On TikTok, everyone is spilling the tea — documentary style. ICYMI, the viral POV trend where people “prepare” for their close-up with their hypothetical Netflix documentaries is taking over, and it’s hilarious. From meme-ing their high school theater experience to referencing the ever-sacred group chat, the Netflix documentary TikTok trend has the entire internet ready to sit down and confess.
As we all know, Netflix is known for platforming jaw-dropping documentaries. Most recently, Maternal Instinct and The Crash were huge hits on the platform, sparking viral discourse across social media platforms. So, it makes sense that users are looking to star in their own wild documentaries — you know, from the comfort of their own home.
While documentaries typically require tons of fancy equipment, the TikTok trend is actually super simple. The trend involves creators settling into an empty chair interview-style, often looking slightly off-camera as if they’re speaking to a producer. Sometimes, they even attach their mini mics to their shirts and ask which camera they are speaking to — even though it’s just them and their iPhone. The videos are also accompanied by a now-viral sound: tense, strings-focused music that you’d usually hear in a Netflix true crime doc. (The name of the viral song is “On A Mission” by Duomo — in case you were wondering!)
While the participants don’t exactly spill the tea on the situation — they just allude to something happening — it’s safe to say that the FYP is being fed. On TikTok, thousands of users have hopped on the trend, referencing “traumatic” experiences like surviving the person you dated when you were 19, or being in a class with that teacher in high school. (You know the one.) It’s lighthearted and deeply relatable, which makes the videos just that much funnier.
Here are some of the funniest I’ve found:
But it’s not just TikTok creators hopping on the trend — some of your favorite celebrities (including RiRi!) have “sat down” to spill their tea, as well. Charli D’Amelio, I really am going to need you to sit down for a documentary. Stat.
Netflix even responded to the trend with a post on Instagram, publishing a photo of an empty chair and writing “about to sit down and watch all these documentaries.” And honestly? Same. So when they finally release a Netflix documentary based on surviving college midterms, just know that I’ll be sat.