October on DocPlay takes you across the globe and through many different voices and people, from the Dalai Lama to a 15-year-old in New Zealand.

Check out the list of movies, series and specials coming to DocPlay in October 2026 below. In the comments section, let me know which ones you are the most excited to watch.

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OCTOBER 5

Dear Tomorrow [DocPlay Exclusive Documentary]

In Japan, loneliness has turned into a national crisis, encouraging the government to create a Ministry of Loneliness. Dear Tomorrow follows two individuals, Masato and Shoko, struggling with isolation. Aware of their need for human connection, they embark on a journey toward healing and renewal.

Wisdom of Happiness [DocPlay Exclusive Documentary]

A deeply intimate and highly cinematic documentary featuring the Dalai Lama, who, at nearly 90 years old, offers practical advice for navigating the 21st century.

OCTOBER 8

The Shepherd and the Bear [DocPlay Exclusive Documentary]

High in the majestic French Pyrenees, a conflict is provoked by the reintroduction of brown bears amid a traditional shepherding community. The film follows an ageing shepherd struggling to find a successor as bears prey on his flock, and a teenage boy obsessed with tracking them down.

A modern folktale examining humanity’s relationship with a vanishing natural world.

Wildboy [New Documentary on DocPlay]

Brando, a young man with ADHD, embarks on extraordinary adventures in order to escape society and find purpose. At 18, he sets out to walk New Zealand’s coastline, and over the next decade, he tackles epic feats: skiing across Greenland, kayaking around Vancouver Island, and cycling across the Australian Outback.

OCTOBER 15

The Times of Harvey Milk [New Documentary on DocPlay]

A true twentieth-century trailblazer, Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office.

The Oscar-winning The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) was as groundbreaking as its subject. One of the first feature documentaries to address gay life in America, it’s a work of advocacy itself, bringing Milk’s message of hope and equality to a wider audience.

OCTOBER 19

Sentient [DocPlay Exclusive Documentary]

A moving journey into laboratory research on animals, exposing a hidden world in which it’s not just the animals getting hurt.

The debut feature documentary from veteran Australian journalist Tony Jones arrives exclusively on DocPlay after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

OCTOBER 26

Baby Doe [DocPlay Exclusive Documentary]

Thirty years ago, Gail Ritchey, a young woman from a conservative Christian community in rural Ohio, gave birth alone and left her newborn in the woods.

Now a mother of three, her quiet suburban life is shattered when DNA evidence links her to “Geauga’s Child,” and she is arrested for murder — despite saying the baby was stillborn.

OCTOBER 29

The Gleaners and I [New Documentary on DocPlay]

By turns playful, philosophical and subtly political, Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I (2000) is a warmly human reflection on the contradictions of our consumerist world from an artist who, like her subjects, finds unexpected richness where few think to look.

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Check out our ‘Now Streaming‘ page to discover what else is available to stream on Stan, Prime Video, Netflix, and more in Australia.

[Descriptions provided by DocPlay]