Documentaries have quietly become one of the most reliable genres to watch on streaming. And whether they’re delivering everything from tabloid-worthy court cases and gorgeous concert epics to soaring music biographies and a fish-out-of-water series that shouldn’t be good but is, a good doc mixes the best parts of journalism, entertainment, and storytelling.

June has been a great month for documentaries across several of the major streaming services, like Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, and Paramount+. I’ve watched a ton of them over the month, and for my money, the standouts include the scorching look back at Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial, Questlove’s vibrating homage to Earth, Wind, & Fire, a bizarre new-age cult story, and more. There’s been plenty of variety, so here are my picks for the best documentaries from June 2026 for U.S. audiences, in no particular order.

1

Michael Jackson: The Verdict (Netflix)

The series that reignited the debate

Netflix’s three-part docuseries Michael Jackson: The Verdict made waves when it arrived on June 3rd, as it was on the heels of Antoine Fuqua’s polarizing biopic Michael that stopped short of covering Jackson’s controversial child molestation trial. The Verdict doesn’t, revisiting the trial and turning over all the stones. Directed by Nick Green, the series takes a largely chronological approach, using extensive courtroom records, archival news coverage, police evidence, and rarely seen footage from inside Jackson’s Neverland estate. The story explores how the allegations emerged, the media frenzy surrounding the case, and the eventual not-guilty verdicts.

New interviews with prosecutor Ron Zonen, defense attorney Mark Geragos, former jurors, investigators, and BBC journalist Martin Bashir provide firsthand perspectives on the events that shaped the trial. Michael Jackson: The Verdict has an 82% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Honorable mention goes to true-crime documentary feature Maternal Instinct.

2

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) (HBO Max)

Questlove’s cosmic tribute to a funk pioneer’s vision

Questlove’s encyclopedic knowledge of the music world is being put to good use as the Oscar-winning filmmaker has become the go-to for music documentaries at the moment. His latest, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World), premiered on HBO Max on June 7, and it is another triumph.

The roughly two-hour film traces the legendary funk, soul, and R&B group with a focus on the vision of founder Maurice White—who died in 2016—and how he wove spirituality, metaphysics, and astrology into hits like September and Boogie Wonderland. Built from rare archival footage, never-before-seen visuals and audio, animations, and interviews, it features bandmates Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, plus admirers like Barack and Michelle Obama, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, H.E.R., and Flea. Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

3

Bring Me The Beauties (HBO Max)

The most ridiculously good-looking cult you’ve ever seen

Despite the unavoidable Zoolander jokes, HBO’s wild ride of a three-part series, Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, is anything but funny. Directed by Chris Smith—the filmmaker behind docs on Jim Carrey and on Wham!—it digs into Eternal Values, a bizarre 1980s and ’90s New Age cult made up of models, socialites, and elites.

At its center is Hoyt Richards, often called the first male supermodel, whose glittering career masked a double life inside Eternal Values run by eccentric socialite Frederick von Mierers, who claimed to be an alien from another planet. The series starts from the top and just keeps spiraling downwards as the nefarious and dark side of the cult begins showing through. Stitching together restored fashion footage, photos, private audio recordings, and first-person interviews—chiefly from Richards, alongside former members and models like Fabio and Jacki Adams—its three hour-long episodes are spellbinding. Bring Me The Beauties has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

4

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (Paramount+)

The King himself, restored and roaring, in his own words

If you were impressed with the level of perfection and attention to detail that Peter Jackson poured over his restored Beatles documentaries Get Back, Let it Be, and Anthology, then Baz Luhrmann’s visual and audio feast EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is equally going to blow you away. Whether you’re a fan of The King or not, the Romeo + Juliet director delivers one of the most stunning docs of the year, all thanks to a treasure trove of long-lost concert footage and audio that he and editor Jonathan Redmond found while researching for Luhrmann’s 2022 drama Elvis. Presley narrates the film himself, with audio taken from those found recordings.

Restored using Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post technology, EPiC is built largely around 1972’s Elvis on Tour and 1970’s Elvis: That’s the Way It Is concert films. The 96-minute extravaganza offers an eye-popping concert experience with gorgeous restored visuals and cleaned-up audio (it even ran in IMAX). EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert premiered on Paramount+ on June 3 in the U.S., has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and should be seen before it’s gone.

Honorable mention goes to true-crime documentary feature Devotion: Obedience or Betrayal.

5

Clarkson’s Farm, season 5 (Prime Video)

Robot tractors, a cancer scare, and Diddly Squat drama

The only non-music, non-true-crime pick here (and arguably more reality show than docuseries), I was simply charmed by Clarkson’s Farm’s funny and bittersweet fifth season on Prime Video in June. Chaotic and oddly moving as ever, the eight hour-long episodes (rolled out in three waves through June), follows former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson as he wrestles his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm outside London into shape, with wide-eyed farm manager Kaleb Cooper and partner Lisa Hogan along for the ride.

In season 5, a government budget throws UK farming into uproar, Jeremy and Lisa make some tough decisions regarding some of their beloved animals, and a couple of health scares (that made headlines) force Jeremy to slow down. Shot over a full farming year, Clarkson’s Farm builds to a serious late-season cliffhanger. The series has a solid 94% overall critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

June was a great month for docs

Documentaries had no business being this entertaining in a single month, but here we are. And as we await the new crop of docs for July, if your watchlist still has room, How-To Geek’s best documentaries of 2026 so far and our weekly streaming roundups are loaded with plenty more where these came from.

Brand

Apple

Operating System

tvOS

Resolution

4K

Ports

HDMI