(Un)Well

This docuseries takes a deep dive into the lucrative wellness industry, which touts health and healing. But do the products live up to the promises?

(Un)Well (2020) is an American investigative documentary docuseries created for Netflix, a limited run of six roughly 55-minute episodes. Rather than following a single protagonist, it follows the claims themselves: each episode picks up a product or healing promise sold within the lucrative wellness industry and tests whether it lives up to what it touts. The engine is a steady, evidence-driven question asked again and again, whether the healing being sold is real, with interviews, claims weighed against the available science, and a tight focus on the gap between marketing and results. Its shape is a self-contained case-by-case format rather than a continuing story, so episodes build a cumulative picture of how the industry operates. The register is skeptical, sober, and expository, with a debunking edge that stays grounded rather than sensational. Viewers who enjoy the consumer exposé energy of Fyre or the Silicon Valley hustle scrutiny of The Inventor will find a similar appetite for scrutinizing big promises. Its audience is adults curious about health claims and buyer skepticism, and the series is best approached as a critical look at American wellness culture.

Audiences find the docuseries a mixed, skeptical look at wellness products whose promises are questioned rather than proven.

• Fyreskeptical investigation of pseudoscience and health marketing, documentary exposé tone
• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valleyexposé of a lucrative wellness-adjacent business built on false promises, critical documentary tone
• Making a Murdererinvestigative documentary dismantling a commercial enterprise's claims, skeptical expository tone
• Super Size Mecritical investigation of a health-related industry's marketing claims, expository skeptical register

Release Date

2020-08-12

Episode runtime

55 min

Rating

6.4 / 10 (55)

What is (Un)Well about?

A six-episode Netflix docuseries that tests the healing promises of the lucrative wellness industry against what its products actually deliver.

What is (Un)Well like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of (Un)Well as measured, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is (Un)Well violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in (Un)Well.

What did critics think of (Un)Well?

Audiences find the docuseries a mixed, skeptical look at wellness products whose promises are questioned rather than proven.

Which shows are like (Un)Well?

Shows with a similar feel include Fyre, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Making a Murderer, and Super Size Me.

How long is (Un)Well?

(Un)Well: 1 season, 6 episodes.

Is (Un)Well still running?

No, (Un)Well has ended.

Where can I watch (Un)Well?

In United States, (Un)Well streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.