We at MC are serious about true crime. There's a certain thrill in turning to the latest and greatest true crime books, podcasts, and TV shows, to analyze how filmmakers tell these jaw-dropping stories. Thankfully, 2024 saw the release of compelling dramatized series and documentaries that have taken thoughtful deep dives into some of the most sensationalized cases in history, brought to light overlooked cults and scams, and centered resilient stories of survivors.
Prepare your streamer accounts and put on your detective hats: These are the best new true crime documentaries and series from 2024. (For even more to watch, we rounded up 2023's best true-crime documentaries and series last year.)
'American Nightmare'
In 2015, Denise Huskins was accused of faking her own kidnapping, with both law enforcement and the media referring to her alleged hoax as the "Gone Girl case." The three-part docuseries American Nightmare tells the true story of Huskins' traumatizing ordeal, and how the case was more a story of police misconduct than a ripped-from-fiction hoax.
'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal'
Ashley Madison, the infamous dating site for married people in search of an affair, received the Netflix true-crime treatment in this docuseries. It features interviews with former employees and notable figures caught up in the 2015 hack that exposed over 40 million users' personal information.
'Baby Reindeer'
Based on creator and star Richard Gadd's real-life experiences, this Emmy-winning fictionalized miniseries follows Donny Dunn, a bartender and aspiring comedian who befriends Martha (Jessica Gunning), a woman he meets one day at the park. He shares an act of kindness with her, which quickly devolves into stalking and harassment. As Donny tries to navigate the harrowing situation, he's forced to reckon with his traumatic history of abuse and how to move forward.
'Bitconned'
In the early days of the crypto boom, three guys from South Florida founded Centra Tech with nothing but Photoshop skills and dreams of a lavish lifestyle. This documentary covers the rise and fall of the three scammers, who raised millions of fundraising dollars before they were outed by a New York Times investigation.
'Black Box Diaries'
In this doc, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to acclaim, journalist Shiori Itō explores her quest for justice in the wake of surviving a sexual assault committed by a high-powered media figure with ties to Japan's prime minister. The powerful doc dives into Japan's archaic laws around sexual violence and how political and cultural systems work to keep victims silent, while also showing Itō's day-to-day ordeals as a survivor facing intense scrutiny.'
'Breath of Fire'
In the 2010s, the kundalini yoga teacher Guru Jagat, real name Katie Griggs, built a wellness empire and gathered tens of thousands of loyal followers, from average Los Angelenos to celebrities like Alicia Keys and Kate Hudson. However, by 2020, allegations began to rise that Jagat was leading a toxic, cult-like organization while spreading QAnon conspiracy theories. This HBO docuseries unravels the rise and fall of the self-proclaimed guru while examining the long-controversial history of kundalini yoga and its most famous figure, Yogi Bhajan.
'Crime Nation'
The CW premiered its first-ever true crime show this year, a 10-part series that dives into high-profile investigations from the past few years, and explores "the relationship between the public narrative and official investigations for each case.” Some of the cases on the list so far include the Delphi murders, the Lori Vallow Daybell case, and the Gilgo Beach murders.
'Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult'
In early 2022, the family of TikTok dancer Miranda Derrick shocked social media when they claimed that her church-affiliated management company, 7M Films, was controlling her. This docuseries dives into the so-called "TikTok cult," unraveling a history of allegations against 7M Films owner and Shekinah Church pastor Robert Shinn that goes far beyond the dance community.
'Daughters of the Cult'
This cult documentary traces the story of the Mormon polygamist cult Ervil LeBaron (known as the "Mormon Manson" due to his control over his followers). Several former members of the cult, including Ervil's daughters, recount their strange upbringing, as well as their father's penchant for blood atonement and ordering hits on his opponents.
'Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara'
In 2008, a fan of the twin pop duo Tegan and Sara began an online friendship with a Facebook account seemingly belonging to Tegan, who had cultivated a loyal social media following with her sister. Years later, after some strange behavior from the account, the fan contacted the band's manager. This doc unfurls the terrifying catfishing saga and the emotional fallout on the fans contacted by the fake account, as well as the singers themselves.
'Griselda'
This fictionalized series from the team behind Narcos tells the real story of Griselda Blanco (played by Sofía Vergara), the "Godmother of Cocaine" who ruled the Miami drug scene in the late 1970s and 1980s. The six-episode show starts with Blanco's arrival in the U.S., as a single mom hoping to support her three sons, and ends with the brutal killer facing the consequences of her decades of crime.
'Hollywood Con Queen'
Throughout the 2010s, a scammer dubbed the "Con Queen" impersonated several female and male Hollywood executives to "hire" industry contractors for a gig in Jakarta, Indonesia, conning the workers out of thousands of dollars each. Based on Scott Johnson's book Hollywood Con Queen: The Hunt for an Evil Genius, this docuseries chronicles the investigation behind the scams and the eventual reveal of the notorious swindler's identity.
'How to Rob a Bank'
In early 1990s Seattle, Scott Scurlock was a charming thrill-seeker who eschewed a regular 9-to-5 and funded his carefree life via crime. He became an infamous bank robber who earned the nickname "Hollywood" due to his prosthetic makeup disguises and his use of heist films as research. This docuseries depicts the thief's life story through found footage, witness interviews, animated sequences, and dramatic reenactments.
'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter'
In 1974, at the age of 16, Cathy Terkanian had a daughter named Alexis and was pressured to give her up for adoption. Decades later in 2010, Cathy discovered that Alexis, who was renamed Aundria Bowman by her adoptive parents, had mysteriously gone missing in 1989. This two-part docuseries follows Cathy's decade-long search for answers, as she combed through the distressing details of Alexis's life.
'It's Florida, Man'
This eccentric HBO anthology series isn't "true crime" in the traditional sense, but it does depict stranger-than-fiction stories, many of which feature dubious legality. In each Drunk History-esque episode, a real-life Florida Man (or Woman) describes their wildest story, as famous comedians reenact the events. The first six-episode season includes tales involving witchcraft, mutilation by alligators, and pre-meditated cannibalism.
'The Jinx: Part Two'
This year, HBO finally released a sequel season to its hit 2015 docuseries about Robert Durst's crimes, which ended with his shocking hot mic confession. In the eight years since, the team behind the series discovered "more hidden material," as well as Durst’s prison calls and new interviews, Variety reports.
'The Lady in the Lake'
In 2019, Laura Lippman published her bestselling crime novel Lady in the Lake, based on two real-life women—one white and one Black—who disappeared in 1960s Baltimore. In the book and Apple TV+'s adaptation, the two murders inspire Maddie (Natalie Portman), a dissatisfied housewife, to leave her family to chase her lifelong dream of becoming a journalist.
'Lover, Stalker, Killer'
In 2012, Dave Kroupa, a 35-year-old auto mechanic, dipped his toe into online dating and made connections with two women; by the end of the love triangle, one of their houses had burned down. This twisty 90-minute doc from Netflix covers the unpredictable story, which proves that online dating could be a dumpster fire long before 2024.
'The Man With 1000 Kids'
When families contacted Dutch YouTuber Jonathan Meijer, he would often reassure them that he'd only donated sperm a handful of times. But really, Meijer had been taking advantage of the under-regulated private sperm donation industry for years, including visits to 11 sperm banks in the Netherlands and private donations around the globe. This docuseries pieces together the discord left in Meijer's wake and examines the dangers of and nefarious motives behind fertility fraud.
'Manhunt'
This scripted miniseries from Apple covers the aftermath of one of America's historic crimes: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Based on James L. Swanson’s 2006 book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, the seven-episode drama chronicles the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth, immediately after the incident at Ford's Theater.
'Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer'
Dr. Ann Burgess, the esteemed criminal profiler and architect of the FBI's "mindhunter" method, finally gets the docuseries treatment in this project executive produced by Dakota and Elle Fanning. Based in part on Burgess's 2021 book A Killer By Design, the series documents the profiler's six-decade career investigating the country's most infamous true-crime cases and her involvement in the anti-rape movement.
'The Menendez Brothers'
Released on the heels of Ryan Murphy's controversial series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, this documentary rehashes the infamous (and much-chronicled) true-crime case with an important twist: The titular brothers tell their story in their own words. The pair, who were sentenced to life in prison for killing their parents in August 1989, participate in this doc from jail, via extended phone interviews.
'Pillowcase Murders'
Between 2016 and 2018, multiple female residents at Dallas-area retirement communities were found dead, with some of their jewelry having gone missing. Though the deaths were initially blamed on natural causes, this docuseries chronicles the victims' children and grandchildren's efforts to have the cases further investigated.
'Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini'
When loving "supermom" Sherri Papini went missing while on a jog near her California home, the case became national news, as well as her reappearance 22 days later. Fast-forward four years later, and the FBI discovered that Papini had fabricated her entire abduction, basing the false details partly on Gone Girl. This three-part docuseries features home footage and testimonials from Papini's husband, Keith, their loved ones, and the investigators in the case.
'The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard'
Even those who aren't true-crime buffs know the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who suffered years of emotional and physical abuse from her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, and who was eventually sentenced for her role in Dee Dee's murder. For this docuseries filmed in the lead-up to her early release from prison, Gypsy Rose shares details of her life in her own words.
'The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping'
When she was a teenager, filmmaker Katherine Kubler was sent to one of the militaristic, unregulated boarding schools that make up the "troubled teen" industry. Kubler returns to the now-abandoned campus with several other alums to expose the abuses they endured, in this powerful survivor-led docuseries.
'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV'
Nickelodeon produced many millennials' most-beloved childhood shows (The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and iCarly, to name a few), but the behind-the-scenes process was more harrowing than any young fan could know. In this ID docuseries, several former crew members and stars of those shows speak out on the dangerous and predatory culture allegedly fostered by series creator Dan Schneider.
'Say Nothing'
This scripted FX series, based on Patrick Radden Keefe's book of the same name, chronicles The Troubles, the turbulent, decades-long conflict between Catholic republicans and Protestant loyalists throughout Northern Ireland. The skillfully-told series shows how both young nationalists and bystanders alike had to live with the repercussions of the paramilitary war.
'Surveilled'
Produced and hosted by Ronan Farrow, this harrowing HBO doc investigates the world of digital spyware and the ways that governments covertly spy on citizens. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who first covered the topic in The New Yorker, leads viewers through his investigation of one of these spyware companies, and how its tech can take over any phone.
'They Called Him Mostly Harmless'
This doc, based on a series of Wired articles, centers on an emaciated male hiker found dead in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve, who was carrying food and money, but no phone or identification. The film focuses on two sides investigating the hiker: local law enforcement who quickly reach a standstill, and amateur detectives in a Facebook group devoted to solving the case.
'The Truth About Jim'
This Investigation Discovery docuseries follows Sierra Barter, a young woman trying to understand the trauma left by her abusive stepfather, Jim Mordecai, who she suspects may have been behind some notorious unsolved crimes. While the second half veers into conjecture attempting to link Mordecai to legendary serial killers, the doc is also filled with emotional interviews where Barter's extended family reckons with the aftermath of one man's manipulation and destruction.
'The Truth vs. Alex Jones'
This HBO original series chronicles the court case between the families of Sandy Hook victims and Alex Jones, the conservative InfoWars host who accused them of staging the tragic school shooting. The doc on the defamation trials shows the troubling effects that Jones' outrage-led business model can have manipulating millions of viewers and destroying lives.
'Under the Bridge'
In 1997 in Victoria, British Columbia, 14-year-old Reena Virk was brutally beaten to death by a group of her peers. Based on the late Rebecca Godfrey’s book of the same name, Under the Bridge follows the emotional aftermath of the homicide, while putting Reena's (played in the miniseries by Vritika Gupta) humanity and the motivations behind teen bullying at its center as journalist Rebecca (Riley Keough) and cop Cam (Lily Gladstone) investigate the crime.
'Woman of the Hour'
Directed by Anna Kendrick, this harrowing film is inspired by the serial killer and rapist Rodney Alcala, who roamed the U.S. throughout the 1970s and is believed to have killed over 100 girls and women. Alcala went so unnoticed that he appeared on the popular reality show The Dating Game, where he was chosen over two other contestants for a date with drama teacher Cheryl Bradshaw. In this movie, Kendrick plays a fictionalized version of Bradshaw throughout the night in question, with moments from Alcala's criminal history interwoven throughout.
'Worst Ex Ever'
While the Netflix docuseries Worst Roommate Ever terrorized viewers with stories of terrifying, sociopathic, and even murderous roommates, this spinoff does the same with past relationships. Per Netflix, the four-episode series is "built around the universal feeling of wondering how much you really know about your partner—brings you more shocking tales of betrayal, violence, and deceit."
