Documentaries are one of the most popular film genres on streaming platforms, but reports indicate that many Hollywood studios in charge of these streamers are having trouble deciding what type of documentaries to offer. True crime has always been one of the most produced documentary genres; The Netflix documentary “This is the Zodiac Speaking” about San Francisco’s Zodiac Killer and the Max documentary “Chris Brown: A History of Violence” about the eponymous singer are two of their platform’s most popular offerings right now.

This doesn’t appear to be accidental, since Netflix and other streamers were reportedly hesitant to do so. political documentaries due to the polarized state of the world, choosing instead to stream films less controversial topics.

What does the documentary landscape look like?