is the stuff of nightmares. Tragically, for the 35 people who boarded the ghost train at Luna Park in Sydney on July 16, 2025, it became their reality. However, ever since the fire, one question has remained on everyone’s lips—was it arson or was it an accident?
Exposed: The Ghost Train Fireis a gripping three-part investigative documentary that explores the mysterious details surrounding the disaster. It begins with a detailed walk-through of the fatal ghost train journey in the first episode, covers the initial investigations in the second, and turns to claims of corruption and cover-ups in the third.
When I finished watching this short series, I was confronted with a real mix of emotions—moved by the film-making, horrified by the content, and angered by the politics in equal measure.Exposed: The Ghost Train Fireis certainly not for the faint-hearted but is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking investigative documentary about a disaster that could and should have been avoided.
2025
1 hour 51 minutes
There’s a common trait developing with the disasters documented by Netflix—they could all have been avoided. And in no case is this truer than inTitan: The OceanGate Disaster. This eye-opening documentary shows how company owner Stockton Rush’s apparent dismissal of expert concerns led to the death of all five people on board the next-gen submersible—all in the name of fame.
Even though OceanGate was gradually falling apart, Rush continued to push its boundaries and proceed with dangerous tourist trips to the wreck of the Titanic, a risk that took its toll with the vessel’s implosion in June 2023. In fact, according to expert and witness interviewees in this one-part film, the carbon fiber hull had cracked and separated, the viewpoint window wasn’t fully certified, and the adhesive was inadequate. What’s more, the company bypassed official classification by independent safety organizations, claiming that the innovative design didn’t fall within existing industry standards.
Real-world footage of multiple failed tests and authentic audio of the fatal moment bring you as close to the action as you can get, and raw and honest interviews with Rush’s former coworkers reveal the businessman’s true colors—“If you went against the boss, there were going to be repercussions.”
Rather than just focusing on the implosion itself, this riveting documentary also takes you through the decade leading up to it, leaving you frustrated at how the preciousness of human life was overlooked in favor of money and notability.
2 hours 22 minutes
If you’re a Netflix regular, you’ve almost certainly come across the smash hit 2025 Trainwreck series, which revisits some of the more unbelievable media sensations from the past few decades—from the carnival cruise that quickly got out of hand to a boy supposedly floating away in a home-made spaceship.
However, the Trainwreck journey began in 2022 withWoodstock ‘99, a docuseries covering “the biggest party on the planet” that turned into a chaotic mixture of toxic masculinity, rioting, looting, vandalism, arson, violence, sexual assault, and—for three individuals—death. However, despite the pandemoneum that was unfolding, the show went on.
This tense and—at times—hard-to-watch doc conveys how the lack of investment in infrastructure, services, and security rendered the event a free-for-all, with the concept of law and order becoming merely an abstract phenomenon.
What makes this doc work so well is that it doesn’t need a voiceover to guide us—it relies purely on TV footage, testimonies, bulletins, and videos made by event-goers, meaning we can draw our own conclusions as we work our way through this staggering three-part series.
2023
2 hours 38 minutes
In 2024, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew deviated from its planned flight path before disappearing from radar. Was it hijacked? Did it crash? Was it an act of war? Or was it something even more sinister?
I’ll be honest from the outset—because we still don’t know what actually happened to this elusive aircraft,MH370: The Plane That Disappearedis packed to the rim with conjecture. That said, part of the pull of this documentary is hearing the wide-ranging views—some you’ve probably not heard before—that people have on the plane’s fate.
After all, this tragedy has been covered extensively ever since it happened, so the last thing we need is a repeat of what’s already out there. Also, I’d rather watch a doc that covers the different theories than one that ignores them altogether.
Whether you want to remind yourself of the facts, considerout-thereperspectives, or are just a fan of aviation disaster documentaries, at well under three hours,MH370: The Plane That Disappearedis worth giving a go.
If you’re not sure whether you’ll have the chance to watch all these disaster documentaries this week,add them to your Netflix watchlistso you’re able to get to them when you’re ready. While you’re there, why not browse some of the streaming platform’sbest true crime docs?
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