How to cite a documentary or Netflix show (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard)

When to use this format

Use the documentary or film pattern for a one-off feature documentary, whether you watched it in a cinema, on a disc, or on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, or a broadcaster's on-demand service. The director normally takes the author position, the streaming service is access information rather than the creator, and the release year is the year of the version you watched.

Use the episode pattern when your evidence comes from one episode of a documentary series such as a true-crime or nature series. Cite the episode title, the series as the italicised container, the season and episode number where the style allows, and the platform only as access information. Do not cite a whole multi-part series when a single episode carries your point.

What you need before you start

Collect these details from the documentary itself, not from a search result or a reposted copy. Getting the fields right once makes every style format below fall into place.

• Director, or executive producers and creators for a series cited as a whole.
• Release year of the version you watched.
• Title of the documentary, or the episode title plus the series title for an episode.
• Production company or distributor.
• The streaming platform as access information, not as the author.
• A timestamp for a specific scene, placed in text rather than the reference list.

Worked examples in four styles

The same facts appear in every style, but they move around and change punctuation. Match the reference-list entry and the in-text citation to the style your assignment requires.

DuVernay, A. (Director). (2016). 13th [Film]. Kandoo Films; Netflix.

13th. Directed by Ava DuVernay, Kandoo Films, 2016. Netflix, www.netflix.com/title/80091741.

DuVernay, Ava, dir. 2016. 13th. Kandoo Films. Netflix.

DuVernay, A. (dir.) (2016) 13th [Documentary]. Kandoo Films. Available at: Netflix (Accessed: 15 January 2026).

Judgement calls and edge cases

The hardest call is the whole-series versus single-episode choice. If you write about the overall argument of a docuseries, cite the series and name its creators or executive producers. If your evidence is one interview or one reconstruction, cite that episode so a reader can go straight to it. Mixing the two, by naming the series but quoting a moment with no episode reference, leaves the citation unverifiable.

Streaming platforms relabel and remove titles, and regional catalogues differ, so a Netflix URL that works for you may not work for a marker abroad. Keep the director, distributor, and year as the stable backbone of the entry and treat the platform link as a convenience. If the documentary exists in several cuts, note which version you watched because runtime and content can change between releases.

Specific scenes need a timestamp, but the timestamp belongs in your sentence or note, not the reference list. The reference points to the work as a whole; the in-text citation pins the moment. This keeps the reference list clean and lets you cite several scenes from one documentary without repeating the full entry each time.

Common mistakes

• Putting Netflix, Prime Video, or Disney+ in the author position.
• Citing a whole series when your evidence is a single episode.
• Using the year a title was added to a platform instead of the release year.
• Forgetting the director role label in APA or Harvard.
• Putting a scene timestamp in the reference list instead of the in-text citation.