Our obsession with true crime cases shows no sign of slowing down. From unsolved murders to elaborate hoaxes and sinister cults, there are plenty of real-life mysteries to get stuck into. Whether you fancy yourself as an amateur sleuth or you’re fascinated by the vagaries of the justice system, these are some of the best true crime documentaries to stream now.
The Yoghurt Shop Murders
This sensitive docuseries delves into the “devastating” unsolved case of four girls who were “viciously murdered” at a yoghurt shop where two of them worked in Austin, Texas, said Radheyan Simonpillai in The Guardian. It’s as “intensive and emotionally gutting as the true crime genre gets”, shining a light on the “trauma suffered by the victims, their families and others orbiting too close to the tragedy”. But the series “regularly steps back”, delving into the pitfalls of the justice system and the “very nature of true crime storytelling” that the documentary participates in. By resisting the “voyeurism” the genre usually entails, director Margaret Brown has made a “layered and complex true crime masterpiece”.
Amazon Prime
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
Netflix is known for creating jaw-dropping true crime documentaries but this “may just take the cake”, said Stephanie McNeal in Glamour. “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish” delves into the case of 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen McKenny, who were bombarded with a torrent of “graphic and disturbing messages from an unknown number out of the blue”. Even when the young couple eventually split up, the harassment continued, becoming so extreme that the FBI stepped in. At the end of 2022, the investigation revealed the “stunning truth – the cyber bully had been Lauryn’s own mother, Kendra”.
Netflix
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Murder 24/7
This “extremely well crafted” documentary is a “thoroughbred” of the true-crime genre, said Carol Midgley in The Times. The second series of the show follows the West Mercia police force as they investigate a series of crimes, including the brutal murder of DPD delivery driver Aurman Singh. Filled with “high-adrenaline” chase scenes and “extraordinary” access to Ring doorbell and police bodycam footage, it’s a gripping watch.
BBC iPlayer
The Push: Murder on the Cliff
Arthur’s Seat takes on a “harrowing” role in this two-part documentary, said Gerard Gilbert in The i Paper. Back in 2021, Kashif Anwar pushed his pregnant wife to her death from a rocky outcrop at the Edinburgh beauty spot. He said she “slipped” but as she lay dying she was able to make a “last-gasp accusation” to a passer-by: “Don’t let my husband near me. He pushed me.” Unlike so many true-crime shows, there’s nothing remotely “trashy” about “The Push”. Instead, interviews with family and courtroom scenes are carefully weaved together to sketch a picture of a “much-loved young woman who had made one bad decision”: marrying Anwar.
Channel 4
Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders
By the end of the first episode of this three-part docuseries “you will be gripped”, said Michelle Curran in the Daily Mail. The show delves into the shocking events of 1982 when seven people in the Chicago metropolitan area died after taking Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide. During the series we meet “prime suspect” James Lewis, who was convicted of extortion after sending Johnson & Johnson a ransom note demanding $1 million to prevent more deaths. Despite denying that he actually tampered with the tablets, it’s disturbing to watch him speak about his actions with “no remorse”. The series “will leave you with more questions than it answers” but that doesn’t stop it being an utterly “compelling” watch.
Netflix
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives
This “tantalising” four-part Netflix docuseries explores how a “rising star” in New York’s “raw-vegan food scene” was swindled out of $2 million by her con man lover, said Vanity Fair. Director Chris Smith (known for “Fyre: the Greatest Party that Never Happened”) turns Sarma Melngailis’ ordeal into an exhilarating show that involves “canine immortality, alleged brainwashing and – ironically – a Domino’s pizza order gone very wrong”.
Netflix
Devil in the Family
This three-part documentary about a Mormon “mommy vlogger”, Ruby Franke, who ends up in prison for child abuse is “pointed and insightful”, said The New York Times. Some of the most “arresting” footage looks just like any other “peppy family vlog”. But this “pert blonde woman in bright lipstick” isn’t delivering “chummy tips” on parenting – outtakes reveal “startling and cruel” exchanges with her young children. Going beyond the “tabloid fodder”, it’s a sensitive documentary that shows you can never really know “what’s going on behind closed doors”.
Disney+
The Body Next Door
When a decaying corpse wrapped in 41 layers of plastic turns up in the “sleepy” village of Beddau in south Wales, the community is “shaken”, said The i Paper. As we start to hear from locals, an elderly woman soon emerges as the prime suspect: Leigh Sabine. Expertly mixing the “claustrophobia” of a small town with a “family mystery spanning generations”, the first episode sets a compelling scene. “It’s been a long time since a film gripped me quite like Sky’s stylish and surprising” three-part series.
Sky
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