Television series
Being: Liverpool
A documentary series following Liverpool FC during the summer of 2012, as the club searches for a new manager and Brendan Rodgers arrives to rebuild the team. Intimate access to training, boardrooms, and player homes reveals the machinery behind one of football's most storied institutions. It's a study in ambition, pressure, and organizational change—for fans and anyone curious how elite sports clubs actually function.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like behind-the-scenes documentaries that let a club's inner workings unfold without narration, and you enjoy watching people deal with pressure and uncertainty in quiet, unguarded moments.
Skip it if you want football as football, with matches, goals and tactical breakdowns; this is mostly corridors, meetings and waiting rooms, and the pitch is rarely the point.
What it asks of you: Six short episodes of roughly forty-four minutes each, taken at an observational pace, so you need patience for long stretches of talk and routine before anything changes.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Senna2010
Asif Kapadia's portrait of obsession and excellence uses archive footage to chart a competitive genius at the peak of his powers. Thrilling, moving, and entirely focused on what drives people to dominance.
But It's a motorsport documentary, so if racing doesn't interest you, the specifics may feel narrow despite the universal themes about rivalry and mortality.
The Last Dance2020
Ten episodes embedded with Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls during their final season. Same intimate access formula, same high stakes, same question: can greatness sustain itself? Absolutely gripping.
But Basketball obsessives will find it indispensable; the casual viewer might find the granular tactical detail occasionally dense.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive2019
Formula 1 behind the scenes across a full season. High drama, gorgeous cinematography, and the same real-time tension of watching an institution manage talent, egos, and money.
But It prioritizes entertainment and narrative shaping over pure documentary truth, which purists find frustrating. Also genuinely long—Season 1 is five hours.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Being: Liverpool
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Searching for Sugar Man2012
Both are intimate institutional histories—one following an organization forward, one excavating one backward. Both trust silence and detail. Both ask what legacy means.
A documentary about a mysterious 1970s musician, but it's structured like a detective story. Same year as Being: Liverpool, but the access is archaeological—piecing together a life after decades of obscurity. Quietly profound.
But It's very slow and meditative. If you want propulsive sports drama, this will feel like a tangent. Also, once you know the resolution, rewatching loses some power.
More like this (7)
All or Nothing: Manchester City2018
Amazon's equivalent access at City during their treble-chasing season. Pep Guardiola is mesmerizing to watch work, and the access to tactical meetings and emotional moments is unglamorous and real.
But If you don't care about Pep or City's particular brand of football, the technical meetings can feel impenetrable.
Hoop Dreams1994
A five-year embedded look at two basketball players chasing NBA dreams. It's a document of American ambition, race, class, and institutional pressure. Compassionate and unflinching.
But At three hours, it's a genuine commitment, and the pacing is observational rather than cinematic—you need patience.
Pumping Iron1977
Arnold Schwarzenegger training for Mr. Olympia. It's part sports film, part character study, genuinely entertaining, and a time capsule of 1970s bodybuilding culture and showmanship.
But The attitudes to women and the vanity on display might feel dated or off-putting, and the sport itself is niche.
The Two Escobars2010
30 for 30 documentary interweaving Colombian football hero Andrés Escobar with the rise of Pablo Escobar's cocaine empire. Unexpected, tragic, and deeply human about sports and power.
But It's heavy—genuinely dark—and moves well beyond sports into crime and real violence. Not a comfort watch.
McEnroe2022
A stylish, introspective portrait of John McEnroe using archive footage, interviews, and animation to examine rage, perfectionism, and the cost of competitive genius.
But It's more psychological essay than sports narrative, and if you want match highlights, you won't find much of the tennis itself.
The Toys That Made Us2017
Netflix's behind-the-scenes look at a cultural phenomenon. It's lighter than Being: Liverpool, but uses the same access-and-access format to reveal how something becomes global. Comfort documentary.
But It's a brand history, not a competition or human drama. If you need stakes and conflict, this is too gentle and corporate.
The Queen's Gambit2020
Both are about someone arriving to transform an institution (Rodgers at Liverpool, Harmon in chess). Both explore what it costs to be exceptional. Being: Liverpool is real; this is the imagined version of the same story.
Chess prodigy Beth Harmon's rise through the 1960s. Seven hours of competitive obsession, genius under pressure, and a woman remaking her life through mastery. Gorgeously shot, genuinely tense despite the quiet sport.
But It's not a documentary—it's dramatized, glossy, and somewhat fictionalized. If you want raw truth, this is the opposite. Also, chess will never feel as physical as football, which some find bloodless.
Recommended by
Sunderland 'Til I Die, Hard Knocks, All or Nothing, All or Nothing: Arsenal