Content Warning: the following article contains discussions of animal abuse, sexual violence, and violence.
True crime is definitely one of the rising stars of documentaries and generally non-fiction programming. People have a morbid fascination with killers and assorted criminals and an unquenchable thirst for mysteries and dark plots; a sort of metaphorical wound culture, which keeps getting fed.
Netflix has been an active and good player in the arena of true crime and they suffer from the opposite of a shortage of shows. So, here we have some recommendations for the best Netflix true crime series available, according to the fans.
The Confession Tapes (2017) – 7.5
This series became an audience addiction in 2017 and was extremely well received. Even Scientific American commended it, stating that it demonstrates that "we need to change the way police do interrogations." The 11 standalone episodes introduce numerous cases of likely untrue and often forced, confessions which led to the featured suspects/defendants being convicted of murder. For every case, the docies poses alternative versions of how the crime could have been committed and brings connoisseurs of false confessions, penal law, judicial errors, wrongful convictions, and criminal psychology.
Evil Genius: The True Story Of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist (2018) – 7.5
While Evil Genius has received mostly positive reviews, by critics and audiences, especially for its twists and its unsettling tone, it was also criticized for the apparent lack of focus and overall narrative cohesion. Nevertheless, it narrates an intriguing story in a clever way that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. In 2003 Erie, Pennsylvania a heist went south and a chilling public homicide seizes the nation's attention. After 15 years, Evil Genius shows there’s more to this conspiracy than meets the eye.
The Devil Next Door (2019) – 7.6
This is the chronicle of John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk), a Ukrainian-American living peacefully in Cleveland in the 1980s. When an assembly of Holocaust survivors recognize Demjanjuk's picture as "Ivan the Terrible" – an infamously ruthless Nazi death camp guard who brutalized and killed Jewish inmates – Demjanjuk is deported to Israel to be tried for crimes against humanity.
Israel is engrossed as media turmoil erupts around the court case with the nation sunk into past trauma brought forth by the “trial of the century.” As dark crooks of remembrance and the terrors of war are revealed, the Demjanjuk case turns into a race against the clock for the culprit and his victims.
Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019) – 7.8
This is a case where audiences and critics had significantly opposing views. While critics considered the series harrowing, they simultaneously found it overly ironic and ultimately pointless to the point of being nihilistic. Nevertheless, audiences found the combination of archival footage, evidence, and especially Stephen Michaud's death row interviews with Ted Bundy himself to be particularly fascinating. Seeing Ted Bundy defend himself and give interviews is definitely an experience that leaves the viewer both intrigued and mortified.
The Staircase/Soupçons [lit. Suspicions] (2004 – 2018) – 7.9
This English-language French miniseries was essentially released in three parts over three different periods (2004, 2013, & 2018). Netflix acquired the series and ordered three additional episodes and in 2018 made it available as one complete series on their streaming service. In 2001, author Michael Peterson called the police and reported that his wife fell down the stairs and got seriously injured. She was declared dead and the police immediately suspected Peterson of her murder. What follows is the details of Peterson’s trial (and his parallel “trial by media”) with the shocking revelations that happened along the way.
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer (2019) – 8.0
The one slightly negative thing that can be said about this series is that it starts off slightly slow; but that easily turns into a positive, because it builds tension and when it gets going, it goes all out. The series starts when a Facebook group of internet-savvy people gathers to track down a man who films himself torturing and killing kittens and posts the videos online.
Their amateur investigation develops into an international manhunt when an anonymous tip reveals the name of the man they are looking for; a man that would go on to commit one of the most notorious crimes in recent history.
Dirty Money (2018 – 2020) – 8.1
While not what might come immediately to one’s mind upon hearing “true crime,” corporate greed and corruption. Each one of the 12 standalone episodes focuses on a different issue; some have to do with specific people (e.g., Donald Trump), some with specific companies (e.g., Bausch Health Companies Inc., formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals), and some with general fraud (e.g., abuse of elder guardianship laws). The series was quite positively received and season 1 holds 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Keepers (2017) – 8.1
This series received wide critical acclaim, holding a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The seven-part show revisited the cold case of the murder of Catholic nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Cathy Cesnik was an English and drama teacher at Baltimore's all-female Archbishop Keough High School. Her past students fervently believed that the authorities covered up the truth after Cesnik alleged that a school priest, Anthony Joseph Maskell, was guilty of sexual harassment and abuse against students. Netflix reached out to the Archdiocese of Baltimore to ask for comments on sexual abuse accusations in the church, but they were turned away.
Wild Wild Country (2018) – 8.2
bizarre mystical sect and the determined woman who acts as the right hand of their guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
The six-episode series, filmed by siblings Maclain and Chapman Way, tells the fascinating, true story of the Rajneeshees and their “architect,” Ma Anand Sheela, through contemporary interviews and archival material, which aids as a surreal aide-mémoire of the story’s factual foundation when events spiral to heights too shocking even for the keenest viewer.
Making A Murderer (2015 – 2018) – 8.6
The documentary series, which rapidly turned into a nationwide phenomenon, narrates the true story of Steven Avery, a man wrongfully convicted of and imprisoned for rape and subsequently acquitted after spending 18 years in prison, who following his release was later accused of the murder of Teresa Halbach. Shot over the course of a decade by directors & writers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, the show sheds light on the prosecution’s inquiries, revealing the possible unfairness of the justice system in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The series won multiple Primetime Emmys.