There's a new movie at the top of the Netflix charts, and it's a controversial one. What Jennifer Did, a true crime documentary about a young woman who was convicted of hiring hitmen to kill her parents, has been accused of using AI-manipulated images in much the same way True Detective: Night Country used AI-generated posters, but in the foreground rather than the background. The claims don't appear to have affected its success, however: arriving as part of this month's new Netflix movies, it landed at number one in the Netflix global chart with 18 million views and 26.1 million viewing hours.
Netflix has a very large selection of true-crime movies and shows now, so if you're looking for more shows and movies about real-life events you're spoilt for choice. Here are three we think you should check out next.
Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case
Even by true crime standards, the Lucie Blackman case is horrific. Lucie was one of two 21-year-old friends who moved to Tokyo from England in order to spend a year working and living in one of the world's most exciting cities. But then Lucie went missing, and her disappearance led to one of the biggest manhunts in Japan's history.
In Netflix's documentary, we get to hear from the detectives who investigated the case and from Blackman's father, who hoped beyond hope that his daughter would be found alive. The story takes you into the underbelly of Tokyo's hostess scene, where rich patrons pay handsomely to drink and chat with attractive young women, and while the crime itself is horrific, director Hyoe Yamamoto doesn't try to sensationalize or over-dramatize the events.
The Staircase
This true-crime documentary is unusual in that it was made over three time periods: it was filmed and released in 2005 before being updated in 2013 and then updated again in 2018. It follows the case of Kathleen Peterson, who died in 2001, and whose husband Michael claimed that her death was an accident when she fell down the stairs. The police believed otherwise and Peterson became the prime suspect in a murder case – a case that would be revisited when it emerged that a crucial witness gave misleading testimony.
The show currently has 94% on Rotten Tomatoes; according to Vogue, "The Staircase leaves you with an understanding not of how righteous justice is, but how evasive for so many, and how the best investigative work is thorough and slow – like the documentary itself."
American Murder: The Family Next Door
While many true crime documentaries and series focus on historical crimes, the events of American Murder are much more recent – and that means the documentary can tell the story through social media posts, police bodycams, security camera footage and other parts of our constantly-connected era. It focuses on the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children – disappearances that soon proved to be murders.
In addition to the use of digital and social media to tell the story of what happened, the documentary also uses them to show the public discussion around the murders – including the demonization and victim-blaming of Shanann that took place online. It's not a show that's going to make you feel great about humanity, but it's a tense and involving watch.
