Television series
Unnatural Selection
Unnatural Selection is a brisk Netflix docuseries that tours the frontiers of gene-editing technology—CRISPR, designer babies, mosquitoes engineered to fight malaria—and asks the questions we're not ready to answer. It's optimistic about science but genuinely spooked by the implications. For anyone curious about where biology is headed and what we might break along the way.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like your science documentaries to sit with an uncomfortable question rather than cheer a breakthrough, and you enjoy weighing the ethics yourself.
Skip it if you came for sweeping wildlife footage, since this leans on argument and explanation more than spectacle, and it can feel talky at times.
What it asks of you: Four episodes and a listed runtime of 66 minutes make for a short, steady evening, paced by ideas rather than suspense, so attention matters more than speed.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Our Planet2019
David Attenborough narrates nature's splendour on a planetary scale while gently, persuasively arguing that we've broken it. Visually staggering and emotionally resonant without being preachy. A masterclass in making the stakes feel real.
But Some sequences of animal suffering in a degrading ecosystem are genuinely difficult to watch. If you're already climate-anxious, this may deepen that.
The Genetic Detective2020
Crime docuseries that uses genetic genealogy to solve decades-old murders. Shows DNA technology applied with real stakes and emotional urgency. Gripping and ethically fascinating without feeling exploitative.
But Some episodes focus on brutal crimes. The emotional toll on victims' families is the point, but it's genuinely heavy.
Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak2020
Six-part Netflix series on how we contain viral threats. Watches like a fast-moving thriller about epidemiologists and their tools. Relevant, clarifying, and impossible to look away from.
But Released during actual pandemic. If you need escapism rather than reality, this isn't it. Also somewhat dated already.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Unnatural Selection
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Gattaca1997
Both explore what happens when genetic engineering becomes normalised and the moral hierarchies it creates. Unnatural Selection gives you the science; Gattaca makes you feel the human cost.
Science-fiction thriller set in a near-future where genetic perfection is the baseline and your DNA determines your destiny. Unnatural Selection asks the questions; Gattaca imagines the answer. Visually gorgeous, emotionally devastating, and prescient about inequity.
But Released 27 years ago; some of the tech looks quaint, which can break immersion. Also a downer—the system wins.
More like this (3)
The Toys That Made Us2017
Nostalgic, zippy docuseries about how consumer goods became part of childhood. Totally different subject, but same format: a moral arc hidden in a fun story. Comfortable, smart, and genuinely entertaining.
But If you want to avoid consumerism critique, this will make you think about it. Not heavy, but pointed.
High Score2020
Netflix's eight-part history of video games. Beautifully made, genuinely surprising—shows how tech shapes culture faster than we can regulate it. Thematically echoes the 'progress moving faster than ethics' tension of Unnatural Selection.
But Video game history may feel niche if gaming isn't your thing. The tech-ethics throughline is lighter here than in Unnatural Selection.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!1978
Where Unnatural Selection takes genetic modification seriously, this takes it as comedy. Both assume the technology exists and are asking whether we thought this through. The flip in tone makes the question sharper.
Absurdist, deliberately bad monster comedy about genetically modified vegetables gone wrong. A total tonal 180 from Unnatural Selection's earnestness, but it's actually asking the same question—should we be engineering food?—just from the trash heap. Hilarious, absurd, strangely smart.
But Intentionally terrible. It's a joke sustained for 83 minutes. If you need polish and clarity, this will frustrate you. Also genuinely boring stretches for some viewers.
Recommended by
Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, The Surgeon's Cut, The Circus