My Favorite True Crime Documentaries and Shows to Enjoy at Home

Hey y’all! It’s hard to believe that we are almost in the middle of October and the end of 2020 is near. During this time of year everyone is excited for Fall, decorating for Halloween, and probably binging their favorite scary movies, but I don’t really enjoy scary things at all.

What I do love though are true crime stories and murder mystery shows and movies. Scary in their own right, yes, I just can’t get behind the Halloween, spooky, haunted, and horror movies - not my jam. Over on Instagram, I asked what shows or movies I should watch and got some great feedback! But, more people wanted to know the ones I’ve enjoyed and I thought having them live on the blog was a way for more people to see and share their recommendations too!

So, grab your popcorn or glass of wine (or both!) and check out these great shows, movies, and documentaries!

Don’t F*ck with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆☆
A twisted criminal's gruesome videos drive a group of amateur online sleuths to launch a risky manhunt that brings them into a dark underworld.

This one is definitely a curve-ball of a show. Set up in episodes, it starts from the idea of trying to catch a person who uploaded videos of killing cats on YouTube and then develops into a true serial killer hunt. With the help of social channels, dark-web chats, and law enforcement, this story gets wild. Definitely one of the more unique and surprising documentary series I’ve seen!

American murder: the family next door

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆
An American true crime documentary film directed by Jenny Popplewell. The film tells the story of the 2018 Watts family murders, which took place in Frederick, Colorado.

This recent add to Netflix was a good one! The only reason I gave it three stars was that I felt the backstory was a bit drawn out and I prefer more of the investigation based side. It is really well made and I enjoyed all of the first person perspective from the victim as you usually don’t get that. It was refreshing to also hear from the families and get different perspectives from social media, friends of each person involved and the original video from police and friends.

I love you, now die: The Commonwealth Vs. Michelle Carter

Watch on HBO, HBOMax
☆☆☆☆
Trigger warning: suicide and mental health
Michelle Carter stands trial for sending aggressive texts to her boyfriend encouraging suicide before he was found dead by suicide in his car.

This one is definitely one of the harder ones to watch because of its storyline and how young everyone involved is, but it is also one that makes me think the most once it’s over. I don’t want to get into my personal thoughts about it to sway anyone while watching, but there is a lot to unpack in this one. Young love, persuasion, bullying, social media, parenting and how kids use their phones. A lot of really relevant discussions packed into one documentary.

Abucted in plain sight

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆☆
In 1974, 12-year-old Jan Broberg is abducted from a small church-going community in Idaho by a trusted neighbor and close family friend.

Y’all - this one is wild. From its title you can probably conclude that it is about an abduction. The layers that make this one really interesting? The parent’s involvement/lack of knowledge and the downright weirdness of things you find out. I found myself being really angry and annoyed at the end of this by what I found out. Prepare yourself to do some googling and follow up reading to gather even more details about this really weird case. Start here once you’ve finished it!

The staircase

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆☆
In 2001 novelist Michael Peterson's wife died, and he claimed she perished after falling down stairs at their home. The medical examiner, however, determined that she had been beaten with a weapon, which led to Peterson becoming a suspect in what would become a murder investigation.

This documentary comes from Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and is very well done! This documentary dives very deep into criminal defense, the trial and evidence. Its unique perspective isn’t seen very often in crime documentaries and it is fascinating to see it come to life as the story unfolds. You’ll see the defendants home, evidence, interviews from his attorneys and recreations of the crime scene by the defense team. I really enjoyed the strategy discussions, and inside look of the case.

The keepers

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆
trigger warning: sexual assault
This docuseries tackles the unsolved murder of Cathy Cesnik, a beloved nun and Catholic high school teacher in Baltimore. After disappearing on Nov. 7, 1969, Cesnik's body was found nearly two months later -- but to this day, the killer remains unnamed.

This docuseries is a two-fold case. While it begins with the unsolved murder of Cathy, it regains traction when a former student of the school accuses the Chaplin of sexual assault. The story and case in itself it very interesting, but what I enjoyed most about this series was how the cases were looked at during drastic years of difference. The first portion of the case began in the 60s and then you have an investigator during the current time looking at the same details and utilizing technology that did exist when the case first began. You hear from people who were alive during the time of Cathy’s murder, but now, as adults, have different perspectives on things. This layer of dual-decade investigation provided a unique viewing experience.

The devil next door

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆
A Cleveland grandfather is brought to trial in Israel, accused of being the infamous Nazi death camp guard Ivan the Terrible.

This series dives into a devastating and horrible event we all know and have learned about - The Holocaust. What is unique about this look into those events and the many years after, is that it plucks a seemingly innocent and suburban grandfather from Ohio and plunges into his acts as an infamous Nazi death camp guard. Through interviews, physical evidence and eyewitness accounts, this series proves that people are not always what they seem and that justice can occur decades later. The only reason I’m giving this three stars is because I didn’t feel that the series spent enough time on the evidence presented. While very compelling and incriminating, I found myself wanting more backstory and basis for their findings rather than being told ‘this is this’ and then moving on. Because this case spans several decades and two trials I can understand speeding up portions of this story, but I would have liked more attention paid to the evidence. Otherwise, it’s very well done!

The Act

Watch on Hulu
☆☆☆☆
Dee Dee Blanchard is overprotective of her daughter, Gypsy, who is trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her mother. Gypsy's quest for independence opens up a Pandora's box of secrets, which ultimately leads to murder.

This Hulu series is one that I really enjoyed. Very creepy, weird and overall disturbing (that’s why you’re here, right?!), the story is based on real-life events that are stranger than fiction. It follows the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother, who was accused of abusing Gypsy by fabricating illness and disabilities as a direct consequence of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The story later takes a dark turn as Gypsy discovers this and takes action into her own hands. I think that the cast of this show are amazing and it is kind of creepy how well they capture the real life elements of the characters like their voices, mannerisms, and relationships of those involved. It received many nominations and some wins during award season, which in my opinion were well-deserved.

McMillions

Watch on HBO/HBOMax
☆☆☆
The story of an ex-cop turned security officer who rigs the McDonald's Monopoly game promotion for a decade, stealing millions of dollars and building a vast network of co-conspirators across the U.S.

This series is a great one and while it isn’t murder-based or focus on violent crime like many others I’ve listed, I think the approach and overall storyline is very interesting. Most people remember the McDonald’s Monopoly game and being so excited to go to McDonald’s and gather their game pieces and win a small fry. But, what we didn’t know was happening was the massive fraud and scandal behind the scenes. Hear from the family members of the scheme mastermind, the FBI agents, and McDonald’s employees that helped crack the case. Mixing business, scandal, family drama and millions of dollars makes for a very good story. I only gave it three stars because I was familiar with the story and while interesting to watch I didn’t have an OMG moment of breaking the case or explosive details since I knew a lot of it, but if you are unfamiliar then you’ll find it four star worthy!

Icarus

Watch on Netflix
☆☆☆☆
When filmmaker Bryan Fogel sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller. Dirty urine, unexplained death and Olympic gold are all part of the exposure of the biggest scandal in sports history.

Kollin and I watched this series over a couple travel trips in 2018. We downloaded episodes to watch on the plane - that’s how invested we became ha. What we loved most about it was how the story begins following the scandal of doping in Olympic sports and then through the investigation there is discovery of political warfare, mafia connections, and danger to everyone involved in making the documentary. We many times found ourselves saying, “what?!” and not being able to stop watching. I think what makes it so unique is one, the topic it surrounds, and two, the truly genuine feeling that you’re watching someone discover something right before you rather than being told what happened.

Hope y’all enjoyed this breakdown and watch some (or all ha) of these! I would love to know your thoughts on them so comment below or over on my Instagram post with the same picture to let me know what you think! Have a great week y’all!