Arts and culture / Screen and stage / Film and television / Series and fictional screen worlds / Unscripted, reality, and web-native series / Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series / Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats / Premiered 2001 to 2019

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Fearless

Fearless is a 2016 six-part Netflix original documentary series that follows top Brazilian professional bull riders competing in Professional Bull Riders (PBR), from the Barretos event in São Paulo to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.1 It premiered on Friday, August 19, 2016, exclusively to Netflix members worldwide, and its original language is Portuguese.1 • 2

Key factDetail
PremiereAugust 19, 2016, exclusively to Netflix members worldwide1
PremiseBrazilian riders pursue money, respect, and titles on a journey from Brazil to the Las Vegas championships3
On-screen figuresAdriano Moraes, J.B. Mauney, Silvano Alves, Kaique Pacheco, Guilherme Marchi, Robson Palermo3
Key creditsDirected by Michael John Warren; David Broome executive producer; Andrew Fried showrunner; Sean Gleason co-producer1 • 2
ProductionBoardwalk Pictures, with 25/7 Productions (Dave Broome, Yong Yam)4
LanguagePortuguese2

Spoilers

Format and premise

The series follows the lives of the top Brazilian riders in PBR from the massive Barretos event in São Paulo to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas, as they risk injury to earn money, respect, and titles.1 • 3

The New York Times review notes that the series chronicles the PBR's 2015 season, and that much of the series was shot in Brazil, which supplies riders to PBR the way the Dominican Republic supplies shortstops to Major League Baseball.5

Episodes and on-screen figures

Netflix lists the starring subjects as Adriano Moraes, J.B. Mauney, Silvano Alves, Kaique Pacheco, Guilherme Marchi, and Robson Palermo.3 Moraes, a former world champion, is the figure who inspired the group of Brazilian riders to enter the American pro circuit.3

The episodes include:3

  1. "Shining Knows No Borders": inspired by former world champion Adriano Moraes, a group of Brazilian bull riders enter the pro circuit in America for their shot at glory.
  2. "A Harvest In August": centered on the legendary Barretos International Rodeo event.
  3. "The Thrill Is Gone"
  4. In "The Outsiders," the Brazilian families talk over how hard adapting to American life has been; Robson Palermo endures a rough pounding yet carries on; and Nunes claims the judging is biased.
  5. "Glory And The Price Paid"
  6. "Being Mortal": with injuries piling up, the Brazilian riders fight Mauney until the World Finals conclude; a single competitor leaves bull riding behind, but the rest continue on.

Production and credits

Fearless was produced by Boardwalk Pictures, with executive producers Dave Broome and Yong Yam through 25/7 Productions and Andrew Fried also credited.4 The PBR press release names David Broome (The Biggest Loser, The Briefcase) as executive producer, Andrew Fried (Chef's Table) as showrunner, and Michael Warren as director.1 Rotten Tomatoes gives the director's full name as Michael John Warren.2 Sean Gleason, chief executive of PBR, served as co-producer of the series.1

The commercial context mattered to the project: WME-IMG had bought Professional Bull Riders in 2015 for an estimated $100 million, and the series arrived as part of that ownership's push.5

Reception and critical positioning

The New York Times review, published on the premiere date, judged that the series "looks good and moves smoothly."5 In that same review, the writer added a caveat: the series resembles an extended advertisement, noting that Sean Gleason, who both helped produce it and serves as PBR's chief executive, appears first among the credits.5

Netflix positioned Fearless within its mid-2010s slate of original documentary and docu-series programming, alongside Making a Murderer, the Oscar-nominated films Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom, What Happened, Miss Simone?, The Square, and Virunga, and the Emmy-nominated docu-series Chef's Table.1

By the numbers: scale and reach

The quantitative frame of the series is compact. It consists of six episodes.1 The sport it documents had itself just changed hands, with WME-IMG's estimated $100 million purchase of Professional Bull Riders in 2015 preceding the series.5

Availability

The series was released exclusively to Netflix members worldwide.1

References

  1. Netflix documentary series, Fearless, to premiere Aug. 19 – PBR press release
  2. Fearless – Rotten Tomatoes
  3. Watch Fearless – Netflix Official Site
  4. Fearless – Boardwalk Pictures
  5. Review: Netflix's 'Fearless' Explores the World's 'Most Dangerous Sport' – The New York Times

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats › Premiered 2001 to 2019

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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